Today (Sunday, June 14, 2026), America celebrates the stars and stripes on Flag Day. Here’s everything you need to know about this observance, including how President Trump is celebrating.

Is this a federal holiday?

No. While Flag Day is a national holiday, it is not a federal one. Flag Day always falls on June 14, so depending on the year, banks can stay open and mail can get delivered. Since it is on a Sunday in 2026, those rules don’t apply.

What about Betsy Ross?

Many Americans were taught in school that Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag in 1776 when asked to do so by George Washington, Robert Morris, and Colonel George Ross.

The truth is a bit more complicated. While it is very possible that Ross did sew the first American flag, it is interesting to note that, during her lifetime, this was not documented. It is known that she did sew flags and moved in the same social circles as Washington and Ross.

What works of art and patriotism have the American flag inspired?

Regardless of Betsy Ross’s involvement, most historians agree that the original design came from Francis Hopkinson. He served as a congressman from New Jersey and signed the Declaration of Independence.

While the design has had small changes over the years, the ethos of it has remained the same. The 13 red and white stripes represent the original colonies. The 50 white stars on a dark blue background represent the states that make up our country.

Hopkinson’s flag would inspire Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Key saw the emblem wave after surviving a full day of the British bombing of Fort McHenry in 1814. This eventually became our National Anthem in 1931.

A brief history of Flag Day

Flag Day celebrates the exact day when the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution, officially declaring its banner.

The day went by largely unmarked for many years, until 1885, when a teacher decided the occasion needed celebrating. Bernard J. Cigrand accomplished this by assigning his class to write essays on what the flag meant to them. He expanded his reach by giving lectures and writing his own articles on the subject. The idea soon spread.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed that June 14 should henceforth be known as Flag Day. In 1949, President Harry S. Truman made it even more official by signing an act of Congress. This new law established June 14 National Flag Day.

How is President Trump observing Flag Day?

As this year marks America’s 250th birthday, celebrating the flag seems even more important. Think of it as a warm-up to July 4.

It is also President Trump’s 80th birthday. To celebrate, the soon-to-be octogenarian had a UFC ring called “the Claw” constructed on the South Lawn of the White House.

If the weather and legal objections remain favorable, American Justin Gaethje will face Georgian Ilia Topuria for the lightweight title. Brazilian Alex Pereira will take on France’s Ciryl Gane in the heavyweight category.

Meanwhile, protesters will hold “Rise Up, Sing Out,” a star-studded political concert in New York City. Watch parties will stream nationwide.

Flight beyond visual line of sight will fundamentally change drone operations, allowing for a wide range of applications. Imagine a drone flying well ahead of a train to ensure the tracks are safe, or large drones monitoring and spraying vast farm fields, improving farm efficiency and reducing labor costs.

Drones, formally called unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, are being used or developed for a wide variety of applications, such as inspecting pipelines, assessing forests for potential wildfires, finding people needing rescue, assessing disaster damage, monitoring borders and ports, and surveying wildlife and the environment. There is also an emerging industry for using drones to deliver packages—everything from transplant organs to fast food meals.

Companies have been working on these kinds of applications for drones for years, but as a mechanical engineer who studies drones, I see that a combination of technological and regulatory developments are bringing them close to fruition. People could be allowed to fly drones beyond visual line of sight, beyond the few exemptions to current rules, within a year. But a key step is integrating drones into the National Airspace System.

Keeping control in uncontrolled airspace

The National Airspace System comprises controlled and uncontrolled airspace. Air traffic controllers guide planes through controlled airspace, which includes areas around airports, above urban regions and along air routes. Rules cover basic flight aspects of all craft, such as altitude and aircraft separation, and flight paths near or over airports. Drone operators who want to fly in these regions must receive formal FAA authorization for any flight, which also dictates flight paths.

In uncontrolled airspace, air traffic control does not provide services; pilots are responsible for their own navigation and collision avoidance. In these typically rural regions, recreational operators must keep drones below 400 feet and in their line of sight. Other restrictions apply as well: Drones cannot weigh more than 55 pounds, including any payload such as packages, and they must operate only during daylight and with minimum visibility of 3 miles due to weather. Maximum speed relative to the ground is 100 mph, and drones cannot operate within 5 miles of an airport.

In all circumstances, crewed aircraft have absolute right of way. Commercial drone operators must hold an FAA Remote Pilot Certificate. Operators violating any of these rules may be subject to license revocation, significant fines, or time in prison. As of early 2026, there were over 800,000 registered drones operating mostly in uncontrolled airspace.

Flying beyond line of sight

Drone operators bear a lot of responsibility, but being allowed to operate beyond visual line of sight would raise the stakes. It could also open tremendous economic opportunities, such as widespread package delivery, inspecting power lines and railroad tracks over long distances, surveying and mapping, extensive search and rescue operations, precision agriculture and crop dusting across large farms, and extended border patrol and environmental monitoring. For many of these applications to succeed, drones would need to operate in a fully autonomous mode.

Full integration of drones into the National Airspace System would require a number of steps. The current FAA Part 107 rule covers operation of drones under 55 pounds. Under the rule, regulators have sometimes issued waivers, exemptions and other authorizations to allow flight operations beyond visual line of sight, but the regulatory process has lagged behind current drone technology.

The FAA is finalizing a new framework called Part 108 to specifically cover flight beyond visual line of sight, including under fully autonomous control and for larger and heavier drones.

Giving drones autonomy

AI could lead to “smart” drones that can fly autonomously and navigate at the same level of safety as crewed aircraft. My work on flight navigation, control and orientation systems indicates that smart drones could see and avoid objects in the air and could execute commands from air traffic control centers accurately and efficiently, including fully autonomous takeoffs and landings. The Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance, AURA Network Systems, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems are all working in parallel with the FAA to develop these kinds of advanced capabilities.

Technology alone would not be enough, however. Smart drones would still have to be integrated into the National Airspace System. Several initiatives are underway. The NASA-UAS-NAS project is investigating how drones could use command-and-control technologies to allow them to operate autonomously in the same airspace as crewed aircraft. The FAA Beyond program is developing new flight rules that drones would need.

Regulators and companies would also have to work out complications that drones could pose to the National Airspace System. Many drones are small, so they are harder for crewed aircraft to detect and avoid. Terrorists could exploit drones, raising the need for ways to capture or shoot down rogue drones or overpower their control signals. Special arrangements might be required to counter these kinds of threats at high-risk targets, such as sporting events and large public gatherings, and to protect critical infrastructure, such as the power grid and nuclear facilities.

As Part 108 and other advances allow autonomous drones to surge, regulators will also have to consider public concerns about privacy, malicious actions, and nuisance. Increased education and awareness can ease these concerns.

Global shift

China, the European Union, and Japan have set expanded rules for autonomous drones. The U.S. government, too, recognizes the vast economic and societal potential.

The goal for the FAA’s Part 108 is to accommodate a new approval process for piloting drones beyond visual line of sight as well as a new airworthiness framework for ensuring public safety. A final rule is likely to be implemented within a year or so.

Agamemnon Crassidis is a professor of mechanical engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Melissa was the first VP of marketing at Scaled Agile and thought leader in the SAFe in Marketing space. She went on to co-found the Agile Marketing Alliance.

What’s the big idea?

Most organizations are trying to bolt AI onto a system that was built for predictability. And it isn’t working. Pilots stall. Adoption plateaus. The organization gets faster at the edges, while the middle stays exactly as slow as before.

What separates companies that succeed from ones that don’t isn’t the technology they choose, but rather the organization they become. Melissa calls those companies hyperadaptive. They’re architected to sense faster, learn continuously, and make smarter choices than any human could make alone.

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

1. Your operating system was built for the last century, and it can’t run AI.

You can’t expect 21st-century results with an operating system built for the 20th century. However, there is a blueprint for getting from where you are to where you need to be.

Let me explain what I mean by operating system. Most companies are still running on operating models built for the industrial era. Strategy flows top-down through layers of approval. Work moves sideways through functional silos. Hierarchy slows decisions. Handoffs lose information. This was the correct design for a world that valued consistency over speed.

AI literally changes things. An organization that waits six weeks for a decision cannot compete with one that makes the same decision in six hours, with better data. Most leaders default to adding an “AI initiative” on top of the existing structure. With this approach, you end up with what Ethan Mollick calls the jagged edge: Some teams moving fast, while others remain stuck.

Think about the companies that didn’t survive the digital transformation: Blockbuster, Kodak, Nokia. None of them died because the technology wasn’t available. They died because inertia kept the organization in place. With digital transformation, companies had about a 10-year window to figure things out. With AI, that window is closer to 18 months.

So, how do you get from the operating model of today to an AI-native way of working? Hyperadaptive provides a five-stage path. The model is research-backed, specific, and already being used by leading companies.

The companies winning with artificial intelligence have replaced the operating system underneath them, including the way the people, processes, and culture move together. There is a way to make these changes incrementally. You can start from where you are and bring the organization along, piece by piece.

2. AI doesn’t install itself.

In the 1990s, when personal computers showed up at work, we didn’t put a PC on everyone’s desk and say, “Go have fun.” We trained people. We changed processes. We rebuilt how work was done. With AI, somehow, we’re trying to skip these steps.

AI is like a piano. Anyone can walk up and start pounding the keys. That’s easy. But playing an actual song takes deliberate practice and guidance. AI is deceptively simple. The interface invites you in. However, the result you get without effort is mediocre. The result you get with the right structure and support can be transformational.

“AI is deceptively simple.”

Brad Miller was Moderna’s chief information officer during its AI transformation, and he said something that stuck with me. “90 percent of companies want to do generative AI,” he told me. “Only 10 percent succeed. The reason isn’t the technology. They haven’t built the mechanisms to transform their workforce.” That 10-to-90 gap is one of the most important numbers in this conversation.

Moderna is in the 10 percent. In early 2023, its CEO, Stéphane Bancel, stood before his executive team and proposed something that sounded impossible: Bring 15 new drugs to market in five years. A single drug typically takes 10 years to develop and costs upward of 2 billion dollars.

Bancel wasn’t asking his people to work harder. He was asking them to work differently, with AI as a coworker, strategic adviser, and accelerant. They stopped asking, “How does AI fit into our current way of working?” and started asking, “What’s the best way to work in an AI-powered world?”

