Menstrual leave, which allows workers to take time off due to their periods, is not a particularly new concept. Russia had a history of offering it in the 1920s, while Japan introduced it into labor law in 1947. Other Asian countries, like South Korea and Indonesia, also enacted similar policies of period leave in the 1950s. More recently, Spain enacted menstrual leave in 2023, and other countries are in the process of adopting a national policy.The U.S. on the other hand, has no formal period leave, and very few U.S. companies have enacted it. Two exceptions are FreeFrom, a grassroots company that helps domestic survivors build financial security, and Chani, an astrology company and app. (Both share a CEO, Sonya Passi.)So why arent more U.S. companies offering this benefit? And for those that door are considering such an optionwhat does the policy look like in practice?We are all taught to normalize, disassociate from, and push through pain, says Passi. By calling out menstrual leave, were saying to our employees that we recognize this pain and dont expect you to work through it. Passi implemented the practice at FreeForm (and later at Chani) in 2020, after a new employee told her about the concept as it related to her work in South Korea. When she explained it to me, it made all the sense in the world and I asked for her help creating the policy. We implemented it a week later, says Passi.While menstrual leave is seen as both a practical, supportive offering for workers who experience period pain and a way for companies to signal their values, there is also the criticism that by offering this type of leave, companies are saying that workers who get periodspredominantly womenhave diminished returns during their cycle. And thatsan image that can possibly have harmful effects.Menstrual leave is a total double-edged sword, says Nadya Okamoto, cofounder of August, a period care brand and author of Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement. It allows people to take the time off that they needespecially if they have period pain, endometriosis, uterine fibroids. Its needed, but on the other side, when you have blanket period leave, in addition to patriarchal stigma that thinks of periods as a weakness, the cons are that women are less likely to get promoted. Theres an assumption that theyre actually only working 75% of the month because they have this automatic period leave. And weve seen time and time again that it actually really stunts the accelerated success of women in the workplace.Okamotos company has seven employees and doesnt offer menstrual leave, but does allow for unlimited paid time off. Employees let each other know via Slack or email if they need to lie down for a bit or take the day, though Okamoto notes that obviously any leavewhether period leave or PTOgets much more complex when youre on a team of hundreds or thousands of people.Also, working for a period care company generally means you (and your employer) are okay with talking about periods. And on a small team, theres a level of trust with time off that big, corporate giants may not have, since your impact is very visible. I think it really comes down to how we value work and how we value women, which is a bigger issue, says Okamoto.Other menstrual companies, like Cora, also offer unlimited vacation and remote work, instead of menstrual leave. Our fully remote setup provides even more flexibility, allowing employees to manage their period symptoms comfortably from home, says Dana Cohen, chief marketing officer of Cora. We strive to normalize conversations about periods. We want employees to feel as comfortable as possible to share Im having terrible cramps today. Additionally, we provide free Cora products to our employees each month to ensure they have access to quality period care.But what about at other companies, especially those not centered around periods? Many are still figuring out the possibility of menstrual leave in the workplace. Tori Dunlap of HerFirst100K, a financial and career platform, offers unlimited PTO to employees, but is looking into naming and giving menstrual or period leave, as a way to encourage the team to take off when they need for their period pains. People dont need a permission slip to take off work, but I think unfortunately in America, sometimes people need the permission slip to take off work, says Dunlap. There is, for instance, data that suggests employees at companies that offer unlimited PTO take fewer days off than those at companies with set PTO policies.[Employees with menstrual leave can say] oh, okay, Im good. Its okay, I can take rest, says Dunlap, who is currently planning to roll out this provision, but is still finalizing the details with HR. Again, unlimited PTO can carry a lot of stuff within it, but youre signifying theres a reason that its menstrual leave and that its separate from something like unlimited PTO.Having a uterus, and dealing with the cyclical pain associated with having a uterus, is not sickness and should not deplete your sick days, says Passi. For Passi, whose companies offer both unlimited vacation and unlimited menstrual leave, staffers can take the time they need to deal with their healthand disclose as much or as little as they want. Making it unlimited takes away any administrative burden on the employee or their supervisor to track this time, says Passi. She notes that in practice, folks end up taking no more than one half or one full day a month, emphasizing that this applies to those who call it out. The important part is that it does not apply to your sick days, she says.Using sick days and the idea of making it okay to take off during your period brings up another related issue: A lot of menstrual leave is based around pain, and those pains can often be attributed to health problems that have often been historically overlooked, underdiagnosed, and downplayed, such as PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) and endometriosis.Tory Eisenlohr-Moul, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of Illinois Chicago and an academic clinical scientist studying premenstrual disorders and reproductive mental health. She directs an NIH-funded clinical trials lab, where she works with menstruators to understand menstruation and body-mind connection, and is also a licensed clinical psychologist with a focus on premenstrual disorders. While she says the majority of women dont experience severe symptoms related to their menstrual cycle, for the subset that do, it can be really debilitating. I think of [period leave] more as something that could be important for someone who has either really severe physical or emotional symptoms, Dr. Eisenlohr-Moul says, noting that shed be interested to see if it could be used as a disability accommodation overall. (She and Okamoto note that PCOS and PMDD, or premenstrual dysphoric disorder, are covered by the American for Disabilities Act.) Dr. Eisenlohr-Moul also notes that most emotional and psychiatric disorders associated with ones cycle, like PMDD, actually tend to get better during ones period, and its the time leading up to it that has more severe symptoms.Another issue that menstrual leave brings up in practice is that, according to most state labor laws, employers are not allowed to inquire about the use of sick days. That means you can just say youre