Based on our analysis of the Zillow Home Value Index, U.S. home prices—including single-family and condos—rose 0.8% between May 2025 and May 2026. That pace is about the same as it was a year ago, back in May 2025, when the national year-over-year home price growth rate was 0.4%. And it’s up slightly from the recent year-over-year low of -0.01% in August 2025.

In the first half of 2025, the number of major metro area housing markets seeing year-over-year declines climbed. That count has since stopped ticking up.

• 31 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (10% of markets) had a falling year-over-year reading in the January 2024 to January 2025 window.
• 42 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (14%) had a falling year-over-year reading in the February 2024 to February 2025 window.
• 60 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (20%) had a falling year-over-year reading in the March 2024 to March 2025 window.
• 80 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (27%) had a falling year-over-year reading in the April 2024 to April 2025 window.
• 96 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (32%) had a falling year-over-year reading in the May 2024 to May 2025 window.
• 110 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (36%) had a falling year-over-year reading in the June 2024 to June 2025 window.
• 105 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (36%) had a falling year-over-year reading in the July 2024 to July 2025 window.
• 109 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (35%) had a falling year-over-year reading in the August 2024 to August 2025 window.
• 105 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (35%) had a falling year-over-year reading in the September 2024 to September 2025 window.
• 105 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (35%) had a falling year-over-year reading in the October 2024 to October 2025 window.
• 98 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (33%) had a falling year-over-year reading in the November 2024 to November 2025 window.
• 106 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (35%) had a falling year-over-year reading in the December 2024 to December 2025 window.
• 100 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (33%) had a falling year-over-year reading in the January 2025 to January 2026 window.
• 99 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (i.e., 33%) had a falling year-over-year reading in the February 2025 to February 2026 window.
• 89 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (30%) had a falling year-over-year reading in the March 2025 to March 2026 window.
• 81 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (27%) had a falling year-over-year reading in the April 2025 to April 2026 window.
• 77 of the nation’s 300 largest housing markets (26%) had a falling year-over-year reading in the May 2025 to May 2026 window.

As you can see above, in the first half of 2025, there was a notable increase in the number of housing markets slipping into year-over-year price declines as the supply–demand equilibrium (as measured by inventory) shifted toward homebuyers. Over the past 11 months, however, the list of declining markets has begun to stabilize and inventory growth has decelerated.

Among the 77 major metro area housing markets seeing falling year-over-year home prices, these had the biggest declines: Punta Gorda, Florida (-7.9%); London, Kentucky (-7.1%); Cape Coral, Florida (-6.1%); Austin (-5.7%); North Port, Florida (-5.3%); Kahului, Hawaii (-4.6% ); and Naples, Florida (-4.4%).

Back in fall 2025, ResiClub told readers that we expected the count of the number of markets with year-over-year price declines to decrease a little in the first half of 2026. That’s exactly what we’ve seen. It’s still very much a soft nationally aggregated housing market—but the burst of softening has let up.

Home prices are still climbing a little year-over-year in many regions where active inventory remains well below prepandemic 2019 levels, such as pockets of the Northeast and Midwest. In contrast, some pockets in states like Texas, Florida, and Colorado—where active inventory exceeds prepandemic levels by a solid clip—are seeing modest home price pullbacks or flat pricing.

Housing markets seeing the most softness, where homebuyers have gained the most leverage, are primarily in Sun Belt regions, particularly the Gulf Coast and Mountain West.

Many of these areas saw even greater price surges during the pandemic housing boom, with home price growth outpacing local income levels. As pandemic-driven domestic migration slowed and mortgage rates rose in 2022, markets like Tampa, Florida, and Austin faced challenges, relying on local income levels to support frothy home prices.

That Sun Belt softening was compounded by an abundance of new home supply. Builders are often willing to lower prices or offer affordability incentives to maintain sales, which has a cooling effect on the resale market. As a result, some buyers who might have previously opted for existing homes are instead choosing new construction with more attractive deals—which added further upward pressure to resale inventory growth over the past few years.

Of course, while 77 of the nation’s 300 largest metro area housing markets are seeing year-over-year home price declines, another 223 are seeing year-over-year home price increases.

Where are home prices still up on a year-over-year basis? See the map below.

Below is a historical chart showing the year-over-year change in home prices across the 50 largest metro housing markets, with the yellow line representing the national aggregate, dating back to 2000.

While the range [see chart above] between the strongest and weakest metro area housing markets right now is fairly normal historically speaking, the “bifurcation” —the share of markets with rising home prices versus those with falling prices—is wider than normal, given that national appreciation has stabilized into a softer market with growth barely above zero. And the longer some markets remain in the rising camp while others stay in the falling camp, the wider the gulf between the relatively more resilient markets and the weaker ones.

For example, home prices in the Hartford, Connecticut, metro area are now +25.6% above their 2022 peak, while home prices in the Austin metro area sit -27.3% below their 2022 peak. Some of that bifurcation boils down to reversion to the mean, with many of the home price declines occurring in markets that overheated further during the pandemic boom.

Note: For the historical chart below, we analyzed the 200 largest markets rather than the 300 used above, as some markets ranked 201 to 300 lack complete data going back to 2000. When weighted by population (not visualized), the housing market appears slightly weaker than the chart below suggests—which aligns with the fact that, among just the 50 largest housing markets, 22 (44%) are posting year-over-year price declines, and nationally aggregated home prices are up just 0.8% year-over-year using the Zillow Home Value Index.

A wise reader of these ramblings recently stumbled onto a discovery that still has me doing a double-take. It’s a seemingly secret website that lets you watch any YouTube video ad-free anytime—without paying a dime.

It sounds too good to be true, I know—but get this: It’s actually an official Google-owned website. It just isn’t designed for public knowledge or meant to be used in quite this way, by regular ol’ YouTube-watchin’ schmoes like us.

But it works, all right. And while these sorts of discoveries usually stay within my private Intelligence Insider Community​, where this treasure was initially noted, this one’s just too darn good not to share with all of y’all here in these broader waters.

After all, Cool Tools is all about off-the-beaten-path tech treasures that actually make an impact on our lives. And I honestly can’t even remember the last time I saw something as useful and experience-enhancing as this.

This tip originally appeared in the free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. Get the next issue in your inbox and get ready to discover all sorts of awesome tech treasures!

Your YouTube ad-blasting adjustment

So here’s the deal:

➜ If you want to watch a YouTube video without any ads—even without a paid premium subscription—all you’ve gotta do is copy the link to the video and add in a single hyphen (-) between the “t” and “u” in YouTube.

So, for instance, you’d copy a link like this:

​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v9D1nf1p_Y​

And you’d change it to this:

​https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=6v9D1nf1p_Y​

See the single hyphen between the “t” and “u”? That’s all there is to it.

⌚ And that’s literally all you’ve gotta do. We’re talkin’ 10 seconds of active effort here, between copying the link and adding in that hyphen, then opening it in whatever browser you want to use.

Making that change will instantly transport your video to the website ​youtube-nocookie.com​—which sounds like a dessert-denying bummer on the surface (for anyone interested in snickerdoodle) but will actually pull up your video on that Google-owned, ad-free watching website we were just talking about.

☝️ The trick is that the site works only with direct and properly formatted links for specific videos. You can’t just go to it and search. But that hyphen-adding sorcery gets you to precisely the right place, so long as you start with a regular YouTube link for whatever video you want to watch.

💡 In case you’re curious, the site actually exists as a way for other websites to embed YouTube videos—having a relevant video appear within an article, for instance—without having ads on the page or YouTube-related cookies collected for all visitors who scroll by it.

Once you know this workaround, though, you can use it to your own advantage—and hopefully, if we’re lucky, Google won’t do anything to change that anytime soon.

• The ad-free YouTube workaround is entirely web-based, simply by adding a hyphen (-) between the “t” and the “u” in any regular YouTube video link—in any browser, on any device.
• It’s free to use.
• And you can use it even in an incognito browser window, where you aren’t signed into Google and no manner of data will be saved or associated with you.

Treat yourself to all sorts of brain-boosting goodies like this with the free Cool Tools newsletter—starting with an instant introduction to an incredible audio app that’ll tune up your days in truly delightful ways.

First, it was the “iCloud storage is full” scam. Now there’s another, designed to trick not just iCloud users, but anyone with an Apple account. It’s become known as the “Apple High Alert” scam. Here’s what you need to know about it—and how to protect yourself.

What is the Apple High Alert scam?

Apple High Alert is the latest phishing scam targeting people with Apple accounts, including iCloud users and anyone with an iPhone or other Apple device.

The scam does not take advantage of any vulnerabilities in Apple’s services or devices. Instead, it relies on tried and tested social engineering methods to trick users into giving their valuable information over to the scammer, so that the scammer can steal their financial information or hijack their Apple account or Apple device, like an iPhone.

As ConsumerAffairs notes, the messaging often includes phrases like “Security Breach Detected,” “Your iPhone Has Been Compromised,” and “High Alert,” which is where the scam’s name comes from.

How does the Apple High Alert scam work?

According to ConsumerAffairs, the scam works like this:

A targeted user will receive a phone call, email, text message, or web browser pop-up claiming to be from Apple.

No matter the medium, the message is the same. It relays that your Apple account, or even your iPhone, has been compromised. The message claims to know this because suspicious activity was supposedly detected on your account.

This supposed suspicious activity, the scam claims, may put your iCloud data, such as your photos or emails, at risk of being deleted, or your payment methods being charged for purchases you didn’t make.

To ostensibly stop this, the target is instructed to turn over their sensitive information, such as their Apple ID login credentials or payment details, or to install software on their device to fix the issue. 

In reality, the scammer will use the data you turn over to either hijack your Apple account, hijack your Apple device, or steal your payment information.