Six months in, Moderna had reached 100 percent generative AI adoption across the organization. They did that by building the mechanisms. Training. Coaching. Process redesign. A culture that treated AI fluency as a core capability, not an optional skill. If you want AI to transform your organization, you have to invest in the same level of ongoing training, coaching, and time to practice you’d invest in for any other major capability.

3. Learning is a bidirectional flywheel, not a curriculum.

AI doesn’t stand still. The model your team trained on six months ago has been replaced twice. The prompts that worked in January won’t work in April. The use cases that were impossible to imagine last year are now table stakes. You cannot build a static curriculum for a moving target. So, forget the corporate training catalog. What you need is a learning arena, a place where people experiment, share, and build on each other’s experiments in real time.

PwC figured this out. They run something called prompting parties. Yes, parties. Cross-functional groups come together, work through real business problems with AI, and walk out having taught each other things their training department couldn’t have built a course around. The learning is social, specific to the work, and spreads faster than any LMS could carry it.

“The model your team trained on six months ago has been replaced twice.”

But peer learning on its own isn’t enough. You also need a mechanism to capture what people are learning and feed it back into the system. This is what I call a bidirectional AI learning flywheel. AI Activation Hubs are small cross-functional pods that operationalize AI within a function, run experiments, and capture what works. AI Leads, who are your internal champions and automation translators, carry that learning to the front lines so people can apply it tomorrow. And critically, the front lines push their own discoveries back up to the hubs, where they get refined, tested, and pushed out across the rest of the organization.

Learning, traveling in both directions, and compounding. Because AI itself is updating, the flywheel doesn’t only spread knowledge. It refreshes the knowledge as it goes. Organizations that create AI-powered learning loops to sense and respond in real time will lead the next decade. They are the ones who have built the infrastructure for people and AI to update each other faster than technology can change. If your AI training plan looks like a course catalog, you’re already lost. Build learning arenas. Build the AI flywheel. Make learning a system, not a syllabus.

4. Move one dimension and you get random acts of AI.

Most AI initiatives are focused on tools. Pick the right model. Roll it out. Train people. Done.

The problem is that an organization is a system. When you change one part of a system without changing the others, you get isolated successes—what I call random acts of AI. Pilots that don’t scale. Teams that get faster while other teams stay stuck. Productivity gains that disappear the moment people try to coordinate across functions.

I spent a lot of years working in the transformation space. The Toyota Production System. Agile. DevOps. Every single one of them taught the same lesson. Progress stalls when you fail to move multiple dimensions in concert.

For AI, the book lays out nine dimensions you must move together. Here are three that almost nobody is touching:

• Incentives. If your reward systems still pay people for being right rather than for learning fast, you will not become hyperadaptive. AI work involves unknowns. People have to feel safe to try things that don’t work.
• Decision rights. AI collapses decision hierarchies. A junior analyst with the right model can now make a call that used to require three layers of approval. If you haven’t rewired who decides what, you leave a lot of speed on the table.
• How you organize. Functions versus value streams. Permanent teams versus dynamic ones. Most organizations were built around work as it existed 20, even 40, years ago. AI requires you organizing around the work as it exists now.

Organizations tend to move slowly and unevenly. The five-stage road map accounts for this. At each stage, you move the dimensions that are ready to move. They don’t have to move in lockstep, but the dimensions do have to be considered as a system. Let one dimension get too far behind, and it blocks progress in the other dimensions. Treat AI as a tool initiative, and you get tool results. Treat AI as a system to be reinvented, and you get organizational results.

5. History tells us where the jobs go, but who’s responsible for getting people there?

The World Economic Forum’s “Future of Jobs Report” projects that 92 million jobs will be displaced by 2030. Jobs disappearing is what makes the headlines. And that number deserves to be taken seriously. What doesn’t make the headlines is that the same World Economic Forum projects that 170 million new jobs will be created in that same window. Net positive 78 million. The question isn’t whether work is going away. The harder question is where it’s going, and whether we’re paying attention.

History tells us where it goes. Electricity. Factory automation. DevOps. The introduction of personal computers in the workplace. Each of these revolutions followed the same pattern. People stopped doing the task by hand and began building, monitoring, and maintaining the systems that performed it. The jobs evolved. Some industries were hurting for a long time. The macro picture, every single time, was net positive growth.

“The harder question is where it’s going, and whether we’re paying attention.”

Who is responsible for getting people across that bridge? The government? Individuals? Companies? Smart companies have already made that choice. They calculated the cost of firing one workforce and hiring another—not just the recruiting expense, which is significant, but also the institutional knowledge they’d lose, the customer relationships, and the cultural memory. Leading companies like Unilever recognize the cost of this displacement and are investing in upskilling and AI matching. They use AI to identify which existing employees can be reskilled for which emerging roles and make the investment. They’re treating it as strategy, the same way they’d treat any other long-term investment.

The pattern of where jobs go is clear. The data is on our side. And the companies that are choosing to take responsibility for their people are doing it for the same reason they make any other long-term bet: Because it pays off. AI is going to reshape the work. What’s up to you is whether you become the company that helps your people make that jump, or the company that loses them and then has to find them again after your reputation has taken a hit.

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.

On the surface, this feels efficient. In practice, it constrains growth in ways that are easy to miss until it’s too late.

Running Smartling, I spend a lot of time with companies that are either trying to expand globally or wondering why their existing efforts aren’t working as expected. The pattern is consistent. I rarely see translation itself as the limiting factor. What slows companies down is the assumption that everything should originate in English and be adapted later, rather than built to work across markets from the outset. 

Your customer prefers their native language

The reality is that 76% of consumers prefer products with information in their native language, and 40% won’t buy in a language other than their own. Read that again; it means nearly half of your potential customers will walk away from a product that’s translated late, badly, or not at all. Yet most organizations still treat language as a formatting step. You build something, then you translate it. But language shapes the thing itself: how a product is described, how value is framed, and what even gets built. When English is the default, you’re choosing a worldview without realizing you’ve made a choice.

I’ve sat in countless planning sessions where teams describe their “global” customer, but everything about that customer (from their pain points to how they evaluate products to their marketing persona) maps back to an English-speaking context. That’s not a neutral starting point. It’s a constraint that quietly filters out entire segments of demand. 

This shows up most clearly in how companies prioritize markets. I’ve seen leadership teams delay entering high-growth regions, not because the opportunity wasn’t there, but because translating their existing materials felt like overhead. But when teams know their product, content, and messaging will live across multiple languages, they approach the work differently from day one. They’re more precise about what they’re actually trying to say. And they’re quicker to identify ideas that don’t travel well across markets. In my experience, this discipline often leads to better outcomes in all languages, including in English.

AI can’t translate everything

Thanks to AI, translation is becoming faster and more accessible, which is a real step forward. But it’s also led to a new misconception that language is now “solved.” From what I see working with companies every day, the opposite is true. AI can translate words at scale. It can’t decide what should be said, how value should be framed in a specific market, or when an idea needs to be rethought entirely. Decisions like these still require judgment. And increasingly, that judgment is what separates companies that expand successfully from those that struggle.

How to design for multiple languages

For leaders, this isn’t about whether you invest in translation at all. It’s about whether your decisions assume a single market or multiple from the outset. That distinction shows up in several ways:

First, assume from the outset that your product and messaging will exist in multiple languages, and build systems that reflect that reality. This reduces rework and forces clarity earlier in the process.

Second, localize the idea, not just the words. If something doesn’t resonate in another market, it’s rarely because the translation is off. More often, the underlying premise needs to be adapted. The companies that grow effectively give teams permission to rethink, not just translate.

Third, move language upstream. The earlier language considerations are integrated into product and marketing workflows, the fewer bottlenecks you create later. Treat language as a core input, not a final step.

Finally, be explicit about who you’re designing for. If the customer you picture in decision-making only exists in one language, you’re likely leaving growth on the table. Expanding globally isn’t just about reaching more people; it’s about understanding them on their own terms.

The companies that get this right rarely talk about translation as a standalone function. They talk about markets, customers, and growth. Language is simply embedded in how they operate. The assumption that English should come first has persisted because it’s invisible. It feels neutral and efficient. But in my experience, it’s one of the most limiting defaults a company can carry into its growth strategy and one of the easiest to overlook.

Think again! These conversations can be the most important ones you have that day. All you need to do is prepare to be spontaneous.

Hallway conversations provide an opportunity to get quick, candid answers to an issue that concerns you. They are often more useful than arranged meetings.

You’re more likely to get closure on the issue you raise because people are typically in a rush. These exchanges allow you to invite a new employee to lunch. They let you ask a colleague what was decided at a meeting, or mention to a direct report a project you’d like her to work on. So go for it.

You will likely get a short answer that gives you what you need to move forward.

STEP 1: MAKE SURE THE SITUATION IS RIGHT

Don’t approach someone in the hallway if they are engaged in another conversation or in a rush. And don’t try to chat if the corridor is too crowded. It is just simple politeness to respect others if they are unavailable. Look at savvy reporters. They never interrupt someone who is already in a conversation.

STEP 2: PREPARE TO BE SPONTANEOUS

To make the most of these encounters, you’ll want to be prepared. In my book, Impromptu: Leading in the Moment, I note that the most successful impromptu remarks are the ones that are thought out in advance.

One of my clients, a CEO of a tech company, discovered the power of preparation for impromptu chats. He developed remarks for everyone who was on his radar.  He knew if he stepped into the elevator and saw any one of these people, he’d have something constructive to say, whether it was a query or a request or an idea. No wonder he rose to the top of his tech firm.

STEP 3: THINK ABOUT YOUR OPENING

As part of your preparation, decide on a few openings you might use. One good one is, “Do you have a minute?” Or, “There’s something I want to ask you.” If your window of opportunity is short, you might say, “Vijay, I need to talk to you about something.” The result might be setting up a meeting.

STEP 4: KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY

The rest of your preparation should be a one-line pitch followed by a call to action. The short pitch is your message. The call to action is the outcome you desire.

A great example of a well-crafted hallway conversation was shared with me by a manager I know. He was a highly valued employee who was ready for a promotion. He had heard that a certain position was open in his department, and he felt ready for this advancement.

So, when he passed his boss in the hallway, he said, “I am putting my name forward for the senior manager position in this department. I hope I have your support.” The first sentence was his pitch. The second sentence was his call to action.

The boss said “sure.” What a win!

