• Career coach Julia Starr used AI to vibe code an app that mimics her signature framework.
• The app is a passive income stream and a marketing funnel, introducing her work to new customers.
• Starr said she does not worry about the AI replacing her human coaching experience.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Julia Starr, the founder of Julia Starr Coaching. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I've been a career coach for nearly a decade, and for most of that time, my business has been capped by one factor: me. As a solopreneur, my calendar only has so much space, and I've never been interested in growing a team.

About a year and a half ago, I started experimenting with how AI could help me expand my impact. I built prompts that clients could use to dig deeper between our sessions, and created an AI "co-coach" to support participants through each week of my group coaching program.

Last year, I took my most transformational step yet: I vibe coded an app that replicates my core methodology. It's providing passive income and expanding access to my work.

I tried vibe coding with no preparation

In December, I signed up for a hackathon with Lovable, an AI tool that lets non-technical people build apps using natural language prompts. I decided to really dedicate myself to it, clearing my calendar and waking up at 5 am to be on the kickoff calls.

I was walking in with literally zero coding or product knowledge. What I did have was my trademark coaching framework: the VSA Method, where clients dig into their core values and strengths before taking small action steps to prototype different pathways forward. I wondered if I could put that into an app.

I started by telling ChatGPT I wanted to vibe code a product and asked how to begin. Then I workshopped my prompts in ChatGPT before taking them into Lovable.

After two days of that type of back-and-forth work, I had a starter version of the app. I tested it in the Lovable community, and pretty immediately, people came back saying it had given them useful ideas they never would have thought of on their own. I was amazed.

The initial output was impressive, but needed refining

The app was promising, but it wasn't perfect yet. I spent the next month turning it into a product that consistently worked.

For example, it regularly hallucinated job titles that didn't exist. I thought I could just tell Lovable that the information needs to be legitimate and it would be fixed, but that didn't work. I had to get creative and specific about setting the quality bar, so I required that Lovable find 100 instances of a particular job title on LinkedIn before surfacing it as a result.

I also did real user testing. I'd have people share their screens and walk through my app while narrating their inner dialogue out loud — what felt confusing, what surprised them, what they wanted next. I recorded all of it, then dropped those transcripts into Claude to identify the top changes to make and how to write the next prompt for Lovable. I did that after every single conversation.

After about 50 to 60 additional hours of work beyond the hackathon, I publicly launched my app, Threshold, in January.

My AI app provides passive income

Originally, I wanted to charge $150+ for the product because my intellectual property is valuable. However, during user testing, people told me they wouldn't pay that much unless they already knew me and my work.

With that feedback, I decided the app would be more valuable if it served as a marketing funnel that could lead new customers to my higher-ticket offerings, rather than charging a premium for each individual app sale.

And I never worried the app would replace me entirely; I've coached long enough to know that having information doesn't automatically lead to change. There's a real gap between knowing what you could do and actually doing it, and crossing that gap usually takes a trusted human relationship.

Still, I wanted to put up a paywall to ensure customers were serious about their career pivots, so I landed on a one-time, $29 charge. At that price point, I've found that people share my app organically, and 75% of those who reach the paywall convert, so I'm making some meaningful passive income. I make small tweaks based on feedback here and there, but it's mostly hands-off now.

What excites me most is what my app makes possible in terms of access. There are so many people who will never be able to work with me directly because of time or money limitations. This app can get them started — and for someone who's been stuck, that first unlock changes everything.

• Iran announced Friday that the Strait of Hormuz was "completely open" to commercial traffic.
• By that evening, ship-tracking data was showing ships being turned away.
• Iran has since reversed course. Movement has come to a halt as tensions persist.

Iran announced that the Strait of Hormuz was "completely open" on Friday morning, but by Monday, maritime traffic in the strategic waterway ground largely to a halt.

Only three ships passed through the strait on Monday, according to data from KPler, a real-time trade intelligence platform.

Opening the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow chokepoint linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and a major artery for global shipments of oil and natural gas — has been a central demand since the start of a fragile ceasefire earlier this month and amid negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, said in a statement on social media Friday morning that "the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organization of the Islamic Rep. of Iran."

Iran's coordinated route appeared to refer to previously released guidance that takes ships through the northern part of the waterway closest to Iran.

Shipping organizations had mixed reactions. Some welcomed the news as a positive signal, while others urged caution. It wasn't immediately clear how much had changed with Friday's announcement from Iran.

President Donald Trump acknowledged Iran's Friday statement in a Truth Social post, writing that "Iran has just announced that the Strait of Iran is fully open and ready for passage." The market reaction to the announcement saw stocks climb higher and oil fall.

MarineTraffic data from Friday afternoon showed that just over half a dozen commercial vessels had transited the strait since the announcement.

Data from KPler showed that eight commercial vessels had crossed as of 2 pm EST Friday compared to five on Thursday. The data references commercial fleets of crude tankers, LPG, LNG, and dry bulk vessels. Containerships are not included in the count. But by the evening, new data showed ships were turning back.

On Saturday, Iran announced that it had returned the strait to its "previous state" under the control of its armed forces.

The limited number of ships that had gone through was a fraction of the pre-war normal. Before the war, the strait saw an average of over 120 transits daily.

Last week, US Navy warships set up a blockade of Iranian ships and ports. Trump said the blockade will remain in effect until Washington and Tehran reach a deal to end the war.

US Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has highlighted the role of the Navy's Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in the blockade during a briefing Thursday but didn't specify numbers involved.

On Sunday, US Navy destroyer USS Spruance opened fire on the engine room of an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel that attempted to run the blockade and sail toward an Iranian port. US forces then boarded and seized control of the vessel.

Dozens of surveillance aircraft, refueling planes, and drones are also involved in the blockade. US Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, said Friday that 19 vessels have turned around to comply with blockade restrictions since it began on Monday.

The US set up the blockade amid a tenuous ceasefire between the US and Iran, which was reached after more than a month of war. US military leaders have asserted that American forces remain poised to resume combat operations should the negotiations fail.

The two-week ceasefire is set to expire on Wednesday, and the status of talks between Iran and the US is precarious.

Three years have passed since the summer everyone switched from Filas to Sambas. And so far, it looks like the slim sneaker trend is here to stay. I personally find them much more practical than dad shoes, and easy to collect in their colorful shades of suede.

The Adidas Sambas debuted in 1949 and were originally designed for soccer players. These days, the ubiquitous sneakers can be spotted on both the preppy and the punk, thanks to their comfortable, versatile design.

At the peak of the Sambas hype, I considered investing in a pair myself. But, I didn't want to dress like a carbon copy of everyone else. So I decided to explore similar sporty-chic styles — here are the best alternatives to Adidas Sambas I've found, including a handful worn by our style editors.

For more of the top trendy sneakers we've tested, see our guide to the best retro sneakers.

Gola Viper Leather Sneakers

White sneakers are a staple in my everyday wardrobe, whether I'm wearing a dress or athleisure, so I was excited to try some Gola sneakers. The Vipers are a high-quality leather alternatives to Sambas, which offer a similar suede T-toe and a translucent gum sole. After removing them from the box, I was immediately impressed with their sturdy yet flexible feel. They felt comfortable on the first wear.

Although they look equally good with leggings or a sundress, my favorite styling choice for these shoes is to have them peeking out from underneath a pair of wide-leg slacks. They add a sporty touch, yet still manage to look polished. These fit true to size. They look good with various sock lengths, but I found them most comfortable with calf-length socks since the tongue of the shoe rubbed against my ankle a bit when I wore them with short socks.

Bared Footwear Amakihi

Bared Footwear is one of our favorite shoe brands here on the Reviews team. I've tried their strappy heels, lug-soled loafers, and knee-high boots, and somehow each pair is more comfortable than the last. They're more expensive, but that's because this brand employs podiatrists to design its signature biomechanical footbeds.

Unlike thin, flat-soled Sambas, the Amakihi sneakers have substantial arch support, a padded forefoot area to ease metatarsal pain, cushioned heel cups to absorb shock, and a "cuboid notch" — AKA, a custom orthotic modification that helps with stability.

On top of all this, you get a"Fit Kit" (so don't throw it out with the packaging!), which includes two sets of padded footbeds in case they feel too narrow or too wide. If you're going to walk all day but don't want your sneakers to read as "walking shoes," you'll be glad you splurged on this Bared pair. Just remember this brand is based in Australia, so shipping may take longer than usual.

Larroudé Stella Sneaker

The Stellas are Larroudé's very first pair of sneakers, and a big departure from the brand's somewhat fanciful design language. The Stellas have a luxury-grade aesthetic, yet are still much more affordable than those from Chloé or Loewe. As a bonus, each pair comes with two sets of laces for a more customizable look.

Alo Sunset Sneaker

I'll admit, I was first clued into Alo's new Sunset Sneakers because I saw that Kendall Jenner is attached to their debut and felt curious as to why the brand keeps putting out more colorways (they're now up to seven). Even more curious is the yoga apparel brand's new foray into footwear and how it'll compare to Lululemon's attempts.

These have an edge over Sambas because their raised foam insoles offer better cushioning than a completely flat sneaker. They run small and have a narrow toe box, so the brand recommends ordering a half size up.

New Balance RC42

New Balance may have perfected the chunky dad sneaker, but the RC42 showcases the versatility of the brand's design language. This plimsoll mixes suede and leather for a multidimensional look.

Reviewers note that these tend to run about a half size small, so round up if you plan to wear these with athletic socks. If you prefer a no-show sock, their padded heel collars and tabs will make them easier to break in blister-free.

Coolway Kizuna Sneakers

Coolway's Kizuna sneakers are designed in Spain and take clear design notes from the Sambas. However, the suede uppers come in a notable amount of pastel shades, which will complement any light-wash jeans you wear them with. They come in unisex European sizing, so be sure to compare the brand's size guide with your foot measurements.

Veja Volley Sneakers

The organic leather that makes up these stylish Veja kicks is super soft and pliable, although they also come in canvas and suede versions. Additional materials include a bio-based E.V.A. from sugar cane, recycled rubber, and recycled polyester. Whether you prefer a lime green leather pair with lilac contrast or a camel-colored suede with black leather details, these are sure to be the focal point of your outfit.

Greats The Charlie

These are probably my most-worn sneakers, and this is coming from someone with a closet that's practically brimming with them. I love that the Charlies carry the aesthetic impact of a pair of Sambas or Gazelles, but also have a quiet luxury thing about them. While folks with a high arch may want to add a pair of inserts to these, I find them to be pretty comfortable as-is for walking around all day. They do take a solid three to five wears to break in, but once you've gotten the leather to mold to your feet a little, you'll never want to take these off. — Sally Kaplan, executive editor

Seavees Clipper Sneaker

Seavees' leather-and-suede design with a memory foam footbed is crafted with recycled materials in the sport mesh lining, cotton insole cover, polyester laces, and rubber outsole. A fun detail: The shoe (named after the Bay Area Clippers soccer team from the 1960s) has a grippy bottom with a colorful terrazzo-like design.

Naghedi Milan Sneaker

I'd never tried neoprene shoes before trying Naghedi's pointed toe flats, but they somehow made its lightweight, scuba-like texture look and feel luxe. They've done the same here with their debut sneaker, a slim, flexible almond-toe designed with a suede trim and natural rubber sole that's perfect for spring.

Sorel Ona Drift

Sorel is probably known best for its chunky silhouettes and rugged winter boots for men and women, so this low-profile gum-sole shoe is a sign the brand has noted where sneaker trends are heading. The Ona Drift sneakers are made with suede uppers and come with Ortholite insoles for an ideal weekend style.

Puma Palermo Sneakers

These Pumas offer comfort and style, and they're roomy enough for people with wider feet. The retro-inspired sneakers have a low profile, leather upper, and a rubber sole. Another point to consider: Puma has received the Fair Labor Association accreditation for upholding fair labor standards throughout its supply chains and improving working conditions.

Alohas Tb.490 Rife Sneaker

If you prefer a bright statement sneaker, consider Alohas' low-top leather style. It's available in dozens of vibrant hues like orange, pink, and lime, alongside neutrals in cream and ivory — and of recently, some fresh new colorways. Exposed stitching, perforated details, and contrast accents up the style factor, while the rubber sole keeps them comfy.

Read our full Alohas review.

Beckett Simonon Morgen Trainers

Beckett Simonon shoes are made-to-order, eliminating unsold inventory. The brand also takes pride in creating a favorable work environment for its employees and using the highest quality leather.

The Morgen Trainers feature a full-grain leather outer with water-repellent suede detailing. Their Vachetta leather lining is temperature-regulating, moisture-absorbing, odor-controlling, and breathable to keep feet feeling fresh and comfortable. The rubber sole is strong yet flexible and water-resistant.

Naturalizer Medina

Naturalizer is one of our favorite sources of comfortable women's dress shoes. Its Medina sneakers stand out because several colorways come in narrow, wide and extra wide sizes, with a contoured footbed and cushioned heel cups. So if you've ever felt too squeezed in or unsupported by Sambas, you now have your solution.

Everlane The Tread-Bare Sneaker

Producing less CO₂ than a single cheeseburger, Everlane's version of a plimsoll is the eco-conscious label's lowest-impact sneaker yet. The recycled cotton canvas shoe has a natural latex rubber outsole and recycled trims, giving it a conveniently lightweight design and a barely-there feel.

It's available in a goes-with-anything off-white and a colorful version with blue and red accents. Try swapping in your own laces or charms to make your plimsolls really pop.

Adidas SL72

If totally flat sneakers are too taxing on your feet, consider Adidas' SL 72 style. They look similar to the Sambas but with a slightly raised heel, which can help reduce pressure and alleviate pain. The textile and leather shoe with a rubber outsole comes in 16 unique colorways, including a patterned burgundy option inspired by ornate carpets.

Nike Killshot 2

These lightweight leather sneakers with suede accents soften and gain a vintage look with each wear. The rubber gum sole adds traction and a retro look. They're great if you want a subtle pop of color — like a fuchsia Nike logo — without an entirely colorful shoe. Customers report they run a bit narrow, though, so they may not be the best fit for people with wide feet.

Dolce Vita Notice Sneakers

Dolce Vita generally offers a wide variety of colors and patterns in their shoes, and these suede sneakers are no exception. They come in 20 colorways including an icy blue suede with white accents, a leopard-print calf hair version with sparkling silver details, and a sunny yellow. Customers appreciate that these shoes can be dressed up or down, although they run slightly narrow.

Oncept Essex Sneakers

If you're need a pair of Sambas alternatives to feature in your next vacation post, try packing these as your lightweight, wear-anywhere sneakers.

"The Essex sneakers are like a cool, more obscure version of the Nike Cortezes. I keep them by my doorway so I can slip them on anytime I walk to the bodega. They're so comfy and light, and they go with everything," writes senior associate style editor Gabrielle Chase. "The insides are so plush that I can even wear them without socks. I also love their tube laces — it's a little detail that makes them a bit more unique."

They have a similar fit to ballet flats, with a slim footbed and tapered toe box. Even better, they're made with recycled materials featured in their durable rubber outsoles and silky soft Tencel-based lining.

Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66 SD

The classic shoe (beloved for its pliable leather and thin, bendable sole that's great for athletes) was recently reinvented with an upgraded design. The new Mexico 66 SD features a refined and more comfortable silhouette while delivering the same sporty-chic style as its predecessor, the Mexico 66. Choose from 14 colorful and muted hues.

Cole Haan Women's GrandPrø Breakaway Sneakers

A quilted design elevates these leather kicks, available in five colorways including a metallic silver. The Breakaways offer lots of comfort, too, thanks to a cushy, supportive footbed. If you have a wide foot, consider sizing up for a more comfortable fit.

Sam Edelman Talia Velcro Sneaker

A velcro closure helps differentiate these sneaks from Sambas and makes putting them on effortless. The gummy Talia sneakers are crafted from leather and synthetic materials with a rounded toe and contrast detailing. Customers report a comfortable fit, a soft terry-cloth fabric interior, and true sizing.

Rothy’s The Lace Up Sneaker

Recognizable by the signature blue stitching on the heel, Rothy's sustainable footwear utilizes a knit material that's crafted from recycled plastic water bottles. Plus, the insoles contain recycled foam, the rubber soles are carbon-free, the adhesives are non-toxic and vegan, and the brand uses biodegradable post-consumer recycled materials for its packaging. When I tested the brand's Lace Up Sneaker, I was impressed by the super comfortable knit fabric with no break-in period. They run a little narrow so I recommend sizing up in the cushy kicks.

RF Room of Fashion Casual Low Top Sneakers

If you're looking for a budget-friendly alternative to Adidas Sambas, these 100% synthetic shoes are less than half the price. The Casual Low Top Sneakers come in nine colors, including metallic gold and a two-tone wine red. Amazon customers say the soles are well-made and the shoes feel comfortable and cushioned.

• Oil prices surged again on Monday after peace talks between the US and Iran stalled.
• President Trump said the negotiations would resume, but Iran said it would not participate.
• Stocks edged back from records to start the week.

Oil prices jumped and stocks edged back from record levels on Monday after a second round of peace talks between the US and Iran appeared to be on the verge of collapse before they even began.

Brent rose 5% to $90.09, and West Texas Intermediate jumped 6% to $88.55.

Tensions were running high again after a strong relief rally on Friday brought stocks to all-time highs, sparked by Iran's statement that the Strait of Hormuz was "completely open."

Friday's big jump helped the S&P 500 close above 7,100 for the first time, just days after the benchmark achieved its first close above 7,000. The rally also pushed the Nasdaq Composite to a 13-day winning streak, its longest since 1992.

Major US indexes dipped to start the week, while bond yields were close to flat.

Here's where major indexes stood at the 4 p.m. ET closing bell:

S&P 500: 7,109.15, down 0.24%

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 49,442.69, down 0.01% (-4.74 points)

Nasdaq Composite: 24,404.393, down 0.26%

President Donald Trump revealed on Sunday that a US Navy destroyer had attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that tried to pass a US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

"The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel. The TOUSKA is under U.S. Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what's on board!"

Oil costs have skyrocketed worldwide since the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February. Iran retaliated by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean and serves as a key shipping channel for oil and liquefied natural gas.

Crude prices had moderated in recent weeks, falling more than 20% from highs through Friday on renewed optimism for a peace deal.

But the continued closure of the strait has forced several countries to enact energy-saving tactics as prices remain high. The Philippines, for example, implemented a four-day workweek for government employees. In the US, the national average price for a gallon of regular gas surpassed $4 in March, the first time that's happened since August 2022. Additionally, rising jet fuel costs have forced some airlines to cancel flights and increase customer fees.

"My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan — They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations," Trump wrote in a Truth Social Post on Sunday.

"We're offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it, because if they don't, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran."

However, Iran said hours later that it would not participate in the second round of negotiations with the US.

"Iran stated that its absence from the second round of talks stems from what it called Washington's excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire," IRNA, the country's official news agency, posted in an X post on Sunday.

• A Nike ad featuring the line "Walkers tolerated" has sparked backlash within the running community.
• The sportswear giant reportedly removed the ad from a Boston store ahead of the Boston Marathon.
• Nike's focus on runners is part of the sports-focused strategy under CEO Elliott Hill.

A cheeky Nike ad fell flat with runners ahead of the Boston Marathon.

Days before Monday's race, Nike pulled a marketing campaign that made a bold statement in the window of its Newbury Street store in Boston. The red sign with big black letters read "Runners welcome. Walkers tolerated."

It sparked a wave of displeasure among some in the running community, a group Nike has been working to strengthen its relationship with as it races to get its business back on track. Some runners called out the company on social media for the blunder.

"Let's not shame people for their pace," TikToker and running influencer Andy Glaze said in a video on Friday.

The sportswear giant had removed the ad from the store window by Thursday, Women's Wear Daily reported, though the message continued to spread on social media.

"In a world with so much negativity, to me, this kind of mentality is harmful," another running influencer, Elizabeth Ropp, said in an Instagram post on Friday.

Nike said in a statement published by Runner's World that one of its signs designed to encourage runners in Boston during race week "missed the mark" and was taken down. "We'll use this moment to do better and continue showing up for all runners," the statement said.

Runners have been a big part of Nike's turnaround strategy since CEO Elliott Hill took over in 2024. Hill said Nike's running business grew revenue by 20% during its most recent quarter that ended in February, and "has created the road map for other sports to follow."

Nike's comeback plan, unveiled in March 2025, refocuses the company on sports like running and basketball. However, a year into the effort, Hill told investors in a March 2026 earnings call that the plan was taking longer than expected to deliver.

"While our comeback is taking longer than we would like, we are confident we are on the right path," Hill said.

Nike's stock is down about 18% from a year ago, while the S&P 500 index has risen about 38%.

The marketing misstep is a high-profile stumble in a part of the business that until now has been a much-needed bright spot for Nike.

Organic mattresses promise cleaner materials and fewer questionable chemicals — but not every mattress labeled "natural" or "eco-friendly" meets rigorous certification standards. The organic models tend to rely on certified cotton, wool, latex, and steel coils rather than polyurethane foam or fiberglass fire barriers.

To find the best organic mattresses, we focused on testing brands with meaningful third-party certifications such as GOTS, GOLS, Greenguard Gold, and OEKO-TEX. We also considered construction type — from fully latex designs to coil-forward innerspring builds — and then evaluated them according to the most important performance factors that we look at in the best mattresses including support, pressure relief, motion isolation, cooling, and durability.

Our top pick, the Birch Natural Mattress, strikes the best balance of comfort, certifications, and value with a cost-effective latex hybrid design. But we also included standout options for shoppers seeking a cooling all-latex mattress, a coil-based innerspring model, and an entry-level option for budget-minded shoppers.

Learn more about how Business Insider Reviews tests and reviews home products.

Our best organic mattress recommendations, tested and reviewed

Best overall: Birch Natural Mattress by Helix — See at Birch

Best budget: Awara Natural Hybrid Mattress — See at Awara

Best for firmness options: Avocado Green Mattress — See at Avocado

Best for couples: Naturepedic EOS Classic Organic Mattress — See at Naturepedic

Best for side sleepers: WinkBeds EcoCloud Hybrid Mattress — See at WinkBeds

Best latex: PlushBeds Botanical Bliss Organic Latex Mattress — See at PlushBeds

Best innerspring: Parachute Eco Mattress — See at Parachute

Best luxury: Essentia Classic REM5 Organic Mattress — See at Essentia

How to choose the right organic mattress for you

What is an organic mattress?

Unlike food, there's no single federal law that defines an "organic mattress," so it's important to be wary of greenwashing. The terms organic, natural, and non-toxic aren't interchangeable, either. In most cases, "organic" refers to specific materials — like cotton, wool, or latex — that are certified by third parties such as GOTS or GOLS, which require at least 95% certified organic content and regulated manufacturing standards.

"Natural" is largely unregulated, while "non-toxic" typically refers to low chemical emissions, often verified by certifications like GREENGUARD Gold. Because mattresses contain multiple components including coils, fabrics, and adhesives, a bed may include organic materials without being fully organic as a finished product.

For the purpose of this guide, we considered organic mattresses that use organic latex, wool, and cotton and disregarded mattresses that use memory foam, as it's made of chemicals that can emit VOCs that may cause respiratory distress, though the science is still out on that. For more details, check out the what to look for and FAQ sections below.

Best overall

Certified organic materials meet sturdy, no-sink support. The Birch Natural Mattress by Helix earns our top spot because it balances verified certifications with dependable comfort. It carries GREENGUARD Gold and Fair Trade certifications and is made in the USA. In testing, it felt supportive, responsive, and durable — not overly plush, but stable and well-constructed.

Layered with natural materials that actually matter. Three layers of wool provide cushioning, moisture-wicking, and act as a natural flame retardant. Underneath is GOLS-certified Talalay latex for pressure relief, followed by individually wrapped pocketed coils that enhance motion isolation and reinforce the edges. The cover is made with GOTS-certified organic cotton.

Firm support that favors back and stomach sleepers. The Birch has a distinctly firm feel, which kept our spines aligned during back and stomach sleeping. Side sleepers may want to add the Plush Organic Mattress Topper, which noticeably softens the surface and relieves pressure at the shoulders and hips. With the topper added, the mattress felt more versatile. Birch also offers Luxe and Elite versions for those seeking plusher relief and enhanced breathability additional latex layers and micro-coil layers respectively.

A strong long-term option with a small return caveat. One long-term tester — a thin, 6-foot-5 teen — preferred the mattress with the topper and said it helped ease growing pains, though they reported some overheating on hot summer nights. Birch offers a 120-night sleep trial, but returns come with a $99 removal fee. The company says returned mattresses are donated, recycled, or repurposed whenever possible.

Read our Birch Natural Mattress Review.

Best budget

A rare certified find under four figures. Truly certified organic mattresses are almost impossible to find under $500, but the Awara Natural Hybrid stands out as the best organic mattress under $1,000. It's GREENGUARD Gold certified — a meaningful distinction at this price — making it one of the more affordable ways to get verified low-emissions materials without jumping into luxury-tier pricing.

• See our guide to the best mattresses under $1,000

Comfortable, breathable, and easy to sleep on. In testing, the medium-firm Awara felt most supportive for stomach sleeping, though it worked well in every position. I didn't experience soreness during the two-week testing period, and the mattress dissipated heat effectively, preventing overheating — something not all latex hybrids manage well.

GOLS and FSC-certified latex add responsive support. A quilted cover made with organic New Zealand wool and rayon adds subtle cushioning and moisture regulation. Beneath that is two inches of GOLS- and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified Dunlop latex for a buoyant, body-contouring feel, followed by individually wrapped pocket springs that reinforce durability. For double the cushioning, the Premier incorporates an additional two inches of latex into a Eurotop, and still stays close to the $1,000 value threshold.

Generous policies make it a low-risk buy. Motion isolation and edge support were middle-of-the-pack, though it nearly passed our motion transfer test and offered satisfying bounce. Awara backs the mattress with a 365-night trial and a forever warranty. Returns appear straightforward, with the company attempting local donation before disposal.

Read our review of the Awara Premier Luxury Natural Hybrid Mattress review.

Best for firmness options

Five firmness levels make this one of the most versatile organic picks. The Avocado Green Mattress comes in Firm, Medium, and Plush, and has since expanded even deeper on the firmness spectrum, launching extra-firm and ultra-plush models. This gives shoppers more flexibility than most organic competitors. However, the cost difference between the firm and plush options can be over $1,000, pushing a mid-range option into luxury territory. The medium we tested is the perfect middle ground, with naturally responsive latex that is especially comfortable for people who rotate between stomach, back, and side sleeping.

Backed by multiple third-party certifications. Avocado touts itself as having the most certifications, and comparing the most popular certifications, well Avocado hits every single one, including Made Safe, EWG, Greenguard Gold, Oeko-Tex Standard, and Climate Neutral certifications. Mattress certification can get pricey, but it gives you peace of mind that the mattresses meets certain safety, ethical, and quality standards as suggested by independent parties and helps reduce false claims. Avocado uses a GOTS-certified organic cotton over and Responsible Wool Standard-certified wool for moisture-wicking, breathability, and natural fire resistance. Beneath that is up to six inches of eco-Institut- and GOLS-certified organic Dunlop latex (or Talalay latex for the ultra-plush).

Responsive latex coupled with zoned support delivers buoyant pressure relief. The latex comfort layer contoured to my body without creating sinkage, while zoned pocketed coils supported spinal alignment. As a side sleeper who frequently shifts positions, I felt comfortable on the Medium model. The mattress also slept noticeably cool. However, while the bounce is pronounced, motion isolation and edge support were only average.

A generous trial — with notable conditions. Avocado offers a one-year home trial, but returns come with a $99 fee plus shipping deductions. The mattress must remain in donatable condition with its law tag intact and be used with a mattress protector. Avocado says these requirements help it donate about 90% of returned beds to nonprofits.

Best for couples

Dual firmness makes compromise optional. The Naturepedic EOS Classic Organic Mattress lets each partner choose their own firmness level, starting from queen sizes and larger. You can select from five options per side — a rare feature — making it ideal for couples with different sleep preferences. Unlike Avocado however, the firmness difference does not affect cost, as Avocado's firmness is dictated by increased amounts of latex while Naturepedic's relies on composition.

Stacked with meaningful certifications and customizable layers. The EOS Classic carries GOTS, GOLS, Oeko-Tex Standard 100 Class 1, Environmental Working Group (EWG), MADE SAFE, and GREENGUARD Gold certifications. It features a quilted layer of organic wool and cotton over an organic latex comfort layer that contours without excessive sink. The support core uses glueless individually wrapped coils with reinforced edges, all encased in organic cotton. Latex-free and vegan (wool-free) versions are also available.

Adjustable construction extends its lifespan. Setup is more involved than most mattresses, and arrives in multiple boxes. Naturepedic also offers in home set-up starting at $299. The modular design allows you to swap comfort layers as your needs change. During testing, the plush and medium configurations delivered excellent pressure relief, especially for side sleeping, while maintaining strong spinal alignment and standout edge support.

Strong motion control with one cooling drawback. Motion isolation was above average; I could only faintly detect movement when my partner shifted positions. However, the mattress tended to retain heat, so hot sleepers may want cooling products. Naturepedic includes a 100-night trial and offers free comfort-layer exchanges during that period, making fine-tuning relatively low risk.

Best for side sleepers

Pressure relief where side sleepers need it most. Many latex hybrid mattresses default to a medium-firm feel that best suits back and stomach sleepers. Side sleepers looking to try latex will appreciate the medium feel provided by the WinkBeds EcoCloud. It delivers excellent spinal alignment and cushioning for side sleepers, which is why it's our top pick among the best mattresses for side sleepers. It contours at the shoulders and hips without excessive sink, though it remains supportive enough for petite-to-average back and stomach sleepers.

Responsive latex over zoned, reinforced coils. The Rainforest Alliance-certified EcoCloud is made in the US and uses OEKO-TEX-certified textiles. A buoyant latex comfort layer adds bounce and adaptive support, while individually wrapped pocket springs — made of recycled steel — provide zoned reinforcement for proper alignment. Extra perimeter coils create standout edge support, and the cover combines GOTS-certified cotton with breathable wool.

Comfortable cushioning with noticeable heat retention. I slept on the EcoCloud longer than most test models and appreciated how well it relieved pressure during side sleeping, especially after long runs. The balance of support and contouring helped me fall asleep quickly. However, it was one of the warmer mattresses I tested, trapping heat and taking time to cool down. Couples should appreciate the sturdy perimeter and above-average motion isolation, which help maximize usable sleep surface.

Best latex

A fully latex build with customizable firmness and height. The PlushBeds Botanical Bliss stands out for its entirely latex construction — no coils, no memory foam — making it one of the purest all-latex organic mattresses we tested. It's available in 9-, 10-, and 12-inch profiles, with Medium and Medium-Firm options, and couples can choose split firmness in queen sizes and larger.

Certified organic materials from cover to core. The top three layers are GOTS-certified organic, including a breathable circular-knit cotton cover, a moisture-wicking wool layer that acts as a natural flame barrier, and a stabilizing cotton panel. Beneath that are two substantial latex layers: an eco-Institut-certified comfort layer for contouring support and a GOLS-certified Dunlop latex base for durability. The mattress is also GREENGUARD Gold certified.

Naturally cool and responsive without coils. In our cooling tests — which use infrared thermometer readings before and after lying down — the Botanical Bliss was one of the best at maintaining a stable surface temperature. It didn't need to dissipate much heat because it never trapped much to begin with, making it the coolest organic mattresses I tested. The latex provided buoyant pressure relief with excellent bounce. The Medium I tested felt closer to medium-firm, working well for stomach sleeping. These attributes earned the PlushBeds spots in or guides to best cooling mattress and the best mattresses for stomach sleepers.

Strong performance with minor edge and return caveats. Motion isolation was solid, though it narrowly failed our bowling ball test, and edge support was better when lying close to the edge than sitting upright. Due to the solid latex construction, the bed is very heavy and can be cumbersome to set up or move. The brand frequently offers free-home set up during sale periods on orders over $2,000, which easily applies to 10-inch queen size mattresses and larger. PlushBeds also offers full refunds during the trial period, but returns require coordinating a donation or drop-off unless you choose the $149 removal fee.

Best innerspring

An organic innerspring mattress with no latex or foam. If you prefer the traditional feel of springs — or simply don't like latex — the Parachute Eco Mattress is a rare latex-free organic option. It's constructed with steel coils and wool sourced from the Wool Integrity program.