How do I know if I am the target of the Apple High Alert scam?

The Apple High Alert scam can feel like a genuine message from Apple. Scammers often use Apple’s official logos in their messaging and may even include links to websites that appear to be owned by Apple. And in cases where the scammer targets you via a phone call, it is relatively simple for them to make their caller ID appear to confirm that the call is coming from Apple.

However, there are many tells, or giveaways, that users can look for to determine whether a message is likely from Apple. Things to keep an eye out for include:

• links that direct you to a website that has a primary domain name other than Apple.com
• email addresses that do not end in @apple.com, and
• poor grammar, or even threatening or doom-mongering messaging.

All of the above are telltale signs that the message is not from Apple and is a scam.

The Apple High Alert scam, like most other phishing scams, is designed to create a sense of urgency so that you will follow instructions without thinking, rather than taking a breath and asking yourself if this message is for real.

Scammers often create that urgency by claiming that if you don’t act immediately, your valuable photos will be deleted, your data will become inaccessible and unrecoverable, or you may be legally and financially liable for massive purchases supposedly made through your Apple account.

What can I do to protect myself from the Apple High Alert scam?

The immediate thing you can do to protect yourself, should you receive one of these Apple High Alert scam messages, is to take a deep breath and avoid the impulse to act right away.

Instead, ask yourself if the message adds up. If the URL of any link does not have www.apple.com as the primary domain, or the email address that sent the message does not end in @apple.com, that’s a big red flag.

If the message feels like a ticking clock and says that you must act immediately, that’s another huge red flag. And if the message instructs you to install an app on your device, download a profile to your iPhone, or hand over your Apple ID password or two-factor authentication code, that’s about as big a red flag as there can be.

Apple has an entire support document that details common social engineering schemes and tactics. In it, Apple explicitly states that it will never ask a user for their Apple Account password or their verification codes.

If you have any concern that a message you receive might be a scam, do not reply to it or interact with it. Instead, go to a web browser and navigate to Apple’s Apple Account login portal online—or access your Apple Account directly through the Settings app on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad. If there is indeed a problem with your Apple account, you’ll likely see a message there.

If you still have concerns, you can contact Apple through the company’s official support channels. Just never, ever, use the contact information provided in a message you think is a scam.

Melissa is the founder and CEO of the consulting firm Anthrome Insight. She has held consulting leadership roles at Capgemini, Mercer, Korn Ferry, and Deloitte. Her quarterly columns in MIT Sloan Management Review often rank among their most-read articles, and her writing has also been featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post, and Newsweek.

What’s the big idea?

Many of the problems we blame on ourselves at work are actually rooted in how our jobs, tools, and organizations are designed. When we get clearer about what our work really is—and stop assuming more collaboration, multitasking, or effort is always better—we can work more effectively and with a lot less frustration.

Listen to the audio version of this Book Bite—read by Melissa herself—in the Next Big Idea App, or buy the book.

1. Most of us are not on a first-name basis with our own jobs.

When you started your current job role, did you sit there and assiduously pore over the job description for hours? Don’t worry—me neither. Most job descriptions are rough approximations of the work you will actually be doing. Who cares about the job on paper when the job in practice is what you get paid for?

But there is a wrinkle. If you asked many of the people around you—your boss, your coworkers, your customers—what they think you should be doing all day, you might get a very different answer from what it is you actually do all day. That dissonance trips up both our performance and our happiness.

We spend hours analyzing our behavior and don’t look closely enough at the other critical half of the equation: what is the work we’re asked to do? Sitting down and discussing the nature of your actual job with the people around you can be an incredibly productive conversation.

Bonus: Unlike talking about how you do your job, discussing what’s in the job itself is emotionally neutral. Dollars to donuts, you’ll discover some points of confusion and friction that, if remedied, could change your day-to-day work life for the better.

2. Think about technology like a crow.

Crows, research shows, get actual pleasure from using technology. A crow performing a task using a stick (which is cutting-edge tech in the crow world) derives more pleasure from the effort than a crow performing the same task with their teeny, little beak.

In our private lives, this is often true. It’s fun to use everything from funny face filters on your phone to a good saucepan on the stove. Technology can be delightful! It generally isn’t at work, though. And while some of this phenomenon comes from, as the old adage puts it, Flintstones at work, Jetsons at home (old, crummy technology at work, new shiny tech at home), some of the feeling of frustration and annoyance with technology comes from the fact that we’ve been taught to use work tech in a joyless fashion. We’re pushed to train up quickly, get what we need from a piece of tech, and move on.

“Crows, research shows, get actual pleasure from using technology.”

If you think about tech you use successfully in your home life, you probably toyed around with it a bit first, right? There was a sense of childlike play. And you played with whatever the technology was until you got a bit good at it, too—whereas at work we often get to the point of being barely competent and then we plateau.

So, carve out some bandwidth to truly play with new technologies and pick one or two pieces of tech that you’re going to get great at. As your enjoyment goes up, your annoyance goes down, and everything proceeds more smoothly as a consequence.

3. Humans are built to collaborate, but not too much.

The white sclera of humans’ eyes exist for a reason. When prehistoric people were hunting, having white parts of their eyes allowed them to silently communicate with the folks they were hunting with. They could gesture toward, let’s say, a woolly mammoth without having to yell and scare the woolly mammoth away. Collaboration: we are literally designed for it.

Fabulous, right? Well, yes, but it’s possible to over-collaborate, and that’s happening a lot right now. The European Working Conditions Survey identified excess interdependence—having to interact with too many people to get any task done—as a driver of work intensification, which causes soul-sucking burnout and productivity losses. In research my company conducted last year, we found that people who reported needing to involve a large number of people to get their work done were 49 percent more likely to always or often feel overwhelmed than their peers. Conversely, people who felt they were highly effective were 16 percent more likely to report being able to work largely independently.

Now, I’m not going full Jean-Paul Sartre “hell is other people” here, but rather I’m arguing for “figure 8” style collaboration. Work together, go away and work alone, then come back together. The endless email chains and back-to-back meetings are doing no one any favors. We don’t need to work together all the time—just when it matters.

4. If knowledge workers worked like lives were on the line, we’d do our jobs differently.

I spoke to a firefighter, an air traffic controller, and an emergency room physician, and the contrast between how they do their jobs and how I have done mine could not be sharper.

For example, it’s common in the corporate world to multitask—to do two things at the same time—or even to double hat—to do two jobs at the same time. Guess who doesn’t do that? Firefighters. Definitely, when things are not metaphorically on fire, you can’t do two things at once. As NYC firefighter Ro Rodriguez described, you cannot be the person holding the rope and the person rappelling down the building. You need to pick a lane and do it well.

“You cannot be the person holding the rope and the person rappelling down the building.”

To take another example, in the corporate world, we often don’t say exactly what we mean. Euphemisms and jargon abound! Emergency room doctors don’t have that option. ER physician Dr. Rebecca Parker explained to me that when someone’s loved one has died, you must tell their family members that fact in clear terms, making sure to use the word “died.” It’s not clever in her world to be vague and dance around the matter—it would be inhuman and unkind to do so. This is a level of clarity in communications that would serve us all well in corporate life.

5. You can’t always be effective.

When you look at what your job really is, it may have a fatal flaw. Most often, this fatal flaw is that you are asked to accomplish something without the resources or organizational power to do it: Leading through influence! Being a change agent! Vibes! This does not work. If your job is broken down in such a way, your chances of succeeding are very low.

On a similar front, you may have taken a job the organization doesn’t want. You’re probably asking, how can the organization not want my job? They hired me to do it! The reality is that some jobs are created because the organization inherently struggles to do that work—meaning you’ll struggle too. A great example is when organizations build innovation teams from the outside because they haven’t created the conditions for anyone to be successful at innovation.

Plenty of other things may be showstoppers for effectiveness, too: anything from your boss doing your job for you to the organization tolerating so much mediocrity that you have no chance of being great. Effectiveness isn’t universally available.

This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.

Enjoy our full library of Book Bites—read by the authors!—in the Next Big Idea app.

Before their feud with Baldoni, Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, were well-liked A-listers thought of as “down-to-earth nice.” They were also hot brand ambassadors. Ryan built and sold Aviation Gin to Diageo for $610 million in 2020 and Mint Mobile to T-Mobile for $1.35 billion in 2023. Blake Brown beauty was slated to be Target’s biggest hair product launch ever in 2024.

But when accusations started flying, the internet went to work. Videos and text messages were discussed and dissected on social media, and the next thing you know, Blake and Ryan were disowned by fans who had adored them just days before.

The fallout was brutal. Rachel Strugatz at Puck reported that sales for Blake Brown plunged over 87 percent, and the brand became valued at $15 million instead of the forecasted $100 million. Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile saw weakened sales and pulled campaigns. Lively’s legal team claimed reputational damages of up to $300 million.

None of the products, the promotions, or the packaging had changed. The only thing that changed was what was said on social platforms.

And it’s not just a celebrity thing. One Instagram post from Dylan Mulvaney wiped out Bud Light’s two-decade run as America’s No. 1 beer. Sales dropped 25 to 30 percent and $27 billion in market value was lost. Three years later, the brand still hasn’t recovered.

Edelman’s 2024 Trust Barometer says that 71 percent of global consumers divide brands into “buy” or “boycott” categories. They either love you or hate you (and it can change in an hour).

Reputation used to be something you could manage with a Rolodex of journalists and a stash of tasteful gifts. Now it’s a load-bearing wall in a building that a random 22-year-old named Brayden can take a sledgehammer to between his second and third Red Bull. Here’s what to do:

1. Don’t bet the company on a single story

Robert Greene’s fifth law states that reputation is the cornerstone of power. If it slips, you can be hit from all sides. Warren Buffett says it takes 20 years to build a reputation but only five minutes to ruin it. James Clear warns, “If you’re a vegan and then develop a health condition that forces you to change your diet, you’ll have an identity crisis on your hands.”