If you’re worried about taking time off, you’re not alone. People often do not use all of their allocated vacation time, and companies that enable employees to take as much time off as they would like find that their employees don’t take many vacations.

Breaks from work are important. Vacations are good for your mental health. Getting time away from work to reconnect with important people in your life and to change up your routine is important. It helps to prevent burnout, strengthens your relationships, and can also make your work more productive.

That said, there are a few things to consider as you think about how to request time off and to take it without causing disruptions at work.

1. Pay attention to local norms

If you worry about asking for time off, start by paying attention to what other people are doing. Get a feel for the amount of time that people typically take off and the size of those chunks. Are people taking a week at a time? Are there folks who take longer vacations?

You want to know what is typical so that you know whether you’re asking for something that your supervisor might think is out of the ordinary. If you’d like to take a two-week vacation and nobody ever seems to do that, then you may want to prepare a little extra justification with your request. If that is a common thing for people in your workplace to do, then you don’t need so much framing around the request.

But when you do ask for time off, do it with confidence. You are not asking your employer for a favor. You are doing something that is part of your benefits package, and your workplace should respect that. If they don’t respect your vacation time, then you should think carefully about whether this a place you want to work in the long run.

2. Let your team know in advance

Being away from work influences the work of the people around you. There are others who rely on the work you do. Team members may need to take on extra responsibilities in your absence.

To minimize the impact of your absence, communicate clearly about your planned vacation starting a week or two in advance. If there are key responsibilities that need to be shifted to someone else while you’re gone, then make sure you talk with those people and ensure that they will be around and will have the bandwidth to handle your work. (If not, chat with your supervisor to get help figuring out who can take on those tasks.)

If the work you do requires some additional expertise, make sure you bring your replacement up to speed on your work so that things are done well while you’re gone. You may need to plan some extra time to train your substitute in the weeks before you head out.

That preparation work will allow you to take your vacation without worrying that balls will get dropped while you’re away. After all, when you’re on vacation, you’d like to be on vacation.

Of course, if you are in a supervisory role, you want to leave clear instructions about when you should be contacted while you’re on vacation. In my academic leadership roles, I did not want to check emails regularly on vacation to avoid thinking about work. But, I did have clear instructions about the kinds of situations my team should text me about. The advantage of having a system like that is that you can ignore your email while you’re away, because you know that anything very serious will be brought to your attention.

3. Leave projects in good shape

Even if there aren’t people filling in for you directly, your contributions are likely to be relevant to ongoing projects at work. That means you’d like to ensure that your colleagues can continue to make progress while you’re away.

Try to minimize the aspects of your work that are partially finished. In general, it is better to complete a few tasks and leave others for your return than to start a bunch of things and leave them all with additional work that needs to be done.

In the days before you leave, document any aspects of projects for which there are things you know that other people might not. Document the context of ongoing conversations or concerns that particular clients may have raised. Put yourself in your colleagues’ shoes and ask yourself what you’d want to know to do the work they will likely do during your time off. Let that guide the notes you leave.

Doing these things will minimize the number of things waiting in your inbox when you return from your vacation. Plus, your colleagues will appreciate those efforts.

Enjoy your vacation!

“There’s an energy that we wanted to capture and I think it’s matching New York as of right now in a way that feels really nice,” she says.

Since running for mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani has become a design icon for breaking the rules of political aesthetics, from his campaign poster and branding inspired by Bollywood posters and MetroCards to his charming and affable videos. Now that he’s in office, he’s applying his refreshing approach to visual communication on an even grander scale. The World Cup campaign is his biggest yet. What’s notable about the strategy is how it applies all the feel-good parts of sports fandom to New York itself. 

While mega-events like the Olympics and the World Cup are touted as major economic drivers for host cities, the reality is usually more modest. Instead of benefiting FIFA or being in service of this summer’s tournament, the campaign—and the initiatives related to it, like free public watch parties, partnerships with family-owned restaurants, and public space improvements— advances the administration’s desire to make New York more inclusive and serves as a model for how other cities might conceive of mega-event branding. 

“The World Cup is one of those rare moments when a city gets to see itself differently,” Raziuddin says. “Millions of people will be looking at New York, but New Yorkers will also be looking at New York. It’s a chance to celebrate the city and the communities that make it what it is.”

In April, the Mayor’s Office hired Raziuddin—who is best known for masterminding the cover of Salman Rushdie’s 2019 book The Knife and her editorial design work at The Atlantic, The New York Times, and literary journal Acacia—to develop a visual identity for the campaign. It builds off a slogan of “Where the World Comes to Play,” which NYC Tourism + Conventions launched last fall. 

“It was two months of just insane effort,” Raziuddin says of the project. “I had to use all the juice I had to figure out the most ‘Mayor Mamdani New York’ collab I could think of.” Importantly, she adds, it speaks about the city rather than to the city. We talked to Raziuddin about how she did it. 

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Tell us about how you began to conceive of the visual identity. The administration has a particular look and feel.

Mayor Mamdani is a part of this legacy of people who care about how design plays a role in New York. It is a great feeling as an artist, as a designer, to be around leadership that cares about communication design. It’s often overlooked, and it really can help set up a city in a way that feels enlightening and inspirational. 

The brilliance of this administration in City Hall is that they don’t overdesign. They make things clear, readable, and legible. There is something unique about the energy of City Hall and of the Mayor of New York right now. 

I balanced my style of being very scrappy, cutout, photography, collage with the look of the Mayor’s Office that is very vector forward.

What message needed to be clear through the campaign? 

We wanted it to speak to everyone. We wanted a child to understand what it was. We wanted an elder to understand what it was. We wanted to see community and for people to focus on New York. 

I’m trying to capture that energy and playfulness and community centricity without bringing in cliches of, like, everyone holding hands. That sensibility can be communicated through the language, color, texture, and composition. 

One of the campaign’s signatures is an apple whose skin looks like a soccer ball. How did that come about?

It was clear from the beginning that we needed a symbol. I went back to what my mentor, Peter Mendelsund, taught me: How do you put the thing in the thing? 

In my process, I make a lot of lists. So what are the New York symbols and what is prominent about a soccer ball? So a soccer ball is black and white, it is circular, it has hexagons on it. And then I’m making a list of taxis, pigeons, apples, bridges, and trying to just literally create connections. I played off the idea of the world. We tried to use the Unisphere, in Queens. I tried a globe and the circles on the Subway map. I didn’t want to force an idea so it just became the apple. 

Someone who might not be from New York knows the Big Apple. It’s an immediately recognizable symbol. The Apple has been done a million times, but how do you make that apple belong to this event?

What did research for the project look like?

Design is iterative. You make something off of fragments of information you have in your brain. It is difficult to be in a very over-stimulated digital world where you’re constantly taking in imagery that is made by someone else. When you’re seeing so much, it’s hard to have a focus and clarity of what you should be doing. What has really helped me is taking in different forms of art. I get inspired by reading about something or by going to the ballet or by going to the Met and seeing paintings by Old Masters.

For this, I went to the New York Public Library Picture Collection. There was an entire row of folders of New York City streets and signage. So I looked at sports, signage, magazine covers. I looked at food. I looked at different illustrations of apples. I looked at soccer, specifically, and World Cup and World’s Fair, but a lot of it came down to signage and just getting the nostalgic feel of New York streets. I also looked at Push Pin Studios and how graphic New York design is, like the heart in I ❤ NY. 

I try to avoid mood boarding as much as I can in my own work because I think it can get distracting. When I do mood boards, I try not to only put graphic design on it. I’ll put a rug or a piece of textile or a sound bite that inspires me in some way.

Did you have a soundbite in mind when designing the campaign?

No, but I can imagine a sound coming off it. It’s like a cheery, “whistling down the street in New York” feeling. 

How did the scale of the campaign affect the way you designed the identity? 

The challenge was designing something that could live anywhere. On a banner, a jersey, a subway platform, a pin, a tote bag, a community event, or a giant piece of city infrastructure. The beauty of this campaign is that it will be on your screens. It’ll be when you walk down the street, it’ll be on your body. It feels like it’s part of the fabric of the city. The point of us doing this for the World Cup is to make people feel involved and a part of something bigger than themselves. 

I knew that this was going to have to be all over the city in ways I wasn’t sure of, so I wanted to create a system. I worked closely with Aneesh Bhoopathy [who designed Zohran’s campaign branding and is now a senior designer in the Mayor’s Office] to create brand guidelines. 

We broke down the assets in ways that were easy for people to pick up quickly and use. So I knew that nailing one symbol that could appear on everything would be the main focus. The color palette is based on stuff that you walk past on your commute every day: subway green, the red “Thank You for Shopping Here” bags, and yellow taxis. One or two typefaces max was important for me. We used Dunbar Tall from Adobe Type Kit and the cursive font is Excelsior Script, but modified and redrawn a bit. 

Design is a sum of all its parts, right? All together it’s this really wonderful, joyful campaign.

The campaign references all five boroughs. Tell us about integrating the whole of the city into the supporting graphics.

It was important to make sure everyone is included and it’s not just Manhattan. I noticed, actually on the ferry dock outside of Gracie Mansion, there’s a flag waving and it’s a Manhattan borough flag. I realized that every borough has a flag and they’re all quite intricate. It was too much to use the full flag on everything, but what I decided to do was pull out elements that were graphic and sweet from each one. I went through tons of iterations and pared down and pared down and pared down to just one symbol from each flag. Putting them in an oval frame came from the shape of a sticker on an apple. I wanted it to feel like old sports memorabilia, city signage, and a sticker collection all at once.

You also designed jerseys for the campaign, which are made in Brooklyn and feature those borough symbols on the sleeve, plus a drawing of a pigeon, apple soccer ball symbol, and the phrase “New York City” on the chest. How did you arrive at this?

We wanted to go retro, old-school, basic—like the jerseys you would buy from street vendors. It’s back to that place again of nostalgia. I made options that were quite sexy hypebeast vibes, but it wasn’t the right tone. We didn’t want them to feel untouchable or something that someone who maybe isn’t so fashionable would feel uncomfortable wearing. We wanted it to just feel natural to everyone. 

Why was nostalgia something you wanted to lean into? 

I think there’s something nostalgic about the World Cup. We feel nostalgic for major events that repeatedly happen. They bring back memories. When I think about the World Cup, I think about watching it with my dad and my brother when we all still lived in the same house. You think about the food you eat and the places you go. And now as an adult in New York, I’m building my own kind of memories.