sick and dont have to provide a detailed medical explanation. With menstrual leave, having to disclose that you are on your period could get complicatedparticularly for those with menstrual-related disabilities or for those who are transgender. That being said, most experts agree that youd just have to cite menstrual leave, not provide a full-blown breakdown of whats going on, or why you need to use it.As both Dr. Eisenlohr-Moul and Okamato note, one benefit of menstrual leave is the educational component of what it means to deal with a uterus and period painand thats where the framing of leave comes into play. As Dr. Eisenlohr-Moul says, it can be positive for a company to explicitly acknowledge that it cares about workers physical and mental health, and recognize that there can be pain, or changes in function, for some during ones menstrual cycle. The other framing of we know you have changes in your ability during this time, wouldand shouldraise red flags, she says. (To that point, Dr. Eisenlohr-Moul suggests calling it cycle leave or some other iteration. Okamato prefers period leave.)Okamato agrees with Dr. Eisenlohr-Moul on not framing leave as something abilities-based, and instead focusing on educating all employees. We are literally coming off of centuries of conditioning to think that a cramp is just a cramp. Most people dont even know what endometriosis is, or uterine fibroids, or anything like that, says Okamato. She notes that period leave can be seen as a form of educationthe same sort of education that an employee might get from a companys DEI efforts or mental health policies.There could be an element of educating on your bodily health, and how do you develop a sense of where is my level of pain and at what point can I take time off?Were far from seeing this regularly included in company benefits, but with more nations adopting the practice, and more people understanding what period leave is and how it works, we could see more companies adopt policies. What I find really exciting about menstrual leave and the conversation around it is that its also a gateway conversation, says Okamato. Its so directly linked to so many other conversations around reproductive health in the workplace, which is also very much a hot-button subject. Whether it be maternity leave, family planning, abortion, supporting people in reproductive health, its not just period leave.

In the opening episode of the hit series Suits, Mike Ross bluffs his way into Harvey Specters office, then lands a job as an associate in a prestigious law firm despite never graduating from law school or officially passing the bar.The ruthless Specter cant help being impressed by Rosss brazenness.Brazen is one way to describe Specters future protege.Another might be audacious.Also:bold, brash, insolent, cocky, shameless, cheeky, spunky, or unabashed.But there is one word that includes all of these, and more.Which makes it a fitting choice for the current entry into the Ethical Lexicon:Chutzpah (chutzpah/hootsp) nounConfidence or courage bordering on arrogance, roughly equivalent to nerveThe origin of the word is not classical Hebrew but ancient Aramaic, a pidgin hybrid that evolved when Jews exiled from Israel to Babylonian blended local speech with the language of their homeland.Appearing in rabbinic literature, the root word means to peel, strip away, or lay bare.Hence the adopted Yiddish connotation of barefaced, undisguised impudence.But is it necessarily a bad thing?Six hundred years ago, an unknown German-Jewish philosopher published The Ways of the Righteous, a work now revered as an essential guide to personal development.The author proposes that there are no good or bad character traits; rather, every element of our personalities can be utilized productively or destructively.Applying practical wisdom, we can harness our natural temperament and channel our behavior in our own best interest.Consider a sledgehammer versus a feather duster: both are useful tools.The former may be indispensable for demolition but good for not much else; if used irresponsibly, it will cause enormous damage.The latter is much more difficult to misuse, but you wont want to insert it under the hood of your car with the engine running.The same model applies to character traits.Kindness has far more positive applications than ruthlessness, but misdirected kindness can enable self-destructive behavior, and dispassionate sternness may be necessary to enforce accountability.Similarly, although chutzpah is generally associated with arrogance, insolence, and disrespect, it can also describe the unapologetic straightforwardness occasionally needed to break through gridlock and get the job done.Case in point: One of the most audacious endeavors in military history was Hannibals crossing of the Alps to attack the Roman Empire within its borders. Embarking on what seemed an impossible campaign, the Carthaginian general led a contingent of 70,000 men, 20,000 horses, and 37 elephants on a 1,500-mile-long trek, overcoming treacherous terrain, bitter cold, and tribal chieftains along the way.His chutzpah paid off, culminating in a series of successful engagements against the Roman army (although he never received the reinforcements he needed to capture the capital of Rome and claim ultimate victory).In business, its hard to find a more compelling example of chutzpah than Elon Musk.Love him or hate him, his accomplishments with Tesla and SpaceX prove that refusing to bow to conventional wisdom can pay off with stratospheric success.The value of chutzpah is canonized in ancient teachings.Not long after Hannibal led his expedition over the Alps, the Jewish sage Judah ben Teima taught: Be bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer, and strong as a lion to fulfill the purpose for which you were created.Once upon a time, a culture that counted modesty among the highest virtues regarded the spotted leopard as the exemplar of brazenness.This is a far cry, however, from the exhibitionism and frantic attention-seeking that has become the norm in our era of social media and self-promotion.Rather, its a boldness that emerges naturally from devotion to core values and a sense of inspired purpose.Being bold, however, is easier said than done.We give lip service to the adage that there are no bad ideas.But the fear of looking foolishwhether in the eyes of our colleagues or the bossbrings the weight of self-censorship fully to bear. Its better to keep silent, is it not, than offer a proposal that might elicit a smirk, an eye-roll, a snort, or full-blown ridicule?Yet how many bright ideas never see the light of day because we suppress them fearing disapproval?Netflix founder Marc Randolph turns the adage on its head when he asserts that there are no good ideas. With the single exception of Mozart, the most celebrated composers all worked through countless revisions to produce their masterpieces, as have the most brilliant novelists, poets, scientists, and inventors.Genius does not burst into the world fully formed. It gradually takes shape over time through trial and error, through slow polish and refinement, ideally through consultation and collaboration.The worst idea may ultimately prove to be the best idea.But that only happens when we have the chutzpah to throw it out on the table and, by doing so, give it the chance to succeed.