The trick is not to stake everything on a single attribute or storyline. Patagonia and Costco absorb negative news because their reputations rely on what they make, how they treat workers, what they stand for, etc. They don’t depend on a founder’s identity.

2. Listen louder than you talk

Don’t livestream every moment and post every shower thought. Anything that can be misinterpreted will be misinterpreted (and will stay on the internet forever). As a founder, you need to assume that everything you say and do will be leaked to a public that is looking to be outraged, and anyone with a grudge will post negative things about you online.

Monitor what people are saying about you online and address negativity quickly. Silence can cost you deals, partners, and valuation. The best asset you can build is an online army of genuine fans who naturally defend you when something bad is said about your company.

3. Don’t feed the comment section

Never react to public attacks with defensiveness or self-righteousness. Online onlookers love to hate a leader’s reaction. During Nike’s sweatshop controversies, Phil Knight’s anger and petulance amplified the negative attention. Cracker Barrel’s logo change was defiantly defended until backlash caused a $94 million loss in market cap. DiGiorno’s #WhyIStayed tweet caused outrage and could have been disastrous, but immediate, humble apologies saved its reputation.

So, before you let your fingers fly, contemplate the fact that a $100 million brand is just one viral comment section away from being a $15 million brand if a guy named Brayden decides to livestream a reaction while eating his cereal.

The bottom line

Don’t think of building a brand as doing good PR or marketing. Imagine that 87 percent of your sales might evaporate if someone posts a “body language breakdown” of your blinking patterns. Then treat reputational resilience and responsiveness as if running a nuclear reactor in a strip mall, where the cooling system is “whether people currently find you likable.”  

—Stephanie Davis

This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister website, Inc.com. 

Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.

Traditionally, knowledge moved from senior leaders to new employees and from mentors to mentees. That approach still has value, but it’s no longer enough. Some of the most useful knowledge now belongs to those just entering the workforce. It’s not about being smarter; they simply grew up using tools like AI agents, generative workflows, and automation. Younger employees are comfortable with these tools, while many senior leaders are still learning to use them. Today, your youngest employees often have the most practical business knowledge to share.

The knowledge gap in both directions

Research from the International Workplace Group found that 82% of senior directors say younger employees’ AI-driven innovations have created new business opportunities, and 80% say help from younger colleagues allows them to focus on higher-value work. Meanwhile, 92% of Gen Z employees estimate they save an hour a day by using artificial intelligence tools for tasks such as summarizing meetings, analyzing data, and drafting documents.

Most organizations don’t have a formal way to capture or share this advantage. This productivity boost is already in your company, mostly with younger employees, but there’s no system to transfer it to the leaders making key decisions.

At the same time, Deloitte’s research shows that only 6% of Gen Z employees want traditional leadership roles. They’re not chasing titles; they’re chasing impact, skill building, and relevance.

This means the mentoring model based on hierarchy and promotions does not align with where knowledge exists or with what motivates the people who have it.

Flip the model

Reverse mentoring isn’t new, but it’s more important than ever. Jack Welch piloted it at General Electric in 1999 to help leaders learn about the internet. Now, change is accelerating, and the knowledge gap is widening. 

Companies such as Accenture, Target and Unilever have established reverse mentoring programs and have seen steady results. Senior leaders gain new perspectives. Younger employees gain visibility and early leadership experience. Both groups say trust improves.

Most organizations don’t dive deep enough to see real results. Pairing a 25-year-old employee with a VP isn’t a program; it’s a conversation. What makes it work is having structure, clear goals, and accountability. Both people need to have something real at stake.

Leaders teaching leaders

The best approach isn’t just reverse mentoring. It’s about changing how leaders teach each other, knowledge moving in all directions, and teaching being seen as a key leadership skill at every level. 

From my experience, lasting programs do certain key things: match people to specific skill gaps, not hierarchy; create short feedback loops (such as monthly check-ins) to spot problems early; and measure impact like promotions, retention, and actual knowledge use, not just participation.

Here are the three elements that matter:

1. Traditional mentoring anchors development. Experience, judgment, situational leadership, and the ability to navigate complexity are irreplaceable. Senior leaders still have important lessons to teach, and that will always matter.

2. Reverse mentoring is structured, not for show. Clearly identify where younger employees have the edge, such as in AI fluency, tool familiarity, and emerging workflows. Set up pairings with clear goals and timelines, and accountability on both sides. Senior leaders need to participate with real curiosity. Performative participation can undermine the program, and people notice.

3. Peer mentoring helps fill the gaps. Small groups of leaders at similar levels can share context, real challenges, and pressure-testing decisions. 

When these three elements work together, teaching becomes a leadership competency, not a side activity, and it changes culture faster than any training program will.

What makes it work or fail

The details of matching, onboarding, and measuring outcomes matter, but they’re not what determine whether a program actually delivers. What determines it is culture, and specifically whether the senior leaders in the organization model the behavior they’re asking everyone else to adopt.

When a CEO shares lessons learned from a younger colleague, whether in a meeting or by acknowledging the source of an idea, it sends a powerful signal. This approach shows humility is normal and frames learning from younger employees as a sign of confidence rather than inadequacy.

If that message is missing, the program usually fades after a couple of cycles. Participants check the boxes, but nobody changes how they work. The organization congratulates itself for having tried.

Research shows employees stay 41% longer at companies with strong development programs. That’s not just about mentoring; it’s a retention and succession strategy, and should be in your business case.

The bottom line

When you ask a 25-year-old to teach a VP something, you’re doing more than sharing knowledge. You’re sending a clear message: Their knowledge and perspective are valuable. For a generation that’s often skeptical of big companies and wants to be seen as contributors, this signal lands in a way no engagement survey ever will.

The leaders I’ve watched truly engage in reverse mentoring don’t just learn new tools. They learn to see things in new ways. They become better listeners and get closer to what’s really happening in their organizations. That’s not just a program result; it’s a real leadership upgrade.

The knowledge already exists in your organization. The real question is whether you’ve built a system that allows it to move and be shared.

Up front, it is worth pointing out that your ultimate aim should probably be satisfaction at work rather than happiness. Happiness is a momentary state that reflects how you’re doing at that moment. Satisfaction is a mixture of joy and pride that reflects the accumulated benefit of your work over a longer period of time.

Happiness and satisfaction are not unrelated. Chances are that if you’re miserable most of the time at work, you also won’t find it that satisfying. But you can have periods of stress or frustration at work and still find it satisfying overall. Think of a marathon runner: The athlete may find significant portions of a race physically uncomfortable, but still have a lot of pride and satisfaction at having completed the effort.

So, here are a few things to think about if you’re contemplating a new job:

1. Accentuate the positive

Two important factors influence your sense of satisfaction with work. One is that you’re more likely to find work satisfying when you have some agency. That is, you should have some ability to control at least some aspects of the way you work. Being able to select the projects you are doing, the way you allocate your time, or your work hours are all examples of this type of agency. The more you can control some of these factors, the more likely you are to feel good about your work.

The second is the fit between the tasks you do and your core personality characteristics. If you have a job that is detail oriented, you’re more likely to find that work engaging and enjoyable if you are high in conscientiousness (and naturally gravitate to the details of the work) than if you’re low in conscientiousness (and find the responsibility for details to be a pain). Similarly, if your job requires networking with lots of new people, you’re likely to enjoy it more if you are an extrovert than if you are an introvert.

Interestingly, improvements in these factors over time also make your job feel more satisfying—particularly early in your career. That is, you are likely to start your first job without much agency, but if you feel that you get more control over your work over time, you will find it satisfying. Similarly, having your work become more compatible with your personality also feels satisfying.

2. Eliminate the negative

There are a few factors that can really make your days miserable. The fewer of these you experience, the better it will be for your overall satisfaction.

One factor that people don’t weigh strongly enough when searching for a job is commute time. It is nice to have some transition time from work life to home life. That is one reason why people who work from home often need to create a version of a commute for themselves. (For example, I work from home, and I exercise at the end of the day in lieu of a commute to get ready to leave work behind.) A long commute is miserable, though, and it will ultimately make you feel bad about your job.

It is also hard to have a bad boss. Your supervisor provides you with important feedback about how things are going. If your boss makes you feel bad about what you’re doing, it will diminish the joy and satisfaction you experience. During your interview, try to get a sense of what people feel about their supervisors. Listen for clues about the kind of feedback employees get about their work. If your Spidey sense tingles when talking to people about their bosses, you may want to think twice before taking the job.

3. Align mission and values

A significant contributor to satisfaction is whether your work is a good fit to your values. Quite a bit of research has explored the kinds of values people adopt. These studies suggest that there are two big dimensions underlying people’s values. One is whether people are mostly focused on themselves or on others. The other is whether people tend to seek novelty or stability. People who value achievement, for example, are focused on new experiences for the self. By contrast, those who value tradition are focused on stability and the group.

Understanding what you value can help you determine whether a new job is likely to be a good fit for you. A fast-paced adventurous job with lots of opportunity for recognition and advancement is more likely to be satisfying if your values are more self- and change-focused. A career in which you work behind the scenes or pursue social good may be better if you value the collective rather than your own gain. A job that provides steady work is great for people who value stability.

This fit between values and mission can also help you diagnose any dissatisfaction with a job. Your values may change over the course of your life. Big life events like getting married, having a child, or surviving an illness may lead you to reevaluate what you care about. When your values shift and your job does not, a career path that was once a good fit may become less satisfying. If you find yourself unhappy with the progress of your career, it is worth thinking about whether your core values are different from what they were when you started that line of work.