Layered coils provide structure and pressure relief. The breathable organic cotton cover sits over two layers of wool for temperature regulation and padding. Beneath that are three layers of steel microcoils designed to enhance motion isolation and contouring. A wool fire barrier separates the microcoils from the zoned pocketed coil base, which reinforces spinal alignment through firmer support in the middle third.

Supportive and surprisingly comfortable for side sleeping. Business Insider contributor Kylie Joyner tested the medium-firm model and found it could suit the spectrum of side, back, and stomach sleeping. She experienced strong pressure relief and didn't wake with stiffness or soreness. Motion isolation also performed well, limiting disruptions from a partner's movements.

Simple policies and straightforward returns. Parachute offers a 100-night sleep trial with full refunds. Returned mattresses are donated or recycled locally.

Read our full Parachute Mattress review.

Best luxury

A high-end organic mattress built around a health-first philosophy. The Essentia Classic REM5 Active stands apart from most organic hybrids by focusing heavily on non-toxic materials and its fully latex foam construction. The company centers around eight sleep elements, with the Rem5 achieving up to seven of them including allergy-friendly, certified mold protection, and active cooling. Both the brand's factory and the mattress itself are GOLS-certified organic, and the removable cover is made of breathable organic cotton with a Kevlar liner for fire resistance. The intentional choice to avoid wool to minimize opportunities for dust mites makes the mattress vegan, as well.

Fully latex construction with engineered pressure relief. The REM5 uses three layers of organic latex foam rather than coils. The top layer is designed for contouring pressure relief with activated quartz, which the brand says supports cooling. A transitional latex layer balances cushioning and support, while the dense base layer reinforces durability and spinal alignment.

Excellent motion isolation with a plush, foam-forward feel. During testing, I gravitated toward side sleeping and found the pressure relief especially soothing. The mattress performed exceptionally well in motion isolation, easily passing our bowling ball test. It also stayed relatively cool for an all-foam model. Edge support, however, was weaker than most hybrid competitors.

Premium pricing with notable return costs. Essentia offers a 120-night trial, but returns come with a 9% fee — close to $400 at this price point. An optional $660 EMF protection foam upgrade is available, though evidence around EMF harm and the effectiveness of this feature remains unclear. Returned mattresses are donated or recycled when possible.

What else we tested

• Earthfoam Organic Mattress: This eight-inch all-foam mattress is half the price of Plushbeds. It's made from what the brand refers to as natural Sri Lankan rubber, which is essentially GOLS-certified Latex. It sleeps cool and helped our tester who has a history of back pain, with a buoyant, medium-firm feel. Read our Earthfoam review.
• Saatva Zenhaven Mattress: The Zenhaven Latex Mattress features zoned support for optimal spinal alignment and an array of organic certifications. It is dual-sided for different feels — Luxury Plush and Gentle Firm — though our mattress expert found both sides were firmer than average. Also, it's a heavy mattress, so we don't imagine you'll actually be flipping it over all that often. Read our Saatva Zenhaven review.
• My Green Mattress Kiwi: This economically priced organic latex hybrid is backed by strong verified credentials and it has a lengthy one-year trial. However, temperature regulation was inconsistent, and edge support left a lot to be desired. Read our My Green Mattress Kiwi review.
• Boll & Branch The Mattress: Boll & Branch's sole mattress is made with an emphasis on natural materials but falls short on verified certifications. It features zoned support, slept cool and had decent motion isolation. Read our Boll & Branch Mattress review.

Best organic mattresses, compared

What to look for in an organic mattress

Our guide on choosing a mattress shares basic buying advice, like what bed is best for your body and sleep position and what size you should buy. This section will focus on what to look for in the best organic mattresses. 

Certifications 

Certifications are the most reliable way to verify a brand's organic claims. Third-party certifications confirm that specific materials meet defined standards for organic sourcing, chemical safety, emissions, and manufacturing practices. Without them, it's difficult to know whether a mattress truly avoids synthetic foams, fiberglass fire barriers, or harmful chemical residues.

The GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) and GOLS (Global Organic Latex Standard) are the leading certifications for organic mattresses. A mattress must be made of at least 95 percent certified organic materials for GOTS certification. For GOLS, it must be 95 percent organic latex.

OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and Greenguard Gold are good certifications to look for as they show the materials aren't made with harmful chemicals that may cause health issues or affect indoor air quality and apply to a wide range of products, not just organic materials.

Other common certifications include:

• eco-Institut: Mainly certifies latex is free from toxic chemicals.
• Environmental Working Group: EWG verification for mattresses ensures that the entirety of the mattress meets strict standards for health, indicating it avoids many concerning chemicals and is free from EWG's "unacceptable" ingredients, aiming to be "non-toxic" by avoiding known carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, and allergens.
• Fair Trade Certified: This standard ensures materials are ethically sourced and workers are paid sufficiently.
• Forest Stewardship Council: Look for this certification if you want to ensure that materials like latex come from responsibly managed forests.
• Made Safe: This certification ensures the entirety of a product is free from a wide range of banned substances known or suspected to harm human health, ecosystems or indoor air quality
• Rainforest Alliance: To get this certification, materials must be environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable.
• Responsible Wool Standard: This voluntary certification emphasizes animal welfare, environmental protection, and transparency.
• Wool Integrity: A certification that ensure wool products were grown in New Zealand and that the farms adhered to strict animal welfare standards. Each product is traceable back to the farm it was grown.
• CertiPUR-US: This is a certification for polyurethane foams that are free of harmful chemicals like formaldehyde and low VOC. Foams aren't organic, but it's still good to look for in non-organic beds. 

Organic mattress certification comparison

A look at common certifications. Certifications apply to specific materials within each mattress, not necessarily the entire finished product. Not all organic mattresses pursue every certification, and the absence of one does not automatically indicate lower quality.

Materials

"Organic textile fibers are grown without the use of synthetic chemicals or pesticides," said Bükra Kalaycı, Responsible, Standard Development and Implementation (Ecology) at Global Standard, which manages GOTS. "Organic mattresses typically use materials such as cotton, wool, and latex." Organic mattresses don't have classic polyurethane foam, as memory foam doesn't occur naturally. However, natural latex foams are popular organic materials, which comes from the sap of the rubber tree. Here's a breakdown of popular organic mattress materials:

Dunlop latex: This denser latex material is often used for support and durability in mattresses. It can also give the bed a firmer feel. Dunlop latex is made by pouring liquid latex into a mold and baking it in one step.

Talalay latex: Requires a more involved manufacturing process than Dunlop where the mold is vacuum-sealed, flash-frozen, and then baked. Talalay is usually softer and found in the comfort layers of a mattress. It's considered more breathable.

Cotton: Often used in organic mattress covers, cotton is breathable, hypoallergenic, and low maintenance.

Wool: Thanks to its flame-resistant properties, wool is a popular fire retardant in mattresses. It also breathes well and is anti-microbial. However, since it comes from sheep, it isn't vegan. 

Metal coils: Hybrid mattresses feature pocket springs made of metal, usually steel. Some manufacturers use recycled metal to make their coils. 

How we test organic mattresses

I sleep on mattresses for at least two weeks and put them through several objective tests to assess their edge support, comfort, cooling, and motion isolation.

Comfort: I've slept on over 100 mattresses, and based on my experience, I can tell how supportive, firm, spine-aligning, and pressure-relieving a mattress is. I also assess what sleep positions a mattress is best suited for. I track my sleep quality using a smartwatch and use an infrared thermometer to measure heat dissipation.

Motion isolation: When sleeping, you don't want your partner to jostle you awake. Mattresses with good motion isolation protect against this. I drop a bowling ball from 4 feet above the mattress so it lands 12 inches from an upright soda can. The can will stay upright on a bed with excellent motion isolation. I also measure the vibration intensity on the other side of the mattress using a vibrometer.

Edge support: You'll have trouble feeling comfortable on a bed with edges that sink significantly. Poor edge support also makes it unpleasant to sit on the side to put your shoes on, and getting into and out of bed becomes a hassle. I measure how much the edge sinks when I sit on it and see how far I can roll on the side before falling off.

Trial and warranty: The home trial is crucial because it lets you find out if the mattress is right for you by allowing you to sleep on it at home. I read the small print of return policies and warranties to look for loopholes, like restocking fees or return shipping charges. Also, I contacted the companies to find out what they do with returned mattresses, whether donating, recycling, or throwing them away.

Setup: I set up each mattress on my own, though you should probably have someone help you. I note if the bed comes with instructions or tools and if there's anything unusual or difficult about the process. I also rate how easy it is to maneuver since you may have to move your bed a few times over its lifetime. 

Environmental certifications: I narrowed down the list of prospective mattresses according to reputable third-party certifications like GOTS,  GOLS, OEKO-TEX Standard 100, and Greenguard Gold and took a close look at the materials. 

For more details, check out our article on how we test mattresses.

Organic mattress FAQs

What is the difference between an organic and natural mattress?

"While the terms 'organic' and 'natural' are often used interchangeably, this is wrong," said Kalaycı. "There is a clear distinction and well-established system behind organic. Organic mattresses are made from materials that are certified organic, meeting strict standards for organic production. On the other hand, natural mattresses may contain natural materials but are not necessarily certified organic, meaning their raw materials and industrial production may still contain some hazardous ingredients."

What is the best material for organic mattresses?

Latex is used in the majority of organic mattresses we've tested because it's naturally occurring and often sustainably produced. Wool and cotton are also popular materials. While metal isn't exactly organic, it's often found alongside organic materials in hybrid mattresses.

Are all latex mattresses organic? 

"Not all latex mattresses are organic," said Kalaycı. "Organic latex mattresses are specifically made from latex that has received organic certification at the source. While latex is a natural polymer derived from nature, the source may not necessarily hold an organic certification."

What is the difference between Talalay and Dunlop latex? 

The difference is in how the latex is processed. Dunlop is a less processed latex, denser, and often used as a supportive core foam in mattresses. Talalay requires more involved processing to make it softer. It's often used in the comfort layers of organic mattresses.

Are organic mattresses worth it?

Organic mattresses are valued for their potential health benefits for people sensitive to chemicals, eco-friendliness, and use of sustainable materials and manufacturing processes. However, they are usually more expensive, costing $600 to $700 more than traditional hybrid (generally around $1,500) and foam mattresses (averaging about $1,100). This added cost may be worth it if you value sustainable materials free of harsh chemicals.

Who should buy an organic mattress?

People with allergies and chemical sensitivities will most benefit from choosing an organic mattress. Many common triggers for skin reactions and respiratory distress found in traditional mattresses are absent in organic models.

Certified organic mattresses usually involve less energy to manufacture and use sustainable farming practices, so they're the smart choice for environmental advocates who want to reduce their carbon footprint.

Since developing bodies are more vulnerable to chemical exposure, parents of young children should consider organic beds. Pregnant women can also minimize potential exposure to concerning compounds when choosing organic.

Do organic mattresses contain fiberglass?

Certified organic mattresses do not contain fiberglass. Instead of using fiberglass as a fire barrier — which is common in many budget foam mattresses — organic brands typically rely on natural flame-resistant materials like wool, which is naturally flame resistant and meet federal flammability standards without synthetic materials. Certifications such as GOTS often prohibit the use of fiberglass in certified components.

Some brands may also use plant-based fibers, silica-infused fabric, or Kevlar liners for fire protection, but certified organic mattresses typically rely on wool to stay compliant.

A ceasefire between the US and Iran is set to expire on Wednesday. Both sides have already accused each other of breaking it.

• I grew up going to a big family reunion every year.
• It's always felt like a celebration, and as my life changed, attending was a familiar comfort.
• Now, I bring my two sons, and I've realized what an impact the tradition has had on my life.

For as long as I can remember, we spent the Saturday before Father's Day with our extended family nearby at my cousin's home outside Philadelphia, swimming, dancing to live music, and immersing ourselves in the company of our cousins. Some traveled from as far as California, and we'd mingle with our relatives from 2 p.m. until dusk. It was magical — and yet so ordinary in my youthful mind.

As a child, I knew I was part of a vibrant gathering — an occasion akin to a wedding or Bat Mitzvah — but it wasn't until I became a mother that I understood the impact these gatherings had on my life.

It's always been an unforgettable day

My great-great-grandmother, Sadie, had 10 children, including my great-grandmother, and each went on to have their own family. When our reunions began in the mid 80s, these 10 siblings were the matriarchs and patriarchs of our family. They'd gather on the patio, sharing stories and kissing every child until lipstick on the cheek became the family trend. And while the little girl in me understood this to be a vivacious family celebration, I couldn't yet comprehend how these celebratory summer days would truly shape me.

During my elementary years, these gatherings felt universal; they were woven into my childhood, written into our calendar like a holiday. With cousins around my age, we swam until our fingertips wrinkled. We devoured hot dogs and soft pretzels to hold us over until dinner before visiting the frogs in the pond and hitting a ball or two on the tennis court. My brother and I were three years apart, but there, I bonded with cousins born within months of me.

We have a talent show, a magic show, and eat delicious food

As we buoyantly meandered the grounds, the adults emitted a sense of appreciation through infectious smiles, so radiant even the children noticed. In the early 90s, the Philadelphia Mummers — a group in costume that sing and dance during the Philadelphia New Year's parade — marched into our family reunion as if we were standing on South Broad Street on January 1st. A talent show allowed the children to display our various instrumental skills, singing voices, and even juggling proficiency. And each year we demonstrated our progress.

A professional magic show usually separated the afternoon from the evening, but as a child, it all morphed into another celebration in the collection of many, leaving a permanent feeling of belonging, one I couldn't comprehend at the time.

As daylight dwindled, we sat at tables beneath the melting sun, eating crabcakes, grilled shrimp, corn salad, sauteed vegetables, and filet. We devoured ice cream cookie sandwiches for dessert as lightning bugs lit up the sky while sharing family stories and remembering those we missed. Family shirts were printed numerous times; they still linger in the bottom of my drawers, a reminder that I am part of a village.

While we grew physically and intellectually, these grounds remained unchanged, and each time we returned, so did a sense of wonder that children often lose as they approach their teen years.

As my life changed, this tradition was a comfort for me

When I was in college, my life shimmied to a small town three hours away, and summers at home were a welcomed comfort. Our family reunion became a connection to my childhood, a reminder that while much of life changes, few precious things remain the same. As my responsibilities increased and adulthood grew closer, transitions became overwhelming.

But there was always that one day in June where I'd reconnect with a piece of my youth, swimming in the pool, visiting the frogs, and mingling on the grounds that held a chapter of my childhood. Being in a familiar location with family once again, as memories from years passed flooded my brain, became my comfort amid so much adjustment.

Bringing my sons has shown me the impact the reunion has had on my life

Now, my two boys, 14 and 11, are growing up with the same tradition, and I see myself in them as they swim with their cousins, jumping from the very diving board I stood on not long ago. I watch them laughing as they sit on the same hill I perched on as the magician pulls the ace of spades from the card deck. And for a moment, it's as if time has stood still. I return to the little girl who wandered those grounds year upon year, unknowingly building a sense of belonging. Only now, I've become one of the adults with an infectious smile.

This June is our 40th reunion, and I can't imagine a life without these gatherings. When my children go off to college, I hope this day remains their constant, providing balance in their ever-changing world. One day, they'll realize these gatherings are anything but ordinary — they are the days that stand out among the rest.

We love True Classic for closet essentials that fit just right, feel great, and don't break the bank. Tees, base layers, jackets, and basics are the brand's specialty, with multipacks that help you save and look better every day. With the right True classic promo code or coupon, you can potentially knock even more off your total at checkout.

Our editors have tested a wide range of True Classic clothing, and it consistently stands out for its flattering fit, durable construction, and soft, breathable fabrics. The Classic Polo 3-Pack remains a top pick in our roundup of the best men's polo shirts, and the True Classic Bomber Jacket earned a spot in our guide to the best men's bomber jackets. These are the kinds of elevated basics that quickly become regulars in your weekly rotation.

True Classic already offers strong value compared with brands in the same lane, but applying a True Classic promo code at checkout can bring prices down even further — especially during limited-time sales and bundle deals. To make shopping easier, we've rounded up the best True Classic deals and discount codes below.

Today's best True Classic discount codes

Previous True Classic discount codes

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You can find a full list of current markdowns on the "Clearance" page of True Classic's website at any time. As of the time of writing, the brand is running the following promotions.

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Check out more men's style deals in our roundups of the best Madewell coupons and Abercrombie promo codes.

US Central Command shared a video showing a US Navy destroyer firing at an Iranian cargo vessel in the Arabian Sea. The USS Spruance intercepted the ship after its crew refused repeated warnings to stop. After verbal warnings and the sounding of an alarm, the destroyer fired rounds onto the cargo ship with its MK 45 gun.

According to CENTCOM, US Marines now have custody of the ship. Iran confirmed the seizure of the vessel, and said it would retaliate "soon."

• Music marketing now includes agencies that use sock puppet accounts to post songs on TikTok.
• It sometimes makes it hard to determine what's organically popular and what's spreading online because of "clipping."
• A marketing agency promoted the songs of buzzy rock band Geese by flooding TikTok with clips, a new report says.

I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about how the internet works.

I can usually tell if a piece of content is "organic" or advertising. And yet, there's always the unknown unknowns: You might think you can always tell if someone has a bad toupee, but what about all the good ones that you didn't notice?

Yet, I feel more and more that we are living in a time of undetectable toupees on the internet. And even I have to admit that I am an easy mark these days.

Take the recent kerfluffle over a WIRED article about how a marketing agency promoted the songs of the buzzy rock band Geese by flooding TikTok with videos from accounts created by the agency, a tactic the agency's founders described in detail in a Billboard podcast interview. (The agency didn't return BI's request for comment.) This set off a lot of discussion about whether these strategies are just the latest form of marketing for the music industry, or some nefarious "psyop" (the consensus seems to be the former).

I am less concerned with music promotion than I am with the idea that, indeed, there is a lot of fake content floating around, and I am less and less equipped to accurately identify it when I come across it.

How 'clipping' makes it harder to tell what's authentic

A lot of this is the proliferation of "clipping" — paying people to post short clips of longer content, like the most interesting 30 seconds of a podcast interview or the craziest moment of an eight-hour livestream. Have you noticed clips of the looksmaxxer Clavicular all over your social feeds lately? Those aren't being posted by his official account — they're from clippers.

This new clipping economy also extends to music and traditional media like TV and movies, and it is increasingly hard to tell whether a clip you scroll past in your feed is part of a paid campaign.

For example, I looked at the Discord channel for a clipping agency, where various ad campaigns will offer money in exchange for views.

A stand-up comedy special being broadcast on a streamer was offering $65 per 100,000 TikTok views. A right-wing podcast was offering $150 per 100,000 views for clips made with its Rumble stream. A popular personal finance YouTuber was offering $75 per 100,000. That campaign had some instructions: "very simple, don't make [YouTuber] or the guest(s) look unnecessarily bad … let the content itself do the talking."

Putting out short clips from longer videos or streams is simply the current way of doing things, and the results are obvious. One analysis of the audience for TBPN, the tech news livestream that OpenAI just bought, showed that while the livestreams average only 7,000 viewers, the clips average 257,000 views. That's a big difference!

To be clear: Geese is a popular band that people like; Clavicular is a popular internet figure; TPBN is a popular news podcast — regardless of any clipping. You can't fake content people find appealing — people have to actually like it for this stuff to go viral and show up in your algorithms.

But still, we often mentally gauge the popularity of something by how often it pops up in our social feeds. And the fact that some of these videos are being boosted by forces other than pure fandom, well, that is clouding our perception a bit.

Over the last decade, we have honed our BS-detectors for certain kinds of advertising or marketing — the way an influencer tags a brand, or a celebrity wears a clothing label. But this is a new twist — something to wrap our heads around, and it's clearly effective marketing for now, perhaps precisely because we aren't good at detecting it (yet).

Of course, only an idiot would believe that everything they see online is authentic. You and I? We're not idiots! I'm giving us some grace here to admit we're getting fooled lately.

• Founded in 2015, StockX is an online marketplace for buying and selling sneakers, streetwear, watches, and designer handbags.
• The website acts as a middleman between buyers and sellers, making otherwise potentially shady resale market transactions safe and secure. StockX authenticates all products before they're sent to you, so you never have to worry about scammers and fake items.
• StockX also provides both buyers and sellers with usable data like current market value, number of items sold, and loss or gain on items. The information can be used to ensure you never overpay or undersell.
• As a shoe collector, I've been using StockX for a few years now, and it's the most convenient and fail-safe way to buy and sell sneakers and more.
• In addition to sneakers, StockX acts as a middle man for luxury watches, designer handbags, streetwear, and other collectibles. All products are authenticated by experts in their respective fields.

As a sneaker collector, I've been buying and selling sneakers online for a little over 10 years. Things have come a long way from sending postal money orders to people you met on forums with the hope they'll actually send you the shoes in return, or meeting up with strangers to do in-person transactions. But there are still many shady sellers, and fakes are getting even harder to point out.

Although I've never gotten the short end of the stick while navigating the murky waters of the online resale market, not everyone is so lucky. Now, with the help of a new startup called StockX, resale transactions are a lot safer — and in some instances, more affordable.

Found in 2015 by Josh Luber, StockX is a self-proclaimed "stock market of things." The website makes buying things like sneakers, streetwear, watches, and designer handbags safe and secure by acting as a middleman between you and the seller. I've been using StockX for a few years now and, in my opinion, it's the most seamless way to buy or sell sneakers in the online resale market.

Here's how it works as a buyer:

There are literally thousands of items to choose from on StockX. Once you find an item you're interested in, you can either buy it immediately for the current lowest asking price or submit a bid and wait for one of the many sellers with the same item to accept the offer. It's worth noting that StockX requires you to link to a payment method (PayPal or a credit/debit card) when placing bids. You'll only be charged if and when your bid is accepted. This is put in place to rid the marketplace of meaningless offers from flakers.

After your purchase is confirmed, the seller has two business days to ship your item out for professional authentication at StockX. I personally love that sellers are held accountable for timely shipping because nobody likes to wait a long time for items to arrive. Once your item arrives at StockX, it's marked with a green "verified authentic" tag and it's shipped out to you. You can track the status of your order (shipped by seller, authentication in progress, shipped to you, etc.) online.

As a buyer, you'll be able to keep track of current offers placed, pending purchases, and past purchases. Since it shows a collective amount of how much you've spent, you'll be less likely to spend your life savings on sneakers and streetwear.

Take a look at my history to see the breakdown of past purchases:

Here's how it works as a seller:

You have an item — let's say a luxury bag or a pair of sneakers — that you want to sell. Search the item on StockX and select the size you have. From there you, can sell it immediately for the highest current bid or submit an asking price and wait for someone to pay it. This feature is especially good if you have an item that you don't need to sell right away and believe it will appreciate in value over time.

Once someone purchases your item, StockX will email you a pre-paid shipping label and packing slip to include in the box. You'll have two business days to get the package sent out or StockX will charge you a small fee. Once StockX confirms that your item is authentic and in brand new condition for sneakers and streetwear or excellent pre-owned condition for watches and handbags, your funds will be released to you. StockX does take out a transaction fee starting at about 10%, but as your seller level increases, the percentage decreases. After that, StockX is responsible for delivering the package to the buyer.

In my opinion, the small transaction fee isn't a deal-breaker. Realistically, StockX has to get paid, and it's still a smaller amount than what eBay or a sneaker consignment shop would take.

The same way you can keep track of your purchases, you can also keep track of current, pending, and past sales. StockX provides you with details on your number of sales, how much revenue you've generated, and your authentication percentage.

Take a look at my seller history:

The middleman feature is great for security, but what makes the website like a stock market?

For every item listed, StockX has tons of usable information like release date, retail price, how many units have sold, previous sale prices, and more. The data can help you as a buyer to better assess the market so you'll never overpay. And if you're savvy, you'll learn to use data on previous releases to predict the value on future releases.

I personally have never paid more than retail for sneakers, so I like to use StockX to get certain shoes for below retail. If there's a shoe that I want to buy and it's been sitting on shelves at retailers but is still full price, StockX usually has a lower price. While retailers tend to wait a long time in order to mark down inventory by the bunch, StockX will have a price listed that's closer to real-time market value.

Alternatively, the data works great as a seller. Let's use the last pair of sneakers I sold, the Union Los Angeles x Air Jordan 1, as an example. I sold my pair for $803 12 days after the release, but the market value peaked at $1,520 five days before the shoe released to the public. Today, more than two months after the release, the lowest asking price is currently $609. You can use data trends like this to determine when is the best time to sell your item to maximize profit.

For consumers who are willing to pay resale prices, the data helps them get the best prices. At $609, that's still a lot more than the $190 retail price, but it beats eBay where there are pairs currently listed for up to $1,900.

Don't get me wrong, eBay is a treasure trove for sneakers and fashion (and really anything else you can think of), but it sometimes takes a lot more skill and patience to use. As a buyer, you have to weed out fakes, enter auctions, message sellers with questions, and much more. As a seller, you also have to spend time taking pictures, writing a description, and formatting listings, compared to making a sale with just a few clicks on StockX.

What I like best about StockX is its convenience and ability to remove human error from the buying and selling process. Since StockX holds sellers accountable for what's being sent to them and items are double checked before being sent to you, you'll never receive the wrong item, the wrong size, or a poorly packed product.

I also really appreciate how personal StockX is for users. In addition to the surface-level data on the buying and selling tabs, you can take a more granular look at all of your purchases in your portfolio and manually add other shoes you have in your collection, even if you didn't purchase them all on StockX.  This makes it easy to manage the inventory of your collection, its current market value, and whether you've lost or gained money on it.

While I've only used StockX for sneakers, the brand's decision to expand to streetwear, watches, and handbags was a step in the right direction as these categories also have huge resale markets.

You'll find apparel from brands like Supreme, Bape, and KITH, watches ranging from G-Shocks and Apple Watches to Rolexes and Omegas, and designer bags from Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, and more.

No matter what level of knowledge and enthusiasm you have for fashion, StockX is a fool-proof way to buy authentic styles in the resale market. Whether you're a seasoned sneakerhead, fashion expert, or a newcomer in need of direction, you can rest assured knowing that all transactions on StockX will be smooth.

Start buying and selling on StockX here.

Editor's note: On April 18, Palantir posted a 1,000-word distillation of "The Technological Republic" to X, prompting a fresh wave of discourse on its theses. Our review of the Palantir book canon was originally published on March 17.

Last July, four high-ranking tech executives — all of them involved with artificial intelligence — were sworn into the US Army Reserves with the rank of lieutenant colonel. They were part of a new unit called Detachment 201, also known as the Executive Innovation Corps. The Pentagon has introduced many initiatives to deepen relationships with Silicon Valley. But making officers out of multimillionaire executives with no military experience served as a strong symbol of a new era in which venture capitalists and technologists see themselves as essential to the defense of the nation.

The tech industry, which once prided itself on its libertarian- and counterculture-inflected antiwar ideals, has emphatically re-enlisted in the American military project. Drawn by patriotism and lucrative government contracts, numerous tech companies — from established giants like Google and SpaceX to military-minded startups in Southern California — have started working for the defense establishment, from supplying the Department of Homeland Security to building AI-powered drones and autonomous weapons to be used in Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran. Anduril, a leading munitions startup, just announced a Pentagon contract that may be worth up to $20 billion.

No company has driven tech's transformation from keyboard to warrior like Palantir, a data and analytics firm cofounded by Peter Thiel, which has a current market cap of $360 billion. Palantir's financial network and its alumni are responsible for bringing numerous defense-tech startups into being. And it helped brush away the tech industry's reticence to be involved in war-making.

Now, a growing canon of books by and about Palantirians is helping to crystallize, and proselytize, tech's new hawkishness. Last year, Palantir CEO Alex Karp and his colleague Nicholas W. Zamiska published "The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West," which outlined their austere vision for a militarized republic secured by Silicon Valley technologies and led by highly skilled engineers. Last fall, New York Times Magazine contributor Michael Steinberger published an authorized biography, "The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir, and the Rise of the Surveillance State." Now, Shyam Sankar, Palantir's chief technology officer and one of the four techies-turned-officers, has published "Mobilize: How to Reboot the American Industrial Base and Stop World War III." Cowritten with his colleague Madeline Hart, "Mobilize" claims that the US government needs to urgently boost military production — with the help of Silicon Valley — in order to head off a conflict with China, which the authors think will attempt to capture Taiwan in 2027.

From these books, and from a battery of public statements by Karp and his cofounders, a distinctive worldview emerges — an unapologetically nationalistic attitude that has total contempt for one's enemies in politics and business and that sees constant, world-rending conflict in our future. This belief system was developed by a group of people who exhibit a profound wish to live in interesting times, to be the shield defending America in a world of constant threats. You might call it Palantirianism.

Birthed from the 20-year-long global war on terror, which coincided with the tech boom, Palantirianism holds that America's adversaries don't negotiate for peace. They surrender entirely — or, as Karp has said, they will be too "scared" to challenge the US in the first place because they fear immediate destruction. Palantirians' catchword is "deterrence" — derived not from fear of mutual nuclear annihilation or diplomacy but by developing overwhelming AI-based firepower. "The preconditions for a durable peace often come only from a credible threat of war," Karp writes in "The Technological Republic."

Under Palantirianism, the military-industrial complex that President Dwight Eisenhower famously warned about is good for the world — but it would be far better with the tech industry's participation and leadership. "Eisenhower wasn't warning about the existence of the military-industrial complex; he was warning about its potential for undue influence, a distinction often lost," write Sankar and Hart. In their view, bringing together Silicon Valley and the Pentagon is not a step toward undue influence for America's tech billionaires. It's exactly what the country requires: "American capitalism and the American military need each other," they write. "Reuniting the American industrial base, commercial and defense, is an existential issue."

Palantirians see securing American military hegemony as the national priority. Karp, who once called himself a "neo-Marxist" and a Democratic Party supporter before drifting rightward, told his biographer that national security is the only issue that matters to him, and that the tech industry's workers should devote themselves to the same. "A generation of programmers remains ready to dedicate their working lives to sating the needs of capitalist culture, and to enrich itself, but declines to ask more fundamental questions about what ought to be built and for what purpose," he writes. The answer for Karp, the high priest of Palantirianism, is obvious: What ought to be built is what makes people safer. What makes people safer is empowering the military, police, and intelligence services. That is his vision of the common good.

His vision is now transforming the tech industry, the military, and how we look at national security. "We have made the mistake of allowing a technocratic ruling class to form and take hold in this country without asking for anything quite substantial in return. What should the public demand for abandoning the threat of revolt?" Karp writes, sounding like the Marxist of his youth. "Free email is not enough."

Palantir grew out of a program at PayPal — where Thiel was CEO — to fight financial fraud in its system. The company itself was later founded in 2003 with an explicit mission: defending the West, which its founders see as imperiled. "A moment of reckoning has arrived for the West," Karp writes early in his book. It's not always clear what those threats are (or even what constitutes "the West"). In the conservative tech mogul's imaginarium, wokeness and DEI seem to be as dangerous to the American public as a revanchist Russia. Karp frequently refers to an organized "assault on religion," without elaborating except to say that it "left us vulnerable as a society."

With seed money from the CIA's In-Q-Tel venture capital firm — which the agency established to help incubate national-security startups — Palantir slowly grew to become the go-to analytics platform for much of the military and intelligence establishment. It wasn't an easy ride: The company was in the red for more than 20 years, and it sued the US Army, claiming that it had boxed out Palantir by violating its own procurement rules. Palantir won the lawsuit, cultivated numerous government and military insiders (who were sometimes given its software for free), and now runs a software platform, known as Project Maven, that's used across the US military and NATO. It has other software tools that have been used by corporations, police departments, hospitals, and the federal government when it was tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maven started as software to analyze drone video feeds, with a $10 million contract going to Google. After Google employees protested working for the Pentagon and Google dropped the project, Palantir, working alongside other tech companies, picked it up and ran with it. Maven eventually became "an all-purpose AI operating system" integrating vast data sources into a dashboard that intelligence analysts have said makes their work much easier, even saving lives in the field. Maven is now used in conjunction with other systems, such as Anthropic's Claude chatbot, which sits on top of Palantir's platform. The Washington Post reported that Claude was used to rapidly generate thousands of targets for the ongoing US-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran. The US military is investigating whether AI was used to target the bombing of a school that killed at least 100 Iranian children. In a sign of how Maven has the potential to take humans out of the loop, Sankar and Hart note in their book that "machine-to-machine connections were enabled to allow Maven to communicate with weapons systems and send confirmed targets directly to artillery."

