Cities tackle a vast array of responsibilitiesfrom building transit networks to running schoolsand sometimes they can use a little help. Thats why local governments have long teamed up with businesses in so-called public-private partnerships. Historically, these arrangements have helped cities fund big infrastructure projects such as bridges and hospitals.However, our analysis and research show an emerging trend with local governments engaged in private-sector collaborationswhat we have come to describe as community-centered, public-private partnerships, or CP3s. Unlike traditional public-private partnerships, CP3s arent just about financial investments; they leverage relationships and trust. And theyre about more than just building infrastructure; theyre about building resilient and inclusive communities.As the founding executive director of the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation, based out of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Im fascinated with CP3s. And while not all CP3s are successful, when done right they offer local governments a powerful tool to navigate the complexities of modern urban life.Together with international climate finance expert Andrea Fernndez of the urban climate leadership group C40, we analyzed community-centered, public-private partnerships across the world and put together eight case studies. Together, they offer valuable insights into how cities can harness the power of CP3s.4 keys to successAlthough we looked at partnerships forged in different countries and contexts, we saw several elements emerge as critical to success over and over again. 1. Clear mission and vision: Its essential to have a mission that resonates with everyone involved. Ruta N in Medelln, Colombia, for example, transformed the city into a hub of innovation, attracting 471 technology companies and creating 22,500 jobs.This vision wasnt static. It evolved in response to changing local dynamics, including leadership priorities and broader global trends. However, the core mission of entrepreneurship, investment and innovation remained clear and was embraced by all key stakeholders, driving the partnership forward. 2. Diverse and engaged partners: Successful CP3s rely on the active involvement of a wide range of partners, each bringing their unique expertise and resources to the table. In the U.K., for example, the Hull net-zero climate initiative featured a partnership that included more than 150 companies, many small and medium-size. This diversity of partners was crucial to the initiatives success because they could leverage resources and share risks, enabling it to address complex challenges from multiple angles.Similarly, Malaysias Think City engaged community-based organizations and vulnerable populations in its Penang climate adaptation program. This ensured that the partnership was inclusive and responsive to the needs of all citizens. 3. Robust governance structure: Effective governance is key to ensuring that CP3s operate smoothly and achieve their objectives. For example, in Melbourne, Australia, the City Professorial Chair in Urban Resilience and Innovation includes representatives from the city and a university. It has a formal communication structure where research informs policy and vice versa. It aims to harness the research to better inform and guide policymaking and in turn advance research by putting it into city practice.In South Africa, the Gauteng City-Region Observatory bridges academia and government to drive urban development. Its governance structure, which includes a diverse board appointed by the provinces premier, ensures that the partnership remains focused and effective. It means that it goes beyond any one organizations evolving agendas and leadership for longer-term community gains. 4. Commitment to innovation and growth: While we found that securing funding and in-kind support is important, demonstrating economic impact is crucial for the sustainability of CP3s.Dublins Smart Docklands initiative is a prime example of this. By leveraging technology to address community needs, the partnership attracted over 3 million euros (US$3.2 billion) in investments and quadrupled the projects funding.The initiative not only boosted Dublins connectivity and tech infrastructure but also addressed public safety through solutions such as smart ring buoys. The buoys are life preservers with sensors to alert the city when its buoys are tampered with or stolen.The case studies show that CP3s can be a globally applicable model for urban development, not merely a passing trend. By fostering collective action, sharing risks and leveraging multiple sources of funding, CP3s can be a powerful tool for cities navigating the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.Debra Lam is a founding director of the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation at the Enterprise Innovation Institute at Georgia Institute of Technology.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Logging onto LinkedIn, your feed is likely full of Open to Work profiles and posts about the struggle of finding a job in todays market. Your LinkedIn inbox is probably a lot quieter with fewer recruiters reaching out with job opportunities than at the height of the Great Resignation just two years ago.Whether you are a new graduate navigating a career pivot or just looking for greener pastures, the common sentiment of job seekers is that its becoming exceedingly difficult to land an interview, let alone an offer. With applications up 6% from October 2023, competition remains stiff. To make matters more difficult, how hiring teams review applications has also changed.Application tracking systems (ATS) are now the status quo for companies to manage job openings and vet potential candidates. While not a new development, they are continuing to shake up the job application process and transform how talent is evaluated, engaged, and hired.Fueled by AI, these systems are now aiding hiring teams in ways that would have been unimaginable just a decade ago, through matching candidates to open roles, providing recommendations and explainable rankings, parsing rsums, and more. With these systems, recruiters are empowered to be more streamlined and efficient in managing applications, scheduling interviews, and connecting with potential candidates.So, if the way recruiters approach their candidate search evolved, why havent job seekers strategies? As recruiters rethink their processes with AI, applicants should, too. Job seekers must figure out how to navigate a transforming landscape where AI shapes how we approach and think