The new aircraft eschews the Kennedy-era robin’s egg blue exterior of the old plane for a bolder look, with the underbelly of the plane painted navy blue with a red stripe above it. The plane’s left side, where the president boards, features the presidential seal, while the tail of the aircraft has a massive American flag on it.

“The workmanship of this plane is, when you see it, you won’t believe it,” Trump said from inside the massive Andrews Air Force Base hangar, as a couple hundred assembled Air Force personnel looked on. He spoke after stepping off the new plane in a dramatic flourish, as his signature tune “God Bless the USA” played.

The gift from Qatar is serving as a so-called “bridge” aircraft to carry the president until the new planes ordered directly from Boeing arrive. That is currently slated for 2028.

The administration formally accepted a luxury Boeing 747 jet from Qatar last year to be used as the presidential airplane, despite questions about the ethics and legality of accepting such an expensive gift from a foreign nation. Trump has insisted in the past that he would not fly around in the Qatari jet once he leaves office and said it would instead be donated to a future presidential library.

The Air Force has said in the past that security modifications to the jet would cost less than $400 million.

Trump’s efforts to reimagine the presidential airplane date back to his first administration, when he directed that an incoming fleet of new jets would adopt a color scheme that was nearly identical to that of his personal airplane. Then-President Joe Biden reversed the decision in March 2023 as an Air Force review suggested that the darker colors could increase costs and delay delivery of the new jets, but once Trump returned to office, he returned to his desired colors for the plane.

Other government jets that carry other top administration officials will also use the similar red, white and navy color scheme, the Air Force said earlier this year.

An Air Force spokesperson, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive plans, told The Associated Press that the two current planes, known as VC-25As, will not be retiring. Instead, they will remain in the fleet until the new Boeing planes, referred to as VC-25Bs, come into service, the spokesperson said.

It is unclear how the older jets will be used but the spokesperson said that both the Qatari jet as well as the VC-25As will be available for use and “the Presidential Airlift Group will select the appropriate aircraft for each mission based on operational requirements.”

—

Kim reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report from Washington.

For young women who receive the HPV vaccine in their early teen years, the risk of dying from cervical cancer before turning 30 is effectively reduced to zero, according to new research published in The Lancet. While the HPV vaccine was known to prevent around 90% of cervical cancer cases, the new study is the first to explore its impact on mortality rates – and the results reveal just how strong the vaccine’s protection really is.

The study, funded by Cancer Research UK, offers powerful evidence that HPV vaccination programs are saving lives. In England, roughly 200 cervical cancer deaths have been prevented to date, but those numbers are much larger on a global scale. HPV, short for human papillomavirus, is a common sexually-transmitted infection that is spread through skin to skin contact. While the immune system usually flushes out HPV infection, it can cause abnormal cell growth in some infected people, which can cause multiple forms of cancer years later.

In its aim to eliminate cervical cancer worldwide, the World Health Organization is pushing all of its member countries to vaccinate 90% of girls by age 15. If its goals are met, 62 million deaths from cervical cancer could be prevented by the year 2120. In the paper, the researchers point to their findings as evidence that the WHO’s goals are within reach, urging even more focus on boosting vaccine uptake in young people around the world.

Globally, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer diagnosed in women, causing an estimated 660,000 new cases per year. In 2022, 94% of the 350,000 deaths from cervical cancer were in low and middle income countries, particularly in Central America, Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

“As vaccinated generations grow older, we’ll see many more lives saved from cervical cancer,” the publication’s lead researcher Professor Peter Sasieni said. “It is incredible to think that a single jab can almost eliminate a particular type of cancer, and this new research shows just how vital it is to keep HPV vaccination levels high so more people are protected.” 

Not just women

The HPV vaccine offers powerful protection, but people who have received it are still encouraged to opt into cervical cancer screenings because the vaccine doesn’t protect against every high-risk strain of HPV. Together, the vaccine and routine screenings offer the most robust prevention. 

The HPV infection isn’t only associated with cervical cancer and women aren’t the only ones who should get vaccinated. The vaccine can also lower the risk for cancers of the mouth and throat, vaginal cancer, vulvar cancer, anal cancer, and penile cancer. The vaccine works best when administered between age 9 and 12, but older teens and people in their 20s are also encouraged to get vaccinated – including men.

In spite of the risks and the overwhelmingly positive evidence, HPV vaccination rates have slumped in some parts of the world since the pandemic. In the U.S., the HPV vaccine’s adoption rates for young people between ages 13 and 17 peaked in 2021, with rates ticking down afterward – a worrying trend in an era with vaccine hesitancy now woven into public health policy.

Boards aren’t granting CEOs time to “learn the business.” They expect judgment from the start, and the tolerance for ambiguity has collapsed. Successful leaders must arrive pre-oriented, understanding the real mandate, the hidden risks, and how decisions are made before they walk through the door.

THE PRE-WORK NOBODY TALKS ABOUT

My career has spanned more than 25 years at the intersection of education, innovation, and leadership. I help place transformative leaders at the highest levels of the education and edtech sectors. Today, that work increasingly centers on the executives shaping AI’s integration into education—from university presidents navigating institutional transformation to CEOs of venture- and private equity-backed edtech companies building the next generation of learning platforms.

This moment is unique because AI is reshaping strategy, governance, product development, workforce planning, and institutional relationships with students and educators. This is not simply another technology cycle. Leaders must understand the pace of technological change and how educational institutions actually adopt change.

The nature of the pre-work required has changed, in addition to the speed. When we recruit a CEO for a client, our work continues after the offer letter. Before “day one,” we help the leader understand the organization’s actual culture (not the version in the pitch deck), the informal power structures, and the most important external relationships. We help build the foundation around a new leader so they can interpret signals quicker and act with precision from the start.

This matters even more when a leader enters a sector that’s new to them. We often look outside of edtech for its executives. In certain placements, the executive doesn’t have deep expertise in the specific slice of education they are stepping into. We make deliberate introductions, including to other CEOs with adjacent industry experience, key voices outside the company, or resources that compress months of organizational osmosis. The goal is to quickly understand the dynamics and not pretend the gap doesn’t exist.

THE BEST CEOS LEAD BEFORE DAY ONE

The internal shift to CEO is where many new to the role get tripped up. They have the capability, but the instincts that made them exceptional operators and leaders actively work against them as CEO.

Executives who arrive expecting an extended discovery phase are often the ones who struggle the most. In the CEO seat, hesitation can read as drift. The board, leadership team, and investors are all watching. Every early signal matters. Waiting to “learn the culture” before acting is a signal, and rarely a good one.

The best incoming CEOs have figured out the difference between action and presence. Instead of trying to prove their worth, they’re setting direction, clarifying what a high-performing culture looks like, and making it immediately clear how decisions will get made. The job is structuring how problems get solved.

By the time a CEO walks through the door, they should already understand much of the internal dynamics outside an org chart, the stakeholders who need early wins, and the organizational narratives to reinforce or disrupt. That distinction means everything.

AI ISN’T OPTIONAL

There’s one more variable reshaping executive readiness in real time: AI. From a talent perspective, AI has gone from a “nice-to-have” to a baseline expectation. Organizations are integrating AI into internal and external operations and customer-facing products. Each is important, but the tolerance for that innovation isn’t uniform. Leaders who aren’t able to understand that distinction are setting themselves up for a costly miscalculation.

Universities and K-12 schools and districts are inherently conservative institutions. They move deliberately, answer to multiple stakeholders, and carry a deep sense of responsibility around how technology impacts students and educators. Their pace of AI adoption—and the appetite for AI-powered products from vendors—is often significantly slower than investors and markets assume. That mismatch between investor expectations and institutional reality is one of the most underestimated risks in edtech right now. A CEO arriving with an aggressive AI integration timeline, who doesn’t account for where their customers actually are, will lose trust on both sides of the table.

The executives getting this right understand that AI readiness is a mindset, not just an ability. They’re asking the right questions before they step in: How is this organization using AI internally? What are customers actually ready to adopt? Where is the gap between what the market expects and what the institution will absorb?

Those are the types of questions shaping top candidates, and increasingly, it’s what boards need to be asking, too.

WHAT “READY” LOOKS LIKE NOW

In reality, a 100-day framework simplifies what can be viewed as far more complex. It provides leaders and boards with a shared language for leadership transition. The real work starts before the first official day. The orientation, relationship-mapping, stakeholder and market intelligence, and the honest assessment of what the organization actually needs versus what it says it needs. This must be done in the weeks before a leader takes the role.

A modern executive transition is a pre-loaded start, not a grace period. To thrive, leaders should arrive already in motion, clear on their mandate, scaffolded by the right introductions, and be prepared to lead before they step inside. 

The clock is already running. Are you ready when it starts?

Meredith Rosenberg is cofounder and partner at NU Advisory Partners.

As thousands poured into Atlanta Stadium on Monday to see Spain face Cape Verde in what turned out to be a remarkable scoreless draw, Ramroop stood outside, increasingly stressed as she went back and forth for hours between StubHub representatives on the phone and FIFA representatives in the ticket booth. Each blamed the other.

No one could figure out why the tickets Ramroop bought months ago on StubHub for $485 apiece couldn’t be transferred from the original seller to the FIFA ticketing app. StubHub offered her a refund and, as Ramroop heard the crowd roar for the start of the match, she knew she had no choice but to give up and take the offer.

“I didn’t want a refund, I didn’t want my money back,” Ramroop said. “I wanted to go to the game.”

The World Cup has delivered thrills on the pitch, but fans have flooded social media with complaints about tickets that never arrived, orders that were canceled at the last minute and hours they spent trying to sort out problems between FIFA’s ticketing system and outside resale platforms. The vast majority seem to be about industry titan StubHub, but people who bought through competitors such as SeatGeek and Vivid Seats have also reported issues. Interviews with fans and industry experts show that some cases stem from technical glitches in the transfer process, while others could involve sellers who never had tickets to deliver in the first place, though StubHub denies such sales happen on its platform.