Did the mayor give any feedback that was especially useful? 

On the jerseys, the pigeon was his idea. I was adamantly, like, “I don’t think we should do a pigeon.” And then the pigeon just worked in the end. I initially designed “Where the World Comes to Play” in three colors and he asked to make it just one because it was too much. I did not want to change it. But now looking at it, I’m like, “Damn, he was right.” 

The relationship between the United States and the World Cup has been uneasy, especially in regard to immigration policy and safety fears. Did that affect the way you thought of presenting New York in the campaign?

How I will answer this is: I believe in the Mayor’s approach to the world and to people. He approaches everyone with the same decency as the next person. He is inclusive and has high morals and wants the people of New York to feel like they belong to the city. That’s what guided us. Not everything is in our hands, but we really approached it with that idea of community inclusivity. There is a new energy in New York that is undeniable and I think it is incredible what the Mayor has done for the city. 

How does it feel to see the campaign out in the wild?

I was really touched to hear how many people said they smiled when they saw it. Close friends texted me, “Oh my God, I want to take that poster when this is over from the bus stop,” and “I’ve been trying to figure out how to get a poster for my room.”

So will people be able to get posters without resorting to vandalism?

Don’t resort to vandalism! I do not condone that. I would just keep watching the @NYCMayor Instagram handle and things will drop eventually. But today, first things first, the jerseys are out and it’s an in-person purchase [from the City Store].

Yeah, that one.

Chances are, that argument was about finances, or somehow related to money. According to a recent YouGov survey, American couples argue the most about tone of voice or attitude (36%), followed by communication style (29%), and then money (26%)—although it’s likely that couples arguing over attitude and communication may be experiencing residual financial (or other) tension.

You may not be worried, since the makeup sex is always hot and heavy enough to make the money argument seem worth it. After all, couples who communicate and connect well in the bedroom consistently report greater relationship satisfaction, not to mention better physical and mental health. But even if your physical and emotional intimacy rivals the heated stuff you see on HBO, if you can’t talk about money without a fight, it may not be enough–no matter what John Lennon has to say about it.

In fact, a quantitative study published in Couple and Family Psychology found that 50% of divorcing couples cited financial difficulties as a major factor in their split.

The good news, according to a recent study from Fidelity, is that couples can strengthen their financial partnership and feel more connected. All they have to do is communicate openly and regularly about their finances.

If that sounds about as appealing as couples’ colonoscopies, here’s how you can add monthly money talks to your relationship without sacrificing romance.

Don’t assume money conversation = argument

There’s an excellent reason why couples don’t tend to run spreadsheets on their honeymoon. Money feels like a fraught topic.

“Nearly half of couples say they skip money conversations because they don’t want to start an argument,” says Chandler Riggs, a vice president and financial consultant at Fidelity Investments. “That’s because money is emotional. It’s tied to how people were raised, how they think about success, and sometimes even guilt or insecurity.”

But assuming that couples talk about money only when they’re arguing ensures that you and your spouse will only ever argue about money. That’s because you’ll avoid the topic when finances are manageable and wait to talk about money until there’s a problem that can’t be ignored—which is the leading cause of sleeping on the sofa.

Money communication doesn’t inevitably lead to friction, and the only way to prove it is to work on being more candid. If you tend to avoid discussing money with your sweetheart, challenge yourself to open up a little.

“It helps to start small,” Riggs says. “Talk about everyday spending or short-term goals before diving into heavier topics. And don’t underestimate the power of making it feel casual; a conversation over dinner or a walk is very different from sitting down for a ‘serious financial discussion.’”

And remember, if you can ask a spouse to look at the weird mole in the very inaccessible spot, you can talk about anything.

Plan for fun, together

For many of us, financial planning sounds like math homework with a heaping side of deprivation. So why waste a precious together time talking about money when you could be arguing over which Netflix show to fall asleep in front of?

But financial conversations don’t have to be a slog—and you’re more likely to actually talk about your money if you’re discussing something enjoyable. In fact, “people actually feel most positive about money when it’s tied to experiences—things like travel, hobbies, or time together,” Riggs says.

My husband and I accidentally discovered this early in our marriage. We spent a long road trip taking turns to name our top 10 travel destinations. We had a blast talking about each location and why we were interested in traveling there. At the time, we were just thinking of it as a game and conversation that helped pass the time.

But this road trip game was also when we began to align our financial goals as a couple. A few weeks after the trip, I suggested we start saving to visit each of our number one travel spots. Setting that up and tracking our savings helped unify our marital money strategies.

We stumbled into the kinds of financial conversations that Riggs recommends. “Instead of framing the conversation around bills or restrictions, shift it toward what you’re working toward,” she says. “Plan a trip. Budget for something fun. Make it feel like you’re building something together. Because when money becomes connected to things you both care about, it stops feeling like a chore and starts feeling more like a shared project.”

Make it a regular date

Of course, talking about money is not a one-and-done conversation. Couples need to consistently discuss income, goals, savings, and if anyone remembered to cancel those free trials before they started charging the credit card.

But it’s not exactly easy to build a consistent habit if you’re not used to talking about money in the first place. That’s why Riggs recommends creating a standing “money date” for financial conversations.

“Set up a recurring, low-key time to check in,” she says, and she suggests a once-a-month cadence for these dates. “That structure alone helps take the friction out of getting started and makes the conversation feel more routine than reactive.”

Since you’ll be talking about finances once a month, you’ll be able to plan ahead for potential issues before they become problems. Additionally, making these check-ins habitual will ensure the emotional significance of talking about money lessens over time.

You can also lean into the date aspect of the money date. One couple I know handles their finances over pancakes—and no children are allowed. They get to have time together, they enjoy their favorite carbs, and they talk through their money. These check-ins help them feel connected, prepared, and unified.

Whether you chat about your money over breakfast, as a prelude to playing Baldur’s Gate together, or while riding your bicycle built for two, creating a money date ritual that reflects who you are as a couple makes it more likely you’ll keep it up.

Don’t let money spoil your wedded bliss

Talking to your honey about financial matters may sound like a surefire way to ruin the mood and potentially start a fight. But research has found that couples who discuss money together feel more connected and strengthen their financial partnership.

Introducing money conversations to your relationship doesn’t have to be intimidating. Start by letting go of the notion that every mention of money will lead to an argument. Talking about your finances regularly will actually reduce friction, since you will be discussing money issues before they become big problems that can’t be ignored.

From there, do some dreaming with your spouse. Think about your ultimate vacation spots or the sports car you’d like to save up for. Talking about money is more enjoyable when you’re planning a fun purchase, and it’s a good way to start aligning your financial goals.

Finally, set up recurring monthly money dates. Since these will happen every month, it makes talking about your finances a low-key check-in, rather than a fraught conversation. Personalizing these dates can make them more enjoyable and help you and your partner feel even more connected. And that’s what helps build lasting love.

“The most successful couples make sure both people stay in the loop,” Riggs says. “Even if one person is driving the day-to-day, shared understanding is what really matters.”

Google’s Pinpoint is now open to everyone. It’s a surprisingly powerful free tool for making sense of giant piles of digital stuff. (Before June 3, it was restricted to journalists and academics). Read on to learn more about creative ways to use Pinpoint; its new AI features and their limitations; and how Pinpoint differs from NotebookLM.

How Pinpoint Works

Pinpoint lets you store and analyze hundreds of thousands of files so you can find tiny needles in gigantic digital haystacks.

• Pinpoint can transcribe hundreds of hours of audio and video.
• It makes your handwritten text, scans, and PDFs searchable, like my enormous collection of scanned handwritten notes and whiteboards.
• Once Pinpoint processes your files you can search, summarize, and organize your collections.
• Pinpoint makes it easy to query, label, and extract data from hundreds or thousands of documents. It’s simple to use. No complex menus or commands.

Getting Started

• Upload PDFs, emails, audio and video files, handwritten notes, or other file types.
• Each collection can have up to 200,000 files. You can have an unlimited number of collections, which function like folders.
• Journalists and academics can request “Pinpoint for Professionals,” which provides 100 gigabytes of storage. Others start with 1GB.
• Audio and video files can be up to 2 hours long and 8GB. The limits are much more generous than what’s offered by other AI tools, like NotebookLM.
• Pro tip: Create separate Pinpoint accounts for each of your Google accounts. That gives you more storage. It’s also how I keep personal projects separate from work. You can always download files you’ve previously uploaded. And request additional storage if you reach your limit.

Pinpoint Features to Try

• Export important Gmail folders with Google Takeout in .mbox format. Takeout lets you export and back up anything Google hosts. You can then upload your email collection to Pinpoint to find patterns, or locate references to specific people, places, or organizations.
• Scour through audio recordings to locate key moments. Pinpoint transcribes in more than 100 languages. Upload and transcribe your recorded presentations to review how you frame a particular topic. Or how water pollution is described in local council meetings.
• Explore text within images and handwritten notes. I’ve scrutinized my old handwritten notes for ideas and checked whiteboard photos for explanations I can improve.
• Share a document collection. Invite individual collaborators or publish a collection for public exploration. Giving readers access to source material can be a valuable form of transparency in journalism.
• Analyze an email or document archive. Assess a public email trove or document collection, like files from the Enron trial, for connections between politicians and companies, or financial impropriety.
• Focus your research on particular people, organizations, locations, or date ranges. Pinpoint automatically lists a collection’s most frequently mentioned entities. Click on an entity to jump to exactly where it’s mentioned.

Public Collections

• Pinpoint’s “Explore” section lets you examine document collections from more than 200 news organizations, ranging from The New York Times and The Washington Post to The Hindu and Süddeutsche Zeitung. Test out the searching and filtering features before uploading anything.
• Notable document sets include JFK assassination records, Mueller court filings, and 80 years of U.S. foreign agent registrations (86,018 documents) uploaded by the Center for Public Integrity.

New AI Capabilities

Pinpoint has a bunch of new AI features in beta available in more than 80 countries. In my testing, not all of the AI capabilities work reliably yet, but you can request early access. Pinpoint’s AI features are designed to help you analyze your files, not generate original content as you might with Gemini or NotebookLM.