about the hiring system.Lets dive into three key changes to the recruitment process and how candidates can respond and stand apart from their peers.Skills over experienceOver the past several years, skills-matching technology has been the most notable advancement in recruitment to come out of the AI revolution. Recruiters have turned a growing focus towards skills-based hiring, ensuring a candidate is the best fit for a role based on the capabilities they have on hand. Gone are the days when an expensive degree or a specific internship on your rsum sealed the deal. If AI cant see the skills theyre looking for in your rsum, it is likely moving on to the next applicant. With skills-matching AI in their toolbox, recruiters spend less time scanning through rsums and more time engaging with prospective candidates.What this means for you: Its time for a rsum revamp. The experience-forward rsums of the past will not help you stand out to a large language model scanning for a specific skill. Dont get me wrong: job experience is still valuable. But instead of just listing past job duties, focus on the how: what skills you used, and how they made an impact. This shift democratizes the playing field, making way for those from nontraditional backgrounds. If you can demonstrate the skills, youre in the game.The automation of candidate communication and engagementWaiting to hear back from a potential employer can be stressful for job seekers. In fact, almost a quarter (23%) of candidates find the most frustrating aspect of the application process is feeling like their application is going into a digital black hole, per research from iCIMS. But that wait is not just about hearing if their application has been accepted or if they landed the job. A lot of the waiting is the result of scheduling interviews, asking clarifying questions on company culture, etc. Chatbots are becoming the go-to option to help streamline candidate communication so job seekers can get answers fast, schedule interviews more quickly, and leverage their recruiter contact strategically to understand what the hiring manager is looking for in the role.What this means for you: Dont just dismiss the ping of a chatbot on a career pageuse it to supercharge both your application and interview process. Chatbots are a safe space to ask the questions you want answered about company culture or an open position that you might be too nervous to ask a recruiter about. For example, you can ask chatbots about benefits, company offerings, the job description, and more. Use this knowledge to discern if the role is the right fit for you before applying and help prepare for your interviews once you progress in the application process.AI leveraged at every part of the recruitment processAccording to 500 TA pros, AI tools save them 2.39 hours a week on average, and 64% of those TA pros want to see more AI in their workflows. So, where is AI coming into play today? Thirty percent use GenAI specifically to write job descriptions and another 36% to draft interview questions.What this means for you: Use AI in your job search. There is a double standard with AI usage in todays labor market. iCIMS research has found that 87% of recruiters say its adoption in the application process has raised red flags. As technology becomes more ubiquitous in culture and the workplace, AI will be seen as a tooljust like a search engineto help fuel ones job search. For now, use AI as more of a yellow flag. It will never be okay to blindly copy and paste AI-generated rsums or cover letters. Your unique insight and human touch will always be necessary and what recruiters truly want to see.Instead, use GenAI to prep for your interviews by feeding it the job description and asking what questions a hiring manager would ask, so you can come to an interview fully prepared. You can also use it to review your rsum and help streamline and identify the skills you want to highlight most for the job you are applying for. Just remember, when it comes to using AI in your job search, no one knows you or your work experience better than you do.Adapting to an AI-enhanced job marketAs the recruitment process continues to be infused with more technology, job seekers must move away from the mentality of gaming the system or beating the AI and instead see the new status quo of hiring and evolve their strategies to meet recruiters where they are at.With every instance of automation in the recruitment process, the goal has been to make life easier for candidates and their potential employers. However, this cannot be true without some adaptations and tweaks. Trying to go about the application process in the same ways we always have doesnt make sense in a world where the entire recruitment journey has been AI-enhanced. The right opportunity is out there, and these small adjustments can make a big difference in helping you land your next role.

Flooding is one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters in the U.S., causing billions of dollars in damage each year. In 2024 alone, floods destroyed homes in over a dozen states and claimed more than 165 lives.Southeast Texas was hit by flash flooding repeatedly in the spring, and then hit again by Hurricane Beryl. In one heartbreaking moment, a 4-year-old boy was swept away after his familys car was submerged during a thunderstorm near Fort Worth.In the Upper Midwest, days of rainfall in May caused flooding along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. A slow-moving storm in the Northeast in August caused catastrophic flooding in Connecticut.The mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee saw some of the years most devastating flooding as the remnants of Hurricane Helene hit in September. Heavy rain poured down mountains, turning creeks and rivers into torrents that washed away homes and vehicles. More than 100 people died in North Carolina, and six workers drowned when their plastics factory was inundated in Tennessee.Storms like these are intensifying faster, weakening more slowly and producing more extreme precipitation that the land cant absorb fast enough. While many coastal areas are becoming more prepared for hurricane and tidal flooding, inland flood risk is less understood or easily anticipated.These disasters underscore the importance of fast, accurate flood warnings. Theyre also a reminder that extensive gaps still exist in the systems that monitor U.S. stream levels.Current coverage is less than 1% of waterwaysThe National Weather Service uses advanced models to issue flood warnings. These models rely on historical trends, land cover information and a network