Heads-up: One of Googles most useful and also underappreciated features is on the brink of extinction.Im talkin about the cache-calling system that quietly existed within Google Search for yearstypically buried within an inconspicuous menu inside your search results.That system let you access a snapshot of any website from the recent past, which was an invaluable way to peek back at a site if it had just undergone some changes or even gone offline. After some sharp-eyed internet observers noticed its absence within Search earlier this year, Google confirmed it was indeed in the midst of retiring the feature.But fear not, my fellow web traveler, for you can still find a recently cached copy of almost any website without Googleif you know how.Discover all sorts of useful tech treasures with my free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. A spiffy new discovery in your inbox every Wednesday!Fast cacheno Google requiredFirst things first: Technically, Googles cached page system is still available as of this moment, even if it isnt linked or mentioned anywhere. You can do a Google search for cache: followed by any web address to get directly to the results for that page.But that seemingly wont work for much longer. So nows a fine time to teach yourself a new trick for accomplishing the same feat without Googles help. The good news? Itll take you a mere one to two minutes to do. And youve got a few different and equally effective options.1. Turn to Bing or the Wayback MachineThis might be the first time in my life Ive used the phrase Bing it without any hint of sarcasm attached. But its well-deservedcause while Googles getting rid of its cache system, the equivalent feature isnt going anywhere in Microsofts search setup (for now, at least!). With that in mind, the simplest way to find a cached copy of any site is to make your way over to Bing.com and then type the full address of the page in question into the Bing search box.If a cached copy of the site is available, youll see a little down-facing arrow directly to the right of the URL in the search resultsright beneath the sites nameexactly like Google used to offer.Bing it, baby! The on-demand cache option is still only one click away within Bings web results.Click that arrow, and the option to pull up a cached, offline copy of the site will pop up right in front of you. Another good resource is the nonprofit Internet Archive and its thorough, if often slow, Wayback Machine. Head over to Archive.org and type or paste the address of the page you want to see into the Wayback Machine box at the top of the screen. Youll then see a sprawling list of all available cached copies for that page, often going back years.And either way, you can set yourself up for even easier ongoing access, if you want . . . 2. View a cached website with a simple bookmarkletOn a desktop computer browser, a simple bit of Javascript in your browsers bookmark bar will create a quick n easy on-demand website cache-summoner for you to use whenever the need strikes. Just select and copy this exact code snippet:javascript:(function(){if(location.href.indexOf(http)!=0){input=prompt(URL:,http://);if(input!=null){location.href=http://web.archive.org/web/*/+input}}else{location.href=http://web.archive.org/web/*/+location.href;}})();Then, on your desktop computer, right-click in the browser bookmark bar at the top of the screen. (If you dont see it, hit Ctrl-Shift-B to toggle it on or off.) Select the option to add a new page, then set its name to Cache and paste that code in as the URL.Thatll create a one-click button in that area of your browser to pull up the Wayback Machine results for any website youre viewing, anytime.3. View a cached website via a browser extensionLast but not least, you can rely on a ready-made browser extension to accomplish the same thing and build yourself a versatile button for on-demand website cache viewing.In Chrome or Edge, the aptly named (and open source) Web Archives extension will give you easy access to a cached version of any page youre viewing from a variety of sourcesincluding both Bing and the Wayback Machine.That extension is available only in the browsers desktop versions as of now, but its equivalent Firefox version will also work within the Firefox Android app for on-the-go access.So there you have it: three website cache calling options that dont rely on Googles soon-to-be-gone-from-this-world cache system.Just pick the path you prefer, then rest easy knowing youll never have trouble traveling to our virtual past again.Get even more productivity-boosting goodness with my free Cool Tools newslettera useful new tool in your inbox every Wednesday!