A grandmother’s disappointment

FIFA has urged fans to buy resale tickets through its own marketplace, where it slaps a 30% surcharge on every resold ticket — 15% each from the buyer and seller. But many fans bought through other resale sites, either out of habit or because those sites have lower prices or are easier to navigate.

Ramroop didn’t realize she was taking a risk when she bought through StubHub, which she had used in the past without issues.

As she and her grandson Elijah Gomes took the long, lonely train ride back to the Atlanta suburbs, Elijah followed the score on his phone. The match had ended scoreless, and he tried to cheer up his devastated grandmother by telling her they hadn’t missed much after all (Cape Verdeans would beg to differ ).

“He’s telling me, ‘Grandma, it’s OK, Grandma.’ And he’s trying to console me,” Ramroop said the next day.

She was hardly alone. An Associated Press journalist witnessed more than a dozen frustrated fans at the match who said they were stuck in similar situations.

StubHub blamed FIFA for the transfer problems that buyers like Ramroop have experienced. In a statement, it said FIFA has “poor technology infrastructure,” enacted last-minute transfer restrictions and didn’t launch its new ticketing app until a few weeks before the tournament. The company also called out organizers that “take anti-competitive actions” that limit where fans can buy and sell tickets.

Asked about the technical issues, FIFA on Wednesday reiterated that sales through its official site are guaranteed to go through.

An industry’s longstanding problem

Industry observers say the problems appear to stem from more than one cause. For some, it may indeed be technical glitches — an issue that StubHub says is “very, very rare” and one that it is hard at work to solve. For others, they say it’s likely a more longstanding scourge: speculative sellers.

Scott Friedman, an industry veteran and co-founder of a consultancy called the Ticket Talk Network, said some sellers list tickets before they actually have them, betting that prices will fall closer to the event so they can buy the tickets at a better price later. But because World Cup ticket prices have surged since the tournament began, those sellers have been forced to either buy expensive tickets to fulfill their orders or cancel and accept penalties from resale platforms. StubHub’s penalties are typically 200% of the ticket price, Friedman said.

“This is not new at all,” said Friedman, pointing to other high-profile events where frustrated fans were left empty-handed, including Taylor Swift’s Eras tour. “This has been going on, but it’s making global news because it’s the World Cup.”

StubHub says it requires sellers to prove they have tickets before they list them.

But regardless of the reason for the canceled sales, Friedman said “StubHub should fill every single order to make sure fans get in the biggest global sporting event that happens every four years.”

That’s what many fans say they expected when they purchased through StubHub.

StubHub’s FanProtect Guarantee promises replacement tickets or a refund if tickets fail to arrive. But the policy repeatedly says those remedies are provided at StubHub’s “sole discretion,” meaning the company can choose a refund instead of securing replacement seats.

“That is pretty explicit language,” said Michael McCann, a sports law expert at the University of New Hampshire. McCann noted that a buyer could try to challenge the language under state consumer protection laws, but it would be an uphill battle.

A father’s regrets

Pape Ndaw is crestfallen that the high school graduation gift he got for his son — tickets for them to see the Netherlands and Japan near their home city of Dallas — never arrived.

He bought the tickets for about $550 apiece in December. Then, two days before the June 14 match, he received an email from StubHub telling him, “The seller can’t deliver your original tickets.”

Ndaw accepted store credit rather than a refund, thinking he would use the funds to quickly get replacements, only to then realize that the cheapest last-minute tickets were going for more than $1,500 each. Not only were they not going to get to go to the game, but Ndaw said StubHub rejected his belated request for a refund instead of store credit.

Breaking the news to his soccer-obsessed son was brutal, Ndaw said.

“It was a disastrous thing,” he said. “He had told all his friends that he was going to that game. He literally cried. I mean, he is a 17-year-old kid, but he cried.”

A family’s attempt to make the best of it

Others fared somewhat better.

Patrick O’Neil of Pittsboro, North Carolina, traveled to Atlanta with his wife, son, and relatives after purchasing five tickets through StubHub for the Spain-Cape Verde match. Two tickets transferred successfully, but three never arrived.

O’Neil’s 15-year-old son and his uncle ended up using the two tickets, while O’Neil, his wife and another relative watched from a nearby bar.

After local media caught wind of their ordeal, O’Neil said StubHub contacted the family and offered tickets to another game. Since the family had already bought tickets to one, though, he and his wife asked the company to instead give the seats to local nonprofit Soccer in the Streets so they could go to people who otherwise might not be able to attend a match.

“StubHub is not evil, but they’re part of the whole system that makes it really hard for just normal kids and people who might want to see a match get to go,” O’Neil said.

On Thursday, a StubHub representative confirmed to the AP that the company would honor the O’Neils’ request and send tickets to the nonprofit.

—R.J. Rico and Emilie Megnien, Associated Press

There isn’t one. But there is a playbook. And after more than 13 years leading organizations across the healthcare spectrum, I can tell you that the playbook does not change. The industry or sector changes. The team changes. The product changes. But the playbook does not.

I have led two companies onto the Inc. 5000 list. The first was EmpiRx Health, a pharmacy benefit management (PBM) company that I took from early stage to a scaled, nationally recognized tech-enabled PBM. The second is OnMed, where we grew revenue 3,500% in a little over two years, deploying care infrastructure into communities left behind by traditional medicine. Two different companies with two different problems, but the same playbook.

THE NORTH STAR BECOMES YOUR AIR

The most dangerous thing a leader can do is assume the team understands the mission. They do not. The North Star has to be communicated so often, so clearly, and so consistently that it stops feeling like communication and starts feeling like the air everyone breathes.

At OnMed, that North Star is simple: quality, affordable, equitable care for every person, in every community, regardless of ZIP code. That is not marketing language, but the operating principle behind every partnership, product, and hiring decision we make. When a team member faces a hard call, they should orient themselves against that North Star without asking me. If they cannot, I have failed at my job.

BUILD FOR THE JOURNEY, NOT THE DESTINATION

The obsession with outcomes is the single biggest trap leaders fall into. Outcomes matter, but they are the result of doing the right things, the right way, relentlessly—not of chasing the outcome itself. When you organize around outcomes, you start cutting corners. You make decisions that look good on a scoreboard but erode the foundation underneath you.

Every company I have led has had chapters where nothing worked as expected. The headwinds felt too strong, the timeline too long, the obstacles too many. Those are the moments that reveal whether a culture is real or aspirational. I do not change the destination. I go back to the process. Execute in the present. Stay close to the customer. Lead with integrity. Do the right thing—not when it is easy, but especially when it is hard. Do those things relentlessly, and the outcomes figure themselves out.

NO WHAT-IFS—EVER

This is a culture, not a mindset. The teams that break down aren’t facing the hardest circumstances. They are spending energy second-guessing decisions already made. What-ifs are corrosive. They pull people out of the present and into a past they cannot change, creating hesitation at exactly the moment execution demands certainty.

The culture I build is deliberate: Gather the best information, make the decision, commit fully, execute without looking back. If it is wrong, correct forward. Own the decision, learn, and move. Have accountability at its highest level.

EIGHT ROWERS, ONE SHELL

Daniel James Brown’s The Boys in the Boat chronicles the 1936 University of Washington crew that went to the Berlin Olympics and beat the global competition. What Brown captures so precisely is that those eight men were not the most gifted rowers individually. They won because they achieved something rare. It’s what Brown calls “the moment of swing”— when the shell moves on its own, carrying eight men as one, each stroke indistinguishable from the next, every man surrendering individual glory for collective force.

That is the culture I build toward. A team that has internalized the North Star so deeply they pull together instinctively, when conditions are hard, when the race is close, when no one is watching.

THE CEO IS NOT THE STRATEGIST

Most CEOs misunderstand the job. It is not about sitting above the organization with the strategic view. It is about being in it—hands-on, close to the action, visible to the team.

The CEO is communicator in chief. The mission must be stated, restated, and lived out loud. It cannot be delegated. The CEO is chief simplification officer. Growth creates complexity, and complexity is the silent killer of execution. My job is to strip the noise, cut the distractions, and refocus the management team on exactly what matters right now. Do fewer things but do them brilliantly. Every time the organization drifts toward doing more, the CEO pulls it back. That is the work.

DO THE RIGHT THING, BUILD THE RIGHT WAY

There will always be a faster path, a convenient shortcut, a deal that works if you look the other way. The playbook says no—not because of reputation risk, but because companies that endure are built on foundations that hold the weight of growth. Shortcuts leave hairline fractures you do not see until you are scaling fast and the structure cracks.

Skill is teachable, conviction is not. Hire for conviction first. The playbook is simple, but it is not easy. It is repeatable, and I intend to run it again.

Karthik Ganesh is the CEO of OnMed.

Those are some of the findings about full-time working parents from a newly released Pew Research Center study, which surveyed 2,242 working parents between March 2-15.

Here’s a look what full-time working parents want, by the numbers:

Households where both the mother and father work full time: 52%

That’s according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data looking at the work arrangements of mothers and fathers with children under 18 who are married or live together. A decade ago, 46% of such families had two full-time working parents. In 1975, it was just 31%.

The increase has been driven largely by mothers who have bachelor’s or postgraduate degrees. It has occurred during a period when women have outpaced men in obtaining college educations.

In families where mothers and fathers live together, about 56% of moms with bachelor degrees and 69% of mothers with postgraduate degrees worked full time in 2025. That’s an increase from 50% and 59% in 2000, respectively.

In contrast, the number of mothers without college degrees working full time stayed largely constant at 43%, compared to 46% in 2000.