With its martial mission, Palantir isn't like many software companies. Most employees have one of three job titles: deployment strategist, product development engineer, or forward-deployed engineer. The latter group is software engineers sent to work directly with clients — whether in Manhattan or Kabul — to customize Palantir's tools and troubleshoot on the fly.

Leading this motley "artists colony" is Karp, who has a Ph.D. from Goethe University, enjoys cross-country skiing with his Norwegian ex-commando bodyguards, practices tai chi, and retains four Austrian assistants with whom he speaks in German. An ex-Israeli intelligence officer serves as "a kind of fixer" for Karp, who describes to his biographer a lifelong feeling of personal vulnerability.

Karp once had a policy of never spending more than $1 million for a home; that was before he received a $1.1 billion pay package in 2020. Now he owns a private jet and lavish properties all over the country, most of them in ski areas. Recently, he spent $120 million on a Benedictine monastery in Colorado.

He calls himself "a fluorescent praying mantis." With his many-limbed mannerisms and braggadocious quips, Karp has turned himself into a mascot for Palantir's culture. "Always energetic and upbeat around the office," he's known for launching into impromptu talks with employees that become an "orgy of free association," Steinberger writes. He can be "a little bit incoherent," but also exhibits "crazy charisma."

In public, his mad-mogul image can play well, generating viral clips of his vows to drone enemies with "fentanyl-laced urine." TV producers began to love him because "he was reliably unfiltered, thanks in part to his practice of getting hopped-up on Mexican Coke beforehand."

The son of a white Jewish father and a Black mother, Karp's identity has been a core throughline in his life and career. As a child, Karp was bullied at school, contributing to a sense of fear and personal instability.

"You're a racially amorphous, far-left Jewish kid who's also dyslexic — would you not come up with the idea that you're fucked?" Karp says to Steinberger. In this context, Karp's sense of identity was hopelessly complicated and a potential social liability.

Karp didn't tell his Palantir colleagues that he was Black until 2019, but he presented differently in his youth. He went to college at Haverford, where he "was active in black student affairs, and his social life mainly revolved around Haverford's black community," Steinberger writes. He organized a conference at Yale about racism on college campuses and wore a Palestinian keffiyeh in a yearbook photo. One of his close friends from the time said, "He was much more of a Black man then than he is now."

After college, Karp enrolled at Stanford Law School, which he almost immediately regarded as a mistake. He became friends with another disenchanted classmate, Thiel, who at the time was already a deeply ideological veteran of campus culture wars.

After Stanford, Karp moved to Germany to pursue a doctorate in sociology at Goethe University. Karp would later say that Jurgen Habermas, one of Germany's postwar intellectual giants, was for a time his dissertation advisor, which Habermas has denied. According to letters examined by Steinberger, Habermas tried to steer Karp toward an English-language degree in another subject. "Your topic would require a literary approach to a topic that often overwhelms the linguistic sensibility of us native speakers — and yours, you won't blame me, even more so," Habermas wrote to Karp.

Karp didn't listen. He went on to finish his dissertation — an examination of how aggression is used as a tool of social integration — which he wrote in German under the supervision of Karola Brede, who had previously studied under Habermas. With Brede, Karp cowrote an academic article — the only one he published — a consideration of "eliminationist" anti-Semitism and Daniel Goldhagen's book "Hitler's Willing Executioners."

In the years since, Karp has embraced his Jewishness while expressing reluctance to claim his Black identity. The story of his parents' relationship became for him a kind of cautionary tale of how identity politics run amok.

"My father wanted to marry a Black woman," says Ben Karp, Alex's brother. "Dating Leah was a powerful way of signaling his progressivism," Steinberger notes. Leah Jaynes liked that Bob Karp was Jewish, and Karp liked that she was Black. They eventually divorced, after which Bob Karp remarried and adopted biracial children. Bob's new family didn't sit well with his sons. "Alex's realization, years later, that racial and ethnic identity had been foundational to his parents' relationship was part of the reason he developed a visceral dislike of identity politics," writes Steinberger. "He felt as if he had been the product of virtue signaling, and it bothered him."

Steinberger depicts Karp's personal reckoning over his parentage as part of what moved him to the right. In 2015, he told company employees that he didn't like Trump. According to "The Philosopher in the Valley," Karp once told a friend that he wouldn't mind pushing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu out of a helicopter. The company has gone on to work for ICE and other government agencies executing hardline Trump policies.

Two global events contributed to Karp's political metamorphosis: COVID and Hamas' attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. During the pandemic, Karp stocked up on canned food and bullets, and loved his time in isolation. "While the pandemic was wretched for most people, Karp found it blissful," writes Steinberger. Plenty of time for cross-country skiing.

After Palantir returned from remote work, Karp's proclamations became more extreme. He started calling Palantir "a prepper company" and reveling in its role in doling out violence to enemies of the West.

Oct. 7 reanimated Karp's sense of personal vulnerability and his commitment to Israel. Having once celebrated the virtues of debate with his friend and political opposite Peter Thiel, he told Palantirians that the company wouldn't tolerate any disagreement over its work for the country. Palantir took out a full page ad in The New York Times declaring, "Palantir Stands With Israel."

Under Karp's never-apologize-never-explain leadership, Palantir has become a leading bogeyman for opponents of the surveillance state. New York City is now speckled with posters denouncing the company as the "enemy." Former Treasury Secretary Robert Reich recently called Palantir "America's most dangerous corporation."

The truth is more tangled. By its own claim, Palantir proudly stands for American militarism, abets the surveillance state, and has catalyzed a shift in the tech industry toward supporting the security services. But influential as Palantir is, the company makes software — tools to implement government policy. It does not directly collect data or conduct surveillance. It sucks up that information from clients, including authoritarian states, making the job of war-making or repression potentially much easier. There are numerous firms beyond Palantir — including the big five "prime" defense contractors — engaged in this kind of work.

Palantirianism — a belief system that is now being spread through venture capital investments in startups like Anduril, Saronic, and Shield AI, and tech's close alliance with the Trump administration — is far more influential than Palantir itself. People "want to know they are safe, and safe means that the other person is scared," Karp said at an appearance at the Ronald Reagan Defense Forum. This is the simple core belief that now animates the defense tech industry and swaths of the Silicon Valley elite. (Elon Musk is a Karp fan.)

By 2025, Karp was writing in shareholder letters that the West owed its success to its primacy at "applying organized violence" — a notion of which he evidently approved. He started talking about how certain cultures were "regressive and harmful" compared to others.

"We have been building products for a world that is violent, disjointed, and irrational, a world in which you have to show strength," Karp said during an earnings call. People "have to pick sides." Some people "are violent and not conformant with morality."

For many years, Karp said that fascism was his greatest fear. He wanted nothing more than to stem the rise of the far right in America. Yet Karp's company has provided direct assistance to what many observers have described as the most authoritarian president in US history. He did all this with the help of his close friend Peter Thiel, Palantir's chairman, an early Trump supporter who decades ago said that he had tired of electoral democracy. Steinberger summed up the contradiction: "With Trump restored to power, it appeared that authoritarianism had triumphed in the United States and that Palantir, which Karp had always touted as a bulwark of the liberal international order, would henceforth be serving the agenda of a president who was contemptuous of America's political tradition."

Although Karp has matured, in his biographer's view, into a "statesman CEO," he is still driven by spleen. Throughout "The Philosopher in the Valley," he repeatedly complains that his college alma mater hasn't invited him to give a speech or cultivated him as a donor. Karp detests Haverford with a similar passion that he applies to terrorists and student protesters. "I eventually came to realize that he needed enemies," Steinberger writes of Karp. That need, it turns out, has implications for us all.

Jacob Silverman is a contributing writer for Business Insider. He is the author, most recently, of "Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley."

• As a style editor with an aversion to uncomfortable shoes, I practically live in white sneakers.
• My team and I have tested over 35 pairs of white sneakers to bring you this list of the best. 
• See our wide range of picks below, from classic to sporty and everything in between.

With a good pair of white sneakers, you can match any outfit and be comfortable in the process. But, finding the perfect pair can be tricky with so many iterations of the same shoe.

As a style editor with zero tolerance for uncomfortable footwear, I live in white sneakers. There are about 15 pairs in my closet right now, and I've donated about 15 more that I either tested for this guide or bought and wore to shreds. I feel like I've spent my entire adult life trying to find the best white sneakers, particularly ones that strike a perfect balance between style, comfort, and longevity.

White sneakers, especially the classic leather trainers that every startup seems to be making, often look so similar that it can be hard to decipher the differences between them, but that's what I'm here to help with. I'll tell you which ones have a narrower fit, which ones crease too quickly, and other details to help you make the right decision. 

Whether you're after a sporty pair or a sleek silhouette, consider me the Yenta of your white sneaker hunt, here to help you find your perfect match.

And one last thing: While this guide is technically for the best white sneakers for people who wear women's sizes or like feminine styles, shoes can be worn by anyone of any gender.

Click to jump to the best white sneakers of 2021:

The best classic white trainers

The best sporty white sneakers

The best platform white sneakers

The best high-top white sneakers

The best slip-on white sneakers

Frankie4 Nat III

When you imagine a classic low-top, cap-toed sneaker, you probably think of Chuck Taylors. But most Converse sneakers are simply not comfortable to walk in. They have zero arch or heel support, their soles are rock hard, and their toe boxes too narrow for most people. Instead, here's a similar style that's actually made for prolonged wear.

They're customizable. The Nat III's gussets are elastic, so they allow you to forgo laces if you rather wear them as slip-ons. You can also choose from a set of insoles in the included "Sole Saver Pack," which each have different levels of padding in the forefoot and heels.

They have podiatrist-approved insoles. I have high arches, so I was thankful for their supportive, spongy padding when I broke them in on a long neighborhood walk. Their shock absorption is leagues ahead of most flat-soled sneakers. And if you have weak ankles, these have high heel counters and collars to help stabilize.

The leather and lining is silky soft. I could actually wear these comfortably without socks because the interior is so padded and smooth. I also liked how the toe boxes became more flexible the more I broke them in. They're stark white for now, but I'm excited to make these my beaters this summer.

The best classic white trainers

Low 1 sneakers by Oliver Cabell

Oliver Cabell is one of the newest direct-to-consumer shoe startups making designer-quality shoes in artisan Italian factories. The brand's Low 1 style is probably my most-worn pair of minimalist white sneakers thanks to the stiff but yielding leather that keeps its shape and doesn't crease easily. 

After about 6 months of regular wear, the leather still looks brand new, and the Margom outsoles don't gather a lot of grime. As for comfort, you can expect a relatively supportive shoe with just enough in the arches to remain comfortable for long walks. 

Sizing: 4-10

They come in whole sizes. The site says they run a whole size too big, but I didn't find that to be true. I wear a 7.5 to 8 depending on the brand, and I sized up to an 8 for this pair, so I recommend ordering a half size up from your usual size.

Piper sneakers by Allbirds

When testing the Allbirds Piper, its sleek, minimalist design made from the brand's signature wool fabric is a noteworthy feature. The sole features all the support you'd find in a regular pair of Allbirds, but it should be noted that the shoe won't look quite as sleek as your average leather pair, given that the wool stretches over time. 

The major benefit of a pair of Pipers, though, is that they're machine washable and easy to take care of. And if you're a values-based shopper, knowing how much care the brand puts into making its materials and production processes sustainable really helps.

Sizing: 5-11

These only come in whole sizes. Allbirds and all of us at Insider Reviews recommend sizing up if you're in between sizes. We also love this pair for wider feet.

The Royale sneakers by Greats

This classic white sneaker from Greats features the same simple shape as most others in this section, but the perforations on the toe, tan leather inner, and paneled sides give them a little bit more of a true tennis-shoe look. If "a little bit vintage" is your look, go for these.

My pair of Royales has held up well to a lot of neighborhood walking, with a nice amount of arch support. There is some creasing at the toe, but that's to be expected with any leather sneakers. Worth noting is that if you love the silhouette but want a more sustainable fabric option than leather, Greats makes a version of these shoes out of recycled cotton for $99.

Sizing: 6-10

These come in whole and half sizes. Greats says to go true to your size, which I agree with if you are always one particular size 100% of the time. I am between a 7.5 and an 8 depending on the brand, and I mistakenly opted for a 7.5 in this pair only to find them a smidge too tight. 

Jump Kick sneakers by Keds

Slightly more elevated than Keds' most popular Champion canvas sneakers is the brand's Jump Kick leather pair. Speaking from experience, sneakers from Keds won't last quite as long as those hand-crafted Italian leather pairs on this list, but they will do right by you for as long as they hold up. 

The footbed on this pair is nicely cushioned, and the collar around the ankle has slightly more of a foam-like give than most other pairs on this list. If you often find that shoes give your ankles blisters easily, there's a similar version of this shoe with less of a collar around the ankle, which will make them a bit easier to break in. 

Sizing: 5-11

These are available in whole and half sizes. If you're in between sizes, size up. We don't recommend these for wide feet. It's worth noting that most Keds run a bit narrow, and they tend to take a while to break in.

Kam sneakers by Kenneth Cole

This pair of classic white trainers from Kenneth Cole was the first to jumpstart my obsession. I've owned three pairs over the years, each time wearing them to the ground (literally) before replacing them. They're exceptionally comfortable, thanks to cushy foam insoles and a rounded toe, though the arch support is a bit stiffer than some other pairs I've tested. 

The metallic gold tab on the heel adds a fun touch and makes the shoe easier to dress up. They do need some time to be broken in, and I'd say they're better for regular-to-narrow feet. As far as lasting power, each of my pairs took me through about a year and a half of pretty constant wear in the city.

Sizing: 5-11

These come in whole and half sizes. I recommend going true to your usual size, and sizing up if you're often between sizes.

Original Achilles sneakers by Common Projects

Can we faithfully and honestly say that there's something different about these shoes from Common Projects that makes them worth the $355 price tag? No, we cannot. They are nearly identical to the Oliver Cabell pair we mentioned above, the difference being the designer's signature sequence of numbers on the side of the heel. 

But sometimes you just want a designer shoe, and that's okay! That said, one member of our team who tried this pair said that they ran narrow and creased faster than she expected, so if you buy these, don't expect the designer price tag to translate to absolute top-notch quality or comfort.

Common Projects has a similar pair with a much leaner profile around the ankle and a slightly higher sole (though I wouldn't call it a platform). The tongue on the new version is shorter than the one on the Original Achilles pair, which may make them more appealing to minimalists and less likely to blister. 

Sizing: 4-12

Only available in whole sizes, using Italian sizing. Check the conversion chart to make sure you get your correct size, but if you're in between sizes, round up. These run narrow.

Lace Up sneakers by Thousand Fell

Made from sustainable materials like recycled water bottles, palm tree fibers, coconut husk, and sugar cane, Thousand Fell's faux leather sneakers are a convincing dupe that you'll feel good about wearing. And it's not just the materials that'll do that for you — it's also the fact that they're extremely comfortable straight out of the box. 

I found this pair to be really supportive, flexible, and easy to walk in. I love that the insole is soft and cushiony and that the shoe is flexible enough to accommodate my not-quite-wide-but-definitely-not-narrow feet. It's also a fun touch that you can choose colored tabs for the back of the heel to add a little pop to your shoe. 

Sizing: 5-10

These are available in half and whole sizes. I recommend going true-to-size or sizing up a half size if you're in between.

Off White Canvas sneaker by Cariuma

If leather isn't your thing, there are plenty of canvas trainers out there that'll do the same job but with a lighter footprint.

While testing, we noticed Cariuma's canvas sneakers require no break-in period and feature a cushy, removable insole that makes them comfortable for long days of walking. For every pair of sneakers sold, Cariuma plants two trees in Brazil, the home country of its founders. 

They're a favorite of Ashley Phillips, one of our style editors, though she warns that the canvas material does get dirty easily. 

Sizing: 5-13

These come in whole and half sizes, and though the general sentiment from most reviewers is that they run true-to-size, our style editor said she went up a half size and liked the fit.

The best sporty white sneakers

Wool Runner sneakers by Allbirds

There's a reason we have multiple pairs of Allbirds on this list, and it has everything to do with how comfortable they are. In fact, I don't think I own a more comfortable pair of sneakers than the Allbirds Wool Runner. 

If a daily walking shoe is what you're looking for, Allbirds' Runners are what I recommend. The sole is made from a sugarcane-based EVA foam that provides a ton of bounce and cushioning. The wool material is really flexible, so there's no pinching or creasing to deal with.

The downside is that the white wool gets dirty easily, and though you can always throw this pair in the washing machine, it's not always possible to get them perfectly clean. The wool also stretches a bit over time, though regular washing will shrink it back up. If you have wide feet, these should still work for you. 

Sizing: 5-11

Allbirds come in whole sizes only. I recommend going up if you're usually a half size. 

Air Force 1s by Nike

There's no more iconic pair of sneakers than Nike's Air Force 1. It's been around since the early 1980s and was the first basketball shoe to use Nike Air technology. Nike currently offers several iterations of the shoe, but the '07 low-top version is by far the most comfortable (and most recognizable). Others I've tried, like the Sage Lows, have been too narrow, or the arch has been oddly placed. 

If you like to keep your shoes fresh and clean, buy yourself a pair of $10 ForceField inserts along with your Air Force 1s to avoid creasing at the toe. 

Sizing: 5-12

Nikes tend to run a bit large, but I recommend going true to your usual size for this pair. If you're between sizes, size up and get a pair of ForceFields to protect the toe of the shoe and also add a bit of padding.

Techloom Phantom sneakers by APL

Techloom Phantoms are the ultimate pair of workout sneakers we tested, but they're cute enough to wear while traveling, running errands, or walking around the neighborhood. The soles offer high energy return and tons of bounce for long days on your feet or at the gym.

This is the pair of shoes that you'll find me in most often. They're just that comfortable. The tongue is fully attached to the body of the shoe, so they effectively feel like slip-ons with laces that can adjust the tightness. There's no slipping around or adjusting necessary, and there's plenty of arch support. 

Sizing: 5-11

These are available in half and whole sizes. I normally wear a 7.5-8 and I sized down to a 7.5 for these which was definitely the right call. I recommend going either true-to-size or sizing down if you're in between.

Esplar sneakers by Veja

I can't go five minutes on Instagram without seeing someone in a pair of Veja sneakers. The French streetwear staple is everywhere, and the not-ungodly price is one of the reasons why. Veja sneakers are an affordable gateway into street style, and they're also just plain comfy. 

"I'm currently on my third pair of Vejas — that's how much I love this brand," says our style editor Maria Del Russo. While they do take a few wears to break in, she says that "Once you soften the stiffness in the insole, they'll become one of the most comfortable shoes you wear." 

Sizing: 4-10

These come in whole sizes. They fit true to size but tend to run a little wide, so if you're a half size or in between sizes, we recommend sizing down. 

Classic sneakers by Reebok

The '80s are calling, and they're wearing this pair of Reebok Classics. Several members of the Insider Reviews style team have worn this pair over the years, each one of us citing their comfort as the main factor — thanks to flexible leather and cushy arches. The fabric on the inner heel is also an advantage for anyone who blisters easily. And, they're extremely versatile.

I personally found that the arches in this pair hit a little strangely on my feet, so I swapped them out with orthotic inserts. But others on the team have said they found the arches to be well-placed. 

Sizing: 5-11

These come in half sizes and whole sizes. I recommend going true to size, and if you're between sizes, go up. 

The best platform white sneakers

Triple Kick Leather sneakers by Keds

I've had this leather pair for several years and I can't recommend them enough, especially for the price. I did find them hard to break in at first, but now I love wearing them with flouncy dresses in the summer. I even have plans to bring them to my wedding as backup shoes for dancing.

The heel tends to be the hardest part to break in, but after they've seen enough wear, they soften up a lot. The Ortholite insoles are really cushiony and comfortable — but don't expect a ton of extra arch support here. They can be worn with or without socks, but I recommend those really low-cut Ped-style socks because regular ankle-cut pairs tend to peek through.

The downside of these sneakers is that the laces are frustratingly short. It's easy to fix by spending $5 on a new pair of laces, but you should note that if your feet are a little wide or you like to tie your shoes a bit looser, you'll need to buy a longer pair of laces.

Sizing: 5-11

These come in whole and half sizes, but they can run a tad large. I wear a 7.5-8 and though I usually opt for a size 8 in sneakers, the 7.5 fits me better here. If you're between sizes, I say size down a half size, but otherwise, order true-to-size.

Platform Sneaker by Alexander McQueen

Another designer pick that's popular with streetwear enthusiasts, this platform sneaker by Alexander McQueen hits on the chunky sneaker trend without taking things too far. You'll find several white pairs with different heel accent options, from a simple black to an eye-catching bright red. 

While we haven't personally tested this pair (it's one of just two on this list that we haven't personally worn — the other being another pair of McQueen high-tops), it's a style we couldn't bear to leave off the list given how many fashion folks swear by them. 

Sizing: 5-11

These come in half and whole sizes. Most online reviews we've seen say to go up a half size.

Superga platforms

If you can get the sizing right (they tend to run large), this pair of Supergas is a dependable platform sneaker, and they're easy to wear with regular low-cut ankle socks.

Though it lacks any real arch support, the soles are still relatively comfortable and easy to break in. And, they're easy to keep clean. One member of our team notes that she prefers these over any other platforms she's tried because the soles don't seem to collect grime the way other pairs do. In our experience, a half size down usually provides the best fit.

Sizing: 5-10

These come in whole and half sizes, but they run large, so we recommend going down a half size.  

The best high-top white sneakers

Chuck 70 high-top sneakers by Converse

Converse makes what is possibly the most iconic high-top out there, but this pair is a reinvention of the original (and most popular) pair. Chuck 70s differ from the OG Chuck Taylors in that they have "higher rubber outsole with rubber foxing around the perimeter, smaller rubber toe caps, and extra cushioning on the insoles," according to our resident sneaker collector who tested them, Amir Ismael. They also have a black star logo rather than a red and blue colored one, and we just find them to be sleeker overall. 

Worth noting, though, is that the extra cushioning in the Chuck 70s insoles still might not be enough if you need a lot of arch support. In the past, I've worn converse with my own cushioned insoles to make them more comfortable, a move I highly recommend making. 

Sizing: 5-18

These come in whole and half sizes, but we recommend going a full size down as they run very large. You should opt for an entire size down, or if you plan to use my insole trick, order just a half size down to make room for the inserts.

Blazer Mid '77 Vintage by Nike

Originally released in the early 1970s, Nike Blazers were once considered the pinnacle of performance basketball shoes. Now, they're better suited to pairing with cuffed jeans, dresses, or wide-leg cropped pants.

While there's no all-white version of the Blazer 77s, there are several pairs with a white base and varying colorful Swoosh options, like a metallic silver, candy apple red, simple black, or muted neon yellow. If an all-white pair is what you're after, you can select the "customize" option and create your own for $20 more.

As for fit, we've found that the ankles start out feeling a little stiff, but they wear in quickly. Just don't lace the eyelets all the way up the first time you wear them since that tends to make them feel too tight. 

Sizing: 5-12

These are available in whole and half sizes. If you're between sizes, we recommend sizing up, but otherwise, order true-to-size.

Tread Slick High Top sneaker by Alexander McQueen

Chunky lug soles are a trend we can get behind. Everyone from Bottega Veneta to Prada to Proenza Schouler is in on it — and not least is Alexander McQueen with this hybrid sneaker-boot.

I should start by saying that this is not a pair that we've personally worn, but it's one we love the look of. If inspiration is all you need, then go forth and shop, because I don't have any real advice on the sizing or fit. I'm just here to say that this is a gorgeous pair of white high-top sneakers, and I envy anyone with the expendable income to buy them.

Sizing: 5-10.5

These come in whole and half sizes.

The best slip-on white sneakers

Classic Slip-On sneakers by Vans

When you think of slip-on sneakers, Vans are probably the first to come to mind. The iconic shoe is best known in that classic checkered pattern, but the all-white version is a sleek alternative.

Style-wise, these are the most quintessential pair of slip-ons, but they don't rank highly on our comfort scale. For that, you'll want a pair of Allbirds Loungers. Vans slip-ons lack good arch support and the insoles aren't very cushy, so they're best reserved for days when you won't be spending a ton of time on your feet.

Sizing: 5-14.5

Vans come in half and whole sizes, but they tend to run small and start out feeling tight around the foot. If you're between sizes, I recommend going up a half size, and otherwise ordering true-to-size. Just expect a tight fit at first.

Lounger sneakers by Allbirds

Yep, another pair of Allbirds! The silhouettes are always simple and the soles are dependably well-cushioned and comfortable. The Loungers, which we've worn and written about, are no exception to this rule.

With as much support as its classic Runners, the Loungers are ideal for walking and traveling. They're machine washable, like every other pair of Allbirds. As is the case with wool, you won't always be able to clean them 100% if you've gotten them dirty with grass stains or spills. The main downside is that the wool does stretch over time, but we've found that these keep their shape better and for longer than the Runners.

Sizing: 5-11

Allbirds only come in whole sizing, and we recommend sizing up if you're a half size. Otherwise, they run true-to-size.

Platform Slip-On sneakers by Vince

Vince's reputation for perfectly tailored clothes is definitely not lost on its shoes. We've worn several iterations of slip-on sneakers from Vince and found each one to be more comfortable and well-fitted than the next. Though pricier than most, they're extremely durable and the leather molds to your feet in a way that few other pairs do. 

One of our teammates calls this platform pair one of the most comfortable shoes ever, noting that they run true-to-size and have a very average width. The elastic on the side also keeps them from feeling too stiff on the foot. Her only qualm with them is that the soles get very dirty and are hard to clean. This is something I've experienced with other pairs of Vince slip-ons as well, so if you are extremely particular about keeping your shoes spotless, these are not the pair for you.

Sizing: 5-12

These come in whole and half sizes. Some sites say they run large, but in our experience, they are true to size. 

The Sneaker by Rothys

You may know Rothys for their sustainable flats made from recycled water bottles, but we're particularly partial to the brand's slip-on sneakers. They feature the same flexible, vegan, sustainable knit material, but with a thicker sole and a more casual silhouette. 

We've tested and written about the slip-on pair, which we like because they're washable and comfortable straight out of the box. We found them to be a bit narrow, so they're not great for wide feet, but they're an excellent option for the sustainable-minded shopper who just wants something reliable and timeless. The arch support isn't phenomenal, but it's enough for running errands or wearing to work. You can also easily remove the insoles and replace them with orthopedic ones, but if you plan to do this, I recommend going up at least a half size.

Sizing: 5-13

This pair comes in whole and half sizes. Rothy's tend to run a little tight, so I recommend going up a half size if you're usually in between sizes, or ordering your true size if you usually never deviate.

As an avid sneaker collector, spring is my favorite time of the year to finally wear all the sneakers I bought over the fall and winter. At this point in the season, all of the snow, muddy slush, and built-up salt should be washed away, leaving clear grounds for fresh sneakers to be worn. 

If you haven't already bought a bunch of new sneakers, there are still plenty amazing of cool options you can pick up right now in time for spring. Your choices can be as simple as getting a fresh pair of your all-time favorites, picking a bright and fun colorway of a new style, or buying a technical shoe for spring activities like running or hiking.

From lightweight and airy sneakers that will allow you to feel the spring breeze, to waterproof sneakers to keep your feet dry during spring showers, these are our favorite shoes to step up your outfits this season. 

Below, you'll find 14 cool pairs of men's sneakers to up your spring outfit game.

Cariuma Salvas

Inspired by skate shoes, the Cariuma Salvas has amazing cushioning for long days on your feet. Cariuma will also plant 10 trees for every pair of sneakers sold, making it one of our favorite sustainable brands.

New Balance Made in USA 993

The "dad shoe" trend hasn't gone anywhere and New Balance is probably the most quintessential brands for that style. This 993 in particular, features a classic New Balance grey colorway and is made in the USA using a combination of premium suede and mesh.

Nike Air Force 1 Low

The Nike Air Force 1 is a staple year-round, but there's nothing like a fresh white pair for spring.

Bee Line x Timberland Solar Ridge

Designed in collaboration with Billionaire Boys Club's Bee Line brand, this trail-ready hiking shoe has the lightweight feel of sneakers with the rugged construction Timberland is known for. They also use Gore-Tex liners to make them waterproof, yet breathable.

Wolf and Shepherd Crossover Victory Trainer

Wolf and Shepherd is known for its dress shoes with sneaker-like comfort, but the new Crossover Victory Trainer is a true multi-purpose shoe. With both training sneaker-inspired technology and workwear styling, you can wear them in the office, the street, and everywhere in between. 

Greats Wilson

Featuring recycled canvas uppers, the Greats Wilson is a light and air shoe that will pair well with all of your casual clothes this spring.

Allbirds x Adizero 2.94 KG CO2

Allbirds and Adidas teamed up to create a performance running sneaker with the lowest carbon footprint ever. If you're looking for a dependable runner that's equally groundbreaking and comfortable, this is it.

Learn more about them here.

Allbirds Tree Dasher 2

As the successor to Allbirds' original Dasher running sneaker, the Tree Dasher 2 is lighter, more sustainable, and more comfortable. The breathable upper makes it perfect for spring weather.

Read my full review here. 

Rothy's RS01

Featuring an upper made entirely from recycled plastic water bottles, the RS01 is super sustainable, stretchy, and machine washable.

Read my full review on the Rothy's RS01 here.

Everlane The ReLeather Tennis Shoe

Inspired by old-school tennis shoe silhouettes, the ReLeather Tennis has a great casual style.  White leather and gum outsoles in a hard combination to beat, too.

Adidas NMD_V3

When the Adidas NMD was originally released in 2015, it completely took over the casual comfort and travel footwear space. Now, Adidas is on its third version of the silhouette and it features more Boost cushioning than ever before. If you want day-long comfort during your spring adventures, these are a great choice.

Converse Chuck 70 Season Color High Top

With similar styling as the iconic Converse Chuck Taylor All Star, the Chuck 70 features updated cushioning technology. Just in time for spring, the brand released a collection of seasonal colors, including this bright blue.

Vessi Everyday Move

Designed to be 100% waterproof, breathable, and easy to slip on, Vessi's Everyday Move sneakers will keep you prepared for spring weather — rain or shine.

Adidas Terrex AX4 Primegreen Rain.RDY Hiking Shoe

If you're planning to go on hikes this season, this Adidas Terrex Hiking Shoe will give you the grip you need on any terrain. They're also waterproof, so you can keep hiking in the rain or wear them as your street style sneaker on gross weather days.

On days when I can't decide what to wear, I always find myself reaching for a matching set. The best coord sets make dressing simpler and more convenient, since you don't have to put any thought into a color scheme. Whether you're pairing a top with a skirt, shorts, or pants, a coord set does all the work for you, and oftentimes the result looks even better than pairing two unrelated separates. 

I especially like donning coord sets for travel. It makes packing easy since the pieces can be worn together or as separates to make different outfits. One of my favorite travel sets is Quince's Washable Stretch Silk V-Neck Cami and Palazzo Pant because it's lightweight, easily packable, and always looks sophisticated. For days spent lounging at home when I might step out for an errand or two, I rely on the Z Supply Sloane V-Neck Tank and Scout Cotton Jersey Pant because they're ultra soft and comfortable yet still look put together.

Abercrombie & Fitch Crinkle Set

Though this viscose and nylon skirt set is ultra comfortable thanks to the loose-fitting silhouette and the elastic waist on the skirt, you'd never guess it based on how polished they look as a pair. It's quickly become one of my favorite dinner sets and it never fails to draw compliments. Plus, it's got pockets, which is always a nice touch. I also love that the skirt comes in petite, regular, and tall lengths.

Farm Rio Green Monstera Eyelet Crop Top & Maxi Skirt

Few colors make a statement quite like lime green. This punchy, summery 100% cotton set features memorable details such as scalloped edges on the top and tiny cutouts in the shape of Monstera leaves. The boxy, sleeveless top closes via a single button in the back, leaving a largely open back to add even further interest. The high-waisted maxi skirt, which has a side zipper, features a flowing silhouette and a slightly dropped waist.

