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Gerber Products Company and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have issued a serious recall notice, discontinuing all batches of Gerber’s Soothe ‘n’ Chew Teething Sticks due to fears that they could present a choking hazard for babies. The baby food brand confirmed that at least one emergency room visit has been linked to the product. The recall and discontinuation notice was posted to the website of Nestlé USA, Gerber’s parent company. Here’s what you need to know: Which products were affected? The recall includes both Strawberry Apple and Banana flavors in all package sizes. Where were the products sold? The affected products were available onl…

Have you ever worked under someone you just couldn’t wait to get away from—maybe to the point where you’d daydream about finding a new job (or hoping they’d leave instead)? That’s what we call an “Extinguisher.” These leaders sap energy from their teams and throw up roadblocks that stand in the way of success. On the flip side, “Generators” are those leaders who inspire and empower people to reach their full potential—and they’re the ones everyone wants to work for. Most of us want to steer clear of Extinguishers (and make sure we never become one ourselves). The trouble is, it’s not always obvious when you’re dealing with one—at least not until you’re already burned …

Conventional wisdom says to use your tax return to pay off debt or add to your savings, but psychologists say it’s also acceptable to use a tax return to invest in your own happiness. “When people get a tax return, it’s seen as a bonus and it can feel like an even bigger bonus when people decide to invest it in themselves,” says Maya Weir, clinical psychologist and founder at Thriving California, a private practice in Napa, Calif. Don’t limit your thinking about money to just saving and investing, says Annie Cole, EdD, founder and money coach at Money Essentials for Women in Vancouver, Wash. “If you’re already meeting the mark when it comes to finances, paying dow…

AI has been used in the hiring process for many years. Anyone who has ever wrangled their résumé into an Applicant Tracking System has experienced the frustration of distilling your human-ness for a keyword-focused bot. But that’s just scratching the surface. Already a quarter of employers use some form of AI in their hiring process and, according to some estimates, nearly 70% of companies will be using AI tools to hire by the end of this year. It’s no surprise that AI in hiring is attractive to employers. It can make what’s often an overwhelming and time-consuming process much more efficient. But for job seekers, this technology can make the already opaque hiring proce…

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. When Geoff Martha, chairman and CEO of Medtronic, took over the medical device maker’s Restorative Therapies Group in 2015, the company faced a tough decision. The group at the time was underperforming, and the leadership team had to consider how to prioritize technology investments suc…

There are certain social media rules we can all agree on: Ghosting a conversation is impolite, and replying “k” to a text is the equivalent of a backhand slap (violent, wrong, and rude). But what about the rest of the rules? When can we really remind someone of our old Venmo request? What happens when someone tries to flirt with you on LinkedIn? Fortunately, terminally online writers Delia Cai and Steffi Cao are here to answer all your digital quandaries, big or small. Welcome to Fast Company’s new advice column, Posting Playbook. This week, Steffi opines on what you should do when you don’t want to be tagged in the group photo. How should I tell my friend I look …

Before air-conditioning existed, staying cool during the summer months in the southern United States was a foreign skill for early European colonists. But enslaved Africans, hailing from similar warm climates, had developed, over centuries, architectural strategies for combating sweltering summer conditions. It was from these early enslaved builders that the most quintessential architectural feature of homes in the United States emerged: the porch. Porches, verandas, porticoes, and other types of outdoor coverings connected to a building have existed in various forms across the globe for centuries. However, what we think of as an American style of porch, first associa…

Three decades before TikTok’s obsession with tinned fish brought us sea-cuterie boards, tinned fish cookbooks, and trendy brands like Fishwife and Scout, there was Bela Brand Seafood. This OG tinned fish purveyor hit grocery store shelves back in 1997 with aesthetic, design-centric packaging—and now, it’s refreshing its brand identity to remind modern audiences that it took a bet on tinned fish before it was cool. Bela (formerly known as Bela Brand Seafood) was founded by native New Englander Joshua Scherz and his mom, Florence. The brand has remained family-owned since its inception, quietly growing without any funding from outside investors. But during the pandemic, Sch…