• Explain words or phrases in any file. Highlight any text and ask Pinpoint to put it in context. I like the short, useful explanations based on what else is in a document.
• Google words or phrases inside your text to learn more from Google. In my tests, this beta feature consistently yields error messages.
• Summarize Collections. I like how Pinpoint gives me an AI-generated overview of every file I upload. It can also summarize an entire collection.
• Extract data into spreadsheets. Pull info from up to 100 documents at once and deliver it as a sheet, with links back to the source text for each data point. That’s handy for tracking mentions or doing comparative research. Try this feature for analyzing public government contracts or other information in PDF form that would be easier to work with in a spreadsheet.
• Automatically label hundreds of your files in a collection. Let’s say you have a public email dataset. You may want to evaluate just those written by a particular person, or just those discussing a particular stock. Instruct Pinpoint and it will label your collection for you. Limitation: Pinpoint can label 1,000 files at a time. In my tests, the interface only let me select 100 files. If you’re working with tens of thousands of files, labeling may be tedious.
• Transcribe audio quickly. Pinpoint now claims to give you high-quality transcribed text 20 times faster than it used to. I couldn’t verify that specific metric, but it’s generally fast. Each file is helpfully time coded. Click on any section of text to hear the corresponding audio. Limitation: Unlike Wispr Flow and Letterly, which I use for my personal dictation, Pinpoint sometimes mangles names, and doesn’t learn from its errors.
• Compare any two or three files. See what changed in multiple versions of a document, or how three different people addressed the same subject.
• Query your collection with ordinary language. Results are often fast, useful, and linked back to the original document. Expect occasional errors, though. One search I tried, for example, returned a document mentioning someone with a similar but different name from the one I was searching for.
• Create a timeline. If you’re looking at how something developed over time, you can pick up to 100 files and generate a timeline. You can optionally specify a topic for the timeline. This might be useful if your dataset has dated transactions, for example, or multiple reports you want to put in order.

Pinpoint vs. NotebookLM

• What’s similar: Both NotebookLM and Pinpoint are free Google services that allow you to efficiently summarize and search though large documents.
• What’s different: NotebookLM synthesizes and generates (slides, infographics, video and audio podcasts, and reports). Pinpoint, on the other hand, focuses on finding patterns and organizing a wider array of file types in much larger collections of email, multimedia, and scanned images.
  • NotebookLM allows 50 files per notebook for free users. (See my guide).
  • Pinpoint lets you upload 200,000 files into each collection.
• Combine the two: If you have a large collection of documents, consider gathering, storing, organizing, and transcribing in Pinpoint. Then move the most important files into NotebookLM for further analysis and to generate artifacts like reports, slides, infographics, flashcards, audio, and video.

Privacy

• Your documents are private. Nothing you upload is public unless you publish a collection. Read Google’s Pinpoint privacy details.
• Your files are not used to train AI models. Google explicitly notes that documents you upload won’t be used to train large language models. Read Google’s statement.
• The bottom line: I trust Pinpoint for nonsensitive document work. But because uploads are processed on Google’s servers, Pinpoint may not be a fit for everything or everyone. Here are additional privacy details.

Limitations

• AI features aren’t error free. No AI implementation is.
• No mobile app. You can view docs on a phone browser, but not all features work.
• No NotebookLM integration yet. You can’t easily move files from one service to the other.
• Storage caps. On a 1GB account, you may hit storage limits with large files.

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps.

It’s also very useful. I find myself constantly opening it when I hear a name or term I’m not familiar with, and I’m not alone.

Have you ever wondered, while using Wikipedia to familiarize yourself with something new you just heard about, how many other people are doing the same thing? Now, thanks to a clever off-the-beaten-path new Wikipedia-enhancer, you can find out—and gain a whole new level of understanding about the world around you.

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 inside eye on Wikipedia interest

​Wikipedia Seismograph​ is a free service provided by renowned web wizard Tara Calishain​.

➜ The site lets you quickly find spikes in traffic to any Wikipedia article for a simple way to see when global interest in any particular topic is increasing.

⌚ And it takes only a few short seconds to start using.

➜ Just fire up the site​, use its “Article” box to search for any Wikipedia topic, and set a date range to see a graph outlining traffic to that specific article.

It’s a quick trick to retroactively spot when interest in any subject was at its highest. That can help you see how invested people are in different companies, public figures, and events—which is useful for a variety of professions but also just plain interesting.

For example: On February 22, interest in hockey players Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid spiked. Why? The answer, if you’re a hockey fan, is obvious: That was the day of the gold medal Olympic hockey game between the U.S. and Canada, in which the two superstar athletes went head to head in front of an international audience largely seeing them play for the first time.

If you have a job that even occasionally benefits from pointing out what kinds of topics people around the world are thinking about, this is indispensable. Even if you just have a personal curiosity in such matters, it’s a tremendous tool and knowledge expansion resource to keep handy.

It’s truly free, too—with no advertising, clutter, or other asterisks.

💡And if you want to explore even further, you’ll find several other worthwhile tools on the very same website. There’s a Wikipedia Hot Topics tool​, for instance, that lets you choose a day and explore which articles were getting the most views on that day (February 22, predictably, features a lot of hockey players). There’s also Main Characters​, which lets you browse the most popular people in any Wikipedia category.

All of these tools give you unprecedented insight into how people are using the internet’s best website—and once you start looking, there’s virtually no end to what you can learn.

• Wikipedia Seismograph is a good old-fashioned website, which you can open using any browser on any device.
• It’s free.
• And it’s one of those rare sites on the web that doesn’t trigger any ad blockers or privacy software. It doesn’t even use cookies.

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.

After spending about 10 minutes discussing minor operating system tweaks and improvements, Apple dedicated the next 10 minutes to a single set of features—new parental controls—and then spent the next 40 minutes showing off its new artificial intelligence tools, including the new Siri AI. While the new AI tools were always going to be the main focus of the keynote, the announcements weren’t anything we didn’t already expect. This was Apple playing catch-up to the other AI giants, after all. 

Still, one thing about the keynote did interest me, and it has nothing to do with what the new AI tools can do. If you paid careful attention, the keynote revealed three key insights into how Apple sees AI fitting into its business model and brand image.

AI will be a driver of services revenue

Love AI or hate it, one thing is for sure: It costs companies a lot of money to run. If you’re an AI-only company like OpenAI, that means you are still years away from achieving a meaningful profit. On the other hand, if you’re an existing tech giant like Google, you can essentially eat the costs of running AI because you have other lucrative revenue streams to draw on.

In this way, Apple is a lot like Google: It’s got plenty of revenue streams. Many pundits thought this meant that Apple would decide not to charge users, at all, for its latest AI advancements. But thanks to a brief comment an hour and seven minutes into the keynote by Apple’s software head, Craig Federighi, we know that’s not the case.

Federighi revealed that Apple is indeed placing daily usage limits on its more advanced AI features, such as image generation, but users can extend those limits by subscribing to select iCloud+ plans. iCloud+, one of Apple’s main subscription services, gives users more online storage and advanced privacy features. And the fact that Apple is now bundling increased AI usage with its subscriptions suggests that the company sees AI as a way to increase its services revenue.

AI will be a reason to upgrade your devices (even if they aren’t that old)

Apple also clearly sees AI as a way to boost its hardware business. While many of the new Apple Intelligence and Siri AI features will run on Apple devices that currently support Apple Intelligence, Apple took time in the keynote to explain that in order to use all the latest AI improvements, you’ll need Apple devices no older than a few years.

Specifically, Apple noted that its new on-device AI models, which let users run AI locally on their phone, tablet, or laptop without an internet connection, will require the iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone Air, an iPad with an M4 chip or later, or a Mac with M3 or later (both of the latter with at least 12GB of RAM). Yes, even the iPhone 17 can’t run all the AI features Apple has announced—and that phone is only nine months old.

You’ll also need those aforementioned devices in order to use other new AI features, such as improved dictation and Siri AI voice customization. And if you want to run the new Siri AI on your Apple Watch, you’ll need a Series 9 or later.

Of course, there are legitimate hardware reasons for these requirements. The AI needs a device with enough RAM and CPU power to run the most advanced features. But there’s almost no chance that Apple isn’t counting on these AI limitations to spur hardware sales among customers who want to use Apple’s latest AI to its fullest potential.

AI (slop tools) will challenge the company’s brand image

Most tech giants have the luxury of just drinking the Kool-Aid and claiming that AI is great, regardless of its destructive impact on the livelihoods of artists and creatives. But Apple isn’t like most tech giants.

Throughout its 50 years, Apple has built much of its brand value around the idea that it creates tools that allow people to express themselves to their full potential—and make a living doing it.

But that image doesn’t really align with tools now able to create AI slop on every device the company sells. And the keynote made it obvious that Apple hasn’t yet found a way to reconcile this incongruity.

At the one-hour mark, Apple showcases its upgraded slop machine app, Image Playground, highlighting how cool it is that it can now generate photorealistic images. But less than three minutes later, Apple proclaims that it “has a deep respect for the craft of photography”—you know, the field that realistic AI slop risks destroying. Therefore, Apple says, its new AI tools in the separate Photos app are designed to “respect the original [photo] moment.”

To me, this seems like Apple talking out of both sides of its mouth. The company doesn’t yet know how to square its AI slop tools with its creative brand image. You can’t be shipping a slop-generating app on your devices while also saying you respect the craft of photography.

It will be interesting to see how Apple addresses this incongruity going forward, especially as the backlash against AI slop only continues to grow.

Adjusted for inflation, that would be $131 and $1,069, respectively, in today’s prices. Fast-forward 22 years, and things have become a lot pricier.

In the tournament due to begin on June 11, 2026, at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico, the average ticket prices have been in the region of $1,300. The cheaper tickets for the final are going for a whopping $10,000, and it is even more for the better seats.

That represents an inflation-adjusted increase in average ticket prices of about 1,000% between the two times the U.S. has hosted or co-hosted the event. As a benchmark for comparison, over that period, median household incomes in the U.S., adjusted for inflation, have risen by only 32%.

But is ticket pricing the real problem with the World Cup? As a soccer economist and co-host of the Soccernomics podcast, it is a question I have long thought about. And economic analysis can bring some clarity as to what brought about such eye-watering ticket prices, whether they are justifiable, and why many think them unfair.

To start things off, let’s entertain a thought experiment. The three host nations of the World Cup—Canada, Mexico, and the United States—are home to around 200,000 ultra-high net worth individuals (those sitting on fortunes in excess of $30 million). If that elite group contained 82,500 soccer fans prepared to pay $300,000 for a ticket to fill out the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for the final, it would represent a payday for FIFA of close to $25 billion. And that isn’t a fanciful price—tickets for the final have listed for far higher.