Alohas Troyes Black Denim Tank & Mariana Black Denim Skirt

If you have any music festivals on your spring or summer agenda, may we recommend this Western-inspired coord set? It includes strapless black denim top which looks incredible with its partner, a loose-fitting denim maxi skirt with a large slit up the front. Though the cotton outfit makes quite a statement on its own, it's an even greater backdrop for all your festive accessories like layered jewelry, a wide-brim hat, and cowboy boots. We love that you can customize the style by wearing the top fully buttoned or leaving the bottom half of the buttons open to show a bit of midriff.

Petal + Pup Michaela Two Piece Set

This satin duo is sold as a set, so it's best for people who size similarly in tops and bottoms. The slinky outfit, which consists of a tube top and a coordinating column-style maxi skirt, is perfect for evenings out and can even be worn to a cocktail party if you accessorize it with some upscale jewelry and heels. The pull-on design features an elastic top and high-waisted elastic skirt, so it's plenty comfortable.

Madewell Reistor Boxy Crop Top & Overlap Midi Skirt

This boxy crop top has an easy fit, a round neck, and button-up side panels that reveal just a bit of your sides. It matches nearly anything, however, we especially like it with this overlapping wrap midi skirt that has a coordinating button on the side. The lightweight ensemble is perfect for a summer day strolling through a city and pairs especially well with white sneakers, a sun hat, and an oversized tote bag.

Windsor Fabulous By The Second Tweed Jacket & Mini Skirt

If you're not over the Barbiecore trend (trust me, I get it), then you'll love this pink plaid tweed set. The short-sleeve jacket top has an elegant collar, adorable flap pockets, and gold and pearl buttons, which allow you to wear it open or closed. Meanwhile, the fitted mini-skirt has a teeny slit on the front side and closes via a back zipper and hook-eye closure.

 

 

 

Quince Washable Stretch Silk V-Neck Cami & Palazzo Pants

When I tested Quince's washable silk line, I couldn't believe how high-quality all of the items were considering their below-market pricepoints. Plus, the items were easy to launder since they don't require dry cleaning and held up well in the delicates wash cycle. 

This set is quickly becoming one of my favorite coord sets because it's lightweight, breezy, and comfortable for the warmer months, however, it looks so elevated and sophisticated that I can wear it to the office or out for a nice dinner. I find myself reaching for the cami quite often, even when I'm not pairing it with these slanted hem bottoms with a pull-on elastic waist. 

For more of our favorite items from the brand, check out our full Quince review.

Richer Poorer Venice Button Up and Drawstring Pant

The best coord sets wear equally well together as they do apart, and this cotton-rayon duo from Richer Poorer proves that point perfectly. I love the easy fit of the wide-leg pull-on pants, which have a cozy elastic waistband and side pockets. The collared long-sleeve shirt can be worn buttoned on its own or open over a crisp white T-shirt for layering benefits. I wore the set with white sneakers and gold jewelry to a recent brunch outing and got a ton of compliments.

Mango Striped Linen Suit Vest and Pants

Inspired by office wear, this belly-baring set is anything but. Combining a cropped vest with low-rise, wide-leg pants, this edgy ensemble is tinged with irony. If you do happen to prefer a work-appropriate version of the ensemble, we recommend wearing the vest unbuttoned over a white T-shirt underneath the vest, or otherwise see our guide to the best suits for women. Add slinky sandals and a statement necklace to this striped linen blend and you're, well… set.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GAP Crinkle Gauze Big Shirt & Mid Rise Wide-Leg Pants

This flowy long set is crafted from gauzy, lightweight cotton, making it perfect to wear on a slightly chilly summer evening. The collared, button-down shirt features two chest pockets, while the wide-leg bottoms (with an elastic waist and pockets) sit on the natural waist. We love that both the top and the pants come in petite, regular, and tall lengths, and they can be mixed and matched with any of its other colorways.

By Anthropologie Short-Sleeve Printed Linen Buttondown Shirt and Wide-Leg Pants

This resort-ready set begs to be taken on vacation. Perfect for wearing as a coverup over a bikini, or on its own for a casual beachside dinner, the linen-viscose combo is one of the best coord sets for summer thanks to its easy, breezy silhouette. The oversized short-sleeve button-down top can be worn open or closed, and the wide-leg pants with a tasseled drawstring look excellent with flat leather sandals.

Z Supply Sloane V-Neck Tank & Scout Cotton Jersey Pant

I have a special place in my heart for clothing that feels like loungewear but looks polished enough to wear out and about. This cotton jersey set from Z Supply checks all those boxes. It's easy to dress up or down depending on whether my ensemble includes slippers or a low-heeled sandal. The V-neck tank has a flattering, boxy silhouette, while the wide-leg pants (they run a bit small) have convenient pockets. This set is lightweight and breezy enough to wear all day in the hot sun without sweating.

Everlane The Linen Popover Shirt & Easy Short

Easygoing yet elegant, this shirt and shorts make one of the best coord sets for a spring and summer wardrobe staple. Both pieces are crafted from 100% European flax linen, which is lightweight and breezy but still sturdy. The top features a wide crew neck, center placket with a front pocket, and fabric-covered buttons. Meanwhile, the shorts have a comfy elasticated waistband, front slash pockets, and two back patch pockets.

Read more about our favorite Everlane sets in our full Everlane women's workwear review. 

Boden Sienna Linen Shirt and Westbourne Linen Shorts

The best coord sets can be worn just as well together as separates. Enter Boden's linen set, which consists of a button-down shirt and shorts. The pieces pair perfectly together, however, the collared shirt also looks great with a pair of wide-leg jeans and the mid-rise shorts look just as well with a white T-shirt.

Petal + Pup Cherie Knit Shirt & Shorts

Meet the most perfect summer loungewear set out there. I love to wear the button-up cotton top and knit shorts around the house, but they're also cute enough to be seen out. The oversized fit of the top is so comfy and easygoing, while the high-waisted drawstring shorts provide just enough coverage. When I'm not wearing these for a Sunday spent on the couch, I like to slip them over a swimsuit as a fashion-forward beach coverup option.

Free People Summer Love Set

Embroidered with sweet florals, this laidback soft cotton set features a button-down style top with a collared neckline and button closures. The bottoms have a comfy smocked elastic waistband with an adjustable drawstring and pockets. As a duo, they pair especially well with chunky sandals (I recommend Alohas' Harper Leather Sandals) and statement sunglasses. Wear the top fully buttoned, or leave it open to reveal a slinky bralette underneath.

J.Crew Slim-Fit Linen Vest & Tropez Short

A surefire way to make a style statement while keeping your look highly sophisticated: this linen vest and shirt combo from J.Crew. The slim-fit vest is meant to be worn without a shirt underneath, putting an edgy twist on the classic suiting staple. Meanwhile, high-rise, wide-fit shorts with pockets and an elastic waistband keep you cool and comfortable. (The shorts run slightly large, so size down if you're in between sizes.) If the vest is a bit too daring for you, the shorts can also be worn with this matching linen button-down shirt.

AllSaints Isla Inspiral Relaxed Fit Shirt & Shorts

This splurge-worthy set has a luxurious air that begs to be strolled through Grecian cities. The blue and chartreuse print is both bold and sophisticated. Lightweight and easy, the button-down collared top gets extra style in the form of voluminous sleeves complete with shirred cuffs. Meanwhile, the relaxed shorts feature a wide, comfy elastic waistband with a drawstring closure and pockets.

• Aircraft cabin designers showed off their latest innovations at an annual expo in Germany last week.
• Two of the standouts were Chaise Lounge and Collins Aerospace for their unique economy-class seats.
• One is a double-decker layout; the other is a "semi-private retreat" with a door.

Airline seat makers are racing to offer more business-class-like perks in economy.

Global aviation companies gathered at the annual Aircraft Interiors Expo in Germany last week to showcase their latest aircraft seating designs, focusing on squeezing more comfort into limited space.

Two standout concepts aim to do just that: SkyNook, a semi-private "retreat" pod from RTX's Collins Aerospace, and Comfort Class, a double-decker layout with extra space and recline from the Spanish startup Chaise Lounge.

Chaise Lounge is proposing dual-level coach seating with rows set at different heights — freeing up space for passengers to stretch out and generously recline, almost like they're in a living room lounger.

The seat — which started as a 2020 college project — previously went viral for its unconventional, if intriguing, prototype. Company founder and designer Alejandro Núñez Vicente told Business Insider that the latest display "mimics the enclosed, private feel of business class pods."

Collins, a major US seatmaker that supplies cabins to dozens of global airlines, thinks the last row of widebody aircraft could be transformed into a "semi-private retreat" with a privacy partition and a table in the typically unused space between the seat and sidewall.

The SkyNook placed first in the Passenger Comfort category at this year's Crystal Cabin Awards, an annual industry program announced at AIX that recognizes the best innovations in aircraft cabin design. Chaise Lounge was a 2021 nominee.

A Collins spokesperson told Business Insider that the SkyNook will be certified in a few months and will be flying with its undisclosed launch customer by the end of the year.

Núñez Vicente said his idea, which isn't certified, has "received significant interest from multiple airlines" because it offers a "highly distinct, improved passenger experience."

Pushing the envelope in cabin design is particularly tricky. Seatmakers are working in tight, fixed footprints where every inch of real estate ties directly to an airline's bottom line. They also have to meet strict safety and efficiency requirements.

Here's what the Comfort Cabin and the SkyNook look like.

Chaise Lounge leans on stacked seating.

Instead of aligned rows, Chaise Lounge removed the overhead bins and set the seats at different heights. The alternating sequence elegantly creates usable legroom for the lower level, allowing passengers to nearly fully recline.

Núñez Vicente emphasized, however, that the design "does not increase cabin density or 'stack' passengers on top of each other," but instead "uses vertical space to give everyone more room."

He said the distance between rows is "identical" to the spacing in today's standard premium economy.

The lower level transforms into a reclining lounger.

The leg space — which stretches under the raised seat ahead — is narrow, but it still provides a footrest for flyers "to stretch out fully and find multiple relaxing, ergonomic postures" during long flights.

The upper level doesn't have a footrest, but Núñez Vicente said it still has "ample" recline and knee and foot room, and there's no one in front to recline into the space.

The cabin also features charging ports, a tray table, and seatback screens. Given airlines' focus on premium options, the Comfort Cabin could be an attractive way to further monetize economy.

Núñez Vicente said the Comfort Cabin would occupy only roughly one-third of the cabin, giving passengers more choice.

It has received criticism for being potentially claustrophobic.

Common concerns among AIX visitors and social media users included feeling claustrophobic, getting in and out of the upper level, and the lack of storage due to the removal of the overhead bins. There is bag stowage, but many would likely need to be checked.

Núñez Vicente said it's "completely understandable that a new seating configuration might raise questions about cabin space," but added that the design is "specifically designed to optimize personal space, not restrict it."

He added that during testing, a "vast majority" of people liked the separation from other travelers and that the alternating heights provide a business-class-like privacy feel.

The SkyNook is near the lavatory but has more space.

Collins designed the last-row SkyNook primarily for Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 widebody aircraft. The back row has historically been disliked by customers because of the limited recline due to the bulkhead and the lack of privacy when lines form at the lavatory.

Collins' solution is a sliding partition that turns the space into a small pod. To sweeten it further, Collins said it repurposed the space by the wall with a small table that can stow bulky items.

It targets families and pet owners.

Collins displayed a baby car seat on the table to illustrate how families could benefit from the pod. The spokesperson said the table has a seatbelt that can secure a car seat or bassinet "during all phases of flight, including during taxi, takeoff, and landing."

Collins also said pet owners or those with service animals could also find uses for the roomier space and privacy.

"We've been demonstrating this solution with customers more discreetly for a couple of years, incorporating their feedback and iterating the design to get to this point," a spokesperson said.

The Los Angeles Lakers are a team that you don’t have to be a local to support. They’re a legacy among the original teams that formed the league in the early days. Throughout their tenure, they’ve made their way across fame (and states; the team originated in the Midwest, in Detroit and Minneapolis, before landing in Los Angeles), paving the way to a dynasty. The team has won the second-most NBA championships in the entire league — and tons of fans want to see them live by getting Lakers tickets this year.

The Hollywood team games are a Los Angeles experience that often features celebrity fans in the stands. Freshly crowned Golden Globe Best Actor winner Michael B. Jordan, actor Jack Nicholson, acclaimed rappers Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, and, of course, Los Angeles reality TV stars the Kardashians have all been spotted at Lakers’ games.

Whether you’re infuriated with the Lakers winning or losing, we’re going to tell you how you can shoot your shot and buy tickets like the A-listers do for the games on StubHub and Vivid Seats, for prices that meet the average person’s budget.

Los Angeles Lakers’ 2026 game schedule

• April 21, 2026 - Los Angeles, CA at Crypto.com Arena
• April 24, 2026 - Houston, TX at Toyota Center
• April 26, 2026 - Houston, TX at Toyota Center

How to buy tickets for the Lakers' 2026 season game tickets

For the Lakers' four remaining regular-season games, prices vary widely by opponent and market. On StubHub, the lowest current price is for the April 10 home game vs. the Suns, where tickets start at about $131 each. The priciest remaining regular-season option on StubHub is the April 12 home finale vs. the Jazz, where the listed price filter currently tops out at about $2,996 per ticket.

On Vivid Seats, the cheapest Lakers ticket for the remaining regular-season dates is currently the April 7 Thunder game at Crypto.com Arena, starting at $27. At the other end of Vivid's remaining regular-season slate, the most expensive game is the April 9 road matchup at Golden State, which starts at $142 on the team page; the other two home games are listed from $42 for the Suns and $39 for the Jazz.

In casual terms, StubHub is showing a wider, more expensive top end, especially for premium Lakers home seats, while Vivid Seats still has some relatively cheap get-in options for the last few games of the regular season. If you're shopping for value, the Suns and Jazz home games look like the cheapest paths in, while the Warriors game is the toughest ticket of the final stretch.

What teams are playing in the 2026 NBA Playoffs?

The NBA playoffs are in the first round right now. The postseason began on April 18, after the play-in wrapped up on April 14-17, and this week's slate is mostly Game 2s and Game 3s across the opening-round series. On the board this week are matchups including Raptors-Cavaliers, Hawks-Knicks, Timberwolves-Nuggets, Celtics vs. the East's No. 7 seed, Trail Blazers-Spurs, and Rockets-Lakers.

The Lakers are the West's No. 4 seed and currently lead Houston 1-0 after beating the Rockets 107-98 in Game 1 on April 18. Their first-round schedule this week is Game 2 vs. Houston on Tuesday, April 21, in Los Angeles, then Game 3 on Friday, April 24, in Houston, and Game 4 on Sunday, April 26, in Houston. So the Lakers are in a solid spot, but this week is huge: if they protect home court in Game 2, they'll head to Houston with a real chance to take control of the series.

Who is on the Lakers in 2026?

The Lakers have a fresh coach, JJ Redick, who is only in his second year with the team. The current team roster as of April 2026 includes:

• DeAndre Ayton: Center
• Kobe Bufkin: Guard
• Luka Doncic: Guard
• Rui Hachimura: Forward
• Jaxson Hayes: Center
• Bronny James: Guard
• LeBron James: Forward
• Luke Kennard: Guard
• Maxi Kleber: Forward
• Dalton Knecht: Forward
• Jake LaRavia: Forward
• Chris Manon: Guard
• Austin Reaves: Guard
• Marcus Smart: Guard
• Nick Smith Jr.: Guard
• Adou Thiero: Forward
• Drew Timme: Forward
• Jarred Vanderbilt: Forward

See more: Is StubHub legit? | Where to watch NBA Playoffs | FIFA World Cup tickets | Best sports streaming services | ESPN streaming review | How to watch NHL games

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The first round of the NBA Playoffs continues with an Atlanta vs. New York Game 2 showdown. We've rounded up everything you need to know about where to watch Hawks vs. Knicks live streams.

If you don't want to read any further, the cheapest way to live stream the Hawks vs. Knicks game in the US is through Peacock. We'll break down everything you need to know about the app below, and highlight a few other streaming options that might be of interest. If you're hoping to stream the rest of the postseason, you can check out our full where to watch NBA Playoffs viewing guide.

*Sling TV's local channel coverage varies by market, so you should check to see if NBC is available in your ZIP code before signing up.

Where to watch Hawks vs. Knicks in the US

The Hawks vs. Knicks game will air on NBC in the US. Cord-cutters can live stream the action without breaking the bank by signing up for a subscription to Peacock. Sports-friendly Peacock plans start at $11 a month for Peacock Premium. You can unlock full NBC live streaming capabilities (and access ad-free on-demand content) by upgrading to Peacock Premium Plus for $17 a month.

Where to watch Hawks vs. Knicks in the UK

The Hawks vs. Knicks game will be available on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Action in the UK. Fans can watch the match-up with a Sky Sports subscription. Sky prices vary by plan specifics and contract, and you can learn more in our guide to the best Sky TV deals and plans. Fans can also live stream Sky Sports with a Now Sports subscription. These start at £15 a day, which is a good fit for those only interested in watching a single game. The NBA League Pass also has playoff coverage in the UK. NBA League Pass is also available as an add-on on Prime Video.

How to watch Hawks vs. Knicks from anywhere

Basketball fans traveling away from home can keep up with their usual viewing options with the help of a VPN. VPNs, or virtual private networks, are easy-to-use apps that let you change your virtual location. This way, your usual websites and apps work from anywhere in the world, just like they would back home. They're also effective ways to enhance day-to-day cybersecurity. The services we've highlighted require country-specific payment methods, so this option will work best for those who are simply traveling abroad at the moment.

NordVPN is our top recommendation right now. It's one of the best VPNs on the market. It's fast, user-friendly, and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee if you find that it's not what you're looking for.

Note: The use of VPNs is illegal in certain countries, and using VPNs to access region-locked streaming content might constitute a breach of the terms of use for certain services. Business Insider does not endorse or condone the illegal use of VPNs.

When Bill Mechanic was the chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment, he had one simple operating principle: Get in trouble.

Though his tenure as studio head from 1996 to 2000 was filled with hits, including blockbusters like "Independence Day," "Titanic," and "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace," Mechanic was also known for being one of the few who listened to his gut and greenlit material considered uncommercial.

On his watch, the studio released the gory best picture winner "Braveheart," the Farrelly brothers' gross-out hit comedy "There's Something About Mary," and the now-beloved "Office Space."

Taking risks on offbeat movies gained Mechanic respect around Hollywood, but it also ruffled feathers among his bosses.

At the time, Fox was owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., and Mechanic said the Australian-born billionaire was rarely a fan of what his studio was releasing.

"I always thought what Rupert wanted was Page Six," Mechanic told Business Insider, comparing the mogul's movie tastes to what showed up in the gossip column of the Murdoch-owned New York Post. "He didn't think movies were there to challenge."

Mechanic would famously test his boss's patience when he gave the green light to adapt a book by a then-little-known author named Chuck Palahniuk. It was called "Fight Club."

The demented tale of a nameless narrator and his imaginary friend, who start an underground brawling club that morphs into a cult hell-bent that spirals out of control, wasn't exactly studio-friendly fodder.

"It's all first person. No action. All internal monologue. Brilliant. Darker than shit. But impossible," Mechanic recalled thinking when he first read Palahniuk's 1996 debut novel.

But he trusted his team, and Fox 2000 president Laura Ziskin, one of the film's producers, was adamant that the material could be turned into a fascinating big-screen dissection of masculinity and 1990s consumer culture.

Soon, acclaimed director David Fincher was on board. Hot off the success of the thriller "Seven," he brought along its star, Brad Pitt, as well as Edward Norton. The story Mechanic thought was unmakeable was shaping up to be as audacious as its storyline.

Mechanic knew making the movie would lead to a battle with Murdoch, but that wasn't his only hurdle. First, he had to gain the respect of his difficult director and figure out how to market the ultra-violent story — a task that became even more challenging when the Columbine High School shooting shocked the nation six months before the movie's premiere.

When the time came for Mechanic's showdown with Murdoch weeks before "Fight Club" opened, it was the beginning of the end of Mechanic's time at Fox. Less than a year later, Mechanic and Fox parted ways. Headlines at the time said he had resigned, but Mechanic told Business Insider he had been fired.

"I don't regret any of it," Mechanic said.

Upon its release, "Fight Club" was bashed by many critics and was a box-office disappointment, opening to a weak $11 million in October of 1999. But the movie's DVD release in the spring of 2000 changed its fortune, making "Fight Club" a sensation and buoying it to the cult-classic status it's enjoyed ever since.

Now considered one of the most daring and innovative studio releases of the late '90s for its complex plot, sharp satire, and knockout performances from Pitt and Norton, "Fight Club" marked a defining moment in genre filmmaking that has inspired countless imitators.

In honor of the movie's one-night 4K rerelease in theaters April 22 — digital and Blu-ray 4K versions are available May 12 — Mechanic goes deep on the twisty journey to bring "Fight Club" to the big screen.

Mechanic agreed to increase the movie's budget after Fincher pitched the opening credits sequence

When Mechanic greenlit the movie, it had a relatively small budget for late-1990s studio standards: $20 million.

By the time Fincher came on board with Pitt and Norton, the budget had ballooned to more than twice the original price tag.

"The budget is now $57 million? That's insane!" Mechanic recalled thinking when Ziskin gave him an update on the project.

Mechanic didn't panic, but he needed to understand Fincher's vision. So he went to the filmmaker's house for a sit-down. "I went into this meeting thinking, 'There's no fucking way this is happening,'" Mechanic said.

Fincher had made a lot of changes to Jim Uhls' script, but the one that blew Mechanic away was Fincher's ambitious plan for the opening credits sequence. He walked the studio head through an elaborate CGI-fueled journey through the narrator's brain, which would end with the camera coming out of his skull, revealing a gun in his mouth.

"What I thought he had done was take something great and give it the chance to not just be a really well-made little picture, but actually make something that could light the fire in the culture," Mechanic said, thinking back on the meeting.

Mechanic left Fincher's house approving the $57 million budget. The next time he had a face-to-face with Fincher, the stakes would be much higher.

Mechanic threatened to shut down the movie if Fincher didn't cooperate

Mechanic knew Fincher was difficult to work with — auteurs often are, but that never gave him pause in choosing to hire him. "Trust me, anyone that's good is difficult," Mechanic said.

But even Mechanic, who describes his producing style as laid-back, had his limits. And when he began getting reports from the Fox team during production that Fincher was not cooperating with people affiliated with the studio, he decided to step in.

Fincher had a complicated history with Fox. After making 1992's "Alien 3," which had a slew of budget issues and script rewrites, Fincher felt Fox was micromanaging him and did not support his vision.

So Mechanic arranged a breakfast with Fincher to talk it out.

"I sat down with him. It was just he and I, and I said, 'This is a come-to-Jesus meeting. You're fighting with everybody at the studio. We're not your enemy, and if you think we're your enemy, you should pull out. And if you don't pull out and still keep doing this, then I'm not going to make the movie — I'll shut it down,'" Mechanic recalled.

Mechanic had just spent two years helping James Cameron make "Titanic," a movie whose infamously difficult production process would thankfully be matched by its prowess at the box office. ("Half the time I thought Jim wanted to kill me," Mechanic said.)

He was not going to go through that again.

"So I said to David, 'I just lived through all of that… I'm not going to put my company through that. So you either treat us like we're in this together to make the best possible movie, or go away,'" Mechanic said. "From that point on, we were respectful. He never violated a single thing with me. He was the best director I worked with at the time."

Fincher didn't respond to a request for comment.

The Columbine shooting complicated the 'Fight Club' marketing campaign

The movie's edgy material posed a challenge for marketing. In addition to the violence, this is a film in which the main character attends support group meetings for people with testicular cancer, though he doesn't have it, and imagines an airplane he's on tearing apart mid-flight during dark, surreal fantasies.

Things got even trickier for "Fight Club" on April 20, 1999, when 12 students and one teacher were killed in a school shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado.

"When Columbine happened, I thought, 'I'm not going to let us be the poster child, but I know the press was going to come after us,'" Mechanic said.

In a proactive move, he went to Washington, DC, in hopes of calming the rhetoric surrounding the movie and gun violence. Ultimately, it wouldn't help much: scathing editorials about "Fight Club" were cropping up in the trades. By the end of the movie's disappointing opening weekend, six months after Columbine, it was clear that "Fight Club" came out at the wrong time.

"I didn't think through what the public's reaction would be; there was a resonance from Columbine," Mechanic said. "When you come out with a war movie and then all of a sudden you start blowing people up overseas, it's not good. People don't want real."

"So when Columbine happened," he continued, "it was a crusher. That's 90% of the reason why the movie didn't achieve its audience. I don't think people wanted to go into a theater to see violence."

Rupert Murdoch was not a fan of 'Fight Club,' to put it mildly, according to Mechanic

If "Fight Club" was a risk creatively, it was an even bigger one at the highest levels of the company.

Mechanic admitted that "Fight Club" was not the first time he had heard that Murdoch was displeased with a movie his company was releasing. In fact, Mechanic thought he would have been in more hot water over the raunchy 1998 comedy "There's Something About Mary" — except he said he'd heard Murdoch's son Lachlan, who's now the CEO of Fox, was a fan of it.

Still, Mechanic believed that Murdoch's purported dislike of "Fight Club" hastened his demise at Fox. The studio head said he learned exactly how Murdoch felt about the movie when the topic of "Fight Club" came up at a NewsCorp meeting he attended.

"He starts attacking, and he said, 'What kind of sick fucking human being would make a movie like this?'" Mechanic recalled Murdoch saying. "I said, 'Me. David Fincher. We're not embarrassed.'"

"I knew he hadn't seen the movie yet," Mechanic added, but he thought the movie's poor box-office returns ultimately sealed his fate in his boss's eyes. "That's probably the nexus of when he wanted to get rid of me."

Murdoch didn't respond to a request for comment.

Even before his tense chat with Murdoch, Mechanic said he felt his days were numbered at Fox, which prompted him to suggest an explosive ending to Fincher's movie.

Mechanic suggested blowing up the famed Fox Plaza Tower in the 'Fight Club' finale

At the end of "Fight Club," the narrator realizes his best friend, Tyler Durden, is his alter ego. After shooting himself in the face to release his hold, he watches as Project Mayhem's final act is accomplished: the skyscrapers that house credit card companies are blown up to erase all debt records.

If you look closely, you'll notice that the buildings that blew up were major Los Angeles landmarks — and one is the Fox Plaza Tower. (Fun fact: the building also famously stood in as the Nakatomi Tower in the first "Die Hard" movie.)

Many believed at the time that this was Fincher's doing, as a final middle finger to the studio by the maverick filmmaker, but actually, it was Mechanic's suggestion.

"David took me through the sequence. I think I was up in the actual building talking to him, and I asked David if he would put the Fox building in there for my tribute to Rupert," Mechanic said.

"I just realized I went to work for the wrong person," Mechanic added of Murdoch. "I think I got movies made that wouldn't have been made, and there's a price to pay."

Despite it all, Mechanic loved making 'Fight Club'

Mechanic would leave Fox in June 2000.

After the disappointing "Fight Club" box office returns and duds like 1999's Jodie Foster-led period drama, "Anna and the King," and Leonardo DiCaprio's 2000 "Titanic" follow-up, "The Beach," Mechanic knew he was on thin ice.

He said the first "X-Men" movie, released a month after his dismissal, was the final straw. "They saw it and thought it was a disaster — why would anybody make a Marvel comic into a movie?" he said.

The release would go on to launch the hugely successful X-Men franchise, which has brought in close to $6 billion in worldwide grosses to date.

Since leaving Fox, Mechanic has turned to producing movies like the beloved 2009 stop-motion animated feature "Coraline" and Mel Gibson's 2016 war movie "Hacksaw Ridge," which earned a best picture Oscar nomination, but he said "Fight Club" remains close to his heart.

"It's the movie I get asked the most about," he said. "It's one of the best experiences I had."

• B Corps are businesses graded on their efforts to create an inclusive, sustainable economy.
• These companies treat "good business" as an idea that includes both profit and purpose. 
• Below, we rounded up the B Corps we love shopping at most, including Patagonia, Allbirds, and Prose.

As history can attest, nonprofits aren't enough to single-handedly eradicate poverty and inequality and infuse the workplace with jobs that make workers feel dignified and purposeful.

To pitch in, some companies are willing to bet on a different conceptualization of "good business." Perhaps most impressive of this group are B Corps — businesses that nonprofit B Lab grade each year to ensure they're meeting the highest standards of social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. 

Companies awarded B Corp status have committed to using their businesses to work toward a more inclusive and sustainable economy. They strive to reduce inequality; lower poverty levels; and create a healthier environment, stronger communities, and purposeful jobs.

They leverage their resources to pay into a better world, creating a definition of success that includes commonwealth and positive impact as necessary aspects of sustainable consumerism. It's not charity; it's better business, and the point is to move the needle on "better practices" further from extra credit and closer to universal compliance.

We rounded up 19 companies we love to shop from that also happen to be certified B Corps, helping drive a global movement that uses business as a force for good. 

Check out 19 B-Corps brands we love to shop from:

Cariuma

Founded by a group of former footwear industry executives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Cariuma is a sneaker brand that focuses on sustainability.

Unlike most sustainable sneaker brands that only use recycled plastic and minimalistic designs, Cariuma handmakes its sneakers using high-quality natural materials including organic fair-trade cotton, natural rubber, and leather from gold-rated tanneries using hides sourced from areas that weren't deforested for cattle farming.

Cariuma's sneakers typically feature a retro-inspired skate shoe look that's both classic and easy to style.

Another way Cariuma practices sustainability is by shipping its shoes directly in the shoebox, eliminating the need for wasteful packaging. It also makes up for the carbon emissions associated with shipping products by purchasing carbon offsets, bringing its carbon footprint down to zero. Read our full review here.

Shop Cariuma here.

Toms

Toms is best known for its simple slip-on shoes, but it's also one of the most charitable and eco-friendly brands in footwear. The brand currently commits one-third of its profits to good causes, including donating one pair of shoes for every pair sold and monetary donations to trustworthy foundations with righteous causes.

In addition to its philanthropic efforts, Toms has also made great strides in sustainability. The brand uses materials like 100% organic cotton, recycled cotton, recycled polyester made from plastic saved from landfills, Tencel made from eucalyptus, sugarcane, and ec0-fiber. 

Shop Toms here.

Aesop

Founded in Melbourne, Australia, Aesop is a luxury grooming and skincare brand. With a full collection of essentials for hair, skin, body, and fragrance, all of Aesop's products are vegan and made with clean ingredients. 

You'll find everything from body wash and hand soap to skincare products and unisex fragrances.

While the brand has only been B Corp certified since 2020, Aesop has a long history of philanthropic efforts through donating products and raising money by partnering with charities or through its own charity, the Aesop Foundation.

Shop Aesop here.

Leesa

Leesa is best-known for being one of the forerunners in the increasingly crowded direct-to-consumer mattress space. Its Leesa Mattress has over 20,000 five-star reviews, and its Hybrid is one of the picks in our best mattress guide.

The company also has a strong social impact: giving one mattress for every 10 sold and devoting resources to national and local organizations. Despite the startup's accomplishments in a crowded space, Leesa's Head of Social Impact, Jen-Ai Notman, told Insider the social mission would be likely to still rank as the overwhelming incentive for working at the company.

Overall, Leesa has donated more than 37,000 mattresses to those in need and makes a point to provide the opportunity for employees to feel invested in their own backyards with local volunteer opportunities.

Shop Leesa here.

The Body Shop

You may know The Body Shop from frequent trips to the mall, but the retailer has attracted a dedicated customer base for its social responsibility and wide array of ethically sourced bodycare products. In 2019, the company became a certified B Corp.

Since opening its doors in 1976, The Body Shop has launched a series of activism campaigns, even becoming the first international cosmetics brand recognized under the Humane Cosmetics Standard.

The Body Shop has also launched a Community Trade partnership with The Tungteiya Women's Association in northern Ghana. Through the partnership, over 640 women help source the high-quality shea butter used in The Body Shop's products, like the shea butter shampoo and conditioner, which is former senior reporter Connie Chen's go-to haircare set.