Tucked in a forest of trees in Luxembourg City is a hulking piece of urban infrastructure that, if all goes to plan, will soon be taken over by birds. The structure is a two-columned concrete water tower that has been designed to function as a habitat for local and migratory birds. In contrast to most essential elements of a city’s infrastructure that usually try to avoid being infested by wild animals, this water tower had birds in mind from the very start. The water tower habitat was designed by Temperaturas Extremas Arquitectos SLP, an architecture firm based in Madrid. The project’s site is part of Natura 2000, a European ecological network of areas dedicated to…

The wildfires in Los Angeles have destroyed entire neighborhoods, ravaging more than 16,000 homes and structures in Altadena and Pasadena, alone. Asher Bingham, an L.A.-based portrait artist, spends her days taking in the extent of what has been lost. She spends hours at her drawing table, illustrating homes that have been lost and then mailing them to the people who used to live there. One day, she hopes to have an art show that features different neighborhoods, with pictures of homes along with the stories of the people who lived there. [Illustration: Asher Bingham] Two days after the fires began, Bingham took to Instagram, inviting people who had lost their …

A helicopter flying over your head, the ground rumbling under your feet, bullets whizzing by your ears: If it’s up to Google and Samsung, then your movie nights will soon sound like you’re in the middle of the action. The two companies announced a new 3D audio format called Eclipsa Audio this month that will soon bring spatial audio to compatible devices, starting with this year’s Samsung TVs and soundbars. Google is also bringing Eclipsa Audio to YouTube, where creators will soon be able to upload content with immersive audio, and has plans to extend support for it to Android phones, Chrome browsers, as well as TVs, soundbars and streaming devices made by a number of…

An overwhelming number of Americans are in the market for a new job. According to a recent Monster poll, 93% of workers think 2025 might be the time to change employers. With an increased number of applications, you could see tougher competition for roles, which makes the interview process even more critical. The way you approach the job hunt is similar to how a professional gambler approaches the poker table, says Jamie Wall, casino analyst and body language expert at Gamblizard, a website that evaluates online casinos and their offers. “Both are high-stakes situations, considering you really want to land the job or win the game,” he says. “Both follow formal r…

So you flew too close to the sun—downloading app after app, recording hi-res video, binging podcasts—and now you’re faced with the dreaded “Storage Almost Full” pop-up on your iPhone. It’s OK: we can handle this together. Here are three extremely expeditious tricks you can use to clear out the clutter and get back to a carefree life of digital hoarding. Detach from big message attachments Every hilarious GIF. Every video of someone’s kid skiing. Every duck-faced selfie. They’re all taking up space, and you’ll almost never need to revisit them. Free up a metric pant-load of storage in mere moments by heading to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > …

If you own a house, your insurance premiums have probably surged over the last several years. A new report outlines how much worse it could get as climate disasters keep growing: In Florida, for example, the insurance cost for an average house could go up 89% in the next 30 years. In Miami, the cost for a homeowner could go up by 322%, or an additional $11,000 a year. As you pay more for insurance, the value of your house is likely to simultaneously drop if you’re in a high-risk area. The report, from the climate risk analysis nonprofit First Street, estimates that an average house in Florida will lose around 29% of its value by the 2050s. Meanwhile, home values will …

There was a time when artists representing two of America’s biggest homegrown musical genres wouldn’t get a look in at the Grammys. Hip-hop and house both have their origins in the 1970s and early 1980s—in fact, they recently celebrated a 50th and 40th birthday, respectively. But it was only in 1989 that an award category for “best rap performance” started recognizing hip-hop’s contribution to U.S. music, and house had to wait another decade, with the introduction of “best dance/electronic recording” in 1998. At this year’s awards, taking place on February 2, hip-hop and house artists will be among the most talked about. House duo Justice and Kendrick Lamar, a hip…