While there is no lack of long-term investment advice for young and mid-career professionalscontribute to your retirement accounts early and often!there is a lot less information for those right on the brink of retirement.This can make the transition to retirement feel a bit fraught. Many new retirees either go a little overboard with spending because they finally can, while many others become paranoid about spending too much.The five years before you retire is a great time to revisit your investment strategies, make plans for how youll access your money, and tweak your assumptions about the next step. Heres how you can do that.Set up your investment bucketsDo you know where your money will come from in the first few years after you hang up your hat? Maybe you have a decent-size nest egg, but what happens if the market takes a major downturn the year you plan to retire? You might be able to keep working as you wait for the market (and your investments) to recover, but what if youre not able to stay in your job?The way to avoid this kind of worry is to set up buckets for your investments based on time. In other words, you want to age your money so that its ready when you need it. For effective retirement planning, you will want to have your money set aside in three buckets.Short-term investments: This bucket is for the money you intend to use for living expenses for the first 1 to 5 years of retirement. Since you want this money to be ready and accessible, you want stability and liquiditymeaning youll invest in cash equivalent assets that protect the principal. Your short-term investments might include CDs, U.S. Treasury bills, and money market funds.Medium-term investments: The money you intend to use for retirement income for years 6 to 15 of your retirement will go in this bucket. Since youre not planning on using this money for a little while, you can afford to be a little more aggressive while still aiming to protect the principal. Generally, your medium-term investments will include a mix of bonds and stocks, but leaning more toward the lower-risk bonds.Long-term investments: Just because youre not 30 anymore doesnt mean you cant still invest like a whippersnapper. This investment bucket consists of money you dont intend to touch until at least 16 years into your retirement, which means you have time to allow this money to ride out any market fluctuationsand take advantage of the higher-risk/higher-return assets like stocks.Rebalance your investmentsEach year, you will rebalance these buckets as appropriate. When your long-term investments are going gangbusters, youll move some of that money into your medium-term bucket, and move some of the medium-term money into the short-term bucket. This way, youll always have accessible money in your short-term investments for your living expenses, and you can keep a weather eye on your medium- and long-term investments.Setting up your investment buckets before you retire will not only give you peace of mind about where you money will come from in those first few years, but it will also set you up for investing success during your retirement.Plan for Social SecurityThe amount of money you receive from Social Security depends on your earnings history and your age when you apply for benefits. The Social Security Administration uses your 35 highest earning years in your career to calculate your benefits. If you have worked fewer than 35 years, the calculation uses 0s for the missing years. This means one of the best ways to increase your Social Security benefit is to make sure you have worked at least 35 years.Your age at Social Security enrollment is the other factor that determines your benefit. Normal retirement age is between 66 and 67, depending on the year you were born. Beneficiaries receive their full benefit if they apply for Social Security at their normal retirement age. You can apply for benefits as early as your 62nd birthday, but taking them early will permanently reduce your monthly check. The earlier you take the benefits, the higher your reduction.However, you can also wait to take benefits until as late as age 70. Each year that you wait to take benefits between your normal retirement age and your 70th birthday increases your benefits by approximately 8% per year.Social Security benefits are guaranteed. (Really! If Social Security goes bum-over-teakettle, it will be because the U.S. government is collapsing. That may not be an impossible scenario, but its still pretty unlikelyand if it does happen, well have bigger problems than Social Security to worry about.) That means waiting to take your benefits is guaranteed to net you more money and is the best way to ensure consistent income no matter how long you live.You can check your earnings records and projected benefits at mySocialSecurity.Put money aside for healthcare expensesAn individual 65-year-old retiring in 2024 will need about $157,500 for healthcare in retirement, even though they qualify for Medicare. Unfortunately, healthcare tends to be among the largest expenses in retirement, and many retirees are not necessarily prepared for the high costs.One of the best ways to plan ahead for this expense is with a Roth IRA. Since Roth-style retirement accounts are funded with money that has already been taxed, the funds grow tax-free and can be accessed tax-free in retirement.If you have a major medical need, you can use your Roth IRA funds to pay for it, without affecting your taxes in retirement. Since Social Security benefits are taxed, avoiding a major change in your taxes when you have to take a large chunk of money from your investments will help maintain your steady retirement income.On the other hand, Roth IRA funds do not have to be used for any particular purpose. If you are hale and hearty for your entire retirement, your Roth IRA funds can be used to pay for a Jet-Skiing vacation to celebrate your 100th birthday.Counting down until retirementLooking forward toward the next chapter of your life is both exhilarating and scary, especially if youre not sure how your money will work in retirement. Taking your preretirement years to set up investment buckets for your retirement, plan your Social Security benefits timeline, and put aside money in a Roth IRA to help you pay for future medical expenses will help you feel more ready for retirement.And of course, getting your financial ducks in a row leaves you time and brainspace to plan for the fun you intend to have after you retire. Bring on the Jet Skis!