The Coconut Body Butter is one of our favorite bodycare products, and we ranked its Tea Tree Oil as one of the best tea tree oils we've tried. 

Shop The Body Shop here.

Prose

Prose is a trailblazer for custom haircare and is one of the most personalized beauty brands on the market.

Launched in 2017 and added to the B Corp list in 2019, Prose creates completely customized haircare products that cater to the specific needs and goals of each individual's hair and scalp. 

Prose founders used their experiences in marketing, digital strategy, and R&D roles at consumer product companies like Procter & Gamble and L'Oréal to help define Prose's data-driven and ingredient-centric business model.

Because of this technology-driven approach mixed with an apothecary-style concept, Prose's made-to-order products offer the highest quality of clean, sustainably sourced ingredients. Read our full review of Prose here.

Shop Prose here.

Allbirds

Allbirds are often referred to as the "world's most comfortable shoes," and we'd be inclined to agree. We also love that each collection seems to get even better at optimizing natural materials.

Allbirds' classic sneakers and loungers are made from moisture-wicking, temperature-regulating, odor-resistant merino wool that is ZQ-certified (meaning it meets stringent standards for sustainable farming and animal welfare) and uses 60% less energy than synthetics.

Its second collection was comprised of sneakers and skippers made from cooling, eco-friendly eucalyptus pulp. Both are ultra-comfortable, low-maintenance, made from sustainable materials, and start at $100 for a pair. Allbirds has since added performance styles for hiking and running to its offering too.

Shop Allbirds here.

Patagonia

Patagonia is a beloved outdoors company for many reasons: its superior products and the environmental efforts that led to it being named a UN Champion of the Earth in 2019, the UN's top environmental honor.

You can read more on how Patagonia walks the walk here. A few of our favorite examples include being the first California company to sign up for B certification in 2012; imposing an earth tax on itself; and giving 100% (yes, 100%) of their profits from Black Friday in the past directly to grassroots nonprofits working to protect air, water, and soil quality for future generations. Since 1985, the company has donated over $89 million to environmental work.

It also bucks corporate trends by not being afraid to get political. It's led boycotts and sued the United States government after the former Trump administration proposed reducing two national monuments by up to 85%.

The company also revised its mission statement from "build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis" to the simpler, more urgent "we're in business to save our home planet."

Shop Patagonia here.

Cotopaxi

Cotopaxi is an outdoors brand with social purpose built into its DNA. Its gear is superior (I count its 35L and 42L travel pack as among my all-time best finds). But, somehow, it's almost more exciting to talk about the work the company is doing outside of its retail line. 

From its inception, Cotopaxi has been founded upon the idea that the interests of profit and people could not only coexist but should and already do enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship.

The B Corp values can be found at all levels of operation. Employees spend 10% of their work time in their local communities, adventuring outdoors, or doing service. The company donates 1% of its yearly revenue to ending poverty by funding local organizations working on sustainable solutions. Cotopaxi also puts out a Repurposed Collection of limited-edition gear made out of product scraps. 

The company has also created a skills-based volunteering initiative that leverages the time and talent of employees to respond to community needs, such as a card-writing program that provides a paid first job for refugees in Salt Lake City. The program provides youth with professional development, work experience, a competitive wage, and the opportunity to practice their English language skills. This is one company whose "Do Good" products actually feel authentic. 

Shop Cotopaxi here.

Frank and Oak

Frank and Oak is a Canadian apparel company dedicated to making modern, high-quality essentials with sustainable materials and production methods.

The company has winter boots made from coffee waste, recycled rubber, and plant-dyed leather, as well as circular denim made from post-consumer waste in a way that uses 79% less energy, 50% fewer chemicals, and 95% less water than the standard.

About 50% of the retailer's products are made with minimal-impact processes and materials. Its shipping boxes are 100% recycled and recyclable, and its bags are biodegradable. What's more, its Canadian stores were built with recycled materials. 

It also keeps a lean supply of products on hand to avoid surplus, making nearly every collection limited-edition. 

Shop Frank and Oak.

Bombas

Bombas is another company that was founded with the primary directive of giving back to the community, with its actual product idea coming second. But Bombas are still the best pair of socks we've ever tried.

Founders David Heath and Randy Goldberg told Insider the now cult-favorite company began as a way to address the fact that homeless shelters have a great shortage of sock donations. And after noticing that consumers didn't have a great option between high-end niche technical socks and a six-pack at Target, Heath and Goldberg spent two years obsessively re-inventing the wheel.

Bombas socks have blister tabs, a reinforced footbed, targeted areas of tension, "stay-up technology," and contoured seaming like a Y-stitched heel to minimize bunching, sliding, and sticking.

Since 2013, the company has also donated more than 48 million items to homeless shelters thanks to its "buy one, give one" model for its socks and tees.

And the socks and clothes Bombas does donate have been designed in conjunction with their giving partners to cater specifically to the needs of its recipients, who may not have access to the luxury of putting on clean clothes every day. For instance, the socks come in darker colors to avoid visible wear and tear, added anti-microbial treatment to prevent odor or bacteria if they can't be washed as frequently, and reinforced seams for durability. 

Shop Bombas here.

Beautycounter

Beautycounter, a skincare and makeup brand, has become synonymous with the clean beauty movement. Since its founding in 2013, the company has had what it calls The Never List — a laundry list of 1,800 questionable or harmful chemicals that are never used in its products, including the 1,400 banned or restricted by the EU. (The US bans just 30.)

It's also involved in advocacy for better, healthier legal regulation in the US and Canada. 

Its makeup is solid, but it has some of the best skincare products around — and all blessedly sans harmful chemicals. Read our entire Beautycounter review here.

Shop Beautycounter here.

Tentree

Tentree is an outdoor company that essentially thinks of itself as a forestry program that ended up selling clothes. For every product you buy, the company plants 10 trees through thoughtful programs that reforest the earth and help rebuild communities around sustainable local economies. 

Since its inception, Tentree has planted over 57 million new trees on earth. By 2030, the company's goal is 1 billion. 

The brand's clothes mostly consist of comfy, unassuming sweatshirts, shirts, leggings, and other basic apparel sold at a reasonable price. It's also fostered a lively online community and lays claim to one of the most-liked Instagram posts of all time.

Shop Tentree here.

United by Blue

United by Blue, an outdoor apparel and accessories brand, was founded first and foremost to preserve and protect the places in which explorers go to play. That means its top-notch gear goes hand-in-hand with conservation work.

The company utilizes inventive, sustainable materials and removes 1 pound of trash from the world's oceans and waterways for every product sold. It's working to ban single-use plastic from its business operations. You can also join them in a cleanup. 

We're particularly big fans of its flannel shirts as well as its jackets and socks that utilize bison down — a surprisingly sustainable material that packs a lot of warmth. 

Shop United by Blue here.

Ethique

Ethique is helping tackle plastic waste by developing solid bars made for beauty, body, and haircare needs.

Founded by a female biologist, the company formulates over 30 solid beauty bars that work as shampoos, conditioners, moisturizers, self-tanners, and body washes, and they work well. 

Every bar is vegan, sustainably sourced, naturally derived, and comes in biodegradable packaging. They also last two to five times longer than bottled options since they're so concentrated (about 70% of bottled shampoo is water), meaning you save money and contribute a smaller carbon footprint by ordering less frequently. To date, the company has prevented the making of more than 11 million plastic bottles.

Ethique (French for "ethical") is certified climate-neutral and cruelty-free and donates 20% of its profit to charity.

In 2015, the company was recognized as New Zealand's most sustainable business with the Best in B award. In its early stages, the company also attracted the highest number of female investors in PledgeMe history. (PledgeMe is New Zealand's crowdfunding platform.)

Shop Ethique here. (Its Amazon orders are fulfilled by Pharmapacks.)

Athleta

San Francisco-based Athleta makes relatively affordable but premium performance clothing designed by women athletes, and it focuses most of its philanthropy on empowering girls and women. 

Through the Gap Inc. P.A.C.E. program and Fair Trade U.S.A., the label supports programs impacting the lives of the majority-female workers that create its apparel and has run empowerment-focused campaigns such as "Power of She." The company also offers thousands of free fitness and wellness events each year. 

Last year, it diverted 74% of shipping waste from landfills, and 71% of its materials are made from sustainable fibers.

Shop Athleta here.

Uncommon Goods

UncommonGoods is a marketplace of creative craft-esque inventions, like long-distance friendship lamps, that make great gifts. The site feels like a clean, navigable Etsy with fewer products and a more distinct thesis: utilitarian but "unique." 

It's unusual to see a diverse aggregator like UncommonGoods as a B Corp (Etsy gave up the distinction in 2017), but the company has been one since 2007. 

UncommonGoods works with its artists to use sustainable or recycled materials when possible, chooses environmentally friendlier packing materials, and prints its catalog on FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified and recycled paper. It also founded "Better to Give," which allows customers to choose a nonprofit partner for the company to donate $1 to with every order. 

For UncommonGoods, the "business for good" model is working, with the company growing steadily from five employees to over 200 year-round. As part of its approach to business, its lowest-paid hourly seasonal worker makes double the federal minimum wage. It has also advocated for higher minimum wage and paid family leave in New York and other states. 

The company partnered with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and created the Uncommon Scholars program, which creates internship and scholarship opportunities for students enrolled at historically Black colleges and universities.

Shop UncommonGoods here.

MPOWERD

NYC-based MPOWERD makes affordable, innovative products that help make clean energy accessible. Its best-known product is the Luci, an inflatable solar light. Particularly well-loved for its versatile applications for campers and hikers, MPOWERD is an increasingly recognizable name in the outdoors genre.

Its big sales drive down costs, and those savings are passed on to MPOWERD's clients in developing economies.

Through this process and a myriad of others, the company delivers affordable, life-changing solar lights to off-the-grid communities around the world. It has over 700 strategic nonprofit partnerships worldwide, emergency relief sales, and a customer-driven Give Luci program that encourages shoppers to purchase units for their global nonprofit partners. 

Shop MPOWERD here.

Eileen Fisher

Eileen Fisher has been a B-Corp since 2015 and has incorporated conscious practices into most of its supply chain, including "green initiatives" at its headquarters, stores, and distribution centers, along with volunteer work.

The company has been involved in some meaningful policy engagement in the past, and it has designed a grant program that supports women involved in environmental justice. 

Shop Eileen Fisher.

• My family of six is struggling to keep up with rising costs and inflation.
• We've borrowed from our 401(k) and retirement savings to pay bills.
• Saving money has become nearly impossible despite multiple income streams.

In Maine, where I am raising my family, electricity costs have risen exponentially. The average Mainer spends $175 a month on this bill alone — just to keep the lights on.

My average electric bill is $300 a month. Oil prices have increased, as have gas and groceries. Middle-class families across the country face similar financial challenges. Prices continue to outpace salaries.

For my family of six, this has led to a few changes, and none of them are positive. Not only is it harder to pay bills, but the rising cost of living makes saving and holding onto savings impossible.

We took a loan from our 401(k)

While our savings have ebbed and flowed, we have always had something. With four children, it was necessary to set aside money. I was able to put away a specific amount and deposit it into my savings account each month.

However, since prices have soared, our savings have gone in the opposite direction. If I do manage to eke out a bit of money to stash away, within weeks, our account is drained. Whether it's a pricy trip to the grocery store, rising gas and oil prices, an unexpected expense, or an emergency, savings don't last as long as they used to.

Financially, we struggle year-round, often relying on retirement savings to pay regular expenses. Last year, we took a loan from my husband's 401(k) to cover Christmas for our four children. Expenses have also been covered with retirement money. Despite our jobs as a teacher and an electrical shift worker — and with added overtime, freelance writing, and a summer teaching job — we still can't fully meet our expenses.

We have no safety net

So now, not only are we worried about living paycheck to paycheck and operating without a safety net, but my husband has to repay the 401(k) loan we borrowed against through paycheck deductions. The scariest part is that it may not be the last time we use this strategy, nor was it the first.

I also withdrew funds from my retirement annuity to pay for my daughter's car. We have limited access to public transportation where we live. It was also necessary to have another driver in the family. So, I took $3,500 for the car and added it to the $1,000 she had saved. I also took an additional $2,000 to cover expenses we were falling behind on.

Pulling this money out had a significant impact on our taxes. Unlike with my husband's 401(k) we weren't taking out a loan. We were pulling money that would be considered taxable income — and it hurt — which led us to a decision. Moving forward, it would be a smarter move to borrow against my husband's 401(k) if there are any smart moves to make in this precarious financial time. That's what we did.

As a teacher, I don't have a 401(k); I have a pension that is insufficient to cover expenses. It's like having a ghost account that exists--sort of. I can't borrow against it, and its true value doesn't really materialize until retirement. If I withdraw money early, I incur penalties and face negative tax implications. While it will serve me well in the future, it does little to help with the current economic pinch; we, like many American families, struggle daily.

This stands in stark contrast to the lesson I was taught growing up, and one that the grandparents who raised me stuck by. They had three to six months' worth of savings stashed away for living expenses. My grandmother even saved money for Christmas throughout the year in her Christmas club account. She was able to save and budget, so she didn't have to borrow against retirement.

Unlike my grandparents, many today don't have a safety net as costs rise faster than incomes. We certainly don't. Staying financially sound is harder than ever. Borrowing against retirement seems a desperate yet necessary measure in an uncertain, harsh economic wasteland. It is not a choice; it's a necessity for families like mine. I can only hope these sacrifices won't undermine our future retirement, or that prices will go down, and we can start saving again.

• The 2026 Met Gala will take place on May 4, 2026.
• The event's theme is "Costume Art," and the dress code is "Fashion Is Art."
• Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams will co-chair the gala with Anna Wintour.

The 2026 Met Gala will be here before you know it.

Fondly known as fashion's biggest night, the Met Gala is an annual fundraiser that supports the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute and is hosted by the museum, Anna Wintour, and Vogue.

It's always held on the first Monday in May, which will be May 4, 2026. Celebrities descend on New York City in droves for the event, showcasing their most high-fashion looks of the year on the iconic steps of the Met.

The 2026 event will support the museum's "Costume Art" exhibition, and a slew of A-list stars will serve as co-chairs for the gala, which has a "Fashion Is Art" dress code.

Here's everything we know about the 2026 Met Gala so far.

Celebrating 'Costume Art'

The Met Gala has a different theme each year, centered on the exhibition the Costume Institute displays in conjunction with the gala.

For 2026, the museum will host the "Costume Art" exhibition, curated by Andrew Bolton, as announced in November 2025.

"Celebrate fashion as an art form this spring at The Met," an Instagram post about the exhibit from the museum read. "Focusing primarily on Western art from prehistory to the present, the show will explore artistic representations of the dressed body, pairing fashions and artworks from the Museum's vast collection to highlight the inherent relationship between clothing and the body."

In a press release shared on December 10, 2025, Bolton said of the exhibit, "I wanted to focus on the centrality of the dressed body within the museum, connecting artistic representations of the body with fashion as an embodied art form."

The exhibition will also be the first to be held in the museum's new, almost 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries.

The 2026 Met Gala dress code is 'Fashion Is Art'

The Met Gala's theme is separate from its dress code, though they are typically related. In past years, for example, attendees have worn costume-like pieces for the "Camp: Notes on Fashion" event, Chanel designs for the gala that honored designer Karl Lagerfeld, and pieces with religious nods for "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination."

And in February, Vogue announced the dress code for the 2026 gala is "Fashion Is Art." In its announcement, Vogue said "the dress code encourages attendees to consider the many ways that designers use the body as their blank canvas."

That dress code is fairly open for interpretation compared to those in the past. For instance, the 2022 Met Gala had a "gilded glamour, white tie" dress code, so attendees had a relatively narrow range of what they could wear. "Fashion Is Art" is more open to interpretation, as each designer expresses their art differently in fashion and naturally lends itself to greater variety on the red carpet.

Vogue also shared over 50 runway looks it said would suit the dress code, focusing on outfits that embraced specific artistic styles, like Baroque, Surrealism, and Impressionism. The list included dozens of designer artists, from Vivienne Westwood to Saint Laurent. It also spotlighted interactive art garments, such as the spray-painted gown Bella Hadid wore in a Coperni fashion show in 2022.

It's clear there is no one way to rock the "Fashion Is Art" dress code, so fans of the event can look forward to seeing all kinds of artistic looks on the Met Gala red carpet in 2026.

Beyoncé makes her return to the Met Gala

The exhibit and its adjacent gala have been funded this year by Saint Laurent, Condé Nast, and Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos, who were also named honorary co-chairs.

"It has been such a fun and meaningful experience," Sánchez Bezos said on "Today " about the Met Gala. "When Anna called me and said, 'Do you want to co-chair and also be the sponsors of the Met?' I was so honored."

The couple made their first appearance together at the 2024 event, during which Sánchez Bezos walked the carpet solo in an Oscar de la Renta gown and later met up with the Amazon founder inside.

Sánchez Bezos is especially excited about this year's theme, as she said fashion designers like Elsa Schiaparelli "are true artists."

"It's going to be incredible to see what everyone wears and to be able to really honor all these designers," she added. "I cannot wait."

They're not the only stars who will be influential to the 2026 gala, though.

Each year, a different set of co-chairs partners with Wintour on the event, and in 2026, she turned to some of the most famous women on the planet to bring it to life.

Venus Williams, Nicole Kidman, and Beyoncé — who last attended the Met Gala in 2016 — will serve as the official co-chairs for 2026. Kidman and Williams have been frequent attendees of the event in recent years.

In addition, Zoë Kravitz and Anthony Vaccarello, the creative director of YSL, are heading up the Host Committee, where they will work with a slew of stars.

They include musicians such as Doja Cat, Sabrina Carpenter, Sam Smith, Teyana Taylor, and Lisa, as well as actors like Gwendoline Christie, Lena Dunham, Chase Sui Wonders, Angela Bassett, Rebecca Hall, and Elizabeth Debicki.

Models Alex Consani, Paloma Elsesser, Lauren Wasser, Yseult, and Adut Akech are also included, as are athletes Misty Copeland, A'ja Wilson, and Aimee Mullins.

Chloe Malle, the new top editor of Vogue, writer and activist Sinéad Burke, and artists Anna Weyant, Amy Sherald, and Tschabalala Self will also join the committee.

Vogue has never shared many details regarding the group's duties, but they're confirmed to attend a special dinner before the gala.

Where to watch

Though the actual gala is a private event, celebrity arrivals are filmed and photographed for the world to see.

Vogue will exclusively livestream the Met Gala red carpet on YouTube, TikTok, and its other digital platforms beginning at 6 p.m. ET.

Model Ashley Graham, actor La La Anthony, and model Cara Delevingne will host the livestream, while influencer Emma Chamberlain will serve as a red carpet correspondent.

• Trump's order on psychedelics sent stocks in the space soaring on Monday.
• Trump signed an executive order to loosen restrictions in order to hasten the development for medical use.
• The news boosted shares of Compass Pathways, GH Research, and others.

Psychedelic drug stocks are spiking on Monday on a new order from the White House.

The sector, often lumped in by investors with other speculative drug plays like cannabis, is surging after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 18 that eases the federal restrictions on several popular mind-altering drugs, including Ecstasy, LSD, and psilocybin. The president cited the need for psychedelics in the treatment of mental conditions.

"It is the policy of my Administration to accelerate innovative research models and appropriate drug approvals to increase access to psychedelic drugs that could save lives and reverse the crisis of serious mental illness in America," he noted in a statement released by the White House.

This news jump-started momentum for psychedelic drug stock as markets opened on Monday. Here are the top movers:

• COMPASS Pathways: +50%
• AtaiBeckley: +33%
• GH Research PLC: +30%
• AdvisorShares Psychedelics ETF: +12%

Trump signed the executive order at a ceremony that included well-known proponents of the responsible psychedelic drug movement, including podcast host Joe Rogan and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The list of people behind the movement also includes a wide-ranging group of tech CEOs who have touted the therapeutic benefits of psychedelic drug use.

The executive order is meant to ease restrictions on how the drugs are studied and developed for medical use. A growing body of research has emerged in recent years on the benefits of drugs such as MDMA, ketamine, and psilocybin to help patients with treatment-resistant mental health conditions, such as depression and PTSD.

This shift in policy boosted many companies with exposure to the psychedelic drug space. However, some finance pros remain cautious in their outlook, maintaining that it will likely take time for the producers to reap the benefits from psychedelic commercialization.

"This is going to rekindle investor interest in the psychedelic space, but the road to commercialization isn't a short one," said Chris Versace, lead portfolio manager TheStreet Pro.

"In addition to watching the outcome of various trials as part of that path, understanding the nature of a company's molecules and how this all fits into a treatment environment are critical."

• Walmart has the edge in delivery speed for daily essentials, while Amazon has the larger selection.
• Lately, both giants have been borrowing key strategies from one another.
• The race is on to see if Walmart can become Amazon before Amazon becomes Walmart.

Retail giants Amazon and Walmart are increasingly borrowing from one another to fuel a new stage of growth.

Most recently, Walmart began testing an initiative to store third-party marketplace merchandise in the backrooms of some of its supercenters, The Financial Times reported on Sunday, and Walmart confirmed to Business Insider.

"Starting in a few markets, we'll soon be offering a select assortment of marketplace items through the pickup and delivery experience customers already know and love," a spokesperson said.

The move further encroaches on Amazon's traditional territory — the e-commerce giant popularized the idea of third-party marketplaces — while Amazon is also toeing into Walmart's turf with its own version of Supercenters.

Walmart's new strategy allows a larger selection of products to be available at the ultrafast delivery speeds that customers routinely get on items typically available in a local store, like groceries or apparel. Typically, this third-party merchandise is stored and shipped from other Walmart facilities that don't have the same speed advantages as its growing fleet of 4,600 retail stores.

It also ties into two other long-term projects the company has been working on: redesigning stores and automating supply chains.

In the first case, the new store designs feature larger e-commerce fulfillment spaces. In the second, AI-powered warehouses are sorting items before they are shipped to a store, allowing organized pallets of products to go straight from the truck to the shelf for restocking.

Both initiatives create extra space for storing and shipping items sold by Walmart Marketplace sellers — and more sellers make Walmart even more Amazon-like.

Both giants are branching out after mastering their own games

Building a really big business typically requires a sharp focus on a primary lane.

Walmart mastered physical retail by putting roughly 120,000 more commonly purchased items (and other services) under a single roof, located within a short distance of 95% of the US population.

Amazon dominates e-commerce thanks to the power of its platform and fulfillment capacity, enabling it to offer millions of unique items through a single marketplace.

Now, both are branching out after conquering their own games.

In recent months, Amazon has doubled down on its push to reach more rural customers with new facilities in smaller communities.

The company is also piloting a smaller-format fulfillment center stocked with more frequently purchased products, which it says will shorten delivery times to as little as 30 minutes.

And there's the supercenter-style warehouse-and-store combination in the works, which is expected to offer groceries, general merchandise, prepared foods, and other services. It's the e-commerce company's latest foray into physical retail, an area where it's had mixed results.

It's clear that the race is on to see if Walmart can become Amazon before Amazon becomes Walmart.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at dreuter@businessinsider.com or text/call/Signal at 646-768-4750. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• FBI Director Kash Patel is suing The Atlantic for $250 million.
• His lawsuit said the publication defamed him with an article about his drinking.
• The Atlantic said it stands by its story.

Kash Patel, the director of the FBI, sued The Atlantic on Monday morning, accusing the publication of defaming him in a report about his drinking.

Citing anonymous sources, The Atlantic story, published on Friday, said Patel had "bouts of excessive drinking."

The article reported several incidents where sources described Patel behaving erratically. Citing anonymous sources, it said Patel had a "freak-out" and told allies the White House fired him when he found himself locked out of a computer system. The Atlantic story said Patel's drinking "has been a recurring source of concern across the government," and that FBI officials have questioned whether alcohol played a role when he publicly shared incorrect information about the investigation into Charlie Kirk's murder.

Business Insider hasn't independently verified the claims in The Atlantic's article.

Patel's lawsuit asks for $250 million in damages. It says The Atlantic and Sarah Fitzpatrick, who wrote the article, ignored the FBI's assertion that the claims were "obviously false" and that she misrepresented numerous events.

The lawsuit denied the article's claims that Patel "is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication, in many cases at the private club Ned's in Washington, D.C., while in the presence of White House and other administration staff." It also denied reporting that said that he "is also known to drink to excess at the Poodle Room in Las Vegas, where he frequently spends parts of his weekends."

In a statement following the filing of Patel's lawsuit, in Washington, DC, federal court, The Atlantic said it stood by its story.

"We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit," a spokesperson said.

Monday's lawsuit is the second that Patel has filed against members of the media since President Donald Trump appointed him as FBI director.

Last year, he sued Frank Figliuzzi, a former FBI official who worked as an analyst and columnist for MSNBC, now known as MS Now. That lawsuit, which remains pending, alleged that Figliuzzi defamed him by saying Patel spent a lot of time at nightclubs.

In both lawsuits, Patel is represented by the law firm of Jesse Binnall, an attorney with a track record of representing Trump allies. He also represented Trump in lawsuits to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Last week, a federal judge in Florida tossed a lawsuit Trump filed against The Wall Street Journal and several of its reporters over an article that said he authored a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.

• WalletHub ranked more than 1,300 small cities based on business-friendliness.
• The report was based on factors including costs, access to resources, and business environment.
• Cities in Florida and Utah took the most top spots, together occupying 10 of the top 15 cities.

Between startup costs, regulations, and legal hurdles, there are many factors to consider when starting a business. But as a recent study shows, sometimes the most important one could be the city itself.

WalletHub recently conducted a study of more than 1,300 small cities — each with a population of 25,000 to 100,000 — to determine which were the best for starting a business. The personal finance website evaluated each city across three categories: business environment, access to resources, and business costs.

The business environment category considered average commute time, startups per capita, and industry variety, among other factors. Access to resources considered factors such as higher education access and investor access, while business costs factored in cost of living, taxes, labor costs, and office-space affordability.

WalletHub gave each city a score based on its weighted average across the metrics and ranked each city based on this overall score.

The analysis used data from the US Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Indeed, and other sources.

"The benefits of starting a business in a small city include lower overhead costs, stronger relationships with customers and the potential to become a big fish in a little pond," WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in the report.

Lupo also noted the shortcomings of starting a business in a small city. "Entrepreneurs who want to build a large professional network aren't likely to make as many connections in a town with fewer residents," he said. "Other restrictions might include limited industry options, a less diverse customer base, and difficulty attracting and keeping top talent."

California appeared most often in the list of 1,334 cities, while Florida and Utah dominated the top 15 with a total of 10 cities between them.

Alaska and Vermont appeared least on the full list, each represented by only one city: Fairbanks, Alaska, and Burlington, Vermont.

See the top 15 small cities in WalletHub's report.

When photos of some cities were unavailable, Business Insider used photos of nearby cities.

15. Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Business environment rank (out of 1,334 small cities): 5

Access to resources rank (out of 1,334 small cities): 101

Business costs rank (out of 1,334 small cities): 707

Palm Beach Gardens borders North Palm Beach and has a population of over 63,000, per 2024 Census estimates.

14. Midvale, Utah

Business environment rank: 137

Access to resources rank: 16

Business costs rank: 313

Located about 12 miles south of Salt Lake City, Midvale is home to 36,000 residents and hosts around 1,300 businesses. CHG Healthcare, a healthcare workforce company that says it provides care to over 20 million patients, is headquartered there.

13. Post Falls, Idaho

Business environment rank: 16

Access to resources rank: 304

Business costs rank: 302

Post Falls sits just east of Spokane, Washington, on the Idaho-Washington border. Businesses in Post Falls are entitled to state incentives, such as energy conservation rebates and a tax exemption on $100,000 of personal property, according to the city's website.

In 2024, the city had an estimated 45,800 residents, per the Census.

12. Lake Worth Beach, Florida

Business environment rank: 14

Access to resources rank: 540

Business costs rank: 259

Just south of Palm Beach, Lake Worth Beach has what it calls a "lively downtown" for its roughly 44,000 residents, per 2024 Census estimates.

11. South Bradenton, Florida

Business environment rank: 60

Access to resources rank: 926

Business costs rank: 133

South Bradenton, which is technically a census-designated place in Manatee County, sits on Florida's Gulf Coast and has roughly 26,000 residents.

10. Dover, Delaware

Business environment rank: 6

Access to resources rank: 62

Business costs rank: 854

In a state where 66% of Fortune 500 companies are incorporated, Dover was found by WalletHub to have a very business-friendly environment. The city, which has about 40,000 residents, is the second largest in the state.

9. Ocala, Florida

Business environment rank: 142

Access to resources rank: 95

Business costs rank: 115

A fast-growing small city in central Florida, Ocala had a population of about 70,000 residents in 2024 and appeared on Forbes' 2016 "The 10 Best Cities for Future Job Growth" list.

8. Cheyenne, Wyoming

Business environment rank: 7

Access to resources rank: 698

Business costs rank: 111

Wyoming's most populous city, with over 65,000 residents, sits near the state's southern border. Though Cheyenne received a high business environment ranking in WalletHub's report, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported that the state doesn't offer a general business license, and fees to obtain licenses at the municipal level in Cheyenne are difficult for some business owners to navigate.

7. Boca Raton, Florida

Business environment rank: 23

Access to resources rank: 6

Business costs rank: 744

The city of around 100,000 residents is located between Palm Beach and Miami.

6. Cedar City, Utah

Business environment rank: 13

Access to resources rank: 197

Business costs rank: 159

The 40,000-resident city is the most populous in Iron County, Utah, which reported the third-largest job growth rate in the state in the 2025 fiscal year, according to the city.

5. Greenville, South Carolina

Business environment rank: 102

Access to resources rank: 7

Business costs rank: 181

Greenville has a population of around 75,000 residents, according to 2024 Census estimates. Per the city, it's home to over 40 Fortune 500 companies, and more than 100 companies are headquartered there,

4. Bozeman, Montana

Business environment rank: 2

Access to resources rank: 44

Business costs rank: 519

The fast-growing Bozeman had a population of about 58,000 in 2024, per the Census.

3. Washington, Utah

Business environment rank: 4

Access to resources rank: 242

Business costs rank: 238

WalletHub found that the city of 35,000 residents has a high rate of startups per capita and saw nearly 42% growth in the number of small businesses from 2017 to 2023.

2. Fort Myers, Florida

Business environment rank: 44

Access to resources rank: 4

Business costs rank: 191

Fort Myers has one of the highest numbers of investors per capita in the country, WalletHub reported. The city has just under 100,000 residents, per the 2024 Census.

1. St. George, Utah

Business environment rank: 1

Access to resources rank: 130

Business costs rank: 153

Neighboring Washington, Utah, which ranked in third place, St. George came top in WalletHub's study largely for its cheap office spaces and short commute times. The city of around 100,000 residents saw a similar small-business growth rate as Washington, Utah.

US defense spending is on track to top $1 trillion for the first time in history. Congress approved $900 billion for defense in 2026, and President Donald Trump has since proposed a staggering $1.5 trillion defense budget for 2027, the largest request in decades. Much of that money goes to weapons like the F-35, which can cost over $100 million apiece. So why are American weapons so incredibly expensive?

US military spending wasn't always like this. In 1909, the Wright Brothers sold the first military airplane for $30,000. During World War II, Henry Ford's Willow Run plant could efficiently crank out a B-24 bomber every hour.

But in the 1990s, the American defense industry consolidated from 51 major contractors down to just five: Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Raytheon, and General Dynamics. That shift gave these companies enormous leverage over the Pentagon. The result? Cost overruns, missed deadlines, and weapons systems that even the US military can't repair without going back to the contractors that built them.

• AI is transforming the advertising and marketing industries.
• Startups developing tools such as AI agents and AI video platforms are raising millions.
• Take a look at the pitch decks of 17 media and advertising AI startups shared with Business Insider.

AI is reshaping the media and marketing industries at warp speed.

Adtech and martech startups are raising millions of dollars from venture capital firms on the back of the AI wave.

Many of these companies are developing under-the-hood tech, such as agentic AI tools designed to streamline marketers' workflows and boost productivity. Others are working on creative platforms that let marketers create ads and even virtual influencers using generative AI. Some are working in new fields such as "generative engine optimization" (GEO), helping brands optimize their visibility in AI search results. One is helping brands advertise to AI agents.