of over 11,800 streamgagessensors that provide near-real-time data on precipitation, streamflow and water depthto simulate water flow. Much of that data is available online in real time.However, the streamgage network covers less than 1% of the nations rivers and streams.Deploying a single sensor costs over US$25,000 for permanent federal gauges, and nearly 70% of these costs can fall on communities. These high upfront costs, combined with rising operational expenses, significantly limit sensor coverageparticularly in small and urban watersheds prone to flash floods. The U.S. Geological Survey acknowledges that these sensors alone do not provide enough data at fast enough intervals to fully address flood risk.Without data, risk is often underestimatedFlood risk can be estimated in waterways without streamgages, but not as accurately.In these areas, computers use data from similar waterways to estimate stream flow. However, these assumptions, along with limited data and the evolving effects of climate change, introduce uncertainty.The resulting models often underestimate flow in smaller creeks and overlook the effects of urbanization. In particular, they can miss new risks in fast-developing areas, where changes to the landscape and more pavement can quickly funnel water in risky ways.These flood models are used for more than warnings. They also guide risk assessments for development, insurance and decisions on building protective infrastructure, so accuracy is important.A case study in PhiladelphiaA July 2023 flash flood in Lower Makefield, a suburb of Philadelphia along the Delaware River, highlights the challenges of insufficient data coverage in urbanizing watersheds.On July 15, heavy rain transformed Houghs Creek, a small tributary of the Delaware River, into a deadly torrent, washing out Washington Crossing Road and trapping multiple vehicles. Survivors recalled the chaos:All of a sudden, 3 inches of water, 4 inches of water, a foot of water just coming at us, Chloe Weissman said.This huge gush of water just came down from . . . down a hill, added Eli Weissman. As it was coming down, cars were starting to float. [We] just tried to survive, laid on our back, feet heading down, grabbing trees, grabbing vines, grabbing whatever we could to stay afloat.A map of rainfall totals and flash flood warnings shows how important locally targeted information can be. The flash flooding in Upper Makefield (pink) that washed away cars occurred outside the zones listed in the warning. [Image: Julie Arbit/University of Michigan]The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning at 5:18 p.m., but a phone alert wasnt triggered until 6:09 p.m.after the flooding had begun. While the Delaware River has a nearby streamgage, flood models did not predict the rapid flooding along this small tributary.Urbanization around Houghs Creek has made these events more dangerous and less predictable, as impervious surfaces quickly funnel the water into low-lying areas. The flash flood underscored the need for hyperlocal data to improve predictive models and allow earlier, more accurate warnings.Expanding coverage of stream flood levelsAddressing data gaps is essential for improving weather forecasting and emergency management.One promising solution is expanding the streamgage network through public-private partnerships and encouraging state and local governments, small businesses, academic institutions and nonprofits to build and operate their own sensors. Greater coverage enables more accurate and timely flood forecasts, leading to improved warnings, more prepared communities and more effective emergency responses when disasters strike.Engineers at the University of Michigan Digital Water Lab created one example of a low-cost, easy-to-deploy solution for flood monitoring. At its core is a controller connected to an ultrasonic sensor that measures water levels in a way similar to how bats navigate using sound. The data can be transmitted in real time for fast analysis.The simplicity and affordabilityaround US$800 per sensorof this system allows for widespread deployment, providing critical information to communities. Techniques such as validating readings against precipitation measurements, calibrating sensors with federal monitoring stations and using supervised machine learning can build confidence in the value of this third-party and citizen-generated data.Eventually, nonfederal sensors like these may be integrated into federal flood models.In the meantime, researchers have created open-source databases that consolidate all known gauge data and allow the public to supply information. These combined datasets allow more advanced and robust flood models, such as Googles flood forecasting model, which covers large portions of the country.Future of flood monitoringSeveral universities are working together in a collaboration called FloodAware to develop a system that integrates floodcams, social media posts, smart city sensors and more to detect and warn residents of flash floods. Bringing these tools together could greatly expand the data available to meteorologists and emergency managers, improving flood risk assessments and warnings.Combining diverse sources of data on a shared platform would establish a more comprehensive, accessible flood monitoring system. We believe that would empower communities with the information they need to advocate for protective measures, ultimately enhancing resilience in the face of climate change.Julie Arbit is a researcher at the Center for Social Solutions at the University of Michigan.Brad Bottoms is a data scientist at the Center for Social Solutions at the University of Michigan.Branko Kerkez is an associate professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Michigan.