What's on Your Mind?

The convergence of brand work and entertainment is set to be making significant leaps and bounds this year as a result in a flurry of activity in 2025. Large brands of consequence have made serious investment in in-house entertainment studios over the past few years—LVMH, AB InBev, Nike, and Dick’s Sporting Goods, among them. Now, sports retail and gaming giant Fanatics is partnering with OBB Media to launch Fanatics Studios. The new division will be led by Michael D. Ratner, founder and CEO of OBB Media, and will operate as another pillar of Fanatics’ overall business, alongside retail, collectibles, and gaming. The goal is to independently create, finance, produce,…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate sits at 6.19%, down from 6.54% a year ago. While that decline represents some welcome relief for homebuyers, economists at Fannie Mae and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) believe most of the short-term mortgage rate relief is already behind us. Both Fannie Mae and the MBA released 2026 forecasts this month showing not much change from here. Fannie Mae expects the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate will fall to 5.9% by the fourth quarter of 2026—a decline of just 0.3 percentage points from today’s levels.…

Two romantasy authors have publicly defended their use of artificial intelligence after being caught with AI-generated prompts left in their published works. While their readers are far from impressed, the writers insist that it does not take away from their craft. Excerpts from novels published by K.C. Crowne and Lena McDonald have been spreading across Reddit, Goodreads, and Bluesky, after readers discovered revision notes that read like ChatGPT and cues that reference the style of other authors embedded in the copy. “I’ve rewritten the passage to align more with J. Bree’s style, which features more tension, gritty undertones, and raw emotional subtext beneath …

Think. Create. Change. These three verbs are the driving force behind the World Changing Ideas Summit, a first-of-its-kind event created in partnership with Fast Company and Johns Hopkins University (JHU). This November 19 at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., the World Changing Ideas Summit will convene academics and senior business leaders for a day of immersive, thought-provoking experiences designed to advance America’s innovation ecosystem. From dynamic panels to interactive innovation showcases to hands-on breakout sessions, the World Changing Ideas Summit aims to go beyond dialogue and inspire action. “The World Changing…

Despite a strong start to the year, traffic at U.S. quick service restaurants (QSR), which has been steadily declining month by month, was down 1.7% year-over-year compared to last April, signaling growing consumer caution or shifts in dining behaviors, according to Revenue Management Solutions (RMS), a company that analyzes data and provides insights about the restaurant industry. At the same time, RMS found on average, fast food prices increased in April by +2.0% year-over-year, steady with inflation trends. In case you’re not familiar with restaurant industry lingo, a quick service restaurant (QSR) describes establishments that prioritize speed and convenience,…

The H&M group is entering the fall season with style. On Wednesday, September 24, the retailer released its third-quarter earnings and reported an operating profit of 4.9 billion Swedish krona ($521 million). The H&M group owns brands including H&M, COS, Monki, and Arket. Its operating profit marked a 40% increase year-over-year (YOY) and beat analysts’ predicted 3.7 billion Swedish krona ($393 million), according to consensus estimates cited by CNBC. The figures also marked consecutive quarterly successes for the H&M group, which also beat estimated operating profits in quarter-two. However, the H&M group now predicts that 2025’s quarter-four…

In the past week, law enforcement agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have issued a warning about the ongoing threat of Medusa ransomware. Here’s what you need to know about the threat and how you can protect yourself. What is Medusa ransomware? Ransomware is a type of software that is designed to compromise your information, allowing hackers to steal it. Once these bad actors have your data, they then contact you (or the software contacts you on their behalf), and they inform you that unless you pay a ransom, your data will either be deleted, sold to the highest bidder, or rel…

The Federal Communications Commission on Monday said it would ban new foreign-made drones, a move that will keep new Chinese-made drones such as those from DJI and Autel out of the U.S. market. The announcement came a year after Congress passed a defense bill that raised national security concerns about Chinese-made drones, which have become a dominant player in the U.S., widely used in farming, mapping, law enforcement,ss and filmmaking. The bill called for stopping the two Chinese companies from selling new drones in the U.S. if a review found they posed a risk to American national security. The deadline for the review was Dec. 23. The FCC said Monday the re…