"We want to disrupt the traditional ad agency," Bolbi Liu, founder of AI adtech startup AdsGency, told Business Insider. In October, AdsGency announced it raised a $12 million seed round, led by XYZ Venture Capital.

Advertising agency giants are aware that they must embrace AI or risk being left behind. Large agency groups, from UK-based WPP to French holding company Publicis and US ad giant Omnicom, have pledged to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in AI over the next few years. Publicis is hunting for AI companies to acquire.

There's big money to be made. A Boston Consulting Group survey of 200 senior marketers, conducted last year, found that 71% of chief marketing officers plan to invest at least $10 million annually in generative AI over the next three years, up from 57% of respondents in the 2024 edition of the study.

Business Insider has interviewed the founders of startups building tools to disrupt advertising and marketing with AI. These founders shared the pitch decks they used to impress investors and raise venture capital funding.

Read 17 pitch decks advertising and marketing AI startups used to raise millions:

Series B

• Vibe, an adtech platform for buying ads on streaming TV: $50 million

Series A

• FLORA, an AI creative tool for designers and artists that combines several large language models into a single interface: $42 million
• Fluency, an adtech startup that is working on AI agents to help automate ad campaigns across Meta, Google, TikTok, and more: $40 million
• Hedra, a generative AI video startup that's expanding its enterprise tools for marketers: $32 million

• Dig, a company that uses LLMs to help brands identify reputational risks and disinformation: $14 million
• LTV.ai, a startup that uses AI to personalize text messages and emails sent to customers on behalf of brands: $5.2 million
• CreatorDB, an influencer marketing company, raised venture capital to further develop its AI tools: $4.67 million

Seed

• AdsGency, an agentic AI startup that automates advertising on platforms like Meta or Google: $12 million
• Limy, a platform to help brands boost their visibility to AI agents: $10 million
• Epiminds, an agentic AI tool aimed at helping performance marketing agencies: $6.6 million
• Nexad, an adtech startup building native ads for AI chat apps: $6 million
• Paramark, a startup using AI to track how ad campaigns drive sales: $6 million
• Octave, an agentic go-to-market platform that helps companies build customer profiles and decide their marketing strategies: $5.5 million
• Artificial Societies, a startup that helps create AI personas for product testing and brand propositions: $5.35 million
• Eikona, a lifecycle marketing startup training AI models to help companies retain their customers: $5 million
• Pomo, a startup that uses AI to help companies make marketing decisions faster: $4.5 million
• Uplane, a company that helps brands launch and test digital ads: $4.5 million
• Azoma, a generative engine optimization startup that simulates how brands appear in chatbot replies and creates content optimized for AI: $4 million "pre-Series A"

Pre-seed

• MITO AI, a platform for video producers to manage AI video assets: $4.5 million

• Tina Nenshi Gada's career has spanned Citibank, Vanguard, and the World Bank Group.
• Reading "Never Eat Alone" inspired her to nurture genuine relationships rather than transactional ones.
• The book's lessons also led her to build her personal brand, be more vulnerable, and mentor others.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tina Nenshi Gada, a 31-year-old user experience designer based in Washington, DC, who has worked at Citibank, Vanguard, and as a contractor for the World Bank Group. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

When I started reading "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi in 2023, I wasn't looking for a networking manual.

I've always been drawn to psychology, and the title of the book stopped me immediately because it matched something I already believed deeply: If you have enough — whether that's food, wealth, time, or knowledge — you shouldn't keep it to yourself.

What I found inside was a philosophy that gave language to something I'd always felt but hadn't yet articulated: that the most meaningful professional growth happens not in spite of other people, but through them.

I moved to the US from India in August 2018 to pursue my master's degree, and my UI/UX career has included working at Citibank, Vanguard, and as a contractor with the World Bank Group. The connections I've formed have helped me land roles and supported my visa applications.

Here are the four most valuable lessons I learned from "Never Eat Alone," and how I implemented them to help me reach my personal and professional goals.

1. Nurture genuine relationships

In "Never Eat Alone," Ferrazzi emphasizes the importance of cultivating authentic and meaningful relationships: getting to know people on a deeper level, understanding their needs, and offering support.

It's not about transactional networking, but about creating bonds that are mutually beneficial over the long term. He stresses that you shouldn't keep track of what you're giving and getting; the moment you start keeping score, the true spirit of generosity and connection is lost.

Previously, I always thought about how someone might be helpful to me in the long run, so my intentions weren't always genuine. The book completely transformed the way I approach relationships.

I realized it wasn't just about what I could gain from someone else; it was about how I could support them and offer something of value.

2. Learn how to present yourself to build a brand

The book gave me the direction I needed to start content writing on LinkedIn in March 2023. I shared about what I was learning about design, AI, and navigating a career as an immigrant woman in tech.

Before, when people recommended building a personal brand, I thought only about how I should present myself online — but I realized it's more about truly building your values, like kindness, ethical behavior, and putting people first.

This shift in mindset had an immediate impact on my approach to LinkedIn content writing and how I interacted with my network. Slowly, people started opening up, engaging with my content, and reaching out for advice. My brand — which I'd never thought of in those terms before — started taking shape around the principle of kindness.

The response to my LinkedIn content surprised me. I grew to over 19,000 followers and was recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice. None of it was the product of a content strategy — it was from showing up, sharing generously, and believing, as Ferrazzi says, that giving is the only sustainable form of networking.

3. Embrace your failures and learn from them

When I first moved to the US, I felt completely lost and isolated. I barely understood anything and had difficulty speaking English, as it's my third language.

It was my first time being away from my family, and I struggled with homesickness, adjusting to a new culture, and finding my professional footing. I had moments of doubt where I questioned my abilities and the choices I'd made.

After reading Ferrazzi's advice, I started sharing more online about the times when I stumbled — whether it was a professional setback or a personal challenge — and how I got back on track. In one post, I wrote about mental health challenges I'd faced in 2024.

This openness and vulnerability not only helped me grow but also fostered a deeper sense of community and trust with my audience. People told me that my openness made them feel less alone in their challenges.

4. Find a mentor, be a mentee, and repeat

The book encourages people to be on the lookout for mentors who can offer guidance and challenges, while also seeking opportunities to pay it forward and mentor others.

Early in my career, I sought mentors with experience in areas like professional networking and navigating workplace challenges. The guidance I received wasn't always easy to hear, but it was essential for my development.

One mentor told me I needed to learn the sandwich approach to feedback: lead with something genuine, deliver the hard truth in the middle, and close with encouragement. My instinct had always been to be direct and honest, and I had to learn that diplomacy isn't dishonesty; it's how you make sure the message actually lands.

I've also found fulfillment in mentoring other young women seeking advice on building confidence in their careers, which both helps them grow and also increases my own sense of purpose.

The beauty of this mentor-mentee cycle is that it creates a continuous flow of learning and development, as well as a community of people who support and uplift each other.

Do you have a story to share about a book that played an important role in your career? Contact this editor, Jane Zhang, at janezhang@businessinsider.com.

• Analysts have been steadily revising S&P 500 earnings expectations higher in recent weeks.
• Goldman said that a small handful of stocks have driven most of the upward revisions for the whole index.
• Tech and energy stocks dominated bullish earnings revisions, while other sectors saw negative revisions.

Wall Street analysts have raised their S&P 500 earnings estimates, seen as a bullish signal for the market, but Goldman Sachs says a small handful of stocks account for most of those revisions.

The S&P 500 is trading above pre-Iran war levels, back in record territory after a volatile stretch of weeks. One driver of the latest move to all-time highs has been the upward revision in first-quarter earnings expectations, which has helped investors look past the war.

Yet, Goldman said in a note on Friday that just three companies account for 75% of the positive revisions across the S&P 500—Micron, Exxon, and Chevron.

"The increase in consensus S&P 500 earnings estimates has been driven by narrow pockets of strength," the analysts wrote.

Tech is a big driver, due to continued tailwinds from AI, but the revisions have come mainly from a small corner of the sector. Hardware, particularly memory stocks, has seen bullish changes to the earnings outlook. Micron Technology alone is responsible for 51% of the upward revisions in the index.

SanDisk was also among the top contributors, though it drove only 3% of revisions. Chipmaker Broadcom added 10%.

Goldman said that energy and tech have accounted for nearly all of the positive revisions, and that the median S&P 500 company has seen no change to its 2026 earnings outlook.

"The recent revisions to the aggregate S&P 500 earnings outlook have been driven almost entirely by the Energy and Technology sectors, with 8 of 11 sectors experiencing no increase in EPS estimates," the bank said.

The analysts explained that the upward earnings revisions in the energy sector reflect the impact of oil on the S&P 500, and six out of the top 10 contributors to the S&P 500's positive earnings revisions since the start of the war in Iran are energy stocks.

Exxon, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Valero Energy, EOG Resources, and Occidental Petroleum make up more than a third of the bullish revisions.

The energy sector has benefited from the conflict in the Middle East, as the war-related oil shock sent prices surging. Producers are expected to report gains from energy price spikes during the war. Yet, their stocks have mostly peaked in recent weeks, reflecting investors potentially pricing in lower crude prices in the near-term as they start to position for an end to the war.

• As a mom, food writer, and recipe developer, I look for groceries that are high-quality but cheap.
• This is why I love shopping at Aldi, where I can find affordable, delicious ingredients.
• There are a few staples I always buy, such as orange juice, Irish butter, and marinara sauce.

I'm a working mom of two voracious toddlers, so when it comes to meal planning and grocery shopping, my priorities are simple: straightforward and cheap.

That said, I'm also a total foodie — both personally and professionally. I love quality ingredients, and I work as a food writer and recipe developer.

These are the reasons I do all of our grocery shopping at Aldi, where I can get fantastic ingredients at an equally impressive price.

As much as I love trying new and interesting products whenever I can, there are a few Aldi staples that I always end up adding to my cart.

I always buy Nature's Nectar orange juice.

I'm a pulp lover in a family of pulp haters. Not only is Aldi's not-from-concentrate orange juice delicious, but I love that my location offers several different options.

I may disagree with my family's preferences, but Aldi's reasonable price tags mean I can afford to buy both high-pulp and no-pulp orange juice weekly. The last time I went, a 1.6-quart bottle cost under $5.

A trip to Aldi is incomplete without Specially Selected all-butter croissants.

Aldi's Specially Selected butter croissants are delicious to eat fresh out of the box, but sometimes I'll lightly toast them. Plus, they're big enough to slice and use for a sandwich.

These never make it through a week in our house — a pack of six tends to disappear quickly.

Aldi's Countryside Creamery Irish butter is a must-have in my house.

A few years ago, I made the conscious choice to start using butter made with milk from grass-fed cows.

There's conflicting research about whether grass-fed butter has more benefits than a conventional stick, but one thing's for sure: I find it a lot more delicious.

Breakfast is big in our family, so we always stock up on uncured bacon.

We're a family that loves a good breakfast meat on a Saturday morning, so I've tried a lot of different bacon brands.

Never Any's antibiotic-free hickory bacon finally stuck. It's just the right thickness and not too salty.

I make sure to buy Pueblo Lindo queso fresco for quick meals.

For a quick, easy dinner, I love making tacos with just four major ingredients: meat, slaw, tortillas, and this cheese.

In the morning, I'll put some beef, pork, or chicken in the slow cooker with some salsa and cook until it's easy to shred. I've found this simple meal is seriously elevated by this fresh, salty cheese.

Aldi's Emporium Selection marinated mozzarella is also a favorite in our house.

Speaking of cheese, the Emporium Selection marinated mozzarella is a constant in my refrigerator.

The slices are marinated in a well-balanced mixture of oil and herbs, and I've found them to be really versatile. I can mix them into pasta dishes and use them to top homemade pizza, and they make a great snack all on their own, too.

I always buy Priano bronze-cut pasta.

When dough is pushed through bronze dies — as opposed to Teflon ones — the resulting pasta has a rougher surface that can grab onto sauce better and keep a slightly firmer texture when boiled.

Aldi carries a rotating selection of shapes, as varied as rigatoni and fettuccine. They're all so good, it's tough for me to even choose a favorite.

It takes a lot for a pasta sauce to impress me, but the Specialty Selected ones have.

I say this as someone who grew up in my Italian grandmother's kitchen and learned to make and jar homemade tomato sauce before I could even speak: The Specially Selected tomato sauces are delicious.

The marinara, vodka, and tomato basil variants are all perfectly balanced with tomatoey tanginess, sweetness, and just enough herbaceous flavor and salt.

They're so good that, in my opinion, they can totally pass as homemade.

Señor Rico rice pudding is one of my husband's favorite products.

My husband is a big rice pudding fan, and we've tried just about every store's take on the dessert. He loves the Señor Rico version the best, and I can see why.

This pudding has a great texture and isn't too sweet. Señor Rico's recipe is also simple: The only ingredients are the same ones I'd use to make it from scratch.

We love that Aldi carries budget-friendly salmon.

I prioritize including protein-packed ingredients in my meals, so I always try to buy wild-caught fish high in omega-3 fatty acids.

At other stores I've tried, fish that fit the bill can be prohibitively expensive (if available at all), but at under $15 a pound, Aldi's sockeye salmon gives me a healthy option that's delicious and affordable.

Aldi's frozen mussels are so simple to prepare.

Aldi's Specially Selected mussels are a secret weapon in my kitchen.

I grew up close to the ocean in a family of enthusiastic shellfish eaters, so believe me when I tell you these mussels — which come infused in a tomato and garlic sauce — are shockingly good.

The best part: They stay in the freezer until you're ready to cook them and then go from frozen to ready to eat in under 10 minutes.

It's hard to beat the flavor or price of Aldi's sea scallops.

When it comes to seafood, Aldi really knows what it's doing — the store's Specially Selected jumbo scallops taste like they were just scooped from the sea.

I thaw them, pat them dry, and season with salt, pepper, and a bit of smoked paprika. Then, I melt some butter in a stainless-steel pan and give them a good sear, flipping once.

They're the centerpiece of a meal that comes together quickly and disappears just as fast.

I keep a steady supply of Specially Selected olive oil on hand.

I use olive oil in almost everything I cook, so I go through a 9-ounce bottle quickly.

In my opinion, the quality of Aldi's Specially Selected extra virgin olive oil is stunningly high for its $10 price tag.

This story was originally published in September 2025 and most recently updated on April 20, 2026.

• The Breakthrough Prize ceremony was hosted in Santa Monica on Saturday night.
• A mix of actors, musicians, and billionaires attended and walked the red carpet.
• Robert Downey Jr. was one of the best-dressed, while Christina Aguilera's look missed the mark.

The Breakthrough Prize ceremony was the place to be for A-list actors, models, musicians, and billionaires over the weekend.

They gathered at the Barker Hangar venue in Santa Monica, California, on Saturday for the event, which celebrates scientific achievements of the past year.

While fashion isn't an exact science, it played a big role on the Breakthrough Prize red carpet.

Some attendees, like Gigi Hadid, looked stunning, while others, including Sam Altman, made poor fashion choices for the red carpet.

Here's what they wore.

Robert Downey Jr. looked sharp in a green suit and vintage accessories.

He walked the red carpet in a Saint Laurent ensemble that included a wool-and-mohair jacket, matching pants, a silk green shirt, and a navy satin tie.

The outfit was strong on its own, but made even better with accessories. The actor wore thick black boots, tinted sunglasses, and a vintage Van Cleef & Arpels brooch made of gold and sapphires.

Sam Altman and Oliver Mulherin matched too closely.

Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, walked the red carpet with his husband, Oliver Mulherin.

They both wore identical outfits: black tuxedos, white button-down shirts, black bow ties, shiny dress shoes, and no accessories.

Because their outfits were the same, neither man stood out. Altman's suit in particular also needed more tailoring, as his pants looked too long.

Gigi Hadid stunned in a white satin gown.

David Koma designed her dress, which featured a halter neckline, a straight, floor-length skirt, and a round crystal brooch at the collarbone.

She wore it with diamond jewelry, neutral makeup, and a half-up, half-down hairstyle.

There were a few issues with Christina Aguilera's look.

The Grammy-winning musician posed on the red carpet in a black Salih Balta gown. It had a leather, off-the-shoulder bodice, which was unique and looked great with her diamond necklace.

Unfortunately, the gown's sheer skirt was less striking. It was an awkward length and had an uneven hem, creating a messy look.

Aguilera's curly bob hairstyle and baby bangs also didn't suit the look.

Adam Levine added a pop of color to his simple outfit, and it worked.

Levine arrived at the ceremony in a matte black suit. Its jacket had satin lapels, and its skinny trousers had sharp pleats.

To elevate the two-piece set, Levine also wore a baby-blue satin button-up shirt. The bright color was eye-catching and helped the Maroon 5 musician stand out.

Michelle Yeoh's outfit was almost perfect.

She attended the Breakthrough Prize ceremony in a satin navy-blue suit.

Her long jacket elongated her frame and looked elegant with the lace top she wore beneath it. Her trousers were also perfectly high-waisted and pleated.

Still, her pants were a bit too long. More tailoring could have improved them, and a few accessories, like her gold necklace and chunky watch, should have been swapped for simpler pieces.

Evan Spiegel and Miranda Kerr looked elegant together.

Spiegel, the co-founder and CEO of Snap, the company behind Snapchat, was photographed on the Breakthrough Prize red carpet wearing a classic black tuxedo and a bow tie.

His outfit was the perfect complement to the blue Nicole + Felicia Couture gown his wife, model Miranda Kerr, wore.

Anne Hathaway was subtly chic in an asymmetrical gown.

She appeared on the red carpet in a black Ralph Lauren gown. The floor-length piece had one draped sleeve with a ruffled hem that extended down her side.

It also had an asymmetrical skirt that revealed her strappy sandals.

The dress was subdued, but pretty on Hathaway, who accessorized with silver and gold jewels from Bvlgari.

The best smart speakers do a lot more than just play music — they're designed to make everyday life a little easier. With a built-in voice assistant, you can ask questions on the fly, set timers while you're cooking, check the weather before heading out, or control your smart home devices without getting up.

I've been reviewing audio gear for over a decade, and I've used that experience to test the best smart speakers you can buy right now. The Sonos Era 100 is my top recommendation for most people. It has rich, room-filling sound and support for both Alexa and Sonos' own voice assistant. If you're looking to spend less, the fifth-gen Echo Dot is a great pick for smaller spaces. It doesn't have the same power or depth as larger speakers, but it's more affordable and supports Amazon's enhanced Alexa+ assistant for conversational control.

When it comes to voice assistants, most smart speakers support either Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple's Siri, and some even offer more than one option. If you're just getting started, that gives you plenty of flexibility. But if you're already tied into a specific ecosystem, it's easiest to stick with a speaker that works seamlessly with the assistant you're already using. And if you want to dig deeper into how everything works, check out the FAQ section for more details.

Our top picks for the best smart speakers

Best overall: Sonos Era 100 - See at Amazon

Best on a budget: Amazon Echo Dot - See at Amazon

Best portable: Bose Portable Smart Speaker - See at Amazon

Best for bass: Brane X - See at Amazon

Best Echo: Amazon Echo Dot Max - See at Amazon

Best for home theaters: Bose Smart Soundbar - See at Amazon

Best overall

The Sonos Era 100 is the quintessential smart speaker. It offers various ways to connect to a wide range of music services, fantastic sound quality for its compact size, and built-in support for multiple voice assistants.

The speaker is versatile enough to be used on its own, as part of a stereo pair, or as part of a larger home theater system. That means you can invest in one now and adapt how you use it later as your audio needs evolve and you add more Sonos speakers to your setup. I've used an Era 100 in nearly every room of my house at different times, and it's always been a great fit for every space.

In terms of the Era 100's smarts, you can use Amazon Alexa or Sonos' own voice assistant. When used with Alexa, you get support for Amazon's key digital assistant capabilities and skills. However, Sonos' assistant is much more limited, as it's currently only good for controlling the speaker's playback via voice. That said, the scope of Sonos' first-party voice assistant could be expanding, as Philips Hue has entered a partnership to enable the speaker to control Hue lights and devices.

Like all Sonos speakers, you can control the Era 100 via the Sonos mobile app and stream all of the most popular music services over WiFi for high-quality playback. The Era 100 also supports multi-room audio setups. Sonos' app experienced some issues after a botched update in 2024, but these quirks have been resolved.

Throughout all my testing, the Era 100 stands out as a compact powerhouse of sound that can handle nearly anything you throw at it. Whether that's as a stereo pair, playing your favorite music album, checking the weather outside, dimming your smart lights, or setting timers as you cook dinner.

For more Sonos recommendations, check out our guide to the best Sonos soundbars.

Best on a budget

The Amazon Echo Dot is my go-to recommendation for anyone who wants a great smart speaker on a budget. The latest fifth-generation model retails for $50 and is often on sale for less. And despite being a few years old, this affordable speaker supports Amazon's new and improved Alexa+, in addition to standard Alexa.

Alexa+ is free for Prime subscribers or $20 a month for non-subscribers. This upgraded digital assistant leverages generative AI to provide more conversational control and handle more complex queries. In practice, this means you can hold more involved conversations and string together multiple tasks, without needing to keep saying the "Alexa" wake word.

On the hardware front, this is a budget smart speaker, so there are definite limitations in audio performance. The device features a single 1.73-inch front-firing driver, yet its sound quality remains adequate for listening to music in a bedroom. However, the Echo Dot isn't the best fit for listeners who want to fill a living room with deep, rich sound. This is more of a background-music kind of speaker to play tracks while working in the kitchen, winding down before bed, or multitasking.

But in exchange for some compromises in audio range and depth, you get a very compact speaker measuring just under 3.5 inches tall. This makes it perfect for tighter spaces and apartments. And despite its low price and tiny footprint, it's still a fully capable Alexa smart speaker. It can even connect to Amazon Fire TVs to play television audio, and it features built-in support for extending your home WiFi if you use an Eero router.

Best portable

Considering its name, Bose's Portable Smart Speaker delivers exactly what you'd expect. This cylindrical wireless speaker supports WiFi, enabling Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, letting you choose which platform you prefer. It also boasts Bluetooth and an integrated battery with up to 12 hours of use per charge, so you can take it on the go and still listen to music.

Though not as compact as something like the Echo Dot, the Portable Smart Speaker is built to move around, so it's light and easy to take outside. It even features a handle, so it's a breeze to pick up at a moment's notice.

Sound quality is also impressive for its size and class, with a clean midrange and a clear high end. However, the bass is less pristine as the speaker veers toward a boomy quality in lower frequencies, which can overwhelm other elements in certain music.

Like most Bose devices, the Portable Smart Speaker can also be grouped with other Bose speakers and soundbars to enable a multi-room audio setup. The Bose app is also solid with handy features like Chromecast and access to services like Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and SiriusXM.

If you only need to keep your smart speaker in one location, you're probably better off with the less expensive Sonos Era 100. But for listeners who want an Alexa or Google Assistant speaker that can move from room to room or be taken outside, the Bose Portable Smart Speaker is a versatile solution for your home and travel.

Check out our guide to the best Bluetooth speakers.

Best for bass

The Brane X stands out from other smart speakers on this list thanks to its powerful low-frequency performance. Like the Bose Portable Smart speaker, this model features a portable design with a built-in battery. But the Brane X offers a clear step up in bass. The brand claims this is the first portable speaker with a built-in subwoofer. After just a minute with the Brane X, it's clear that the claim isn't just marketing fluff.

The Brane X achieves deep bass with "Repel-Attract Driver (RAD) and custom magnets to cancel internal air pressure forces." I've spent several months listening to the Brane X, and there just isn't another smart speaker this size that can match the rumble and thump it delivers.

For handling smart home tasks, the Brane X includes standard Alexa support; however, it's unclear if it will receive an update to work with the more advanced Alexa+ system. As with all smart speakers, Alexa only works when the Brane X is connected to a WiFi network. So, if you take the speaker on the go without WiFi available, you do lose Alexa functionality.

The speaker can also be connected to audio sources via Bluetooth, making mobile playback simple, and it supports up to 12 hours of battery life. If you want to connect an external device, a 3.5mm jack is also available.

Using Alexa on the Brane X is a fine experience, as it is on other models that integrate Amazon's assistant. But it's clear that smart features are more of a bonus here. And though it can be taken on the go, the Brane X is a bit heavy for a portable device and isn't as easy to take around as the Bose Portable Speaker. At its core, this is really a speaker that wants to play big, booming music. And to that end, it has impressed me nearly every time I listen to it.

Best Echo

There are several Echo speakers to choose from, but Amazon's latest Echo Dot Max strikes the perfect balance between smart features and audio quality. This larger take on the basic Echo Dot design features more robust drivers, with a 0.8-inch tweeter and a 2.5-inch woofer.

During my testing, I was impressed by the speaker's bass and audio range, especially for its size. It's larger than the Dot but still relatively compact, offering a deeper listening experience with plenty of volume to fill a living room. And as long as you don't push it too close to 100%, songs retain their clarity.

In terms of the speaker's smarts, it's one of the first Echo devices built with Alexa+ in mind, Amazon's new LLM (large language model) based voice assistant. With the improved Alexa, you can ask more complex questions or string multiple requests together in the same sentence. This type of digital assistant, which is much closer to ChatGPT, should open a world of new uses as people interact with it.

Additionally, the Echo Dot Max has a built-in smart home hub (Zigbee, Thread, Matter) to simplify pairing with other smart devices. This is something that the cheaper Echo Dot lacks. With the integrated hub, setting up control over your other devices requires fewer steps, and you get broader compatibility and more reliable connectivity. You also don't have to worry about getting a separate bridge for products that usually require one.

At the Echo Dot Max's $100 retail price, its size, audio quality, and advanced smart home assistance make it a great all-around smart speaker. Just be aware that Alexa+ either requires an Amazon Prime membership or a separate $20 a month fee. Otherwise, the Echo Dot Max will just use the standard version of Alexa, which, though still very useful, isn't as intelligent.

Best for home theaters

If you want an excellent soundbar that can double as a fully capable smart speaker, I recommend the Bose Smart Soundbar. This powerful TV speaker offers a fully immersive home theater experience right out of the box, and it has Amazon Alexa for all your smart control needs.

Unlike my other picks, which are primarily geared toward music listening, the Bose Smart Soundbar is a powerhouse for movies and TV shows. It can even handle Dolby Atmos audio with its up-firing drivers, which help spread sound effects all around your room, including above your head. I also love the bar's AI Dialogue Mode, which utilizes real-time machine learning to enhance voice clarity.

Of course, the bar isn't just good as a TV speaker. It's also great for music. During my testing, I was impressed by how the speaker delivered rich audio with various genres, from rock to jazz.

The Bose Smart Soundbar integrates Amazon Alexa, allowing you to use the assistant for all the main smart home functions Alexa is known for. In addition to setting timers and various tasks, Alexa can raise the soundbar's volume, skip tracks, and even control multi-room audio if you have multiple Bose speakers.

Bose's mobile app allows you to configure the soundbar however you like, including changing the EQ or adding additional wireless speakers to the soundbar setup.

For more soundbar recommendations, visit our guides to the best soundbars, best Bose soundbars, and best Dolby Atmos soundbars.

What else we considered

Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen) - See at Walmart
The Nest Hub (2nd Gen) remains our favorite Google Assistant-powered smart speaker and display. It's an especially great bedside companion, thanks to its solid Sleep Sensing feature. However, it's an aging device and is getting harder to find in stock. Google is set to launch a new smart speaker, the Google Home Speaker, later this year. That model takes the form of a more traditional, rounded speaker without a display, and it's built to use Google's Gemini AI rather than Google Assistant. This should enable the Home Speaker to support more complex tasks and conversational questions. With that in mind, most buyers are better off waiting to see if Google's new speaker is a better purchase.

Apple HomePod mini - See at Apple
Apple's HomePod mini is still a great, compact smart speaker, and it's one of the few options with built-in Siri support. However, much like the Nest Hub, the HomePod mini is an aging device, and industry rumors suggest a new model could be on the horizon in 2026. Shoppers who want the latest Apple technology are likely better off waiting a few months to see if a second-generation model is announced.

How we test smart speakers

To find the best smart speakers, I didn't just unbox them and run a few quick tests — I've actually lived with many of these picks for years. They've been part of my daily routine, whether that's streaming music throughout the house, setting kitchen timers, or casually asking about the weather. That long-term use has given me a solid sense of how they perform beyond the honeymoon phase.

Along with using each speaker the way I would in my own home, I also put them through more structured testing. I compared how quickly and accurately they respond to voice commands, how loud they get, and how they handle audio quality across different music and podcast genres. I also evaluated connectivity, reliability, and how smoothly they integrate with other smart home devices.

I've also been testing Alexa+ on newer Echo devices, which is one of the first large language model (LLM)-powered voice assistants to roll out to a wide audience. I've tried features like combining multiple commands into a single request to see how well it handles more natural, conversational prompts. So far, it's largely been a step forward, though it still has a few quirks to iron out. I'm also looking forward to testing the coming Google Home speaker with Gemini AI when it launches later this year to see how it stacks up.

You can learn more about our review process in our breakdown of how we test tech products.

Meet the expert behind this guide:

Tyler Hayes, contributing reporter: I've been covering consumer tech since 2013, with a focus on service journalism that helps you figure out what's actually worth buying — and what's not. Over the years, I've spent a lot of hands-on time testing everything from budget gadgets to high-end gear, including smart speakers from every major brand. I've lived with models that support Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri, putting them through real-world use to see how they sound, how smart they really are, and which ones are worth your money.

Learn more about the Reviews team at Business Insider.

Smart speaker FAQs

What makes a smart speaker 'smart '?

Generally speaking, the key component that makes a smart speaker smart is support for at least one digital voice assistant. These digital assistants let you ask questions, handle various tasks, and issue voice commands to control playback and other compatible smart home devices.

Can I turn the microphone off on a smart speaker?

The best smart speakers have a physical microphone mute button or switch. When it's on, the speaker won't listen for the wake word. Many models also feature a clear indicator, such as a red light, allowing you to see when the mic is off.

All of our picks in this guide have a physical mute button or switch.

Do all smart speakers support Bluetooth?

Though many of the best smart speakers support Bluetooth, it is not required. Smart speakers rely on WiFi to enable their digital assistants, and WiFi can also be used to stream music throughout your home. That said, many brands include Bluetooth as an additional music streaming option. This is particularly helpful if your WiFi is unreliable or the speaker is portable, as Bluetooth lets you stream music on the go from a mobile device.

Which digital assistant is best?

There's no one "best" digital assistant for every person. Instead, it really comes down to which ecosystem you're using and what you care about most.

Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri all offer similar capabilities, but they work best when integrated into each brand's broader product and service lineup. Through my testing over the years, I've found that each assistant handles the basics adequately — yes, even Siri. So for most people, the best smart speaker assistant is simply the one that matches the ecosystem they're already invested in.

On that note, it's best to select a single assistant and stick with it for all your smart speakers and smart home devices. This enables the most seamless communication between products and prevents confusion. After all, never knowing what name to ask to control the lights will drive your family members nuts.

Although current assistant platforms are similar, the launch of LLM-powered smart speaker assistants like Alexa+ and Google Gemini will likely offer distinct advantages for certain use cases. These enhanced assistants will offer more natural conversations and provide more differentiated responses. We'll be testing these systems more as they roll out to additional smart speakers to determine if one assistant outperforms the others overall.

Do smart speakers sound good enough for music?

Short answer: Some do, some don't. Smaller, budget-friendly models like the Echo Dot are fine for background listening (think podcasts, casual playlists, or a kitchen speaker). But if you actually care about sound quality, larger options like the Sonos Era 100 or Brane X make a noticeable difference with fuller bass, clearer vocals, and better room-filling audio. If music is a priority, it's worth stepping up to a midrange or premium model.

• Jet fuel costs and supplies across the globe are under pressure from the US and Israeli war on Iran.
• 19 of the world's 20 largest airlines have cut flights in May, according to Cirium data.
• Airlines have largely made cuts on routes with multiple daily flights or those with lower demand.

First, the Iran war made flights more expensive. Now, it's making them disappear.

All but one of the world's 20 largest airlines are reducing capacity in the coming months, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Its analysis found the planned global capacity for May has dropped three percentage points since early March. Cirium revised its initial prediction of 4%-6% growth this year, saying it could decline by up to 3% under some potential scenarios.

The war has disrupted supply chains, trapping oil in storage facilities across the Middle East.