Now if FIFA vowed that all that money would go to good causes—say, eradicating malaria or ensuring that underprivileged kids had access to state-of-the-art soccer equipment and programs—would anyone really gripe that it came at the cost of making tickets affordable for all?

The problem is FIFA is not vowing any such thing. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has stated that all money generated “goes back into the game all over.” But given the governing bodies’ reputation for shadowy financial doings, there are reasons to think much of the money will never be properly accounted for.

The key point is this: It’s not really the high ticket prices in themselves that are the problem; it’s the context in which they are being sold.

The devil in the dynamic pricing

That context involves at least three elements that critics have found particularly offensive.

First is the same thing that is the bane of gig-going music fans and frequent fliers alike: dynamic pricing.

The economic term for such a policy is “price discrimination.” It amounts to charging people according to their willingness to pay rather than the cost of supplying the commodity or service.

Dynamic pricing is simply an algorithm created to achieve that by exploiting market power. Although not illegal, the announcement of investigations by the New York and New Jersey attorneys general suggest that FIFA might have some legal problems down the road.

Second, the whiff of corruption around FIFA never goes away.

The 2015 prosecutions of high-ranking soccer officials revealed the extent of corrupt practices relating to the sale of broadcast rights. A recent statement by prominent figures in the world of soccer administration suggested that since then, things have gotten worse.

When it comes to ticket revenues, where is all the money going? Most of it goes back, in one way or another, to the national soccer associations that make up FIFA.

How they use it depends on their probity. Ideally, the money goes to invest into grass roots development—but in many cases, there seems little to show for FIFA’s largesse. Notorious figures such as Jack Warner from Trinidad and Tobago and Chuck Blazer from the U.S.—known as “Mr. 10%” due to the cut he took for doing business with him—are just the most egregious examples.

FIFA stands accused of doing little or nothing to investigate where the money it hands out eventually ends up. I believe a little sunlight would be a great disinfectant.

Fans hold their nose . . . up to a point

The third issue, which is related to corruption, concerns the identity of the host nations.

Russia hosted in 2018 despite having invaded the sovereign territory of another FIFA member four years before. Qatar in 2022 was allowed to host despite evidence of human rights abuses. Now, we have the bizarre spectacle in which a World Cup is being co-hosted by a country with a leader who has threatened to annex a fellow host country and started a war against one of the participating nations.

There is a long history of supporters looking past the political realities in order to enjoy the soccer, but there are limits for fans. World Cups don’t just boost the coffers of FIFA; they provide a diplomatic and economic fillip for the host nations—something many see as “sportswashing” when the said hosts have checkered reputations.

So fans have genuine reasons to resent the way in which FIFA organizes the World Cup both politically and commercially.

But in an ideal world, should ticket prices be cheap? Economists often have a smug answer to this: The price should be set at what the market will bear. The World Cup is popular, tickets are scarce, and so, of course they should be expensive.

In my view, that is a little too simplistic. The fundamental economic proposition is that prices should reflect the additional cost of supplying the service, or “marginal cost” in the economic jargon. And in this case, the marginal cost of each ticket is small—there are not even any very substantial overheads to cover, which often justify a higher price.

The fact that marginal cost pricing would lead to reselling, creating windfall profits for anyone lucky enough to get a rationed ticket, does not alter the principle. Rather, it just demonstrates that there is a problem.

Global soccer’s affordability crisis

FIFA’s apparent answer to the problem of rationing is allowing for a system that lets only the richest people have access.

If rich people were rich because they worked hard, and poor people were poor because they didn’t, then maybe this would all seem fair. But most people don’t think that’s how the world really works. If there is to be rationing, most people would probably prefer that committed fans, with no interest in reselling, were rewarded with low-cost tickets.

Put simply, the typical fan is experiencing an affordability crisis when it comes to ticket prices at this World Cup—the tickets they could afford in 1994 may now be unattainable, or at least would put a major stress on their household budget.

But this reflects a broader social problem. The dissatisfaction with World Cup ticket pricing reflects a general discomfort with income distribution in the modern world. Income inequality has far bigger consequences for most people—in terms of their life prospects and life expectancy—than whether they can squeeze into a stadium to watch a World Cup game.

The gap between the wealthy elites who can afford anything they want and the struggling middle for whom more and more of life’s opportunities are becoming out of reach is one of the primary economic problems of our age. To me, World Cup ticket prices are a striking illustration of how deep this reality has become.

Stefan Szymanski is a professor of sport management at the University of Michigan.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Leidy is a behavioral scientist and engineering professor at the University of Virginia. He has written for The Washington Post, Fast Company, Scientific American, and Harvard Business Review, and has published work in top journals such as Nature and Science.

What’s the big idea?

Our physical surroundings deeply shape our psychological well-being, identity, relationships, and memories. Intentionally designing and engaging with our spaces can help us live better lives.

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

1. Practice space before screen.

Too often, we move through the world without noticing our physical surroundings. Our phones and other screens only exacerbate this problem.

Instead of fighting this reality, however, we can work with it. When you find yourself looking at your phone, take it as a cue. One of my friends told me that, since reading my book, she has started noticing that in the morning, when she wakes up and immediately goes to her phone to check email, she pauses and thinks, “Wait, I haven’t even taken in the space that I’m in.”

So instead of being a distraction, let the screen become a reminder to check in with your environment. From there, all the other benefits can follow.

2. Seek adjacent freedom when you feel constrained.

One of the most important things our surroundings give us is a sense of agency—the feeling that we can effect change in the world.

For example, in my office, there is a window that used to open but no longer does because of the air-conditioning system. That’s frustrating, especially on a nice spring day when I’d like fresh air. But situations like this are inevitable. There are always aspects of our environment we can’t control.

“Our surroundings give us a sense of agency.”

When that happens, we can take it as a cue to exercise control somewhere else. In my office, I can rearrange the furniture, decorate the walls, or choose where I sit. The point is, when you feel constrained in one area, look for another where you can act, and do it.

3. Practice setting boundaries by claiming space.

Our relationship with our surroundings helps us grow as individuals.

One of my favorite stories from the book involves my daughter, who had just started preschool. She learned that in a crowded space, you can say “space,” and people are supposed to give you a little more room.

One day, I was walking through the house to do laundry, and she said, “Space.” It was not crowded; it was just the two of us, but she insisted that I stay outside her circle. When I asked if I could move past her, she said yes, but that I could not look at her.

It was funny but also revealing. We often think of boundaries in terms of relationships with others or ourselves, but here she was learning about identity and personal limits through physical space.

“Our relationship with our surroundings helps us grow as individuals.”

That continues as we grow. A house is a boundary. A teenager’s bedroom becomes a space for independence. Claiming space is one way we define who we are.

4. Build campfires to encourage connection.

When we’re in neutral spaces and want to connect, we should think about creating environments that function like campfires.

An event planning company I interviewed organized a conference in the Superdome in New Orleans. Alongside the main presentation area, there was a large open space where they wanted people to connect. To encourage this, they placed glowing orbs with seating arranged in circles around them. Each orb had a different color to signal different types of conversations.

We don’t need to go that far, but the campfire concept is powerful. Around a campfire, no one owns the space. People bring their own chairs. Everyone is equal. There’s no head of the table, and there’s a shared focal point.

“We should think about creating environments that function like campfires.”

For example, as an introvert at a conference, it can be difficult to approach people. But sitting at a small table with a few open chairs, without spreading your belongings everywhere, signals that others are welcome. That simple setup can create the right conditions for connection.

5. Cultivate nostalgia in your spaces.

Our environments are powerful memory containers. They help us store and recall meaningful moments.

A big example is my family’s vacation house, which has been passed down for generations. My dad went there as a child, and now he brings his kids and grandkids. The space holds layers of shared history.

But it can be much simpler than that. Even marking a child’s height on a wall creates a timeline of memories. I have only lived in my house for eight years, but those markings tell a story. You can look back and remember exactly what life felt like at those moments.

In this way, our spaces become portals into our past. And we can be intentional about designing them to help us remember what matters.

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.

A new study found that men with higher levels of tyrosine, which is commonly used to enhance cognitive function, had a shorter lifespan, raising questions about the efficacy of popular dietary supplements, including ashwagandha and lion’s mane mushroom. 

Scientists from the University of Hong Kong and the University of Georgia analyzed data from over 250,000 individuals registered in the UK Biobank, a large health database that collects and stores medical information from volunteers. The study, which was published in Aging last fall, found that men who had genetically higher tyrosine levels lived, on average, one year less than those with normal levels.

The role of tyrosine

Tyrosine is a nonessential amino acid responsible for producing dopamine, adrenaline, and other brain chemicals that regulate your mood, focus, and stress response.

In the study, the researchers also focused on phenylalanine, the raw material the body converts into tyrosine, which is often found in protein-rich foods like meat, eggs, dairy, beans, and soy, and commonly added to dietary supplements and energy products, according to SciTechDaily.

Tyrosine’s link to longevity

To consider the role of tyrosine in longevity, the researchers analyzed the data with Mendelian randomization—a technique that uses genetic differences to test whether something actually causes a health outcome rather than just coinciding with it. 

Initially, the study found that both increased levels of phenylalanine and tyrosine were linked to a high risk of an earlier death. But once the scientists accounted for the amino acid’s overlapping effects, only tyrosine consistently pointed toward a shorter lifespan. 

The researchers found that this outcome was especially pronounced in men; higher tyrosine levels in this group were associated with a lifespan reduction of about 0.9 years. The association was less clear in women. Notably, the study said that men tend to have naturally higher levels of tyrosine than women, which may be the reason for the gap.

While more research needs to be done to understand why tyrosine may influence lifespan, scientists suggested that insulin resistance, the condition tied to diabetes and other age-related illnesses, may be a factor. A previous study of children linked high tyrosine levels to decreased insulin sensitivity, meaning the body had a harder time processing sugar, raising the risk of disease.

Additionally, tyrosine’s connection to stress may also be a factor. The interaction of adrenaline-related neurotransmitters with testosterone and estrogen may accelerate aging by activating stress pathways in the body.

Tyrosine’s rise in popularity

In recent years, dietary supplements have touted tyrosine’s health benefits. The popular L-tyrosine is said to ease stress and improve memory, making it particularly attractive to those who are in high-pressure environments, SciTechDaily said.