Many parents are single, divorced or live with same-sex partners. In total, 89% of fathers and 59% of mothers with children under 18 work full time.

Parents who sometimes juggle work and child duties simultaneously: 70%

In the new survey, moms were more likely to say they sometimes handle parenting tasks at work at least “sometimes,” at 81%. But a majority of dads — 62% — said they same. Most moms and dads — 63% and 57% respectively — say they sometimes take on work tasks while they are with their kids.

“One of the major findings we have from this study is just a large share of parents who experience these blurred boundaries between family and work. And we find that moms often carry more of the mental load that comes with trying to balance what their family needs with what their work demands,” said Luona Lin, a Pew Research Center research associate who co-authored the study.

Parents who are upset by missing their children’s activities because of work: 92%

Full-time working moms and dads almost universally dislike missing out on a child’s concert, sporting match or other activity thanks to their jobs. About 9 in 10 said they were “extremely,” “very,” or “somewhat” upset when this happened, including 55% who were “extremely” or “very” upset.

But the unhappiness is deeper among full-time working mothers: 65% said they were “extremely” or very” upset when they missed out, compared 45% of fathers who said the same. About 31% of mothers said they were “somewhat upset,” compared to 42% of dads who said the same.

“It’s not to say dads aren’t experiencing any of challenges in balancing work and family lives. It’s just that moms are experiencing more of it,” Lin said.

Parents who have a hard time finding time to exercise: 58%

This was a bigger issue for moms than dads. While 65% of moms who work full time said they didn’t have enough time to exercise, 52% of dads said the same. Full-time working moms were also more likely to say they had too little time for hobbies, friends, relaxing and spending time with their spouse or partner.

Parents who say moms do most of the chores: 52%

But mothers and fathers seem to disagree here.

Among full-time working mothers, 63% say they do most of the chores. However, 50% of working fathers said chores were equally divided and only 25% said moms do most of it.

A similar dynamic plays out when it comes to parenting. About 63% of moms say they do most of the daily parenting tasks but only 41% of dads agreed. Instead, about 47% of dads say daily parenting tasks are split equally.

Parents who say having kids makes it harder to advance at work: 45%

This was another area with a sharp gender divide. While about half, 52%, of full-time working mothers said being a parent made it “a lot” or “somewhat” more difficult to advance in their job or career, only 38% of fathers said the same. And while 61% of mothers said their job made it “a lot” or “somewhat” harder to be a good parent, 45% of fathers felt that way.

About 52% of full-time working mothers and 38% of fathers said they felt they couldn’t give 100% at work mainly because of juggling work and family responsibilities. While 67% of mothers said they felt they couldn’t give 100% at home, 50% of fathers said the same.

Despite their growing labor rate participation rate and college education levels, women are still far behind men when it comes to wages and career advancement. The so-called “motherhood penalty” has long been a major factor in the persistent wage gap between men and women.

Families with two full-time working parents who say the arrangement has financial benefits: 83%

There were mixed feeling about the trade-offs of having both parents work full-time.

While about 83% of parents in that situation said it had a “somewhat” or “very” positive financial impact, about half, 49%, said it had a positive impact on their children’s well being. Still, only about 22% said it had a “somewhat” or “very” negative impact on their children’s well being, while about 29% said it had neither a negative or positive impact.

—Alexandra Olson and Claire Savage, AP business writers

Located on a sprawling campus on Chicago’s South Side, the center honoring the nation’s first Black president has been designed to inspire people to make the change they want to see in their own communities. It’s the kind of contemplation that also comes as Americans gather for Juneteenth, which celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S.

The holiday marks June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas at the end of the Civil War with an order declaring the state’s enslaved people to be free with “absolute equality.” By then, 2 1/2 years had passed since the Emancipation Proclamation declared the freedom of enslaved people in the South.

“Juneteenth represents not just a commemoration of the end of slavery but it’s also part of the ongoing struggle for absolute equality and that ideal in American life,” said W. Caleb McDaniel, a Rice University professor and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Sweet Taste of Liberty.”

Obama’s presidential center in Chicago

The grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center includes days of events following Thursday’s star-studded dedication ceremony.

The center’s public opening arrives as a symbolic convergence of legacy and liberation. The nation is deeply divided politically and grappling with renewed questions about the arc of racial progress as the Supreme Court hollowed out the Voting Rights Act, endangering Black political representation in Congress.

The nearly 20-acre (8-hectare) campus includes a museum featuring a life-sized replica of the Oval Office, a garden designed by former first lady Michelle Obama complete with lettuce and strawberry plants, a professional-grade basketball court, a picnic area with grills and a new branch of the Chicago Public Library. Visitors can experience high-tech and hands-on exhibits spanning the campaigns, key moments of Obama’s presidency and life at the White House.

The spaces are designed to bring people together on a campus expected to draw as many as 1 million visitors annually, but the center also aims to encourage personal reflection. Louise Bernard, the museum’s director, has said they’re “inviting people to bring change home, however change may be defined, both small or large.”

The history of Juneteenth

This is the fifth year since Juneteenth was designated as a federal holiday by former President Joe Biden, who served as Obama’s vice president. But the celebrations, which began in Texas and then spread across the country, have a rich and long history in Black America, with the day often spent gathering for picnics and cookouts.

The holiday — a combination of “June” and “nineteenth” — marks the day when U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and his troops arrived in the Texas port city with the declaration of freedom in General Order No. 3.

As the third year of the Civil War neared, President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring the freedom of “all persons held as slaves” in the still rebellious states of the Confederacy. Though, for many, it did not mean immediate freedom but a promise of liberation, to be secured with a Union victory.

“It really required the force of arms and the success of U.S. armies to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation,” McDaniel said.

About six months after Granger’s arrival in Galveston, the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery nationwide was ratified.

Celebrations across the nation this year

Juneteenth’s birthplace is celebrating with a daylong gathering at a Galveston park with music and fireworks, a parade and a worship service in a historic Black church. Nearby, Houston lined up a musical artists and a domino tournament at Emancipation Park, established in 1872 by a group of formerly enslaved men.

Hundreds of other cities across the U.S. announced events over the long weekend, including a parade in Atlanta, a bike ride in Los Angeles and a festival on Martha’s Vineyard.

Several cities across the U.S. will host walks named for Opal Lee, the Texas woman who pushed for years to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Participants will walk 2 1/2 miles to symbolize the 2 1/2 years it took for the Emancipation Proclamation to be enforced in Texas. Lee, known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth,” turns 100 this year.

A holiday for reflection

Black Texans embraced the date of Granger’s arrival as one to celebrate, even as the Ku Klux Klan was established in Texas by 1868. By the 1880s, “it was difficult to find a significant community in Texas where it wasn’t being marked by African Americans,” McDaniel said.

“They made it a community celebration, they made it a celebration of not only freedom but also a demonstration of community empowerment and institution-building,” he added.

Corey D.B. Walker, dean of Wake Forest University’s divinity school, said the holiday offers a way to recognize the nation’s “complex history” and what it means to be a U.S. citizen, especially amid efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to undermine the retelling of Black history.

“I think it really reminds people the importance of understanding a fuller, more robust portrait of our nation’s history and the many contributions of many individuals who have contributed to America’s experiment with democracy,” Walker said.

—Jamie Stengle, Associated Press

Known as America’s Time Capsule, the commemorative project is part of the country’s 250th anniversary celebration, which will see the vessel buried on Independence Mall in Philadelphia this Fourth of July. 

The capsule was curated by America250, an organization created by Congress in 2016 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which falls on July 4, 2026.

Beyond the more traditional celebrations, the group crafted a time capsule intended to “preserve a representative record” of the country as it crosses the anniversary threshold. The capsule itself is a 900-pound (408-kilogram) steel cylinder designed to withstand temperature and moisture conditions that should keep it intact for another 250 years. 

Constructed from the soft metal indium, the cylinder has a structure that can deform itself under load “to fill any microscopic imperfections in the sealing groove.” But the cylinder will also be situated in a protective air pocket created by a 1,100-pound stainless steel bell jar placed over it. The capsule was sealed for the long haul this week at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland. 

“Now that America’s Time Capsule has been sealed, it carries with it a remarkable record of this moment in our nation’s history,” said Rosie Rios, the America250 chair. “This moment is as much about the future as it is the past. When it is opened in 2276, future generations will see the care, pride, and optimism with which Americans marked our 250th anniversary.”

Optimism isn’t exactly the prevailing mood of the era, as the U.S. strains under the weight of an affordability crisis, political polarization that turns violent at times, and a deep-seated disillusionment about the American dream. Nonetheless, America250 may succeed in its broader mandate to “invite people across the country to reflect on the nation’s past, present, and future.” 

But what’s in it?

The well-engineered capsule is likely to last 250 years, but what will future Americans find if the union itself holds? According to America250, most of the capsule’s contents come from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five territories, “each offering a distinct record of local history, identity, culture, innovation, and community life.” Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Executive Branch also pitched in their own items meant to provide a snapshot of political life in the year 2026.

The capsule is full of letters and documents, as you’d expect, but also some more exotic items. Coupling cutting-edge science and history, the capsule hosts a “molecular data storage device” the size of a pencil eraser that contains man-made DNA encoded with digital versions of Library of Congress treasures, like Francis Scott Key’s handwritten lyrics for “The Star-Spangled Banner.” 

“By placing some of our most treasured digitized collections into synthetic DNA, we are helping ensure that future generations can encounter foundational pieces of American history in a form designed to endure for centuries,” the acting librarian of Congress, Robert R. Newlen, said of the capsule’s contents.