That saw the price of Brent crude oil rocket past $100 a barrel in early March, before dipping back below that benchmark once ceasefire talks began this month.

Jet fuel prices have risen even faster, doubling in price to almost $200 a barrel. And as the war drags on, jet fuel is getting harder to come by for countries that don't produce it or have limited supplies.

"In Europe, we have maybe six weeks or so (of) jet fuel left," the International Energy Agency's executive director, Fatih Birol, told the Associated Press on April 16.

Willie Walsh, the director general of the International Air Transport Association, an airline trade group, said the next day that "by the end of May we could start to see some cancellations in Europe for lack of jet fuel."

"This is already happening in parts of Asia," he added in the statement.

However, the European Union's transport commissioner, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, denied that the continent was close to running out of jet fuel.

"Any cancellations announced so far by European airlines are linked to the high cost of jet fuel, not to supply shortages," he added.

Several airlines have already canceled flights or grounded airplanes due to rising costs.

Here's a look at some of the airlines that have already started canceling flights due to rising prices and falling supplies.

European airlines

Ryanair, Europe's largest airline, said it is considering reducing routes.

CEO Michael O'Leary said its jet fuel supply could be at risk if the war continues during an interview with Sky News.

"We don't expect any disruption until early May, but if the war continues, we do run the risk of supply disruptions in Europe in May and June," he said.

KLM said on April 17 that it was canceling 80 return flights from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, its main base.

It added that these routes were "no longer financially viable to operate" due to rising kerosene costs. The airline also clarified that there was no kerosene shortage.

The same day, Germany's Lufthansa announced that it was retiring dozens of aircraft ahead of schedule due to rising jet fuel prices and the impact of labor disputes.

Most of the airplanes are Canadair CRJ aircraft, as it shuts down its loss-making regional subsidiary Lufthansa CityLine.

Switzerland's Edelweiss Air also said it was canceling flights to the US, due to declining demand and rising fuel prices. It will no longer fly to Denver or Seattle, and will reduce the frequency of flights to Las Vegas.

A spokesperson for Scandinavian Airlines said that it would cut about 1,000 flights in April due to the surge in jet fuel costs.

They added that most of the canceled flights were on short-haul routes in the Nordic region, at airports with multiple daily flights.

And Aer Lingus said on April 20 that it had made adjustments to 2% of its schedule. In a statement, it said there were cancellations due to "mandatory maintenance on aircraft, along with a limited number of schedule adjustments."

The Irish Independent had previously reported that over 500 flights were being cut.

Asian airlines

Several airlines in Asia said they would cut flights to mitigate fuel shortages and mounting costs.

Vietnam Airlines suspended seven domestic flight routes beginning April 1, a local state-run newspaper reported, according to Reuters. The outlet reported that Vietnam Airlines planned to slash flight volume by 10% to 20% a month over the next financial quarter if jet fuel prices rise to $160 to $200 per barrel.

Other local airlines, including Vietjet Air and Bamboo Airways, will also cut flights.

AirAsia said it has cut 10% of its flights and raised fares to curb the impact of rising fuel costs. The Malaysian low-cost carrier, which flies to 25 countries, added that it would cut capacity on routes where it couldn't cover fuel costs.

At a media briefing on April 6, CEO Bo Lingam said the fuel surcharge has risen up to 20%, and overall ticket prices have risen 30% to 40%.

Lingam said its jet fuel had risen from $90 per barrel before the war to $200 per barrel, describing this as the airline's most serious challenge.

United Airlines

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in a March memo to staff that the company would cut flights over the next two quarters.

"In the short term, that means tactically pruning flying that's temporarily unprofitable in the face of high oil prices," Kirby said.

The airline planned to cancel some off-peak flights and red-eyes.

"If prices stayed at this level, it would mean an extra $11 billion in annual expense just for jet fuel," Kirby said in a message to employees posted on the company's website. "For perspective, in United's best year ever, we made less than $5B."

Delta Air Lines

Delta hasn't officially announced any flight cuts due to fuel prices; the oil refinery it owns in Pennsylvania has given it a buffer during the crisis.

"It's not going to cover the crack entirely, but gives us a fairly significant hedge," Delta CEO Ed Bastian said at a March JP Morgan conference.

Delta is cutting its seasonal Los Angeles to Anchorage route this summer, telling Business Insider that it "adjusts its schedule to align with customer demand." Alaska Airlines will be the sole operator on that route.

Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand said it would cut about 5% its flights, or about 1,100, at the start of May.

"We're focused on consolidating flights that are off-peak flying hours, for example, or where there is an alternative that we can re-accommodate customers," CEO Nikhil Ravishankar told 1News, a local outlet, in March.

Air Canada

Air Canada said it will suspend certain routes starting in late May due to rising jet fuel costs.

"Jet fuel prices have doubled since the start of the Iran conflict, affecting some lower profitability routes and flights which now are no longer economically feasible," the company's statement said. "Schedule adjustments including some frequency reductions are being made in response."

The route suspensions will impact certain domestic Canadian, transborder, and international flights.

• Before moving in with my long-term boyfriend, I wanted to spend some time living alone.
• I spent six solo weeks in Paris, pushing myself out of my comfort zone and building my confidence.
• It helped me realize I could still grow on my own while also moving forward in my relationship.

I didn't realize the weight of my decision until I was in the cab on the way to the airport with my partner of three years, feeling completely frozen.

When we arrived, I'd be boarding a flight, and he'd be staying behind.

A few months ago, we'd had the "Should we move in together talk?" and I'd panicked. My yes didn't feel as confident as his — as much as I believed in our relationship, I wasn't sure if I was ready for the next step.

I felt like I needed more time to become more sure of who I was before I could take this step to focus on us, and I wanted to do so without the comforts he provided me.

So, I booked a flight to one of my favorite cities, Paris, where I'd spend the next six weeks living alone, working remotely (thanks to my job's flexible policy), and knowing no one.

What I learned during my trip not only changed how I felt about our next step, but also how I felt about myself.

Although I was scared, being alone helped me strengthen my relationship with myself

When I arrived, I quickly realized how rusty my French was. It made mundane activities incredibly uncomfortable, whether I was ordering a latte or asking a cashier where the dishwasher pods were.

As I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner alone, my thoughts were my only company. Being alone wasn't easy.

Once it became clear that this discomfort wasn't going anywhere, I pushed myself to find some comfort in it by practicing small acts of bravery every day.

I soon discovered that bravery is a muscle — the more you use it, the stronger it gets. Each step outside my comfort zone helped me feel like I could conquer bigger challenges.

I fell in love with sitting on my balcony to people-watch, strolling along the Seine River, and just enjoying my own company. Instead of scrolling on my phone during solo meals, I put it away to focus on living in the present and taking in my surroundings.

On one of my bravest days, I struck up a conversation with three strangers in a park and actually made friends. (One of them even recently visited me in New York.)

I was reminded every day that I could do scary things, and I could do them alone.

In week three, I decided to take a weekend trip to Nice. While I was getting ready for another solo beach day, I looked in the mirror — I mean really looked — for the first time in a while. A question popped into my head: How do I actually feel about myself?

Now, if you asked anyone in my life, they would tell you I'm a confident person — I've even given a TEDx Talk about self-love. However, even someone who's built a career on confidence can get lost when it comes to this question.

I realized that because I had spent the last three years with a partner who never made me question how he felt about me, I stopped asking how I felt about myself.

When you have validation from someone who loves you, it's easy to forget the importance of making sure you still love the person looking back at you first. I decided to reclaim my self-worth on that trip.

I wore bikinis on the beach without worrying about how I looked, I listened to my body, and I spent time with my thoughts without judging them.

There was no opinion I cared about here except my own.

I realized I could keep growing on my own while still taking the next steps in my relationship

Sometimes we use relationships as distractions from finding out who we are on our own, but this experience pushed me to take a closer look at myself.

By the end of the six weeks, I had checked off everything on my Paris bucket list, and I'd truly become comfortable being alone. I had returned to myself, only then realizing how lost I had felt before I arrived.

After I returned to New York, my boyfriend and I moved in together. I didn't get lost in the relationship like I'd worried because I had reconnected with who I was outside of it.

The classic trope about relationships is that you need to do all of your growing before you "settle down." However, I realized that a healthy relationship won't hinder your self-growth but will become stronger from it.

You don't have to choose between personal growth and growing your relationship — there's enough room in the right relationship for both.

• Ukraine aims to have robots handle 100% of front-line logistics missions.
• Its defense minister said Ukraine will contract 25,000 robots in the first half of this year.
• Their use has surged. They carry gear and troops and attack Russian positions.

Ukraine is taking steps to boost its rapidly growing arsenal of war robots, including buying thousands of new ones and pushing to turn over 100% of front-line logistics to robotic systems.

Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced changes to boost the production of ground robots, also known as unmanned ground vehicles, which already help Ukrainian troops carry gear, lay mines, evacuate the wounded, and attack Russian positions.

He said that due to increased demand, Ukraine will contract 25,000 new robots in the first half of this year, double last year's total.

A key goal, he said, is for 100% of its front-line logistics to be performed by these robots. That would keep the vulnerable soldiers and vehicles making dangerous supply runs out of harm's way.

Soldiers have detailed their impact. Oleksandr Yabchanka, the head of robotic systems for Ukraine's Da Vinci Wolves Battalion, previously told Business Insider that one average-sized war robot can carry more than roughly 10 servicemen can.

Fedorov called the robots "one of the most dynamic areas of defense tech" and said that more than 280 companies are working in the space in Ukraine. 280 companies are working in the space in Ukraine.

Ground robots have been important for Ukraine's fight against Russia's invasion because, like aerial drones, they replace soldiers in dangerous roles, which is critical for a smaller force like Ukraine's that can't afford to waste manpower resources.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared last week that Ukraine's ground robot force had carried out more than 22,000 missions on the front lines over the previous three months, saying that means "lives were saved more than 22,000 times when a robot went into the most dangerous areas instead of a warrior."

The president's comments also revealed a big jump in the robots' overall usage. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander in chief of Ukraine's armed forces, said in December that over the previous six months, Ukraine's ground robots had carried out only 2,000 missions. Then, in half the time, that figure grew to 10 times that.

Fedorov also revealed a substantial increase in battlefield usage. He shared that more than 9,000 missions were carried out with ground robots in March, demonstrating how central these assets are becoming to Ukrainian operations.

The robots are performing new types of missions. Units and manufacturers say Russian robots have surrendered to them, and Zelenskyy said they were used to take a Russian position by only using unmanned platforms for the first time in this war.

"The future is already on the front line — and Ukraine is building it," he said.

Ground robots have been used in other conflicts, including by Western militaries, but not to this extent. The West has been paying close attention, increasingly interested in adapting the technology further for NATO militaries.

Fedorov said that as part of the new efforts, Ukraine's Agency for Defense Procurement has so far concluded 19 contracts worth around $250 million with manufacturers. He said he met with ground robot manufacturers to accelerate supply, and they identified key challenges, including scaling production and integrating them into combat operations.

He listed new policy changes to allow acceleration, including the defense procurement agency speeding up the conclusion of contracts at the ministry of defense's request, changing how contracts work so manufacturers will have contracts for next year this year, and creating a new center for manufacturers.

And at the same time, he said, Ukraine is also boosting the production of other components and accessories that make ground robots effective, like weaponry that attaches to them and parts that let them mine and de-mine.

Fedorov said the focus is on cheap and effective systems. Partner nations are watching that shift toward mass, low-cost weapons over smaller numbers of advanced systems.

• A Ukrainian drone maker is teaming up with a US company to make its drones on US soil.
• It fears being "eliminated" if it stays in Ukraine, either by Russian attacks or competition.
• Ukraine's firms are increasingly building abroad.

A Ukrainian drone maker worried about getting "eliminated" at home is teaming up with a US manufacturer to make weapons on American soil.

Stanislav Hryshyn, co-founder of General Cherry, told Business Insider that "actually to stay in Ukraine, that means actually to stay local and to be eliminated in a couple of years or even months."

Rising Ukrainian defense companies like his are increasingly seeing opportunities beyond their own conflict. They believe staying in Ukraine — where they're in the crosshairs and fighting to survive in a heavily saturated market with limited growth potential — could ultimately kill them, physically and commercially.

Staying home risks being outcompeted or destroyed.

First, he said, "we're a target for the enemy." Russia routinely targets Ukraine's defense production with missile and drone attacks.

But beyond that, the Ukrainian market is "not the biggest one, and it's very local," limited by what Ukraine's limited defense budget can afford. And at General Cherry, "we don't want to stay the local players."

Another concern is that without an international market presence, foreign companies could copy Ukrainian innovations and scale production, taking market share that could have gone to Ukrainian firms.

The company is now partnering with US manufacturer Wilcox Industries to make first-person-view (FPV) and interceptor drones in the US, with development led by General Cherry and production based at Wilcox's facility in New Hampshire.

The project is still awaiting formal approval, but the firm says Ukraine has endorsed the move, explaining it's "about scaling what works" and "bringing Ukrainian technology to the global level."

Hryshyn said that for security reasons, he could not comment on where the drones produced through the partnership would go, Ukraine or the US.

James Teetzel, the founder and CEO of Wilcox Industries Corp, said in a statement on the partnership that "there is no doubt in my mind that combining our Wilcox manufacturing infrastructure and engineering resources with General Cherry's technology, we will bring great value to our US Government." Teetzel's company makes defense equipment, including fire control systems and laser aiming devices.

General Cherry wants to be "integrated into the global defense system, to be a global player, to play on an international level," Hryshyn said. And for the company's growth, too, "we think it would be actually a crime if we stay in Ukraine. We're already big in Ukraine." But it's more than that.

Hryshyn says "the truth is actually that for US companies, they also have to learn a lot from us. And we hope that it'll be a fruitful partnership for both of us." Officials and industry leaders across the NATO alliance say there is significant value in Ukraine's battlefield-driven innovation and rapid production cycles.

Ukrainian gear is in demand

Ukraine's defense industry is booming, making up a growing share of the equipment used by its military and drawing increasing interest from allies seeking battle-proven technology.

But staying in Ukraine comes with constraints. Companies are prioritizing supplying the war effort, but operating only domestically limits how much they can produce, hindering not just the companies but also wartime production capacity.

Industry leaders say that manufacturers have the capacity to make far more than they currently do, but they can't because Ukraine's defense budget can't afford to buy more gear. They argue exports would generate revenue to scale production, including for Ukraine's own forces.

Staying in Ukraine also means spreading out manufacturing and slowing production efforts to account for Russian attacks. Companies sometimes split their production across almost a dozen sites, which makes operations safer but also a lot less efficient.

Ukraine's leaders have been taking steps to expand which gear manufacturers can send abroad and which partnerships the industry can establish with other countries, including agreements that allow allies to obtain some Ukrainian weaponry.

Hryshyn said that his company chose Wilcox Industries because it is an established manufacturer with proven products. He said that while some startups were very interesting, they had not yet delivered tangible results.

Additionally, he said, "We think that the US market is actually the biggest one in the world."

General Cherry is one of a growing number of Ukrainian companies partnering with NATO companies to produce weapons abroad — reducing exposure to attacks while giving Western partners access to Ukrainian technology and experience. Denmark, a leader in the "Build with Ukraine" initiative, has said NATO companies have much to learn from Ukrainian firms and is seeking access to their tech.

Hryshyn said that he sees that demand firsthand. In discussions with Western partners, "our experience and expertise are pretty valuable for them." He added that the US is "learning some things from Ukraine," including how to work with startups and operate in a more open, flexible defense ecosystem.

• Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said that he feels stressed out "four or five times a year."
• He said that busyness was the culprit, and that he learned to reprioritize "the important work."
• Like his colleague Mark Zuckerberg, Bosworth also exercises to keep stress low.

Meta's CTO doesn't feel the heat very often.

Andrew Bosworth helps oversee Meta, a company that consistently sets high standards and cuts low performers. The division he oversees — Reality Labs — has also had significant product rollbacks and layoffs.

As one of Mark Zuckerberg's key lieutenants, it's anything but a chill job, and Bosworth was recently asked "How do you deal with work stress?" in a Wednesday ask-me-anything he hosted on his Instagram.

"I don't feel stressed out that often," he responded. "It happens to me four or five times a year."

Bosworth narrowed down his stress to one feeling: busyness. When he's over-scheduled, Bosworth said that he's not sure he'll have enough time for the "important work." That's his "trigger," he said.

"When I start to experience the stress, that's a useful signal for me," he said. "What is the important work that, if you dedicated the time to it, you would be okay? And, how do we reprioritize the urgent stuff that's being noisy?"

Bosworth's other strategies to mitigate stress include deep breathing, exercise, and spending time with his wife and kids. He also likes to talk about it with someone, he said, especially with his wife.

Executives use different strategies to handle stress. CEOs told Business Insider that they teach yoga, take long walks, and spend time in nature.

Bosworth's boss, Zuckerberg, told podcaster Joe Rogan in 2022 that waking up and looking at his phone felt like he was being "punched in the stomach." To reduce his stress, Zuckerberg said he exercises in the mornings.

For some, the stress drives executives to quit. Others say it makes their work better. As for Bosworth, he didn't think that his stress management strategies were very unique.

"It's all very conventional stuff, I think," he said.

• Companies like Snap and Salesforce said cuts were a result of AI.
• Snap shared plans to cut 16% of its global workforce, citing "rapid advancements" in the technology.
• In February, CEO Jack Dorsey announced that Block was eliminating approximately 40% of staff.

Worries about AI one day replacing human workers have intensified recently — and as it turns out, that future may be here.

A number of companies have recently announced cuts staff and cited AI efficiencies as a major rationale.

A March report from career transition firm Challenger, Gray, and Christmas found that so far this year, AI has been cited in 8% of job cut plans.

Amid this rash of layoffs, some have asked whether AI is replacing so many roles once held by humans or whether some degree of "AI washing" is at work. OpenAI's Sam Altman said some companies are blaming AI for layoffs that would've happened regardless.

An MIT study released last year said that 95% of corporate AI investments have generated "zero return" so far.

Even as some companies replace human workers with the technology, they may end up hiring more people because of it — or rehiring at least some of the roles they eliminated. A 2025 survey conducted by consulting firm Robert Half found that 29% of 2,000 hiring managers said they reopened positions that had been previously got rid of after implementing AI.

Here's a list of companies that have done AI-related layoffs:

Angi

Angi, the popular contractor listing site previously known as Angie's List, said in January that it was cutting roughly 350 jobs in part because of "AI-driven efficiency improvements."

The company added that the cuts were part of a plan "to reduce operating expenses and optimize the organizational structure in support of long-term growth."

Atlassian

Atlassian announced cuts of 1,600 jobs in March, totaling about 10% of its global workforce. The move comes as the Australian-American software company says it is restructuring to focus on AI and enterprise growth.

In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said the reduction was part of a broader effort to reposition the business for what CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes described as the "AI era."

"It would be disingenuous to pretend AI doesn't change the mix of skills we need or the number of roles required in certain areas. It does," Cannon-Brookes wrote in a message to employees.

On the "20VC" podcast in October last year, prior to the cuts, Cannon-Brookes said he planned to have more engineers at the company in five years.

"They will be more efficient, but technology creation is not output-bound," Cannon-Brookes said.

Block

In a post on X in February, billionaire and Block CEO Jack Dorsey said he was slashing nearly half of Block's workforce, cutting its over 10,000-person staff to under 6,000. The move came as he said business was strong and profits were growing, but a new way of working was emerging.

"We're already seeing that the intelligence tools we're creating and using, paired with smaller and flatter teams, are enabling a new way of working which fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a company," Dorsey said in his memo on X.

In the company's earnings call that followed the memo, Dorsey said that more companies will follow suit in using AI to drive efficiency gains. Block is already ahead of the trend that "all companies will eventually" adopt, the CEO said.

Crypto.com

Crypto.com announced on March 19 that it would cut 12% of its staff. The CEO, Kris Marszalek, wrote in a post on X that those impacted were in "roles that do not adapt in our new world."

"We are joining the list of companies integrating enterprise-wide AI," Marszalek wrote on X. "Companies that move immediately and pair the best AI tools with top-performers will achieve a level of scale and precision that was previously impossible. This is where we must go."

The company previously cut jobs in 2022 during a cryptocurrency slump and another 20% of its workforce in 2023, following the collapse of FTX.

HP

HP said it's reducing the size of its corporate workforce as a result of AI initiatives. In an earnings report last November, the company said it plans to cut between 4,000 and 6,000 jobs by the end of 2028, estimating the changes would save around $1 billion.

HP's earnings presentation at the time said part of its strategy was to cut costs through "workforce reductions, platform simplification, programs consolidation, and productivity measures" and to increase customer satisfaction, innovation, and productivity with "artificial intelligence adoption and enablement."

IBM

Arvind Krishna, CEO of IBM, told The Wall Street Journal last year that it had replaced hundreds of human resources employees with AI.

More recently, the company announced last November that it would cut thousands of workers in the fourth quarter of 2025, affecting a "single-digit percentage of its global workforce." Its CEO, Arvind Krishna, said the company is shifting priorities to hire more people around AI and quantum. He also said the company plans to increase hiring among recent college graduates over the next year.

Krishna has also said AI adoption has led to the company hiring more employees in programming and sales.

In 2023, Krishna told Bloomberg that IBM had halted or slowed hiring for back-office roles, like in human resources, that could be replaced by AI.

"I could easily see 30% of that getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period," he told the outlet at the time.

Klarna

Klarna's CEO says its workforce has halved over the last four years and will shrink further in the coming years.

In an interview with Harry Stebbings on the "20 VC" podcast in February, Sebastian Siemiatkowski said there are about 3,000 employees at Klarna, and he expects the company's workforce to drop below 2,000 by 2030. The company had 7,000 employees in 2022, he said.

The CEO said the reduction is a result of layoffs and "natural attrition," which is when the company doesn't replace workers who leave.

Siemiatkowski said that "human connection" will be vital for the company, and jobs involved in that will not be replaced by AI.

"Those jobs will remain, but for the rest it's going to be definitely smaller," he said.

Klarna declined to comment further when contacted by Business Insider. A spokesperson previously said that its AI assistant handles the equivalent workload of 853 full-time agents, up from 700 at launch. The spokesperson said it was saving the company an estimated $58 million annually.

Salesforce

Salesforce cut fewer than 1,000 workers in February, including employees from marketing, product management, data analytics, and its Agentforce AI product.

In an episode of "The Logan Bartlett Show" released last August, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said the company was using AI agents in its customer support division to replace humans and help the company work through more sales leads.

"I was able to rebalance my head count on my support," he said in the interview. "I've reduced it from 9,000 heads to about 5,000 because I need less heads."

A Salesforce spokesperson told Business Insider previously that Benioff was referencing an organizational transformation that took place over several months to reshape its customer support function.

After deploying Agentforce, the company no longer needed to "actively backfill support engineer roles," the spokesperson said, adding that it successfully redeployed hundreds of employees into other areas of the company, like professional services, sales, and customer success.

Snap

In a memo to employees released in a regulatory filing on April 15, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said the company would cut 1,000 employees, or about 16% of its global workforce. The CEO cited "rapid advancements" in AI and "small squads" using the technology to be more efficient.

Spiegel said Snap would also close more than 300 open roles, and that US-based employees would receive four months of severance, healthcare coverage, and equity vesting. In an investor update included in the company's filing, it said the layoffs would result in roughly $500 million in annualized cost savings.

Wisetech

Zubin Appoo, the CEO of Wisetech, said the logistics software maker is cutting 2,000 jobs, or 30% of its staff, because of AI-led efficiency.

In a conference call on February 25, Appoo said that AI enables greater productivity in less time and with fewer employees. The Sydney-based company employed about 7,000 people, according to an annual report released in October.

"I am prepared to say this clearly: the era of manually writing code as the core act of engineering is over," Appoo said. The technology is "unlocking levels of efficiency gains across WiseTech that were previously out of reach."

In some parts of the workforce, such as customer service, one in two workers will disappear, he added.

• If they're willing to pay a premium, Norwegian Luna passengers can be guests in The Haven.
• The Haven is a collection of the ship's nicest suites that come with luxurious perks and amenities.
• Haven guests get butler service, access to a private complex with a restaurant and pool, and more.

Picture a ship with butlers, attentive poolside waiters, and a private sauna. No, it isn't a private yacht — it's Norwegian Luna's Haven, a mini luxury ship within the new cruise vessel.

Luna boasts all the family-friendly bells and whistles Norwegian Cruise Line has recently become known for, including a virtual-reality arcade, a dramatic hybrid roller-coaster-waterslide, and a high-tech sports court.

But for a select few (as in, those staying in one of the 123 ultra-luxury Haven suites), the vacation-at-sea looks a bit less like a cruise ship, and more like a group-chartered yacht.

The Haven is a collection of Norwegian Luna's highest-end cabins.

Luna has 1,809 staterooms, less than 7% of which are in The Haven, a cluster of the ship's most luxurious accommodations.

All of these ultra-luxe cabins have balconies and panoramic ocean views, though they range in size and layout. Some are fairly simple spaces with balconies, others are two-story, two-bedroom penthouses with separate living and dining rooms.

The largest suite sleeps eight and spans about 2,100 square feet (not including the private outdoor space, which could stretch upward of about 800 square feet — larger than many of the ship's cabins).

Expect amenities that rival those of four- to five-star hotels.

Guests get around-the-clock butlers, concierge service, fluffy feather duvet-drapped bedding, and high-end products from companies such as L'Occitane.

Expect priority embarkation and disembarkation, as well as reserved seating for popular shows. But the best amenity arguably isn't one of these little luxuries: It's The Haven complex.

Haven travelers get keycard access to an exclusive complex.

In addition to having access to all the public spaces on Norwegian Luna, Haven guests can also visit The Haven complex, a private indoor-outdoor lounge.

They can enter using their cabin keycards and the private gold-colored elevator banks near their suites.

The indoor lounge rivals that of a high-end hotel lobby.

The Haven complex's indoor lounge is elegant, moody, and dark, perfectly juxtaposing the large, lush plants and the bright natural light that floods in from the floor-to-ceiling windows.

There's plenty of seating, from window-side armchairs to couches that can be shared by mingling passengers. It's a great place to work, read, or unwind from a busy port day.

Grab a seat and a drink: The bar has beverages you can't find anywhere else.

It wouldn't be a hotel lobby without a sumptuous bar.

The Haven takes it one step further by featuring clarified cocktails and infusions that you can't find anywhere else on the ship, such as a house-blend dry vermouth (with Lillet, botanicals, and notes of black pepper, lemon peel, and orange bitters) and a dry hibiscus-flower-infused vodka.

Haven guests also have access to a private restaurant.

Don't feel like battling for a table at the shipwide breakfast buffet?

Instead, seek out fine dining at The Haven restaurant, which has plenty of indoor and outdoor seating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

In the morning, you could be met with eggs Benedict and shrimp toast, as per The Haven menu on Norwegian Aqua. In the afternoon, you might dig into a Brie burger or lobster bisque. And at night, your dinner could include steak tartare and, of course, more lobster.

If the ship's main pool deck is too busy, relax at the private Haven sundeck.

The quiet sundeck is grounded by an infinity pool and flanked by plush loungers — nothing like the hard plastic chairs of any public pool.

There is an adjacent outdoor bar, but you won't need to go up to order your drinks. Instead, just wait for one of the poolside attendants to come to you.

Rather than buying a spa day pass, you can use the exclusive sauna and ice room.

Guests need to buy a day pass to use the ship's spa, which is outfitted with several saunas, pools, a relaxation area, and an ice room. However, it can get crowded, especially on a sea day.

Luckily, The Haven sundeck has its own sauna and cold room, both with sweeping views of the ocean.

Or, head upstairs to use the hot tubs.

The second floor of The Haven sundeck has hot tubs and more lounge chairs, perfect for travelers who want a quieter afternoon under the sun.

It's a "haven" for the ship's wealthiest cruisers, so long as they can afford it.

The Haven is available on several of Norwegian's cruise ships, and it costs a premium on each.

At the time of writing, the cheapest inside cabins on Norwegian Luna start at about $860 a person for a 2026 seven-day cruise from Miami to Great Stirrup Cay (Norwegian's private island), the Dominican Republic, and the US and British Virgin Islands.

For that same itinerary, Haven cabins start at about $3,730 per person — more than four times the cost of the ship's windowless staterooms.

However, it's probably worth it if you want the luxury and high-touch service of a group-chartered yacht with the conveniences of a classic cruise.

• Stocks are trading near records again, but uncertainty about the Iran war still lingers.
• Goldman Sachs is optimistic the gains can continue even as a US-Iran peace deal remains elusive.
• Analysts at the bank suggest markets have turned their eye toward future catalysts.

The stock market may have finally stabilized, even as tensions between the US and Iran remain high.

Stocks are back near record highs after last week's rally, and Goldman Sachs is optimistic that the positive momentum can continue, even if geopolitical volatility persists. In the bank's view, the renewed rally isn't surprising, even as there are visible signs of disruptions caused by the war.

"If the market can maintain its confidence that a resolution is coming, even meaningful delays to the resumption of oil flows, and the possibility of larger shortages and economic disruptions, may not have a sustained impact on equity pricing," Analyst Dominic Wilson wrote on Sunday evening.

Wilson noted that some may consider it premature to price in ongoing relief, given that there is still no concrete peace deal in place between the US and Iran. However, he said his team doesn't believe it's wrong to think the market can continue to plow ahead and move higher as investors turn their focus to upcoming catalysts and the opportunities they see in the post-war market landscape.

"The outlook beyond the war is becoming a larger driver of the potential opportunities ahead," the bank wrote, with analysts adding that they expect lower growth, higher inflation, higher oil prices, and rates from central banks.

"Rising earnings expectations have also lowered US equity valuations. This makes the outlook less cyclically supportive but more tech-friendly than early in the year and favors assets on the right side of the terms-of-trade shock."

While it remains uncertain how and when geopolitical tensions will be resolved, the analysts added that expectations were previously so low that even small, positive signs are taken as bullish indicators.

"The market is more likely to view bouts of escalation in the context of negotiations for a peace deal and may be wary to react too much to disappointing news given that those periods have been quickly reversed so far," he added.

The bank also highlighted that, while the Iran war has dragged on for weeks, both sides appear to want to reach an agreement that could end it. He noted that, from his team's perspective, there is still a risk that the market could again focus on downside risk stemming from peace negotiations breaking down or economic fallout escalating in a nonlinear manner.

However, he added that his team doesn't believe that either one is likely to deter the rally based on its recent performance.

"The key assumption that the market is making is that this threshold will not be breached," Wilson added.

• Natick Soldier Systems Center tests gear for extreme conditions to improve soldier safety.
• Experiments enhance military gear, focusing on clothing, food, and human performance.
• Scientists at Natick study the effects of sleep deprivation and physical strain on soldiers' endurance.

From flash fires to freezing rooms, the US Army Natick Soldier Systems Center has spent more than 60 years pushing equipment and soldiers to their limits.

The research facility opened in Massachusetts in 1954 following gear failures during World War II. In a 1943 Alaska operation, for example, soldiers' leather boots couldn't protect them from the constant damp, cold conditions, which resulted in more troops injured with trench foot than enemy fire.

Today, Natick runs controlled experiments across clothing, food, and human performance. In one lab, uniforms are exposed to burns to measure how long a soldier would have to escape a flash fire. In another, low-oxygen environments replicate conditions above 14,000 feet to track how memory and alertness change.

Scientists also study how sleep deprivation and sustained physical strain affect performance. Business Insider went inside the facility and spoke with scientists and soldiers about how these experiments influence the gear and systems of future warfare.

The center has spent decades testing and refining military helmets.

The work dates back to the 1970s, when the lab began transitioning soldiers away from heavy steel helmets. Today, they're made of lighter thermoplastics.

That shift reduced weight, but it introduced new challenges. Modern gear, like night-vision devices, has pushed helmet weight to more than 6 pounds, increasing strain on soldiers' necks.

To address this, researchers are now studying how helmets fit at the individual level. They scan soldiers' heads and develop custom padding systems designed to stabilize the helmet and prevent it from shifting and wobbling during use.

Experts test Army uniforms to ensure they can protect soldiers during a "flash" — a sudden fire triggered when a military vehicle or aircraft ignites.

The tests use mannequins equipped with 124 sensors to track heat exposure across the body.