There is evidence supporting this. In one study, individuals performed better on a cognitive flexibility test when they took L-tyrosine supplements versus a placebo. Other research found that memory retention improved when subjects took the supplement during mentally demanding tasks. 

Even though the ingredient may provide a short-term boost, this new research raises the question of whether the benefits are worth the potential long-term risk.

—Lucia Auerbach

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.

I spent years in environments where the stakes of misplaced attention were immediate and visible: helping Jay-Z build enterprises at Roc Nation, then alongside the very talented team at Westbrook. What I watched in those rooms, and later confirmed as an investor, is that the people who moved the needle weren’t the most available. They were the most present. There’s a difference. And many organizations are quietly, systematically, rewarding the wrong one.

We have built workplaces that optimize for responsiveness over results. The employee who replies in 30 seconds reads as engaged. The one who takes two hours because they were deep in a problem worth solving reads as checked out. That inversion is not just a management failure. It’s a competitive one.

The Attention Economy Has Moved Inside Your Company

The conversation about attention, who captures it, who monetizes it, what happens when it fragments, has dominated the consumer world for years. What I’ve watched play out in startups and portfolio companies is that the same dynamics are now operating inside organizations, and most leaders haven’t caught up.

When a team member is context-switching between six Slack channels and a strategic challenge, the strategy suffers. The work that requires genuine presence, reading a room, building a relationship, solving a problem that has no template, cannot survive in an environment designed to continuously interrupt it.

Training for the Olympics taught me something that translates directly to this: consistency matters more than intensity, and recovery is just as important as effort. You cannot perform at the highest level if you are never allowed to fully focus. The same is true for the people doing the most important work in your organization.

A 2023 Microsoft Work Trend Index report found that 68% of workers say they don’t have enough uninterrupted focus time during the workday, and that those who struggle most to find the time and energy for their work are 3.5x more likely to also struggle with innovation and strategic thinking, exactly the capabilities organizations claim to need most.

The Manager’s Job Has Changed

For much of the last century, the manager’s core function was coordination, ensuring information moved between people who couldn’t reach each other easily. Communication tools have largely automated that function. And yet the coordination-as-management instinct persists, now expressed through Slack pings and calendar invitations and the ambient pressure to be perpetually available.

The new managerial skill, and it is a skill, one that requires deliberate cultivation, is protection. The best managers today are the ones who actively create conditions for deep work: who push back on unnecessary meetings, who resist the urge to message when an email would do, and who read a slow response not as disengagement but as a signal that something meaningful is underway.

This requires a fundamental reorientation of how performance gets measured. If what gets tracked is response time and calendar participation, that is what gets optimized. If what gets measured is quality of contribution, depth of thinking, and real impact on the people an employee serves, whether those are customers, colleagues, or partners, the culture begins to change.

Practical Shifts for C-Suite Leaders and Business Builders

This is not an argument against digital tools. It is an argument for using them with intention rather than reflex. The changes that make the most difference are simpler than most leaders expect:

Audit your meeting culture with honesty. Most organizations have significantly more recurring meetings than they need. Every hour on a calendar is an hour unavailable for focused work. Identify meetings that exist out of habit rather than necessity, and eliminate or consolidate them. This is one of the highest-leverage decisions a senior leader can make for team performance.

Model the behavior you want to protect. If the CEO is pinging at all hours, no policy will hold. Focus norms require leadership to go first. Designating protected time, and visibly honoring it yourself, is what signals to the organization that depth of work is a genuine priority.

Invest in small moments of real recognition. People don’t leave jobs, they leave managers and cultures. The most effective retention strategies I’ve seen are not flashy: they involve giving people ownership over real problems, trusting them to solve them, and acknowledging that work in specific, genuine ways. Performative praise doesn’t move people. Honest, specific recognition does.

Measure what actually matters. Build performance frameworks that reward quality of contribution rather than speed of response. This is harder than tracking availability metrics, but it is the only way to signal to your best people that what they actually bring, judgment, creativity, presence, is what the organization values.

Hire for judgment, then protect it. If you are recruiting for strategic thinkers and people who are exceptional with other people, you are hiring for capacities that require space to operate. Onboarding them into a culture of constant interruption is not just a management failure, it is a direct return-on-investment problem.

The organizations that protect and develop that human depth, that create the conditions for their best people to think deeply, engage genuinely, and build things that matter, will have a structural advantage over those that don’t.

The next time one of your best people takes two hours to respond to a Slack message, resist the instinct to interpret that as disengagement. Ask instead: what were they working on that required that much uninterrupted time? Because whatever the answer is, that is probably where the most important work is happening.

The work that looks the least like work from the outside is often the work that matters most.

Stagnation has become a defining feature of modern work, with people who feel trapped between wanting change and fearing the risks that go along with making a shift. But you can take action to reduce your feelings of frustration and move your career forward in meaningful ways.

1. ENGAGE

When you’re feeling trapped or unhappy, it’s natural to disengage or detach from your work. In fact, engagement is at a 10-year low, according to Gallup, with only 31% of employees who are engaged and 17% who are actively disengaged. 

But when you disengage, you start a cycle of dissatisfaction because you can miss opportunities for meaning and progress. It may seem counterintuitive, but to bring more meaning to your work, one of your best strategies is to lean in and do your best to make a great contribution.

Staying engaged will help get you noticed and you’re likely to have more opportunities as a result. When the new project comes up, decision makers will look for those who demonstrate commitment. When the promotion opportunity emerges, managers will look for those who are energized and interested in their work.

Engaging can result in more opportunities to keep things moving in your career.

2. Connect with colleagues

Another unexpected way to move your career forward is to connect with your colleagues. A hallmark of feeling stuck, depressed, or stagnant is feeling insular or overly self-focused. But empathizing with others is correlated with greater wellbeing, according to research published in Industrial Psychology Journal. Why? Because it takes the focus off of ourselves and helps us feel linked with a community.

Creating positive relationships with others is good for them and it builds our mental health so we have more energy to invest in our own work. It can also be the source for moments of micro joy when we laugh with a colleague, share an eye roll, or achieve something together.

But positive relationships can also pay us back because our colleagues can contribute to our career progress. They can give us feedback about how we can improve, they can recommend us to others, or let us know when they hear about a new opportunity.

Pay attention to what others are going through, ask questions, listen, provide support, and be present for others as you build trust and rapport with colleagues.

3. Focus on development and growth

Another primary reason people feel stuck is because they don’t have adequate opportunities for learning, development, and growth. In a LinkedIn survey, only 36% of companies are focused on career development strategies and career mobility. In addition, only 29% of leaders encouraged employees to spend time learning and only 25% encouraged employees to learn new skills. Only 15% helped employees build career development plans.

Some companies offer growth opportunities, but the advantages are not evenly distributed, and fully 25% of employees lack mentorship or advancement opportunities at all, according to a separate study by Gallup.

To get unstuck and move your career forward, you’ll likely need to take greater ownership for your career than you might prefer. While this can be frustrating, it’s yours to own and you can take positive action.

Schedule time with HR and your manager to talk about your goals and understand the learning options within the organization. Explore joining a professional association or club that will give you networking and programming options to expand your expertise. Get to know someone senior to you and ask them to be a mentor. In addition, investigate learning programs outside of the organization and look for policies that allow you to take advantage of them on the company’s dime.

Even if your company doesn’t have a solid learning infrastructure or support, you can take initiative to own your career progression.

4. EXPLORE OTHER OPTIONS

It’s also reasonable that you’ll want to look for another job. Sometimes you need to change companies in order to find a fit and ignite your passion for your work or the organization’s mission.

According to data from Resume Templates, almost 56% of people are looking for new jobs and 80% of them feel confident they’ll find something better. And while the job market is tight at the moment, looking for something else can help you feel empowered and more in control of your career.

Importantly, when you are proactive, you’re more likely to have greater levels of wellbeing because you reinforce your capability and sense of agency. Stepping up doesn’t guarantee success, but it does give you the opportunity to learn about what works and what doesn’t, and how to improve for the next time.

You may feel stuck, stagnant, or dissatisfied, but you can take your career into your own hands and drive terrific success for now and your future.

The prediction market giant’s latest campaign taps A-list actor Timothée Chalamet for a one-minute video advertisement featuring the actor in a series of nonsensical and non-Kalshi-related scenarios. But, despite being directed by Oscar-winning Swedish cinematographer Linus Sandgren, fans on social media don’t seem to be embracing the video.

“Delete this bro, we were rooting for you,” a user responded to the video posted to Chalamet’s X account. Another added: “You are a rich and famous actor, why are you promoting trash?”

The minute-long video features Chalamet in three different scenes: First, he is in a dentist’s office getting a procedure done and trying to pronounce the word “Kalshi.” Then he’s doing step exercises in a bedroom, which soon escalates into jumping up and thumping his head on the ceiling to tell his upstairs neighbor to stop playing their music so loud. Lastly, Chalamet appears in a red-walled music store playing an electric piano. At the end of every scene, Kalshi’s logo appears in white, with no further explanation given.

The video, which has amassed over 6 million views and almost 2,000 replies, is being flooded by fans concerned about Chalamet’s partnership with the prediction market—and calling out the addictive nature of betting and questioning whether Chalamet is selling out.

“Ruining a multi-year generational run for Kalshi is crazy,” a user said on X.  Another said “this completely cancels out all of the goodwill you have garnered over the last few years.”

“I seriously think we need to viciously bully any celebrity who sells out to take a Kalshi, Polymarket, or any type of online gambling ad. Gross, manipulative, and dangerous thing to promote to your huge audience,” another added.

Many fans took to referencing recent comments from the actor while accepting his 2025 Screen Actors Guild Award. During the speech, Chalamet said he was in the “pursuit of greatness”—comments which fans point out clash with the Kalshi deal.

“A Kalshi ad? I thought you wanted greatness, man,” a user said on X.

Others referenced Chalamet’s recent viral appearances at the Knicks games—which have become notorious for the sky-high ticket prices. “Finally figured out how timothee chalamet was affording courtside knicks tickets,” one user added.

But most used the space to roast the actor, particularly his lack of an Academy Award, which he lost earlier this year despite being nominated for his role in Marty Supreme.

“Timothée Chalamet doing Kalshi ads. Yep, Michael B Jordan deserved that Oscar over him,” a user said. Added another: “Bro is never gonna win an Oscar, you can bet on that on @Kalshi.”