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The new yearand the return of the Trump administration to the White Housecould bring all kinds of changes to the workplace. The president-elect is likely to reverse some of the wins of the Biden administration, which included expanding legal immigration to embracing pro-labor policies that help promote organizing efforts. Many people fear that Trump will reinstate some of the anti-immigration measures he introduced during his first term, which restricted all kinds of immigration and also impacted highly skilled workers. While Bidens pick to lead the National Labor Relations BoardJennifer Abruzzohas taken significant steps to bolster labor rights and strengthen workplace protections over the past four years, Trumps appointees are likely to undo much of that work.Then there are the proposals laid out in Project 2025, which take aim at workplace safety standards and organizing rights and even suggest eliminating public sector unions. (Trump has already selected several people for his administration with ties to Project 2025after spending the campaign trying to distance himself from the initiative.) Should Trump choose to pursue many of those recommendations, his second term could prove even more damaging to workers rights.Still, despite the looming uncertainty, there are a number of laws and policies that have already been enacted and will go into effect in 2025many of which will benefit rank and file workers in the new year.Minimum wage increasesStates across the U.S.and the political spectrumhave boosted the minimum wage over the last decade, partly in response to the Fight for $15 movement and other worker-led campaigns. Fourteen states have since passed a $15 hourly minimum wage, though some of them are still phasing in the new pay floor. In 2025, workers across 23 states and 65 localities will see their wages rise; by the end of the year, the minimum wage will exceed $15 in nine states and cross $17 in 51 cities and counties.In states such as California and New Jersey, some healthcare workers will benefit from significant pay bumps, putting their hourly pay above $18. Across a handful of localitiesincluding Washington, D.C., and Chicagotipped workers will also get a raise, as those regions work toward phasing out the subminimum wage. This year, Michigan became the first state to eliminate the subminimum wage, which means tipped workers there will also see a wage increase in 2025.Pay transparencyFourteen states and several localities have now passed laws mandating that employers share some measure of pay transparency, whether that means posting salary ranges in job listings or providing that insight during hiring negotiations. As of 2025, the majority of employers across five of those statesIllinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Vermontwill have to provide salary data when posting job openings, arming candidates with more information as they navigate discussions of compensation. A pay transparency law passed in Washington, D.C., also took effect earlier this year.While some companies have sought to get around the law, usually by posting overly broad salary ranges, these measures have continued to gain traction and are catalyzing more pay transparency across the private sector. (Early data also suggests that these laws are closing the gender pay gap more quickly in states like Colorado, which was the first to implement pay transparency.) A number of other states, such as Michigan, are considering putting a similar law in the books, while others have introduced bills that failed to progress through the state legislature.Paid sick leaveWhile paid family leave legislation has stalled at the federal level, many states have found a way to secure coverage for workers who need time off for health reasons or caregiving responsibilities. Some of the broader paid leave laws are only slated for enforcement in 2026, but starting next year, workers in Alaska, Missouri, and Nebraska can reap the benefits of access to paid sick leave if they need to take sick days for health reasons or to care for an ailing family member.As of 2025, certain states with existing sick leave laws will extend coverage to include experiences including pregnancy loss or adoption or have expanded the definition of family members who are typically covered. In New York, a new amendmentand the first of its kindwill grant pregnant workers another 20 hours of paid prenatal leave (in addition to the states existing sick leave policy), which can be put toward doctors appointments and other prenatal care as needed.Retail worker protectionsIn a handful of states, retail employees will gain new protections due to legislation that aims to prevent workplace violence. The Retail Worker Safety Act, which passed in New York, requires that all retailers have a clear workplace violence prevention policy and training program; larger workplaces are even required to install panic buttons. (While the law will be enforced in the new year, employers do have until 2027 to put a panic button system in place.) A similar law was enacted in California, though it does not mandate the use of panic buttons. Both measures are partly a response to the increased violence and harassment retail workers often face on the job, which has only worsened since the pandemic.Beyond protections against violence, retail employees have also notched other wins that could improve their working conditions. This year, city officials in Ann Arbor, Michigan, approved a law that will enable workerswhether in retail or hospitalityto sit while on the job, as long as that doesnt interfere with their duties. Similar right to sit laws have already been enacted in California, Florida, and Wisconsin, and in some states, there are still dated laws on the books that only grant women the right to sit. While pregnant workers, for example, are eligible for accommodations that would allow them to sit on the job as needed, these laws are largely modeled after norms in European countries, where retail workers are often seated.Overtime eligibilityEarlier this year, the Biden administration finalized a rule that seemed like a boon for millions of salaried workers, making them newly eligible for overtime pay. It was the first time in decades that overtime eligibility had been expanded significantly; unlike hourly workers, salaried employees are typically not entitled to overtime pay unless their salary is below a certain threshold. Under the Trump administration, employers were only required to pay overtime to workers whose salary was $35,568 or less; after the rule took effect in July, however, workers were eligible if they earned up to $43,888, and the salary cap would have increased again to $58,656 by 2025.But in November, a federal judge struck down the rule, revoking overtime pay for workers who had qualified for it this yearand blocking a new group of workers from eligibility in 2025. (An estimated four million workers would have been impacted in the first year of implementation, according to the Labor Department.) Its not clear whether eligibility could change again under Trump, who has said he is opposed to the idea of overtime pay and already took steps to limit overtime during his first administration. Some of the recommendations in Project 2025 suggest that Trump might go even further when he assumes the presidency, by chipping away at existing overtime benefits or offering loopholes to employers who want to avoid paying up.