I dont mean to brag, but Ive gotten pretty awesome at jumping back and forth between Netflix rate plans.Why? Because they keep going up and I keep throttling down. Im a cheapskate.But I also have three kids, and their collective interest in Netflixwhich ebbs and flowsdetermines which plan I need to subscribe to in order to keep them all happy.And while I can assure you that Netflix will inevitably raise its rates at some point in the future, heres what to look out for with each plan in order to make sure youre not paying too much or getting too little.Netflix plans: whats the difference?OK, there are three Netflix plans and aside from their respective price tags, there are a few main things to look out for with each plan.They are:How many devices you can stream to at onceHow many devices you can download videos to at onceVideo quality (1080p vs. 4K)This is not an exhaustive list! But these are the big three.Heres a look at what you get, plan by plan.Netflix Standard with ads: some strings attachedFeatures:Price: $7 per monthVideo Quality: Full HD (1080p)Simultaneous Streams: 2Downloads: 2 devices at a timeThe ad-supported plan is a budget-friendly option for those who dont mind occasional ads. The ads arent nearly as frequent as TV ads, but . . . there are ads.And while this plan offers full-quality video streams, not all movies and shows are availablecheck the list here. Its a short list in the context of Netflixs entire catalog, but there are some big names missing.Netflix Standard: Best for most peopleFeatures:Price: $15.49 per monthVideo Quality: Full HD (1080p)Simultaneous Streams: 2Downloads: 2 devices at a timeFreeloader accounts: 1 availableThis is the current Aamoth family plan. Household harmony wobbles precariously based on the assumption that not all three kids will try to stream three separate shows to three different devices at the same time.With this plan, you also have the option of adding Grandma for $8 a month. She gets her own accountwhich you pay forand she can stream to one device at a time.Netflix Premium: Expensive but feature-filledFeatures:Price: $23 per monthVideo Quality: Ultra High Definition (4K)Simultaneous Streams: 4Downloads: 6 devices at a timeFreeloader accounts: 2 availableI begrudgingly switch to this plan a few months each year when were doing a lot of traveling because we can pre-download a bunch of stuff to our arsenal of tablets and phones beforehand.On paper, this plan offers higher-quality video than the other two, but Im embarrassed to admit that I cant tell the difference. Must be our cheapo 4K televisions.At any rate, this plan is perfect for larger families or households with multiple users who want to watch different shows or movies at the same time. You can add two nonfamily accounts at $8 a pop as well.This plan also features spatial audio for fancy headphones, Apple, Google, and Samsung devices.Choosing the right Netflix planAgain, when deciding which Netflix plan is right for you, consider the following factors.Video quality: If you have a 4K TV and want the best possible picture quality, the Premium plan is the way to go. For most users, however, the HD quality offered by the other plans is fine. You can switch plans willy-nilly, so see if you can detect a meaningful difference.Simultaneous streams and downloads: Think about how many people in your household will be using Netflix at the same time. If you have a large family or do a lot of traveling, the Premium plans four streams and six downloads might be necessary.

It was not exactly a fast break. When the NBA last week officially spurned Warner Bros. Discoverys attempts to continue a 40-year partnership between the league and WBD subsidiary, TNT Sports, opting instead for a deal with Amazon Prime, it was the end of a long, slow, unusually public negotiation. Well, not quite the end.The NBAs rejection of WBDs offer to match Amazon has only intensified what may well be one of the most contentious rights disputes in sports history. It now appears headed for a different kind of court than what NBA games are typically played on, with WBD filing a lawsuit against the NBA in New Yorks Supreme Court. No matter how the lawsuit shakes out, though, whats at stake here is more than just one companys right to a fair negotiation, but rather the very idea of a future in which live sports continue to air on linear cable at all.The last rights deal between the NBA and Warner was done in 2014, says Corey Martin, a managing partner at entertainment law firm Granderson Des Rochers. Since then, the landscapespecifically as it pertains to streaminghas evolved significantly.As a corporate transactional attorney, Martin has represented media companies as they acquire rights to air NBA, NFL, and English Premier League games in the Caribbean and Latin America. Hes been familiar with these deals, and the way theyre structured, for long enough to have witnessed the ongoing evolution of streamings relevance in the sports media landscape.Under WBDs 2014 deal with the NBA, TNT aired 64 regular-season games, including a spotlight Thursday night doubleheader, while also covering significant portions of the Playoffs. Basketball was as central to the networks identity as its tendency to air franchise action movies in the afternoon. Once the period of exclusive negotiation between WBD and the NBA ended in April with no deal in place, however, it was clear that the league had something other than TNT in mind for its future. According to Martin, it should have perhaps been obvious earlier.On some level, even with the proliferation of cable networks over the past 30 years, there was always a ceiling to the number of broadcasters available to sports rights owners, and only so much competitive tension between them. With the rise of streaming, though, a fresh crop of nontraditional players entered the space in the past decadeand its an extremely well-capitalized crop. Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Apple TV+ have all dipped their toes into live-sports broadcasting, and the competitive tension between them has dramatically increased the value of those coveted live-sports rights. In just about every way, its a whole new ball game.If youre a rights holder like the NBA in 2024, and want to align yourself with partners that can fully exploit your content in a manner that reaches the widest possible audience, streamings gotta play a major role in any partnership from this point onwards, Martin said.The NBA ended up signing an 11-year media rights deal with Disney, which will continue airing games on ESPN; NBC, which will resume its relationship with the NBA for the first time since 2002 and also air games on its streaming platform, Peacock, for the first time; and Amazon Prime Video, who will bring more games to an international audience. The deal is reportedly worth $76 billion. After the NBAs board of governors approved it recently, WBD had a contractual five days to match Amazons offer, which is valued at $1.8 billion per year. But although WBD claims to have matched the offer, the NBA went with Amazon anyway.This is where things get a little foggy. Although parts of the paperwork have entered the public domain, they are heavily redacted, making it unclear whether WBD truly matched Amazons offeror at least matched it in ways the NBA would most prefer.