The data sheds new light on one more aspect of public health in the U.S. that appears to be trending in the wrong direction, leaving serious developmental problems in its wake. Since 2020, more people say they are drinking while pregnant—a shift that coincided with a broadly observed rise in pandemic drinking, but one that appears to be lingering.

The study, first reported by Stat, showed that 15.2% of pregnant women in the U.S. admitted to drinking in surveys conducted from 2021 to 2024. That number ticked up from the 13.5% who reported drinking in data recorded between 2018 and 2020.

The more recent set of surveys also found that 4.9% of pregnant women said they had engaged in binge drinking and 2.2% had engaged in heavy drinking within a 30-day period. Binge drinking was defined as consuming four or more alcoholic drinks at once, while heavy drinking meant survey participants were drinking eight or more alcoholic drinks within a week’s time. Among the pregnant women who reported drinking, a third also reported binge drinking, while almost 15% said they engaged in heavy drinking. 

The report found that unmarried pregnant women and those with “frequent mental distress” were the most likely to report drinking alcohol, in spite of its well-established risks during pregnancy. “Studies suggest alcohol consumption might be used as a coping method to relieve stress and manage negative feelings, although alcohol consumption might alter or exacerbate stress pathways,” the report states, suggesting that behavioral health screening and other kinds of support are an important facet of prenatal care.

The study drew on a large body of government health data collected from telephone surveying, but it did have a few limitations. It’s possible that some of the pregnant women who said they had consumed alcohol in the prior 30 days did so before finding out that they were pregnant. The report didn’t distinguish between women pregnant for eight months and women who had only known they were pregnant for a few weeks.

An evolving understanding about serious risk

Drinking during pregnancy isn’t socially acceptable these days, but that hasn’t always been the case. Attitudes toward drinking during pregnancy shifted in the U.S. starting in the 1970s, when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and CDC sent out the first warning recommending that pregnant women limit their alcohol intake to two drinks per day. 

Now, the official medical recommendation is that no amount of alcohol is safe during pregnancy. While some studies have suggested that small amounts of alcohol during the first trimester pose less of a risk of blood pressure complications, premature birth, and low birth weight, pregnant women are still encouraged to avoid drinking altogether to avoid serious problems from prenatal alcohol exposure. That includes the risk of an infant developing a wide range of birth defects, conditions, and disabilities that fall under the category of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and are estimated to impact between 1% and 5% of first graders in the U.S.

In the report, the CDC cites alcohol consumption during pregnancy as an ongoing public health concern and suggests that increased health screening, warning labels, and additional taxes could reduce prenatal exposure. “Alcohol consumption during pregnancy can increase the risk for adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes,” the report states. “No amount of alcohol consumption during pregnancy is known to be safe.”

That’s what’s happening right now with fruit.

We’ve watched pineapple slices top upside-down cakes, fruit bowls land in lunchboxes, smoothies take over breakfast, and acai bowls become social currency. But what we’re seeing now feels different. Fruit isn’t just part of the conversation, it’s shaping it.

That’s why we dug into this further by analyzing cultural signals, social listening, and category data to create our inaugural trend forecast, Fruit Fwd: Fruit, Flavor and the 2026 Feed. The through line? Consumers are looking for more flavor, flexibility, function, and fun. Fruit is at the intersection of all four.

THE 4-F’S ARE NO LONGER SEPARATE CONVERSATIONS

Consumers aren’t thinking in neat categories saying, “Now I want something decadent,” and later, “Now I want something nutritious.” They want both, sometimes in the same bite.

That’s why tropical flavors are surging. Fruits like guava, passionfruit, dragon fruit, and pineapple offer a sensory escape as flavor exploration becomes mainstream, especially for younger consumers. In fact, over a third of people surveyed in Australia and Asia enjoy trying unfamiliar flavors, proving what consumers are really chasing is an experience.

Fruit is both adventurous and familiar. It can take more indulgent forms yet is inherently good for you. Packed with widely known benefits, fruit really is that ingredient that can stretch along the spectrum, meeting a variety of moments and needs for all kinds of occasions and preferences.

Fruit becomes an anchor in this new architecture of eating. It pairs easily. It can travel well. It satisfies visually and nutritionally.

With snacking, consumers want their favorite treats, but they are more aware of what they eat and actively seek options they can feel good about. In fact, 90% of Gen Z and millennials crave bold unconventional tastes like mango, papaya, and passion fruit.

ON-DEMAND FOOD AND DRINK SHAPES DINING EXPERIENCES

Traditional mealtimes, serving sizes, and overall food routines are changing. Smaller, more flexible eating moments are redefining how people satisfy cravings and balance wellness. “Girl dinner,” snack plates with fruit as a nutritious anchor, and mix-and-match mini meals aren’t fads, they’re reflections of how people actually live. In fact, more than half (55%) of consumers say they replace meals with snacks when pressed for time, and 75% view snacking as a critical daily moment of joy.

And those moments aren’t just about what people eat, but about what they sip alongside it.

As eating becomes more fluid throughout the day, beverages are evolving in parallel. Tropical beverage introductions have jumped 98% in the past three years. What’s driving that growth is flavor plus format. Fruit has moved from garnish to headline as consumers seek drinks that feel premium, photogenic, and easy to tailor to their tastes.

That shift is especially visible in the rise of mocktail culture. Our internal research found that social conversation around mocktails alone has surged by a factor of 200 recently, with dirty sodas, refreshers, and zero-proof cocktails gaining traction as consumers experiment with more personalized drink rituals. Long-held beverage loyalties are fading, replaced by curiosity and customization.

CULTURE IS THE NEW TEST KITCHEN

I’m seeing today’s menu being shaped as much by social media as by Michelin Star chefs. Social rituals influence what we crave. Creative that makes you pause drives discovery. Emotional relevance drives repeat purchase.

Fruit has a clear advantage in this environment because it’s naturally versatile. It can be nostalgic or global. Functional or indulgent. Minimal or maximal. It’s one of the few ingredients that crosses every part of the day and demographic with ease and contextual relevance.

Another cultural phenomenon is seeking indulgences in the form of a little moment of joy, also called treatonomics. More than half of Gen Z indulges in small “little treats” at least once a week. Not extravagances, but little acts of self-care. A frozen fruit dessert at the end of a long day. A vibrant smoothie. A tropical fruit snack that feels like a mini escape. These are emotional resets and treats.

In uncertain economic cycles, small luxuries scale. And fruit delivers indulgence with built-in permission.

WHERE TRENDS INTERSECT

When you zoom out, the picture is clear.

Flavor exploration fuels discovery. Discovery drives demand for new formats. And all of it is accelerated by social influence and emotional pull. These trends operate as an ecosystem.

Fruit fits naturally within that ecosystem because it evolves without losing its core identity. It’s grounded in something timeless—real, recognizable food—yet it’s flexible enough to show up in new formats, flavors, and rituals.

The brands driving and defining what’s next in 2026 will recognize how flavor, format, culture, and emotion continuously reinforce one another.

Mike Secor is VP of marketing at Dole Packaged Foods U.S.

To combat scam attacks and boring cybersecurity training, cybersecurity AI firm Adaptive Security partnered with Emmy-winning late-night host Conan O’Brien on a 15-video training series meant to help employees recognize and stop scam attacks. Filmed in Los Angeles and co-written by O’Brien’s media network, Team Coco, the videos rely on the comedian’s trademark humor to keep viewers engaged with an otherwise alarming topic.

“We try to make that training a lot more engaging, a lot more entertaining, to actually drive results, rather than it just be something that someone sits through because it’s mandatory,” says Andrew Jones, Adaptive’s cofounder and chief product officer.

Founded in 2024 by Jones and Brian Long, Adaptive works with more than 1,000 companies and has raised over $140 million from investors, including OpenAI, Nvidia, Bain Capital Ventures, and Andreessen Horowitz. Adaptive hopes that O’Brien’s training modules will “meet the employee where they are” by helping them retain information about a threat that is only increasing with advances in artificial intelligence.

“Voice phishing, deepfake personas, and AI-generated impersonation are hitting companies every week, and most training programs were built years before those attacks existed,” Long, Adaptive’s CEO, said in a press release. “We wanted to build something personal and engaging, something employees would actually look forward to.”

As AI models get better and cheaper, Jones added that many companies are concerned that the attacks are going to get more sophisticated. 

“These attacks are increasingly more sophisticated than they were even six months ago or a year ago,” he told Fast Company. “When we talk to our customers, they’re all very worried about these attacks—particularly the attacks that are powered by AI.”

These worries are not unfounded. In 2024, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported more than $16 billion in cybercrime losses. And according to a 2024 Deloitte report, U.S. fraud losses could more than triple from $12.3 billion in 2023 to $40 billion in 2027 because of generative AI. 

Phishing, email spoofing, and invoice fraud are just a few of the most well-known types of corporate cyber scams. In the post-AI world, these scams have grown more advanced, especially with the advent of deepfakes, which Jones calls “the most scary.” Deepfakes allow scammers to use audio or visual impersonation tactics that feel very realistic—like a phone or Zoom call or a Microsoft Teams chat.

“AI also allows the attackers to automate these attacks so they can run 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Jones added. 

AI also allows for scams to be increasingly multimodal and personalized. Not only might employees receive scams in different formats, but AI also allows an attacker to collect private information on someone, like where they live or what school they went to. 

AI deepfakes are pervasive on social media and in the entertainment industry, too. Bad actors can clone a public figure’s voice or likeness to generate disinformation, nonconsensual explicit images, fraudulent AI endorsements, and fake giveaways.

In the 1990s, one of O’Brien’s most popular comedy bits involved him “deepfaking” celebrities by replacing their mouths in still photos with his. “I creeped out an entire nation,” O’Brien said in Adaptive’s intro video. “Back then, making a deepfake took hours. But today, AI can clone a person’s voice and face in seconds.”

And in a press release, O’Brien added: “I teamed up with Adaptive Security just to figure out what these kids are up to. Turns out it’s pretty cool.”

Adaptive’s technology uses AI models to power its enterprise services and products—including training modules, phishing simulations, and risk scoring.

“The nature of this problem is that it impacts every business and every [industry],” Jones said. “The commonality amongst all the conversations is [that] they’re seeing an increase. They’re very worried about the sophistication of the attacks, and they want to make sure that their employees are prepared.”