The U.S. has made great progress in getting more people insured since the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2014. The share of uninsured Americans ages 18 to 64 fell from 18% before the ACA to 9.5% in 2022. And preexisting conditions no longer prevent coverage or lead to an increase in premiums.Yet even for those with health insurance, coverage does not ensure access to care, much less high-quality and affordable care. Research shows that 1 in 3 Americans seeking care report delaying or forgoing treatment because of the administrative burdens of dealing with health insurance and the health care system, creating additional barriers beyond costs.Some of these are basic tasks, such as scheduling appointments. But others relate to strategies that health insurers use to shape the care that their patients are able to receivetactics that are often unpopular with both doctors and patients.In addition, more than 40% of Americans under 65 have high-deductible plans, meaning patients face significant upfront costs to using care. As a result, nearly a quarter are unable to afford care despite being insured.As scholars of health care quality and policy, we study how the affordability and design of health insurance affects peoples health as well as their out-of-pocket costs.Wed like to unpack five of the most common strategies used by health insurers to ensure that care is medically necessary, cost-effective or both.At best, these practices help ensure appropriate care is delivered at the lowest possible cost. At worst, these practices are overly burdensome and can be counterproductive, depriving insured patients of the care they need.Claim denialsThe strategy of denial of claims has gotten a lot of attention in the aftermath of the killing of UnitedHealthcare chief executive officer Brian Thompson, partly because the insurer has higher rates of denials than its peers. Overall, nearly 20% of Americans with coverage through health insurance marketplaces created by the ACA had a claim denied in 2021.While denial may be warranted in some cases, such as if a particular service isnt covered by that plan amounting to 14% of in-network claim denials more than three-quarters of denials in 2021 did not list a specific reason. This happens after the service has already taken place, meaning that patients are sent a bill for the full amount when claims are denied.Although the ACA required standardized processes for appealing claims, patients dont often understand or feel comfortable navigating an appeal. Even if you understand the process, navigating all of the paperwork and logistics of an appeal is time-consuming. Gaps by income and race in pursuing and winning appeals only deepen mistrust among those already struggling to get appropriate care and make ends meet.Prior authorizationPrior authorization requires providers to get approval in advance from the insurer before delivering a procedure or medicationunder the guise of medical necessity as well as improving efficiency and quality of care.Although being judicious with high-cost procedures and drugs make intuitive sense, in practice these policies can lead to delays in care or even death.In addition, the growing use of artificial intelligence in recent years to streamline prior authorization has come under scrutiny. This includes a 2023 class action lawsuit filed against UnitedHealthcare for algorithmic denials of rehabilitative care, which prompted the federal government to issue new guidelines.The American Medical Association found that 95% of physicians report that dealing with prior authorization somewhat or significantly increases physician burnout, and over 90% believe that the requirement negatively affects patients. The physicians surveyed by the association also reported that over 75% of patients often or sometimes failed to follow through on recommended care due to challenges with prior authorizations.Doctors and their staff may deal with dozens of prior authorization requests per week on average, which take time and attention away from patient care. For example, there were nearly two prior-authorization requests per Medicare Advantage enrollee in 2022, or more than 46 million in total. Smaller networksHealth insurance plans contract with physicians and hospitals to form their networks, with the ACA requiring them to ensure a sufficient choice of providers.If a plan has too small of a network, patients can have a hard time finding a doctor who takes their insurance, or they may have to wait longer for an appointment.Despite state oversight and regulation, the breadth of plan networks has significantly narrowed over time. Nearly 15% of HealthCare.gov plans had no in-network physicians for at least one of nine major specialties, and over 15% of physicians listed in Medicaid managed-care provider directories saw no Medicaid patients. Inaccurate provider directories amplify the problem, since patients may choose a plan based on bad information and then have trouble finding care.Surprise billingThe No Surprises Act went into effect in 2022 to protect consumers against unexpected bills from care received out of network. These bills usually come with a higher deductible and an out-of-pocket maximum that is typically twice as high as in-network care as well as higher coinsurance rates.Prior to that law, 18% of emergency visits and 16% of in-network hospital stays led to at least one surprise bill.While the No Surprises Act has helped address some problems, a notable gap is that it does not apply to ambulance services. Nearly 30% of emergency transports and 26% of nonemergency transports may have resulted in a surprise bill between 2014 and 2017.Pharmacy benefit managersThe largest health insurance companies all have their own pharmacy benefit managers.Three of themAetnas CVS Caremark, Cignas Express Scripts and UnitedHealthcares Optum Rxprocessed almost 80% of the total prescriptions dispensed by U.S. pharmacies in 2023.Beyond how market concentration affects competition and prices, insurers owning pharmacy benefit managers exploits a loophole in how much insurers are required to spend on patient care.The ACA requires insurers to maintain a medical loss ratio of 80% to 85%, meaning they should spend 80 to 85 cents of every dollar of premiums for medical care. Pharmaceuticals account for a growing share of health care spending, and plans are able to keep that money within the parent company through the pharmacy benefit managers that they own.Moreover, pharmacy benefit managers inflate drug costs to overpay their own vertically integrated pharmacies, which in turn means higher out-of-pocket costs based on the inflated prices. Most pharmacy benefit managers also prevent drug manufacturer co-pay assistance programs from counting toward patients cost sharing, such as deductibles, which prolongs how long patients have to pay out of pocket.Policy goals versus realityDespite how far the U.S. has come in making sure most Americans have access to affordable health insurance, being insured increasingly isnt enough to guarantee access to the care and medications that they need.The industry reports that profit margins are only 3% to 6%, yet the billions of dollars in profits they earn every year may feel to many like a direct result of the day-to-day struggles that patients face getting the care they need.These insurer tactics can adversely affect patients health and their trust in the health care system, which leaves patients in unthinkably difficult circumstances. It also undercuts the governments goal of bringing affordable health care to all.Monica S. Aswani is an assistant professor of health services administration at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.Paul Shafer is an assistant professor of health law, policy and management at Boston University.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