In a fittingly American turn, some major corporations put their own mark on history through the time capsule. A glass Coca-Cola bottle stuffed with the sheet music for the song “I’d Like to Buy America a Coke” made it in, as did an iPhone 17 Pro Max. Sports are well represented too, including a 2026 NFL playoffs coin and personal letters from the commissioners of the NBA, NHL, and MLB. 

The time capsule is an interesting exercise in nostalgia, but the American celebration that captured the country’s current vibes best was undoubtedly the flurry of UFC fights at the White House last weekend. There, men pummeled each other bloody for advertisers and white-hot betting markets under an enormous metal claw towering over the seat of American democracy.

The list of products included in a previous cheese recall has dramatically expanded. The recall is over fears that the select cheeses could be contaminated with the potentially deadly bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, which is responsible for a current outbreak in three states. Here’s what you need to know.

What’s happened?

On Thursday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a recall notice from 

Clover Hill Dairy, LLC of Mechanicsville, Maryland. The recall notice announced the dramatic expansion of a voluntary recall that Clover Hill Dairy initiated just a few weeks earlier.

The original recall saw Clover Hill Dairy voluntarily recall all of its Soft Ricotta/Requeson Cheese products due to fears they could be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

The new recall expands the product list to include all Clover Hill Dairy brand cheese over fears the products could be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

What products are included in the recall?

The latest recall notice states that the following Clover Hill Dairy brand cheeses are included in the recall:

• Soft Cuajada in Brine: 5-gallon bucket (30-lbs), 2-gallon bucket (14-lbs)
• Soft Cuajada (vacuum sealed): 5-lb bags, 2.5-lb clam shell, 0.90-lb (14-
  oz) clam shell
• Cuajada (vacuum sealed): 30-lb boxes
• Ricotta: 5-gallon bucket (40-lbs), 2-gallon bucket (18-lbs), 2.5-lb tubs, 1-lb clam shell
• Soft Cuajada Crumbs 
• Mild Cheese Varieties – Yummy Cheddar, White Cheddar, White Colby, Monterey Jack, Marble Jack: 1/2-lb, 1-lb, 2.5-lbs, 5-lbs, 40-lbs
• Mild Cheese Varieties – Snack Pack Assorted Regular Mild
  Stix White Colby, Marble Jack, Yummy Cheddar: Approx 0.40-lbs (6.4-oz)
• Mild Cheese Varieties – 3-in-A-Pack Assorted White Colby, Marble Jack, Yummy Cheddar: Approx. 0.20-lbs (3.2-oz)
• Mild Cheese Varieties – Fresh Cheddar Curd: 0.75-lb box, 1.50-lb box
• Sharp Cheese Varieties – Cheddar, Yummy Cheddar, White Cheddar, Monterey Jack: 1/2-lb, 1-lb, 2.5-lbs, 5-lbs
• Sharp Cheese Snack Pack Sharp Stix White or Yellow: Regular size Approx 0.40-lbs (6.4-oz)
• Flavored Cheese – Horseradish: 1/2-lb, 1-lb, 2.5-lb, 5-lb, 40-lb
• Flavored Cheese – Old Bay Cheddar: 1/2-lb, 1-lb, 2.5-lb, 5-lb, 40-lb
• Pepper Jack Cheese Varieties – Jalapeno Cheddar, Pepper Jack, Sizzlin Colby with Habanero Peppers: 1/2-lb, 1-lb, 2.5-lb, 5-lb, 40-lb
• Pepper Jack Cheese Varieties – Snack Pack Assorted Pepperjack Stix – Jalapeno Cheddar, Pepper Jack: Regular size Approx 0.40-lbs (6.4-oz)
• Pepper Jack Cheese Varieties – 3-in-a-Pack Assorted Jalapeno Cheddar, Pepper Jack, Sizzlin Colby: Approx. 0.20-lbs (3.2-oz)
• Smoked Cheddar Cheese Varieties – Cheddar, White Cheddar: 1/2-lb, 1-lb
• Smoked Pepper Cheese Varieties – Jalapeno Cheddar: 1/2-lb pieces, 1-lb pieces

However, the recall notice states that the cheeses may also have been relabeled under different brand names when they were distributed. Those brand names include, but are not limited to: 

• KESSO
• QUESOS LA RICURA
• IZALCO
• DE MI PUEBLO
• RIO LINDO

The recall notice states that “The label on clamshell containers should identify the Clover Hill Dairy manufacturer permit (or plant) number as “24-128”.”

Where were the recalled products distributed?

According to the recall notice, the recalled products were distributed in the following locations:

• Maryland
• New Jersey
• New York
• North Carolina
• Virginia
• Washington, D.C.

However, in a separate publication on the outbreak, the FDA warns the recalled products “could have been distributed further, reaching additional states.”

The recall notice states that “Clover Hill Dairy products are sold directly from their retail market, at farmers markets, and through third party distributors.”

Has anyone been harmed in the outbreak?

Unfortunately, yes. 

The FDA says that as of June 18, the outbreak has sickened 9 people. Eight of those individuals have required hospitalization. One individual has died.

The FDA says the incidents of illness related to the outbreak occurred in Maryland, New York, and Virginia.

What is Listeria monocytogenes?

Listeria is a bacterium that can cause infections in people who consume it, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Many people who become sickened with a Listeria infection often recover. However, a Listeria infection can be especially harmful to certain groups of people, including:

• Pregnant women
• Newborns
• Adults aged 65 or older
• People with weakened immune systems

In rare cases, a Listeria infection can cause death.

What are the symptoms of a Listeria infection?

Symptoms of an invasive Listeria illness can include the following, according to the CDC:

• Fever
• Flu-like symptoms, such as muscle aches and fatigue
• Headache
• Stiff neck
• Confusion
• Loss of balance
• Seizures

Symptoms of an intestinal Listeria illness can include the following:

• Diarrhea
• Vomiting

What should I do if I have the recalled products?

The recall notice states that consumers who have the recalled products “should not eat, sell, or serve the recalled cheese.”

Instead, the recalled products should be returned to the point of purchase for a full refund.

Pixar may be taking a page out of the Brothers Grimm’s book. From the beginning, its Toy Story franchise has been about fear of replacement, with the original 1995 movie centered around the friction between cowboy toy Woody and newly arrived space-ranger toy Buzz Lightyear. That the movie itself was a leap forward for digital animation mirrored the on-screen story.

Toy Story 5, which hits movie theaters today, also has the potential to warn against the dangers of technology. Here’s what we know so far—with a little history and data thrown in for good measure.

What is ‘Toy Story 5’ about?

Toy Story introduced the world to Andy’s favorite play things: Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and the whole gang of toys. In the first film, Woody worries he will be replaced by the newer, shinier space ranger, which is a fear many modern workers can relate to.

Toy Story 5 appears to take this fear of replacement one step further, adding in an even more tech-heavy element. Jessie, Buzz, and the rest of the toys fear being replaced by a tablet called Lilypad. They call in their old pal Woody to help save the day.

What do ‘Toy Story 5’ and AI have in common?

Workers, especially office workers who do their jobs on a computer, can likely relate to the recurring theme of perceived obsolescence in the Toy Story films.

These days, artificial intelligence threatens to replace employees with technology in almost every field.

The Iceberg Index, an MIT labor simulator, found that 11.7% of the U.S. labor market has measured skill-centered overlap with AI. To further put that in perspective, that’s $1.2 trillion in potential lost wages.

While the Iceberg Index is speculative, real-world calculations by Goldman Sachs economist Elsie Peng found that AI has “reduced monthly payroll growth by roughly 16,000 jobs” in the United States in the past year, though the analysis didn’t fully account for gains from data center construction and AI-related increases in productivity.

What will ‘Toy Story 5’ say about technology in education?

Toy Story movies make the case for human interaction. This can also be seen in the classroom. Beyond jobs, technology is also impacting education, and not always for the better.

At the beginning of the year, neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath gave written testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation about the negative impact of technology in education.

Using data from the Program for International Student Assessment, he concluded that Gen Z is the first generation to show lower cognitive capability than previous ones.

Horvath found a correlation between this decline and the rise in screen time in educational settings. Textbooks have been replaced by Chromebooks. Typing has overtaken writing with pen and paper. It is easy to get distracted while on a computer. Retention suffers.

When did the first ‘Toy Story’ movie come out?

The Toy Story franchise is a product of the digital revolution of the 1990s. The first movie came out in November 1995. It was Pixar’s first feature-length movie, the first full-length computer-generated animated movie, and the beginning of a partnership with the Walt Disney Company, which purchased Pixar in 2006. 

The film was also a big commercial and artistic success. It was the highest grossing film of 1995, earning $192 million at the domestic box office and $362 million worldwide.

The flick was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Original Screenplay. This marked the first time an animated film had received that honor.

At the end of the first movie, Woody and Buzz find a way to not only coexist but also become buddies.

Nearly 31 years later, the newest iteration has the potential to do the same with technology, while also warning against its pitfalls. Is the lesson that workers need to adapt? The real-world implications make the stakes high. For now, the only way to know for yourself is to get to a movie theater this weekend.

What are people saying about ‘Toy Story 5’ so far?

Early buzz suggests the film is a hit with critics and audiences, with Rotten Tomatoes showing a 93% score for both. According to Variety, Toy Story 5 is expected to generate $150 million from North American theaters this weekend, continuing what has been a historically strong box office run for Hollywood in 2026.

How do I get my free ice cream from Kroger?

Kroger and its subsidiaries are giving away 100,000 pints of ice cream through a coupon system.

Today, Friday, June 19, beginning at 12 p.m. ET, Kroger will give away the 100,000 coupons on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last.

To grab one, you’ll need to go to the website FreeKrogerIceCream.com and choose a participating store from the drop-down list provided. You’ll then be given access to your digital coupon, which can be redeemed for one free pint of ice cream.