[Warner Brothers Discovery] may have said theyll pay $1.8 billion for those rights, but the more you hear, the more it appears they didnt really match all the terms, Martin says. For example, he says, it was widely reported that Amazons offer was for both NBA games and WNBA games, and then reports surfaced that Warner Brothers Discovery was offering a bit less because it only wanted NBA games. If thats true, thats a material deviation from the agreement between the NBA and Amazon, says Martin. Plus, Warner Brothers Discovery has indicated it wanted the right to broadcast certain games on linear cable on TNT, as it has done since 1988, as well as other games exclusively on Max for streaming. Well, the Amazon deal that they matched is a streaming-only dealanother material deviation, Martin says.The fact that all these negotiating terms have played out in public ever since the deal expired in April makes this a rather atypical rights jump-ball. That the NBA and WBD will now have to continue their current business relationship until the new deal kicks in at the top of the 2025-2026 season, perhaps while in active litigation against each other, makes it unprecedented.According to Martin, heres how that litigation will likely play out. WBD filed its complaint last week, and now the NBA will eventually file a formal written response, addressing each allegationand likely seek a motion to dismiss, claiming that the complaint has no merit. That motion to dismiss will itself likely be rejected because some of WBDs allegations may be difficult to prove or refute without moving forward at least to the discovery phasethats discovery with a lowercase dof a potential trial. At this point, Martin indicates, the NBA will likely settle the case for a monetary amount, rather than any future broadcasting rights. The only alternative is going to trial, which could potentially cost far more in legal fees than whatever amount WBD would accept as a settlement.What will be more fascinating to watch, however, is what happens beyond this lawsuit, as other parent companies with linear cable subsidiaries attempt to ink future deals. While streaming continues its aggressive move into live eventsthe last remaining stronghold of how TV worked in the 20th centurya lot of the traditional media players will likely have more existential considerations on their hands than whether they can make a competitive offer to air live sports.I would say its a fairly safe bet that, by the time these rights deals come to a conclusion in 2035, linear cable may not exist, Martin says. And if it does exist, it will probably be in such a diminished form, itll be equivalent to our grandparents televisions with bunny ears on top.

Judy Smith is a crisis manager whose career was the inspiration for the TV show Scandalspecifically its lead character, Olivia Pope, played by Kerry Washington. For more than 25 years, Smith has advised world leaders and Fortune 500 CEOs. In 1993, she founded Smith & Co., a crisis management firm with offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, New York, and London. She was involved in the Iran-Contra investigation, advised Monica Lewinsky when the former White House interns relationship with President Bill Clinton became public, and served as an adviser during the COVID-19 outbreak.Fast Company asked Smith to analyze the CrowdStrike outage, which shut down millions of computers and caused thousands of flight cancellations. Smith, who is personable and an easy conversationalist, was bubbling over with suggestions.What did CrowdStrike do well?I think its important to note that the CrowdStrike IT outage was caused by an update glitch, and had nothing to do with bad actors. Companies are rightly focused on hackers, preparing in case they are victimized by a cyberattack. In this case, one of the largest global outages in history was caused by a content error. It shows that companies have to prepare for anything, as part of the frustration from the public is the relatively slow response and recovery.In terms of what they did well: First, they apologized within hours after the incident and accepted responsibility for the damage that that was caused. Second, they confirmed quickly that the actual incident was the result of an outage, not a breach. Sometimes people wait a bit, and what that does is leave a bad empty space for rumors, speculation, and fake news. They were able to position themselves as the experts and authority on the issue: They knew what was going on and heres how they were addressing it. Third, they tried to communicate through several channelsnews, social mediait was such a widespread issue that they were trying to reach everyone, which is good.What could they have improved?Well, a crisis is never going to be received well. However, had they done proper planning, some of this could have been mitigated. They should have had a crisis communication plan in place. That way, the moment this hit they would know how they were going to communicate with various stakeholders through various channels and who is in charge of that. Their first public statement was overly corporatefilled with a lot of jargon. In todays environment, executives need to speak more plainly and address consumers head-on. You also need to give a timeline for recovery. I know this is hard, but not having one leaves people frustrated.Also, they offered a laughable $10 Uber Eats gift certificate as an apology. This caused additional outrage that the organization didnt grasp the magnitude of the situation, and caused more reputational damage. It felt tone-deaf.In addition, they tried to offer support to customers, but it was inadequatecustomers were confused and couldnt find proper lines of communication to get their needs met.What do they need to do going forward?A sincere apology to priority stakeholders goes a long way. Thats when leadership acknowledges the issue, takes responsibility, pledges to evaluate what went wrong, and commits to enhancing systems to avoid this in the future. Empathy matters. Statements filled with legalese are not going to pass the sniff test. Their communication needs to be very genuine as they move forward in the future.Its important to reach out to stakeholders. You want frontline assessments. It shouldnt be a small group talking about what went wrong and how to fix it. You want to find out from people firsthand what went wrong.They should also enlist an independent third party to conduct a review. This demonstrates that they are taking this seriously. When we do this for companies, we speak to the CEO and individually with everyone to get their assessment about what they think went right and what went wrong. We do it individually so people give honest assessments. Then we prepare a report that lays out the findings of the review as well as additional risks the company might face. We always ask: What other risks does the company have that you feel unprepared to meet?Whats the biggest mistake companies make when they are in situations like this?The biggest mistake is they focus on legal too much. Everyone is concerned about legal risk and damage and implications, but you need to weigh those considerations against communicating with stakeholders in a way thats honest and authentic and resonates.In addition, you need to plan for crisis management and then you need to practice the plan. You need to anticipate your biggest risk and lay out who is going to be in charge of the crisis, and the group needs to come together on a regular basis and make sure they are prepared. You dont want to write a plan and then stick it in a drawer. The team that is handling the crisis needs to have a relationship and know how to work together so theres already trust when the crisis hits. Our landscape is changing constantly and you need to be ready.