When high school students and their families investigate which college is the best fit, they will inevitably be inundated with various facts and figures. Brochures and websites might highlight the schools dining halls or student-led clubs and activities. But one of the most important statistics for students and families to consider when choosing a college is the career outcomes of its graduates.This is, perhaps, the greatest selling point for any institution of higher education. Students consistently say that finding a good-paying job is among the top reasons why they go to college.As scholars of career education, we believe its important for students and families to know there may be more under the surface to those career outcome statistics.Why career placement mattersWhat does career success even mean, and why should students or their parents care? How do colleges measure it? And most importantly, how are those statistics verified?These are all questions that should be on the minds of prospective students and their families. Its worth asking these questions during college visits.Put simply, career success or career outcomes refer to a graduates employment or academic enrollment status within a period of time after graduating college. By industry standards, a graduate may achieve career success if they are employed or continuing their education within six months of graduation. So when we at Champlain College tout a 90% career success rate for our class of 2023, what we mean is that 90% of the class was either employed or continuing their education within six months of graduation.Sounds good, right? But compared with what?The National Association of Colleges and Employers releases annual reports with national career success outcomes. Their latest report, released in October 2024, showed that the national average for career success rates in the class of 2023 was nearly 85%. So, yes, it is good.Critical to this career success rate, however, is another numberone thats less discussed but also very telling. Thats the knowledge rate, or the percentage of graduates who shared their outcomes with their college after graduating and that the college can reasonably verify. Think of it this way: If a college boasts 100% career success for a graduating class, but their knowledge rate is only 50%, then that 100% career success becomes a lot less impressive, as it represents only half the class.All of these numbers are part of the First-Destination Survey, designed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers and distributed by more than 300 universities and colleges across the country, including Champlain College.According to the organizations most recent annual report, which reflects data collected from the class of 2023, the national knowledge rate for bachelors degree students was only 56%. That means that the national career success average of 85% reported by the class of 2023 represents just over half of all graduates.That means that when it comes to the career success outcomes touted by any given college or universityeven those that make annual best of rankingsits safe to assume that the numbers reflect only 56% of the institutions students. Say a college reports a 90% career success rate of its 1,000 graduates, then we would expect 900 of those students to be employed or pursuing a further degree. But if the knowledge rate for that institution is 50%, then the college is claiming a very high level of overall success while having data for only half of its graduating class.Data is publicMost colleges and universities release career success and knowledge rates to the public in annual reports. If youre a prospective student considering a college, you can and should really delve into these statistics.For example, if you look at some of the colleges on The Wall Street Journals best value list, you can see some low knowledge rates. Baruch College earned the top spot for best value, and the schools success rate for the class of 2022 was 96%. However, its knowledge rate was only 49%.Similarly, Bowdoin College reported for its class of 2022 a 92% career success rate, with a response rate of 35%.That is not to say these schools are doing anything wrong. The point is that prospective students can educate themselves more on career success rates and corresponding knowledge rates.Of course, knowledge rates also vary widely. Babson College, which ranked second on WSJs best colleges of 2025, reported an impressive career success rate of nearly 99%, with a knowledge rate of 83%. Davidson College reported a 91% career success rate for 2023, with a knowledge rate of 82%.At Champlain College, where we serve as career coaches, our class of 2023 reported a career success rate of 90%, with a 81% knowledge rate.Questions to askWhen prospective students are on college tours or interacting with admissions counselors, they should come prepared with probing questions regarding career success. Here are some questions that we think prospective students should ask college admissions counselors about the institutions career success:1. What is the process for tracking career success? You should learn the full process how the school collects data and reports out on the statistics, and what trends, if any, the institution has noticed in its graduates career success over the years.2. What is the schools knowledge rate? If its low, it may be a reflection on either the institutions career services or the quality of the overall student experience at that institution. If so, ask whether faculty are involved in the process to get a better idea of where the weakness lies.3. When does the data collection process start and how long does it take? It should be an ongoing process, allowing for students to share career success both prior to and following graduation.4. What kinds of additional questions did the school ask in its First-Destination Survey? Beyond relevant career information, is the institution asking about students internship experience? Did they study abroad? What other types of experiential learning or leadership opportunities did they undertake? What kind of advice do they have for prospective students? And, importantly, how do you verify student career success?Equipped with these questionsand the understanding that career success rates are critical in the college selection processstudents can feel more confident than they would otherwise that they have a good understanding of how well the institution prepares them for success after graduation.Many schools publish their career outcomes directly on their website, but you can always speak with an admissions counselor to learn more.Kerry Shackett is a co-director of the Career Collaborative and a career coach at Champlain College. Patricia Boera is a co-director of the Career Collaborative at Champlain College.