What type of ice cream can the coupon be redeemed for?

The digital coupon can be redeemed for any pint of Kroger® Brand Ice Cream.

Kroger offers numerous flavors of branded ice cream, including traditional ones like vanilla, chocolate, mint chocolate chip, and rocky road. 

And to celebrate the summer, the company is also introducing a limited-time All-American Ice Cream collection featuring three new flavors: Seventh Inning Swirl, Sweet As Cherry Pie, and Banana Split Social.

What stores can I get a free ice cream from?

According to Kroger’s ice cream giveaway website, customers are eligible to redeem the coupons at the following Kroger-owned chains:

• Baker’s
• City Market
• Dillons
• Food 4 Less
• FoodsCo
• Fred Meyer
• Fry’s
• Gerbes
• Jay C
• King Soopers
• Kroger
• Mariano’s
• Metro Market
• Pay-Less Super Markets
• Pick ‘n Save
• Ralphs
• Smith’s Food and Drug

How long do I have to redeem my free ice cream coupon?

While Kroger will give away its coupons for a free pint of ice cream today, and the Summer Solstice is on Sunday, you actually have longer to redeem the coupons for your free pint than just this weekend.

Kroger says that the coupons can be redeemed through Friday, July 3.

Later that summer, Congress made the order a reality—or at least the “ending subsidization” part, if not the maliciousness. The ⁠Rescissions Act of 2025 clawed back $1.1 billion (with a “b”) in funds already allocated for the ⁠Corporation for Public Broadcasting. With its federal financial support evaporating, the CPB soon announced it was winding down operations. Sure enough, the year that followed has seen layoffs and programming cuts across the board in public media. 

While these losses have been harsh for NPR and PBS, the crisis also presents an opportunity for public media to remind people what it can do and why it still matters.

KCRW in Los Angeles, an NPR member station, is staring down the same struggles as the entire industry—it lost $1.3 million in federal funds last year—but it’s also peering past them. By revitalizing its programming and the way listeners access it, deepening the relationship between its shows and their fans, and putting on more live events like the Summer Nights festival running throughout this month, KCRW may be building a replicable blueprint for public media to thrive in volatile times.

Here’s how KCRW has fared since last year’s government intervention: Listenership across linear, streaming and podcasts has grown exponentially, with millions of podcast downloads bringing in fans from well beyond L.A.; the financial pledge goal for this year is already well within reach; and the company is on track to finish 2026 with ad revenue and off-radio sponsorship (corporate support tied to nonbroadcast platforms) growing to more than 30% of overall sponsorship funding—a healthily diversified revenue mix for a radio station.

Not that KCRW considers itself just a radio station.

“People will ask me, ‘Oh, how’s the radio business?’” says KCRW’s president, Jennifer Ferro. “And I say I don’t know anything about the radio business. I’m in the community business.”

Getting more personal with programming

A lot has changed in the 32 years since Ferro began working at KCRW as an assistant to the general manager. Back then, she was one of roughly 30 staffers, operating on a budgetary pittance; now, headcount has grown to over 100, with a budget of $24 million. But the most significant changes at KCRW throughout that time have happened in just the past six years.

Before Trump put public media on his hit list last summer, COVID-19 had already fundamentally changed the way KCRW’s fans engage with it.

“Prior to COVID, everyone in Los Angeles was in their cars, driving to work Monday through Friday, during very specific hours, and the companion they had was radio,” Ferro says. “It was the easiest, one-touch technology, and it made KCRW a big part of people’s commute experience. But now, that’s all been disrupted, whether people are coming into the office three days a week or not at all, and we saw this radical change in the way people listened.”

As audiences abstained from their former radio habits, the team at KCRW sought out fresh ways to remain relevant and become more accessible. Part of the resulting strategy involved recruiting marquee podcast talent, going all in on newsletters, and giving KCRW’s prized music curation a life beyond radio with a redesigned app and 24/7 streaming playlists.

Around the time of the 2024 election, the company launched two new podcasts: Question Everything, an investigation of media distortions from the S-Town creator Brian Reed, and The Sam Sanders Show, a deep dive into pop culture with the NPR Politics Podcast cofounder. Both shows have been hits, each quickly surpassing 2 million downloads and the former winning four Signal Awards and a 2026 Webby.

After developing some heavyweight podcasts, KCRW also invested in highly curated music and culture newsletters for all its shows. The one tied to culinary crowd-pleaser Good Food, for instance, takes fans further into host Evan Kleiman’s personal cooking journey, while the dedicated Substack Backseat Babies helps families navigate life in L.A. Rather than serve as perfunctory dispatches to harvest clicks on KCRW’s website, the newsletters offer self-contained content designed to deepen engagement with fans and, ideally, convert them into sustaining members.

“I’ll be honest—we don’t even care about our website,” Ferro says. “Which seems prescient, because with ‘Google Zero‘ now, websites don’t seem to matter anymore.”

Getting more personal with listeners

Another recent change that appears to be driving growth is a big increase in live events, which KCRW has arguably made core to its identity.

Over the past year and a half, the organization has steadily expanded its live footprint to over 1,000 annual events, significantly scaling up both its outdoor public series and intimate studio sessions, along with sponsored film and TV screenings, grub-related gatherings connected to Good Food, and partnerships with museums, cultural institutions, and local businesses around the city.

“We like being this fulcrum in the community, helping out these bars, restaurants and coffee shops that really kind of make a neighborhood a neighborhood,” Ferro says.

While KCRW has always strived to be a convener of L.A. residents, Ferro says, the organization truly stepped up during the Southern California wildfires back in January 2025.

Lasting over three devastating weeks, the fires ultimately sorted most of the area’s residents into two groups: those who were directly affected and needed help, and those who were not but wanted to help. Both groups were desperate for reliable information, a void KCRW filled. The broadcaster became simultaneously a hub for civic info, a community organizer, and a cultural relief operation.

The team at KCRW created hyperlocal dedicated resource pages, which they kept updated throughout the crisis and recovery period. They also put together KCRW Music Relief, offering targeted support for local musicians who make the kinds of tunes that color KCRW’s programming, and injected some positivity in a dark time by collecting and sharing fan-made Love Letters to LA.

Between its disaster relief efforts and robust live-events slate over the past 18 months, KCRW hasn’t just been reporting on, guiding, or entertaining the community; it’s been a load-bearing part of it.

A replicable strategy for public media success

Of course, even as KCRW has pivoted to deal with the new reality, it was unable to avoid some fallout from the collapse of federal funding.

“Once the rescission happened, we knew that money was never coming back,” Ferro says. “It was pretty one-to-one: We lost $1.3 million, and so we reduced our expenses by $1.3 million.”

As part of that reduction, KCRW cut 10% of its staff last October, joining the ranks of public media outlets incurring layoffs in the past year.

Just nine months later, though, the outlook at KCRW is already brighter.

Now that expenses are under control, a recent 22% increase in membership and substantial growth in subscriber donations confirm the company’s recent strategy is working. The success doesn’t necessarily seem restricted to a major city like L.A., either. Forging more intimate connections between programming and fans, broadening further beyond radio, and partnering with brands and local venues for live events could be a winning playbook for just about any public media channel looking to prove its indispensability.

Whether it’s guiding people through tough times or bringing them together to celebrate, outlets like KCRW have lately been showing off the range of what they have to offer.

As Ferro says, “I think putting a target on public broadcasting last year reminded people how valuable it is to have these public resources in their lives.”

The smartphone’s monolithic design trained us to work, create, and connect within the confines of a handheld rectangle. It subtly shaped everything from user behavior to app development, creating a “one-size-fits-all” experience for a world of infinitely diverse users.

Today, that era of uniformity is giving way to a new chapter defined by diversity. As has been widely reported, Apple is preparing to launch its first foldable device this year. This anticipated arrival signals a definitive and mainstream shift, ensuring users’ options will finally expand and that a single size and shape of smartphone no longer needs to fit all.

A DEVICE TO FIT INDIVIDUAL NEEDS

This shift to foldable devices is critical because it acknowledges that different users have different needs, signaling a return to the core principle of human-centric design. The job of a businessperson reviewing confidential documents is fundamentally different from the job of a vlogger capturing content in the field, or a student referencing a textbook during a lecture. While a single device can perform all these tasks adequately, a specialized one can perform them exceptionally. The future of mobile innovation will be defined by building a diverse ecosystem of tools that cater to the different ways we live.

The evolution from a foldable smartphone as a niche gadget to the practical tool it is now, is not accidental. It requires a deep, multi-generational investment in solving fundamental engineering challenges. This focus on iterative improvement is finally bearing fruit. For example, new material science is leading to ultra-durable hinges, while advances in battery chemistry are resolving the long-standing paradox of thinness versus endurance. It is these types of engineering-led solutions, seen in devices like our HONOR Magic V6, that are elevating the foldable from a curiosity into a mature technology.

DIVERSE FORM FACTORS

Increasingly diverse form factors will have a profound ripple effect across the entire technology ecosystem. It provides developers with an exciting new canvas, allowing games to become more immersive and productivity apps more powerful by utilizing multiple screens. For users, technology becomes more personal and a truer reflection of their individual needs. This shift also redefines competition, moving the industry beyond a simple war over technical specs and toward a more meaningful race to best understand and serve a specific user’s lifestyle.

We openly welcome the entry of new competition into this space. It validates the entire category, accelerates innovation, and grows the market for everyone. The arrival of the industry’s biggest players validates the path we have been on, proving the market is much larger than previously imagined. The end of the slab’s reign heralds the smartphone’s liberation. We are moving from a single paradigm to a vibrant, varied landscape of devices built for individuals. This creates an exciting future for our industry, one that is more personal, creative, and human for everyone.

Fang Fei is president of products at HONOR Device Co., Ltd.