Federal officials on Thursday approved a new type of pain pill designed to eliminate the risks of addiction and overdose associated with opioid medications like Vicodin and OxyContin. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Journavx for short-term pain that often follows surgery or injuries. It’s the first new pharmaceutical approach to treating pain in more than 20 years, offering an alternative to both opioids and over-the-counter medications like ibuprofen and acetaminophen. But the medication’s modest effectiveness and lengthy development process underscore the challenges of finding new ways to manage pain. Studies in more tha…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss pill on Monday, giving the Danish drugmaker a leg up in the race to market a potent oral medication for shedding pounds as it looks to regain lost ground from rival Eli Lilly. The pill is 25 milligrams of semaglutide, the same active ingredient in injectable Wegovy and Ozempic, and will be sold under the brand name Wegovy. Novo already sells an oral semaglutide for type 2 diabetes, Rybelsus. The approval could help spur a turnaround for Novo after a rocky year of sliding shares, profit warnings and slowing sales of its injectable Wegovy amid intense competition from Lilly and pressure from c…

The Food and Drug Administration commissioner’s effort to drastically shorten the review of drugs favored by President Donald The President’s administration is causing alarm across the agency, stoking worries that the plan may run afoul of legal, ethical, and scientific standards long used to vet the safety and effectiveness of new medicines. Marty Makary’s program is causing new anxiety and confusion among staff already rocked by layoffs, buyouts, and leadership upheavals, according to seven current or recently departed staffers. The people spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss confidential agency matt…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration blocked imports of spices this week from an Indonesian company amid widespread worries of radioactive contamination. The agency said it found cesium 137 in spices—specifically cloves—from Indonesian company PT Natural Java Spice that were shipped to California. The discovery marks the second food product imported from Indonesia found to have radioactive contamination, as recalls of potentially tainted imported shrimp expanded. “Products from PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati and from PT Natural Java Spice will not be permitted to enter the U.S. market until these firms provide the FDA with information to adequately demonstrate that th…

Hormone-based drugs used to treat hot flashes and other menopause symptoms will no longer carry a bold warning label about stroke, heart attack, dementia, and other serious risks, the Food and Drug Administration announced Monday. U.S. health officials said they will remove the boxed warning from more than 20 pills, patches, and creams containing hormones like estrogen and progestin, which are approved to ease disruptive symptoms like night sweats. The change has been supported by some doctors—including FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who has called the current label outdated and unnecessary. But some doctors worried that the process, which led to the decision, was…

On May 20, 2025, the Food and Drug Administration announced a new stance on who should receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The agency said it would approve new versions of the vaccine only for adults 65 years of age and older as well as for people with one or more risk factors for severe COVID-19 outcomes. These risk factors include medical conditions such as asthma, cancer, chronic kidney disease, heart disease and diabetes. However, healthy younger adults and children who fall outside of these groups may not be eligible to receive the COVID-19 shot this fall. Vaccine manufacturers will have to conduct clinical trials to demonstrate that the vaccine benefits low-risk g…

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is honing in on infant formula in his food safety review. RFK Jr. says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will further test formula brands for heavy metals after some concerning results from Consumer Reports (CR) were released earlier this week. “The FDA will use all resources and authorities at its disposal to make sure infant formula products are safe and wholesome for the families and children who rely on them,” Kennedy said in a statement. HHS is calling the plan “Operation Stork Speed.” On Tuesday, CR revealed the results of testing on 41 types of powdered formula, from major labels such…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning people to stop using certain types of glucose monitor sensors after the company that makes them, Abbott Diabetes Care, said the devices were linked to seven deaths and more than 700 injuries. Certain FreeStyle Libre 3 and FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus sensors may provide incorrect low glucose readings, FDA officials said this week. Such readings over an extended period may lead people with diabetes to make bad treatment decisions, such as consuming too many carbohydrates or skipping or delaying doses of insulin. “These decisions may pose serious health risks, including potential injury or death,” the FDA said in the alert. The …

More than 10,000 cans of Original Coca-Cola distributed in two states have been voluntarily recalled. Manufacturer Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling initiated the recall on March 6 after reports of foreign plastic found inside cans. On March 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designated the recall as Class II, per the FDA enforcement report. According to the FDA’s recall classification page, a Class II recall means “a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote.” The report indicated that 864 12-count packs of the product distributed in Il…

“Season’s greetings” aren’t as cheery when it’s a season of layoffs. November marked the eighth time this year that job cuts were up over the same period the year before, according to research from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. To make matters worse, hiring in November was down 35% from 2024, marking the lowest year-to-date total since 2010. News about the current labor market can be unnerving—even more so when layoffs are hitting your company. Being prepared can help make it less so. And one group of people knows more about that than most. A page out of the prepper book The word prepper may bring to mind images of shows like Doomsday …