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Coffee badging. The Great Stay. Revenge quitting.This year has seen no shortage of terms to describe the new ways we work.As 2024 comes to a close, Fast Companys Work Life team has been thinking about the major trends weve seen this yearbut also what the new year will bring. Here are some of the biggest stories well be monitoring in 2025.1. The fight over RTOWhy are we still talking about a return to office? Weve been chronicling the push to get workers back into physical offices for over three years now, but the rift between what most employees want (flexibility and a hybrid schedule) and what some leaders want (in-office collaboration and a return to pre-pandemic workplace norms) remains. As much as everyone wants to move on from this debate, were likely to see more companies adjust their policies in 2025, especially following major employerslike Amazon deciding to bring workers back to the office five days a week.Even with additional in-office pressure, many companies will still commit to some version of hybrid work. Hybrid work is the new normal, Sam Naficy, CEO of the employee visibility and productivity intelligence software provider Prodoscore, tells writer Stephanie Vozza. Despite the push for in-office mandates, hybrid work is here to stay, driven by the need for flexibility. Few companies will fully revert to all-office models without risking talent loss.Of course, in some cases, RTO office mandates may actually be designed to get workers to quit. Last month, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who are set to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal expressing the hope that requiring federal workers to come in to an office full-time would lead to resignations. Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome: If federal employees dont want to show up, American taxpayers shouldnt pay them for the COVID-era privilege of staying home, they wrote.2. AI affecting jobsand hiringWeve spent much of this year chronicling employee concerns about the ways in which AI will affect careers. That impact is already being felt. A November study showed a 21% reduction in job posts for automation-prone jobs related to writing and coding compared to jobs requiring manual-intensive skills since ChatGPT was introduced.Many experts, however, are bullish on the positive impacts of AI to reduce boring tasksand even to create new jobs altogether. It is normal to worry about the loss of jobs that comes with a new technology, writes futurist Frank Diana. But there has always been fear around new technologies, and almost without fail, the new technology has led to more jobs than the previous technology ever allowed.One of the areas where were already AI changing things is in hiring. While many companies have long used AI to screen candidates through applicant-tracking systems, more are likely to embrace AI in the process in 2025.According to one recent study from Resume Builder, nearly 70% plan to use AI for some part of the hiring process by the end of 2025. Its not just the initial vetting process that is transforming: 23% of companies surveyed already rely on AI to conduct interviews and another 19% said they plan to start using AI for interviews within the next year.Adam Charlson, managing partner of Focus Search Partners, cautions against allowing AI to take over the process. AI can quickly sift through a vast pool of rsums and pinpoint those that best match the keywords in a job posting, writes Charlson. But can AI alone truly determine the best fit for a position? The short answer is no. While AI can do a lot, it doesnt replace a human when it comes to hiring.3. The backlash to DEIThis year saw many companiesincluding Walmart, Lowes, Ford, John Deere, Harley Davidson, Jack Daniels, and Toyotascale back DEI programs in response to conservative activism. Anti-DEI sentiment appears to be reaching some employees, too. In a November 2024 Pew study, 23% of workers described focusing on DEI as a bad thing compared with 16% in 2023.But DEI is not over, writes Out & Equals Erin Uritus and Witeck Communications, Inc.s Bob Witeck. The truth is that we are not witnessing a sea change in the marketplace or an erosion in public attitudes, write Uritus and Witeck. Most businesses understand that DEI is good for workers and good for business.With the arrival of a new Trump administration, there will likely be additional pressures on DEI programs. Well be watching carefully in the new year to explore how businesses committed to greater equity in the workplace rebrand or shift their efforts.

Want more housing market stories from Lance LambertsResiClubin your inbox?Subscribeto theResiClubnewsletter.Michael Zuber began building his rental property portfolio in Fresno, starting with his first properties in 2001. He sold off much of his real estate portfolio right before the 2008 housing bust and then reentered the market after home prices crashed.By 2018, Zuber had grown his portfolio to more than 170 rental properties and made the decision to leave his tech job in Silicon Valley to focus on his passion for helping others achieve similar success. His YouTube channel, One Rental at a Time, has since amassed more than 60,000 followers, most of whom are single-family landlords themselves.Zuber studies the financial and housing market every day and has become a leading voice in the mom-and-pop landlord spacewhich represents the largest share of rental-property owners in the U.S.ResiClubs Meghan Malas recently interviewed Zuber about his insights and approach.Interest rates have gone up a lot since early 2021, so a lot of institutional capital that was moving into the space has pulled back. However, we are still seeing, on a percentage basis, a good number of single-family landlord purchases from mom-and-pop single-family landlords. How are single-family investors still finding deals that pencil in this type of market?Mom-and-pop landlords have an advantage over Wall Street money because theyre far more nimble. They only need to find one property versus dozens, making it easier in todays environment to find the needle in the haystack. Institutional investors these days focus on newer homes, often less than a decade old, with three or four bedrooms.Mom-and-pop landlords can target properties that dont fit the institutional buy box, finding ugly ducklings or missed listings. And while institutions rely on technology to query the market for deals, mom-and-pop landlords network and evaluate deals locally.Back in June, a ResiClub-Groundfloor Housing Investor Survey found that 80% of real estate investor-landlords are concerned about home insurance shocks. What should single-family investors be mindful of on