These sensors record the percentage of first-, second-, and third-degree burns the mannequin would receive.

The goal is to evaluate how well materials protect against rapid bursts of heat while still remaining wearable.

Researchers use the results to refine fabrics and designs that can balance fire protection with comfort and mobility.

Soldiers also test uniforms by dragging this 180-pound dummy to simulate moving a wounded soldier to safety.

The exercise places strain on the body, particularly the legs, allowing researchers to observe how gear affects movement and endurance.

Sensors and tracking systems capture how soldiers perform as they drag the dummy across the floor.

The data is then analyzed to see how different equipment designs impact speed, mobility, and effort.

These tests help researchers evaluate whether gear supports or limits soldiers in physically demanding situations like rescue scenarios.

The facility's Doriot Climatic Chambers can simulate temperatures from -72 to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Doriot Climatic Chambers are designed to recreate some of the harshest environmental conditions soldiers may face.

They can simulate extreme temperatures, high winds, and heavy rain, allowing scientists to evaluate how equipment holds up under combined stressors.

One of the primary focuses is to test gear and soldiers' performance in the Arctic, a region of growing importance to the US military.

Oxygen-deprived rooms, called hypobaric chambers, simulate high-altitude environments where soldiers may operate.

By reducing oxygen levels, the facility can replicate conditions up to about 14,000 feet. Some tests last up to 24 hours to track performance over extended exposure.

Researchers study how these conditions affect cognitive functions like memory, alertness, and decision-making.

The facility previously conducted a long-duration experiment known as the "Everest study," in which soldiers remained in simulated high-altitude conditions for about 40 days to simulate an ascent. Such extended studies are no longer performed.

A virtual reality simulator tracks soldiers' decision-making across live-fire scenarios.

The system places participants in simulated environments with moving threats and targets.

If a soldier misses a target or engages a non-target, the system can deliver a physical shock, adding immediate feedback to the simulation.

During simulated missions, sensors track soldiers' actions in real time, allowing researchers to measure how they respond under pressure.

The Army is expanding this type of training, citing lower costs compared with using live ammunition.

The simulator also allows soldiers to train in a range of scenarios without needing a physical range.

Natick has spent decades testing and refining military rations, including a long-running effort to develop a shelf-stable pizza.

Early MREs (Meal, Ready-to-Eat) in the 1980s focused on durability and portability, but taste was a major issue, with limited menus leading to what researchers called "menu fatigue."

Over time, the lab expanded its food research beyond 12 menu items, working to improve both variety and quality. Pizza became one of the most complex items to engineer, requiring years of testing to maintain texture and stability.

Researchers spent roughly two decades developing a version that could keep the crust from becoming soggy while remaining shelf-stable.

Released in 2018, the US Army's modern pizza MRE is designed to last up to three years at 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Not all experiments are successful. The facility's exoskeleton prototype was eventually found impractical and abandoned.

Natick's full-body exoskeleton was designed to enhance soldier strength and endurance.

In testing, however, if a soldier fell while wearing the suit, it was difficult or impossible to get back up.

While the applications of a full-body exoskeleton are promising, Natick researchers told Business Insider the technology is not yet advanced enough.

• I went to Applebee's, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Chili's with a $30 budget.
• To keep things fair, I ordered chips and queso and a breaded-chicken sandwich at each restaurant.
• The entrée from Buffalo Wild Wings was my favorite, but I think Chili's offered the best value.

Though I typically try to eat local, I've always had a soft spot for casual-dining chains.

However, it had been years since I'd eaten at some of my old staples, and I wanted to see which chain restaurants near me offered the best food and value.

So, I visited my local Applebee's, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Chili's locations with plans to spend $30 at each. For a fair comparison, I stuck to similar menu items at each chain.

Here's how it went.

First, I dined at Applebee's.

I started at an Applebee's location in Astoria, Queens, which is only a short bike ride from my home.

Founded in the Atlanta area in 1980, Applebee's is now owned by Dine Brands Global — the same parent company as IHOP — and has over 1,600 locations across 17 countries and territories.

To start, I ordered chips and queso.

The first item I ordered was chips and queso, which cost $14.99.

The cheesy dip was pleasantly creamy, but not especially flavorful, even though there were visible red and green peppers swimming in it. I also thought it was a bit on the salty side.

The chips were served warm, which was a nice touch, and they had a hint of sweetness to them. However, they didn't taste particularly fresh, and I didn't think the portion size was worth the price tag.

For my meal, I had a breaded-chicken sandwich with fries.

For my entrée, I got the $16.99 spicy honey-mustard chicken sandwich, which was topped with bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles.

At first glance, I noticed the breaded-chicken breast was enormous, jutting out far from the boundaries of the brioche bun. Unfortunately, though, I was disappointed by my first bite.

I wasn't a huge fan of the breading, which became soggy wherever it touched the sauce or vegetables. I also thought the chicken itself was on the dry side.

However, the tomato and lettuce tasted fresh and gave the sandwich some sweetness and crunch. Plus, the sweet, spicy, and tangy honey mustard was the clear highlight of the meal.

It came with fries, which were dusted with a nice peppery seasoning, but they weren't especially crispy.

In total, before tax and tip, I paid $31.98 for the appetizer and meal, which was slightly over my original budget.

Next, I visited Buffalo Wild Wings.

For my next stop in the comparison, I took my kids to a Buffalo Wild Wings location in the College Point section of Queens.

Initially called Buffalo Wild Wings and Weck, the chain opened its first location in Ohio in 1982.

Now owned and operated by Inspire Brands — the parent company of places like Arby's, Sonic, and Dunkin' — the chain has expanded to over 1,400 locations across all 50 US states, as well as six other countries.

I thought the chips and queso were a great value.

I started out with Buffalo Wild Wings' $10.99 queso. The dip was a bit thinner than the Applebee's version, but significantly tastier thanks to the distinct flavor of green pepper and chunks of fresh tomato.

The chips tasted fresh and not too salty, and the quantity felt roughly the same as the more expensive appetizer from Applebee's.

The Buffalo-chicken sandwich I ordered was delicious.

At $17.99, the Buffalo ranch chicken sandwich from Buffalo Wild Wings was the most expensive of the three I tried.

At first glance, the thin, even breading on the chicken breast looked more like something I'd expect at a fast-food restaurant, not on an almost $20 sandwich. However, it turned out to be my favorite of the three I tried.

Unlike its competitors, the Buffalo Wild Wings sandwich maintained some crunch in the breading, even in the sauciest spots. I loved the classic spicy, vinegary Buffalo flavor of the sauce, which was nicely balanced by a drizzle of ranch dressing. Plus, the chicken inside was moist and tender.

The bun was hearty and well-proportioned enough to keep the sandwich fairly neat, which is especially advantageous when dining with kids.

I'm partial to thin-cut fries, and the ones at Buffalo Wild Wings came with a nice sprinkling of black pepper.

In all, Buffalo Wild Wings offered the best sandwich of the three restaurants. Plus, I was able to stay within my budget, spending a total of $28.98 before tax and tip.

Finally, I dined at Chili's.

Founded in 1975, Chili's is now operated by Brinker International — which also owns Maggiano's — and has over 1,600 locations around the world.

I visited a Chili's in the Glendale neighborhood of Queens.

The chips and queso also came with salsa.

I started with an $11.49 order of beef queso, which — unlike at the other two restaurants — also came with salsa. It was also easily the best of the appetizers I tried.

The queso came out sizzling hot, and I received way more chips here than I did at Applebee's and Buffalo Wild Wings.

The dip was the spiciest and tastiest of the three, and the hunks of beef added a heartiness that the others couldn't match. I also really enjoyed the restaurant-style salsa, which tasted fresh and made for a refreshing change of pace from the queso.

Even the chips — paper-thin, crispy, and gnarled with curves that were perfect for trapping queso and salsa — were delicious.

My sandwich from Chili's was a bit soggy.

I followed the queso with a Buffalo chicken sandwich, which cost $15.89 and included nearly the exact same combination of ingredients as the one from Buffalo Wild Wings. However, I preferred the tidier, taster version from the wing chain.

The large bun was a little floppy, and there was so much sauce and lettuce on the sandwich that it completely fell apart. I also thought there was a bit too much ranch, and the chicken's breading got soggy under all the sauce.

It did come with the best fries of the three, which had a nice dusting of salty seasoning and a crispiness the others lacked.

Since I visited, however, it looks like the sandwich has been reimagined and is no longer topped with lettuce and tomato. The ranch dressing is now served on the side, too. So, I'd be curious to try the new version of this sandwich again.

Before tax and tip, I spent $27.38, making it the least expensive meal I had.

I thought the meal from Chili's provided the best overall value.

At the end of the day, for the size of the meal and the quality of the queso and fries, I thought Chili's offered the best value of the three restaurants I visited.

However, I can't deny that Buffalo Wild Wings had the tastiest sandwich and still offered a great bang for my buck.

• Palantir was in the spotlight this weekend after releasing a 22-point summary of its CEO Alex Karp's book.
• The summary and the book reflect Karp's long-held beliefs, including the idea that tech hasn't done enough for US security.
• One of the points suggests that the US should reinstate a draft for military service.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp is once again the talk of Silicon Valley.

Over the weekend, Palantir released a 22-point summary of Karp's 320-page book, "The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West," that the billionaire tech CEO co-wrote and published in early 2025.

"Because we get asked a lot. The Technological Republic, in brief," the company wrote on X.

The ideas reflect Karp's long-held worldviews, including the view that the tech industry has been insufficiently supportive of US national security. Karp, who holds a Ph.D. in neoclassical social theory from Goethe University in Germany, has delighted in his view that AI will devalue humanities degrees and place greater emphasis on traditional trades work.

The summary points range widely in subject matter, from proclamations about the tech scene ("Silicon Valley must play a role in addressing violent crime") to the relationship between the tech sector and the military ("If a U.S. Marine asks for a better rifle, we should build it; and the same goes for software"), and even religion ("The pervasive intolerance of religious belief in certain circles must be resisted").

One of the list's most provocative suggestions is that the US should reconsider reinstating conscription. The US hasn't used the draft since the Vietnam War, part of a massive transition to an all-voluntary force.

Government contracts make up a large share of Palantir's business, and the US military has used Palantir's Maven Smart System, an AI-enabled advanced targeting platform, to carry out the Iran War, The Washington Post reported.

Shaun Maguire, the Sequoia partner who made headlines last July when he called now-New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani a secret "Islamist," called Karp's bullet points "brilliant."

"Despite what the extremes preach on social media and Ivy League campuses Palantir represents the ideological center with a rarely articulated moral clarity," Maguire wrote on X.

Eliot Higgins, founder of the investigative journalist site Bellingcat, wrote that Palantir's continued growth relies on a world that aligns with Karp's views.

"Palantir sells operational software to defence, intelligence, immigration & police agencies," Higgins wrote on Blue Sky. "These 22 points aren't philosophy floating in space, they're the public ideology of a company whose revenue depends on the politics it's advocating."

Palantir's 22-point summary of Karp's book:

1. Silicon Valley owes a moral debt to the country that made its rise possible. The engineering elite of Silicon Valley has an affirmative obligation to participate in the defense of the nation.

2. We must rebel against the tyranny of the apps. Is the iPhone our greatest creative if not crowning achievement as a civilization? The object has changed our lives, but it may also now be limiting and constraining our sense of the possible.

3. Free email is not enough. The decadence of a culture or civilization, and indeed its ruling class, will be forgiven only if that culture is capable of delivering economic growth and security for the public.

4. The limits of soft power, of soaring rhetoric alone, have been exposed. The ability of free and democratic societies to prevail requires something more than moral appeal. It requires hard power, and hard power in this century will be built on software.

5. The question is not whether A.I. weapons will be built; it is who will build them and for what purpose. Our adversaries will not pause to indulge in theatrical debates about the merits of developing technologies with critical military and national security applications. They will proceed.

6. National service should be a universal duty. We should, as a society, seriously consider moving away from an all-volunteer force and only fight the next war if everyone shares in the risk and the cost.

7. If a U.S. Marine asks for a better rifle, we should build it; and the same goes for software. We should as a country be capable of continuing a debate about the appropriateness of military action abroad while remaining unflinching in our commitment to those we have asked to step into harm's way.

8. Public servants need not be our priests. Any business that compensated its employees in the way that the federal government compensates public servants would struggle to survive.

9. We should show far more grace towards those who have subjected themselves to public life. The eradication of any space for forgiveness—a jettisoning of any tolerance for the complexities and contradictions of the human psyche—may leave us with a cast of characters at the helm we will grow to regret.

10. The psychologization of modern politics is leading us astray. Those who look to the political arena to nourish their soul and sense of self, who rely too heavily on their internal life finding expression in people they may never meet, will be left disappointed.

11. Our society has grown too eager to hasten, and is often gleeful at, the demise of its enemies. The vanquishing of an opponent is a moment to pause, not rejoice.

12. The atomic age is ending. One age of deterrence, the atomic age, is ending, and a new era of deterrence built on A.I. is set to begin.

13. No other country in the history of the world has advanced progressive values more than this one. The United States is far from perfect. But it is easy to forget how much more opportunity exists in this country for those who are not hereditary elites than in any other nation on the planet.

14. American power has made possible an extraordinarily long peace. Too many have forgotten or perhaps take for granted that nearly a century of some version of peace has prevailed in the world without a great power military conflict. At least three generations — billions of people and their children and now grandchildren — have never known a world war.

15. The postwar neutering of Germany and Japan must be undone. The defanging of Germany was an overcorrection for which Europe is now paying a heavy price. A similar and highly theatrical commitment to Japanese pacifism will, if maintained, also threaten to shift the balance of power in Asia.

16. We should applaud those who attempt to build where the market has failed to act. The culture almost snickers at Musk's interest in grand narrative, as if billionaires ought to simply stay in their lane of enriching themselves . . . . Any curiosity or genuine interest in the value of what he has created is essentially dismissed, or perhaps lurks from beneath a thinly veiled scorn.

17. Silicon Valley must play a role in addressing violent crime. Many politicians across the United States have essentially shrugged when it comes to violent crime, abandoning any serious efforts to address the problem or take on any risk with their constituencies or donors in coming up with solutions and experiments in what should be a desperate bid to save lives.

18. The ruthless exposure of the private lives of public figures drives far too much talent away from government service. The public arena—and the shallow and petty assaults against those who dare to do something other than enrich themselves—has become so unforgiving that the republic is left with a significant roster of ineffectual, empty vessels whose ambition one would forgive if there were any genuine belief structure lurking within.

19. The caution in public life that we unwittingly encourage is corrosive. Those who say nothing wrong often say nothing much at all.

20. The pervasive intolerance of religious belief in certain circles must be resisted. The elite's intolerance of religious belief is perhaps one of the most telling signs that its political project constitutes a less open intellectual movement than many within it would claim.

21. Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive. All cultures are now equal. Criticism and value judgments are forbidden. Yet this new dogma glosses over the fact that certain cultures and indeed subcultures . . . have produced wonders. Others have proven middling, and worse, regressive and harmful.

22. We must resist the shallow temptation of a vacant and hollow pluralism. We, in America and more broadly the West, have for the past half century resisted defining national cultures in the name of inclusivity. But inclusion into what?

• Oil is entering a cycle in which sustained supply shortages will drive prices higher, HFI Research says.
• The firm is eyeing plummeting crude inventories around the world.
• It will take months for oil supplies to return to the market, even after a peace deal, it added.

Peace between the US and Iran remains elusive, but don't expect oil prices to drop quickly even when a deal is hammered out, according to one research firm.

HFI Research, an investment research firm focused on energy and commodities, said it believes the oil market has reached a "breaking point" after two months of the Iran war, and that supply disruptions will be long-lasting.

Even if the US and Iran were to strike a deal this week, the market will be dealing with severe shortages and eventual demand destruction, thanks largely to the damage already inflicted on refining capacity, the firm said in a note on Sunday.

"The oil market breaking point is here. Global onshore oil inventories are going to plummet, and the decline will be at a pace no one has ever seen before," HFI wrote.

"If the Strait of Hormuz remains closed past April, no one will be able to tell you where oil prices top out. We will have gone too far into the Rubicon," the firm added.

HFI, which first predicted that oil would hit a breaking point in late March, said it believes the market is now headed for a repeating cycle in which a shortage of physical oil begets higher prices. That's largely because of the limited oil-refining capacity in the Middle East, it said, estimating that the war had pushed global refinery outages to over 5 million barrels a day.

Higher oil prices put pressure on refining profits, as the price of oil is rising faster than the price of refined products. That causes refiners to cut production, which leads consumers to burn through oil and gas inventories faster, the firm speculated.

HFI said it expected that most Asian refiners would need to "scramble for barrels" by the first week of May. Europe will also start to feel the pain of the supply shortage by then, and the US will likely draw down its commercial oil stores to around 400 million barrels, just above the "operational minimum" of around 380 million barrels, the firm said.

The firm estimated that the cumulative amount of oil stores lost due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz was around 1 billion barrels. The shortage is on track to swell to 1.98 billion barrels by the end of June, it added.

Even if a "long-lasting peace deal" with Iran were to be reached this week, it will likely take months for oil supplies to be restored, HFI said. It is estimated that it would take 30-40 days to transport and offload barrels that are ready to come to market, and another 20 days for tankers carrying those barrels to return to their original locations.

"We do not have enough commercially available crude for that much supply loss. This is why demand destruction is needed to prevent such a scenario from materializing. This is just math," the firm said.

Demand destruction will need to be at the same magnitude as see during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the firm said, basing its estimates on the current global oil supply shortage of around 11 million to 13 million barrels a day.

"The onslaught of oil inventory draws coming will shock the market awake. I suspect that only when financial players see the physical shortages playing out will they wake up to the reality that this supply outage is real. Until then, most people will not be able to accept the reality," the firm added.

Despite a sharp relief rally after Iran said the Strait of Hormuz was open to commercial traffic last Friday, oil forecasters remain wary of the supply outlook in the Middle East. The ceasefire between the US and Iran looks fragile, and the nations are approaching the April 22 deadline for a deal.

Analysts at Societe Generale said on Monday they believed oil production among OPEC nations likely wouldn't normalize for nine months, citing their analysis of historical supply shocks. Oil demand likely won't normalize until six months after the conflict officially ends, they added.

• Michael Burry doesn't expect the record stock rally to be immediately followed by a crash.
• He wrote on Substack that a "needle top is like a unicorn, mythical until proven."
• The investor from "The Big Short" said he expects "new highs and big drops" going forward.

Michael Burry doesn't expect the record rally in stocks to turn into a devastating crash, as that kind of "needle top" would be unprecedented in market history.

"Right, a needle top is like a unicorn, mythical until proven," the investor of "The Big Short" fame wrote in a Sunday discussion thread with his Substack subscribers, describing a chart pattern where stocks spike upward then immediately plummet.

Instead, Burry predicted choppy trading going forward, adding that this run-up in stocks could form part of the bull market's peak when investors look back in the future.

"I think it will be volatile and there will be further new highs and big drops and at some point maybe what has happened will one day look like a top again," Burry wrote in the thread.

Burry's Substack comments followed a late Friday post on X, in which he wrote: "Markets have never seen a needle top." He quoted one of his posts from late March for context: "Shorts are not forever."

He posted that after the S&P 500 surged by 12% in 13 trading days to a record 7,126 points at Friday's close. The benchmark index opened slightly lower on Monday.

In the Substack thread, Burry shared three screenshots of a recent BTIG report titled "Rarefied Air." The firm's chief market technician, Jonathan Krinsky, and his team wrote that "things look good, but a bit overheated" and a "pause is in order."

They noted the S&P had gained at least 3% for three straight weeks for only the third time since 1980. They also pointed out that the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index (SOX) was more than 16% above its daily moving average, which has happened only 13 times since 1994, and that this tends to be bearish for the next 10 trading days but bullish over the next 30.

Burry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The former hedge fund manager pivoted late last year from running clients' money to only investing his own and writing about his strategy on Substack.

He's best known for successfully shorting the mid-2000s housing bubble. Actor Christian Bale portrayed him in the movie "The Big Short."

Burry has been loudly skeptical of the boom in AI stocks that has propelled markets to fresh highs. He's warned of heady valuations, dubious accounting, overinvestment, and circular dealmaking in the red-hot sector.

• Even though each bar is different, some cocktails are safe bets, while others often miss the mark.
• At nearly any bar, a classic Negroni or martini will be simple to throw together.
• Bartenders generally don't enjoy preparing some drinks, like a Long Island or Ramos Gin Fizz. 

I'm a professional bartender, so I can tell you that the only cocktails that are sure to be good at every bar are simple two-part washes, like a vodka cranberry or a rum and Coke.

However, even those combos can be risky at certain dives. 

Every bartender has their own unique personality, strengths, and weaknesses, and each bar has its own customer base, inventory, and brand identity — so most cocktail experiences aren't going to be uniform.

When in doubt, see what other people are drinking and the menu, or even ask the staff for recommendations. That said, there are a few tried-and-true orders that tend to be universally delicious, and a few that rarely hit the mark. 

The classic Negroni is a great cocktail to order at practically any bar.

With no fresh fruit or shaking required, the Negroni is a quick build that packs a boozy punch.

Even if the bartender doesn't know the recipe, it's easy enough to explain. Just stir equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth over ice.

Order a daiquiri if you're feeling more of a vacation vibe.

Many bartenders add their favorite variations to this classic sipper, all of which can be delicious.

Frozen or shaken and with fresh fruit or herbal tinctures (concentrated extracts), this combo of rum, sugar, and lime is hard to mess up.

A martini is a staple cocktail and another solid choice at almost any respectable bar.

Not a fruity or a French martini, but an extra-cold, dry-gin classic hits the spot every time.

You only need one to catch a buzz, too, so this is a great drink to order if the wait is long or if the bar is busy.

Just be specific when ordering so the bartender doesn't have to ask multiple follow-up questions, or worse, wing it.

On the other hand, bartenders typically don't enjoy making the Ramos Gin Fizz.

Some bartenders will insist that they love making the Ramos Gin Fizz — a New Orleanian cocktail that requires fresh egg whites and heavy cream, plus two separate, vigorous shakes — and they're likely either lying or are not allowed to tell you the truth.

This cocktail is (literally) a pain in the neck to make, and then other customers want to order it when they see someone else drinking one. It's a vicious cycle.

The worst part about this cocktail is that if it's not properly prepared, it comes out as a flat, milky mess. Skip it.

Just because a cocktail is popular doesn't mean it's going to be good — take, for example, a Long Island.

When prepared with quality ingredients and fresh citrus, a Long Island can be a decent drink. Unfortunately, it's seldom made that way.

Long Islands usually consist of bottom-shelf liquor and a sugary sour mix. In my experience, bartenders don't like this cocktail because they have so many ingredients. Some will even badly make it on purpose to discourage people from ordering more.

Instead of ordering a Long Island, try a Moscow Mule or a two-ingredient Fernet and Coke.

Although great for hangovers, a Bloody Mary is not a drink you want to order from just any bar.

Unless it's made fresh and stored properly, tomato-based Bloody Mary mix can be suspect.

At a busy bar, if you're lucky, you might get a few old olives and a slice of celery in your glass. If you're unlucky, you'll get warm tomato juice and cheap vodka.

Save the Bloodies for brunch when the bartender is expecting to make them and has everything freshly prepared. If you must nurse your hangover in the afternoon, order a mimosa.

This story was originally published on March 20, 2022, and most recently updated on April 20, 2026.

• I tried five cheeseburgers from Burger King, including the Whopper and the Bacon King.
• I thought the Triple Whopper was less flavorful than some of the smaller, cheaper burgers.
• The Whopper impressed me with its flame-grilled patty and classic cheeseburger toppings.

I've been around the burger block, and Burger King's cheesy, flame-grilled burgers consistently rank among my favorites.

Burger King has sold cheeseburgers since its inception in the 1950s, according to an original menu reported by Delish, but exactly how the chain makes them has changed considerably.

The chain started with simple broiled cheeseburgers, but now the Burger King menu includes cheeseburger melts, several variations on its classic Whopper, chicken sandwiches, nuggets, fries, and more.

To determine which Burger King burger reigns supreme, I compared five different cheeseburgers from the chain. I tried the classic — yet recently updated — Whopper with cheese, the Triple Whopper with cheese, a plain cheeseburger, a double cheeseburger, and the Bacon King.

Here's how the burgers ranked, from my least favorite to my favorite.

My least favorite cheeseburger I tried was the chain's classic plain cheeseburger.

The cheeseburger from Burger King cost $2.79, excluding tax.

The cheeseburger came with American cheese, pickles, ketchup, and mustard on a sesame-seed bun.

The burger was extremely simple, but I was impressed by the generous serving of toppings. There was a hearty amount of condiments on the burger, and the cheese was thick and perfectly melted.

The sesame-seed bun also added a lot of flavor, but this burger was just a little simple compared to the other burgers I tried.

The flame-grilled burger had a grilled, smoky flavor that worked well with the ketchup and mustard.

Not only was this burger flavorful, but it also provided the best value, priced at $2.79, which was the cheapest option among the cheeseburgers I tried.

I enjoyed this burger a lot, but it could have been improved with an extra patty or more creative ingredients. At the end of the day, it was a basic fast-food cheeseburger.

Next up was the chain's double cheeseburger, which was a step up from the basic cheeseburger.

It cost $4.09, excluding tax and fees.

The double cheeseburger came with two of the chain's beef patties, American cheese, pickles, mustard, and ketchup on a sesame-seed bun.

Like the regular cheeseburger, there was a hearty serving of ketchup and mustard.

The pickle slices were thick and crunchy, and I enjoyed the flavor of the bun.

I thought this burger was certainly a step up from the regular cheeseburger. It packed the same grilled flavor and low price, but the extra patty made it even more flavorful and filling.

The Triple Whopper with cheese landed squarely in the middle of my ranking.

The burger cost me $11.49, excluding tax, making it the most expensive burger I tried.

The Triple Whopper comes with three quarter-pound beef patties, one slice of cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, mayonnaise, and ketchup.

The burger patties had a deliciously smoky and savory flavor that gave the sandwich a freshly grilled taste. The lettuce and tomato slices tasted extremely fresh, and I liked the addition of mayonnaise.

However, I thought this burger could have been improved with another slice of cheese between the layers of beef. The cheese's flavor was lost amid all the meat and other toppings.

I thoroughly enjoyed this burger and would certainly order it again … if I have the appetite for it.

This burger was extremely filling, and I would struggle to eat it all, in addition to fries. However, if you have a big appetite or simply love Burger King's beef, this might be the burger for you.

The burger was also significantly more expensive than the smaller cheeseburgers. However, I don't think the higher-priced additions were worth it — the two extra patties were a hindrance, rather than an asset, to the burger.

My second favorite burger was the Bacon King.

It cost $11.29, excluding tax and fees, making it the second-most expensive burger I tried.

The Bacon King comes with two quarter-pound beef patties, bacon, two slices of cheese, ketchup, and mayonnaise on a sesame-seed bun.

The burger was swimming in mayonnaise and ketchup, but I didn't mind.

I like mayonnaise a lot, but I quickly noticed the generous amount spread on both the burger and the sesame-seed bun. If you're not fond of mayo, you might consider customizing or skipping this burger.

It was the most decadent, filling burger I tried.

The slices of cheese were evenly layered over the burger patties, which had a distinct smoky taste.

The perfectly crispy bacon added even more smoky flavor, and the cheese and condiments added a lot of moisture, which I felt the Triple Whopper lacked.

My favorite Burger King burger — and one of my favorite fast-food burgers, period — is the Whopper with cheese.

Burger King's signature burger has been around since 1957, just four years after the chain opened. Back then, the Whopper cost 37 cents.

In February, Burger King upgraded the signature burger with a new bun and packaging to prevent it from getting squashed in transit. It now costs $8.58, excluding tax and fees.

Burger King's prices can vary by location and franchise, but CNN reported that Burger King recommended that franchisees not raise prices for the new elevated Whopper.

A Whopper comes with a quarter-pound beef patty, pickles, onions, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, and mayonnaise. I always add cheese for an extra 50 cents.

It was immediately evident that this burger would be bursting with flavor. Thick layers of ketchup and mayo spilled from the sides of the burger, but the sizable sesame-seed bun kept all the ingredients together.

I'm not surprised the chain's signature burger is so famous — it was my favorite, by far.

The cheese coated the burger patty, and the lettuce, tomatoes, and onions all tasted very fresh. They added a delicious crunch to the burger.

Unlike the original Whopper, which could easily turn soggy from its thinner mayonnaise and heavy condiments, this version was less saucy and stayed intact much better. The new, creamier mayonnaise also had more flavor.

Combined with the still-flavorful flame-grilled burger patty, crunchy lettuce, and fresh tomato slices, this burger still remained my top pick among the most famous fast-food signature burgers.

Even though this burger is a classic and perhaps not the most creative burger I've tried, I thought it was the most satisfying and a great value for the price.

• In 2022, I quit my job to backpack through South America for 10 weeks with my partner.
• We visited 16 cities across eight countries, and even saw one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
• One of my favorite cities was Buenos Aires — the sightseeing, shopping, and food were incredible.

In the summer of 2022, I quit my full-time job to spend 10 weeks backpacking through South America with my then-boyfriend (now-husband).

Consumed by the travel bug, we packed up all our belongings and moved them from our Miami apartment to a storage unit before hitting the road, visiting 16 cities across eight countries.

The whole trip was incredible, but four places hold a special place in my memory. From ancient wonders and bustling cities to breathtaking mountains, each of these destinations has a unique draw that would bring me back in a heartbeat.

I knew I'd love Buenos Aires as soon as we arrived

I couldn't quite place my finger on why, but as soon as we arrived in Buenos Aires, I had a feeling I'd love the city — and I was right.

On the cab ride from the airport to the hotel, we passed long stretches of waterside parks with miles of bike lanes. In fact, I found the city to be incredibly bike-friendly — there's even a system in place where riders can rent them for free.

Beyond being a cyclists' paradise, Buenos Aires was full of energy, with no shortage of fun things to do and neighborhoods to explore.

During our time there, my partner and I enjoyed visiting a free botanical garden (Jardín Botánico Carlos Thays), shopping at street fairs, touring the underground tunnels (El Zanjón), and savoring delicious Argentine steak.

By the end of our 10-week trip, most of the cities started to blur together, but Buenos Aires still stands out from the rest.

Ushuaia, Argentina, cemented my love for this geographically diverse country

From Buenos Aires, we flew south to Ushuaia, Argentina. We were immediately greeted by a blizzard, and the snow-capped mountain views were unlike anything I'd seen before.

We tried to be as budget-conscious as possible on our trip, but in Ushuaia, we spontaneously splurged on a private plane ride over Tierra del Fuego National Park. I never imagined I'd be on a tiny plane with a bird's-eye view of both Chile and Argentina, but sometimes the most unexpected experiences turn out to be the best.

Another highlight of Ushuaia was the boat tour we took through the Beagle Channel. We spent a few hours on the water, taking in breathtaking mountain views, as well as a picturesque lighthouse, sea lions, and even elephant seals.

Sadly, we missed penguin season by less than a month, so I'd love to return sometime between October and March to do a penguin boat tour.

In Puerto Natales, Chile, the hiking and views were unreal

Puerto Natales, Chile, is located in the Patagonia region of South America.

We spent about two hours traveling from our hostel in the city to Torres del Paine National Park. During the journey, I squealed with excitement as we passed herds of guanacos (close relatives of llamas), gasped in awe at the mountains, and held my breath as our little rental sedan drove over unpaved, rocky roads.

And when we arrived, I thoroughly enjoyed hiking up mountains, around lakes, and past icebergs. It was the first (and as of now, only) time I've seen a glacier — a paradise for true outdoor adventure lovers like myself.

Machu Picchu was everything it's cracked up to be and more

It may not come as a surprise to see Machu Picchu on this list — it's one of the New Seven Wonders of the World for a reason.

What caught me by surprise, though, wasn't the ancient city itself (which, to be clear, was absolutely amazing), but the winding bus ride to the citadel through lush, cloud-covered mountains. It seriously felt like being in another world.

The icing on the cake was seeing the llamas that roam freely throughout the ancient wonder. I'm a sucker for cute animals, and they stole my heart.

This story was originally published on January 22, 2026, and most recently updated on April 20, 2026.