Strong offshore winds have the potential to supply coastlines with massive, consistent flows of clean electricity. One study estimates offshore wind farms could meet 11 times the projected global electricity demand in 2040.The U.S. East Coast is an ideal location to capture this power, but theres a problem: getting electricity from ocean wind farms to the cities and towns that need it.While everyone wants reliable electricity in their homes and businesses, few support the construction of the transmission lines necessary to get it there. This has always been a problem, both in the U.S. and internationally, but it is becoming an even bigger challenge as countries speed toward net-zero carbon energy systems that will use more electricity.The U.S. Department of Energy and 10 states in the Northeast States Collaborative on Interregional Transmission are working on a potentially transformative solution: plans for an offshore electric power grid.At the core of this grid would be backbone transmission lines off the East Coast, from North Carolina to Maine, where dozens of offshore wind projects are already in the pipeline.The plans envision it supporting at least 85 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2050close to the U.S. goal of 110 gigawatts of installed wind power by midcentury, enough to power 40 million homes and up from 0.2 gigawatts today. The Department of Energy and the Northeast States Collaborative formalized their goals in July 2024 through a multistate memorandum of understanding.Emerging research from the Department of Energy, the research company Brattle, and other groups suggests that an offshore electric power grid could mitigate key challenges to building new transmission lines on land and reduce the costs of offshore wind power.Cutting costs would be welcome newsoffshore wind project costs rose as much as 50% from 2021 to 2023. While some of the underlying causes have subsided, such as inflation and global supply chain disruptions, interest rates remain high, and the industry is still trying to find its footing in the U.S.What is an offshore electric power grid?Todays offshore wind projects use a point-to-point, or radial design, where each offshore wind farm is individually connected to the onshore grid.This method works if a region has only a few projects, but it quickly becomes more expensive due to the cabling and other infrastructure. Its lines are also disruptive to communities and marine life. And it requires more costly onshore grid upgrades.Coordinated offshore transmission can avoid many of those costs with what the Department of Energy calls meshed or backbone designs.Rather than individual connections to land, many offshore wind farms would be connected to a shared transmission line, which would connect to the onshore grid through strategically placed points of interconnection. This way, electricity produced by an offshore wind farm would be transmitted to where it is most needed, up and down the East Coast.Even better, electricity generated onshore could also be transmitted through these shared lines to move energy to where it is needed. This could improve the resilience of power grids and reduce the need for new transmission lines over land, which have been notoriously difficult to gain approval for, especially on the East Coast.Coordinated offshore transmission was part of early U.S. discussions on offshore wind planning and development. In the late 2000s when Google and partners first proposed the Atlantic Wind Connection, an offshore transmission project, the benefits in both offshore renewables and the entire energy system were intriguing. At the time, the U.S. had just one utility-scale offshore wind project in the pipeline, and it ultimately failed.Today, the U.S. has 53 gigawatts of offshore wind projects being planned or developed. As energy researchers, we believe coordinated offshore transmission is important for the industry to succeed at scale.Offshore grid could save money, reduce impactsBy enabling power from offshore wind farms and onshore electricity generators to travel to more places, coordinated transmission can enhance grid reliability and enable electricity to get to where it is most needed. This reduces the need for more expensive and often more polluting power plants.A 2024 report from the National Renewable Energy Lab found the benefits of a coordinated design are nearly three times higher than the costs when compared with a standard point-to-point design.Studies from Europe, the U.K., and Brattle have pointed to additional benefits, including reducing planet-warming carbon emissions, cutting the number of beach crossings by a third and reducing the miles of transmission cables needed by 35% to 60%.In the U.S., offshore transmission lines would be almost entirely in federal waters, potentially avoiding many of the conflicts associated with onshore projects, though it would still face challenges.Challenges and next stepsBuilding an offshore grid will require some important changes.First is changing government incentives. The federal investment tax credit for offshore wind, which covers at least 30% of the upfront capital cost of a project, does not currently help pay for coordinated transmission designs.Second, planning needs to take everyones concerns into account from the beginning. While the overall benefits of coordinated transmission designs outweigh overall costs, who receives the benefits and who bears the costs matters. For example, more expensive power generators could earn less, and some communities feel threatened by offshore development.Third, greater coordination will be needed among everyone involved to dispatch power to and from the regional grids. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions recent Order 1920, requiring power providers to plan for future needs, may serve as a blueprint, but it does not apply to interregional projects, such as an offshore transmission backbone connecting more than a dozen states across three regions.The U.S. reached an important milestone in March 2024 with the completion of South Fork Wind, the countrys first utility-scale wind farm, bringing U.S. offshore wind power capacity to nearly 200 megawatts. Eight more projects are under construction or approved for construction. Once built, they would bring installed capacity to over 13 gigawatts, roughly the same as three dozen coal-fired power plants.An offshore transmission backbone could support offshore wind development and the East Coasts energy needs for generations to come.Tyler Hansen is a research associate in environmental studies at Dartmouth College.Abraham Silverman is a research scholar at the Ralph OConnor Sustainable Energy Institute at Johns Hopkins University.Elizabeth J. Wilson is a professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth College.Erin Baker is a professor of industrial engineering applied to energy policy at UMass Amherst.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

In life, work, and leadership succession, things rarely go to plan, and the ability to pivot during transitions differentiates those who capitalize on the moment from those who falter and retreat. Regardless of your political stance or personal feelings about President Bidens decision to end his reelection campaign, these events are reminders of the vital importance of building resilience and discipline into your succession plans. Done poorly, leadership transitions seed fear and distraction; done well, they infuse fresh thinking, optimism, and energy into an organization (or a country).Acknowledge the human elementThe complex and emotional decision-making of the past few weeks no doubt took a significant toll on President Biden and his family. One of the great dilemmas of leadership is the need to display enough confidence and certainty to galvanize a wide range of stakeholders while possessing sufficient humility to pivot and adapt. Nowhere is this dilemma more present than in a leaders self-assessment of when its time to step away. Ive seen powerful and fearless leaders grapple on a deeply vulnerable level with the need to confront their own limitations and acknowledge when its time to move on.When succession plans attend only to process and ignore the human dynamics, they eventually derail as unaddressed issues emerge. By contrast, when a leader is prepared, they can be fully engaged and objective in making the best decision for the future.Make it a collective decisionWith all the emotional and strategic complexity involved in transitions, its impossible to do it well alone. By all accounts, the weeks leading up to President Bidens decision were filled with family retreats and closed-door sessions with trusted advisers. Boards of directors and chosen advisers are responsible for addressing the hard questions around an executives transition and driving an ongoing dialogue around timingnot at the moment of crisis but in an ongoing cadence.In my work with first-time CEOs, one of the most frequent early observations they make is how isolating the role can be. Those around them are increasingly aligned and supportive and those outside have rare and limited access. For a group of advisers to be effective, they must possess and be given the authority and freedom to speak honestly and challenge assumptions.As President Biden grappled with one of the most difficult decisions of his career, how many of those around him were telling him what he wanted to hear, and how many were saying what he needed to hear? To ask and answer the toughest questions around succession and timing, a leader must resist the tide of consensus, encourage dissent, and seek out opinions that disrupt and reshape their thinking.Root in context and optionalityDetermining the right time for transition is not just about the leader and their general fitness for duty; its also determined by the broader context and the demands it creates. Much like the notion of wartime and peacetime presidents, companies have discreet chapters that call for distinct leadership.Its critical to look beyond the person to determine what the situation requires before assessing if a leader continues to be the right one for the moment. Many who weighed in on a second Biden term focused on what he achieved in his first. The better question might have been, what needs to be achieved to win and deliver a second term, and who is the best person for the moment?The strongest succession plans depend not on a sole anointed candidate or a fixed timeline but rather on a range of options that are dynamically tracked, developed, and evaluated. With this approach, as the time of transition nears, leaders can embrace their exits with the confidence that a viable plan is in place.Instill organizational confidence in the next leadersVice President Harriss rapid amassing of support was undoubtedly initiated by the presidents firmly expressed backing. One of the most critical roles a leader plays in their own transition is the unwavering advocacy for their successor. Humans and organizations alike thrive in predictability and certainty and wither in chaos.A leaders ability to step aside, suspend their own ego, and give space to their successor signals to the organization that there is little to fear and reason to be hopeful. The smoothest CEO successions Ive experienced have all been characterized by thoughtful planning, balanced timing, and disciplined communication, leaving little space for confusion and fracturing.Major life transitions are always challenging. Ones that impact thousands if not millions of people are infinitely more so. Doing succession well requires acknowledging that its both a very structured and a very human process. With no right answers or simple solutions, the best approaches navigate the delicate balance with discipline, humanity, and optionality.