A funny thing happened after I stopped using Clicks, the keyboard case that effectively turns an iPhone into an oversized Blackberry: The phone by itself suddenly seemed punier. I mean that in terms of both size and mightiness. Because while Clicks’ four rows of physical keys stretch an iPhone to comical length, they also add a bunch of powerful shortcuts for getting things done. My typing hasn’t gotten any faster with Clicks, but things like copying, pasting, and switching between apps has become more efficient. The first Clicks keyboard cases launched a year ago, with tech YouTuber Michael Fisher and Crackberry blog founder Kevin Michaluk co-founding the company…

Last week, in an article for Fast Company, author and tech executive Rebekah Bastian wrote about why she doesn’t read productivity books. The vast majority of these books are written by men who don’t shoulder the majority of parenting duties, she says. “Like so many working women, I carry a substantial portion of the ‘second shift’ at home: cooking, homework help, bedtime routines, and general emotional support,” she writes. “The big chunk of uninterrupted time that these authors count on—whether it’s a 5 a.m. stretch of ‘sacred hours’ or a mini-sabbatical to reboot creativity—just doesn’t exist in my life. If I tried to follow their advice, I’d be setting myself up f…

Adam Galinsky is a social psychologist and professor of leadership and tthics at Columbia Business School. He conducts behavioral science research, having published more than 200 scientific articles. He has been a damage expert in numerous defamation cases and is also a producer on two documentaries shortlisted for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards. What’s the big idea? Every leader leaves their mark on the hearts and minds of a workforce. This can go one of two ways: Leaders can leave behind a legacy of inspiration, or infuriation. Based on thousands of perspectives collected from around the globe, Adam created a systemic formula for choosing and earning the …

Working abroad might be just what your career—and personal life—needs. It exposes you (and loved ones) to new, different, and potentially more fulfilling ways of living. It expands your worldview. And it builds skills and a reputation that can serve you well in your field down the road. Marissa Andrada, who’s managed people operations for dispersed teams at major organizations including Kate Spade, Starbucks, Red Bull, and Universal Studios, recalls one American employee she convinced to take on a role in Hong Kong running human resources for the Asia-Pacific region. When the woman returned to the states after her assignment was over, she quickly moved up to manage g…

When Moath al-Alwi left Guantánamo Bay for resettlement in Oman, accompanying him on his journey was a cache of artwork he created during more than two decades of detention. Al-Alwi was detainee number “028”—an indication that he was one of the first to arrive at the U.S. military prison off Cuba after it opened in January 2002. His departure from the detention center on January 6, 2025, along with 10 fellow inmates, was part of an effort to reduce the prison’s population before the end of President Joe Biden’s term. For al-Alwi, it meant freedom not only for himself, but also for his artwork. While not all detainees shared his passion, creating art was not an unc…

Perhaps you’re coming out of a wave of layoffs or a down year. Maybe you’re preparing for a run of performance reviews where you have to deliver tough feedback. If you have tense conversations on the horizon, there are ways to prepare for it. In many cases, the anticipation of a high-conflict conversation creates more stress than the actual experience. It’s normal to feel out of control in moments like this—to feel like your internal world is compromised and you must attempt to control your external world. Neural circuits responsible for conscious self-control are highly vulnerable to even the mildest of stressors. When those neural systems shut down, primal impulses …

Despite growing up with a financial planner for a father, the idea of investing intimidated me well into my adulthood. From my point of view, investing seemed like a mysterious process. Not only was this magical money-making exercise conducted in an arcane language (what exactly is a NASDAQ, and why does it sound like something you treat with a special cream?), but it also required my dad to keep the TV in his office tuned to the world’s most mind-numbing broadcast, even though cartoons were just a channel away. It’s no wonder I grew up thinking that investing was boring and impossible to understand. And investment ambivalence is pretty common. A recent NerdWallet fin…