the insurance front?Insurance has become a front-and-center issue for landlords. For over 25 years, I could estimate my insurance costs within $20 or $30. But in the last two years, we started facing nonrenewals and cancellations. In California, there was a period when insurance companies were leaving the market altogether.For years, I had a fourplex where insurance was consistently around $1,900. When my provider refused to renew, the next carrier charged almost $3,200 for the same coverage.Thankfully, in the last six months, the rate shocks, cancellations, and nonrenewals seem to be easing. And if youve been in the game long enough, youve likely benefited from significant rent increases between 2020 and 2023. While insurance costs might have jumped 50%, those rent increases have often outpaced them.As long as youre managing your units effectively, the higher insurance costswhile they hurt cash floware manageable.Youve said before that todays housing market resembles that of the early 1980sa time of significantly strained housing affordability in the U.S.can you explain why?Between 1978 and 1982, we saw a dramatic increase in rates, which sharply reduced transactions. I made this call in 2022 right after the Jackson Hole meeting, where Jerome Powell essentially said, Pain is coming.In my 54-year spreadsheet, you can see the pattern: From 1978 to 1981, existing home sales transactions went down 50%, but the median home price went up.In 2022, when I predicted a crash in housing transactions alongside rising [national home] prices, many dismissed it as foolish. Unfortunately, thats exactly what occurred.Even before existing home salesand new listingsplummeted in 2022, you said that the Fed broke the housing market. What did you mean by that, and is that still true heading into 2025?Traditionally, the housing market follows a normal cycle. First-time homebuyers purchase a home, stay for six to eight years, and then move up. This cycle operated consistently for 40 years.But consider someone who bought an entry-level home in 2020 or 2021. Today, its likely they could not afford their current home due to its price increase of 25% to 50%, let alone trade up for a better home. The math no longer works. The home they want to buy is $100,000 more expensive, and mortgage rates have jumped from 3% to 7%. As a result, the move-up buyer has effectively disappeared from the market.The lack of move-up buyers breaks the housing market because their activity represents two transactionsa sale and a purchase. Without them, entry-level housing stays frozen. The homes selling are higher-end or luxury properties, which skews the market. Median home prices appear higher because lower-priced homes arent [selling].Comparing how many entry-level homes sold in 2019 or 2020 to sales in 2024 or 2025 shows a significant droparound 30% fewer. This is what defines a broken housing market.What is your outlook for the housing market in 2025?My call for 2025 is essentially higher for longer. Rates might be lower at the end of the year than at the beginning, but on average, 7% seems likely.Almost no one with a 3% mortgage on an entry-level home will trade up to a 7% rateit simply doesnt make financial sense. As a result, 2025 will likely be another slow year with low transaction volume. I expect national home prices to stay flat, rising by 1% or 2% in 2025.I predict more new home sales in 2025, but square footage will shrink. Builders are likely to focus on smaller, entry-level homes.I also believe the incoming administration will work to make housing construction faster and cheaper, possibly offering incentives for building entry-level housing. I do not foresee any free money first-time homebuyer programs. The last thing the market needs is more demand; we need supply. If such a program materializes, my call for 2025 would be wrong, as it would disrupt the current dynamics.Many people see real estate as a way to build wealth for retirement, but they dont want to manage properties forever. As someone who once owned over 170 rentals, when did you decide to downsize, and how did you plan your exit?You dont have to self-manage. From the beginning, [my wife and I] chose to invest in a market two and a half hours away while working demanding full-time jobs. Property management was a necessity for us, so we found deals that could support paying a 10% management fee.While we no longer pay 10% today, having property managers from Day One has helped reduce the operational stress of direct management. That said, managing the manager is still essential. Weve had to fire property managers, deal with theft, and oversee operations to ensure everything ran smoothly.However, weve never spoken directly to tenants, collected rent, or called for repairs. Weve always paid someone else to handle those tasks.As you approach retirement, other considerations come into play. For example, should you sell older properties and use a 1031 exchange to acquire newer ones? Newer properties typically require less management, which can significantly reduce headaches. A 1031 exchange also allows you to consolidate multiple properties into a single, higher-quality asset.

In 2024, the singer Sade released her first song in six years, Andre 3000 debuted a 26-minute flute song, and Sam Smith covered Sylvesters You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)and it was all for the same project. They are three of the more than 100 artists who contributed original songs and covers to Transa, a nearly four-hour epic of a compilation album from longstanding advocacy-through-music organization Red Hot.Co-produced by Red Hot executive director Dust Reid and artist/activist Massima Bell, Transa is an effort to center trans people and the gifts we bring to the world, Bell says. The albums mix of music and spoken word tracks is separated into eight chaptersstarting with awakening and survival, ultimately arriving at liberation and reinvention. Many of songs pair trans and cisgender artistsEzra Furman and Sharon Van Etten cover Sinead OConnor, trans singer Lauren Auder teams up with Wendy & Lisa of Princes Revolution to cover I would Die 4 U.[Photos: courtesy Red Hot]When Red Hot debuted in 1990 with its AIDS-benefit album Red Hot + Blue, the compilation of Cole Porter songs from the likes of U2, Neneh Cherry, and Sinead OConnor was this watershed moment of having musicians who werent necessarily gay stand up with gay people and really turn the tides against the cultural stigma of HIV/AIDS, Bell says.Inspired in part by the 2021 death of artist/producer Sophie, Bell and Reid see Transa as having potential to play a similar role as Red Hots first release. Like Red Hot + Blue, Transa arrives at a time when the trans community is under attack. The ACLU is currently tracking 574 anti-LGBTQ bills in the United States, and the Anti-Trans Bill Tracker has logged 48 anti-trans measures that have passed state legislatures. President-elect Donald Trump spent $19 million on a swing-state attack ad that cast gender-affirming care provided to California inmates under then-Attorney General Kamala Harris as a drain on taxpayer money. The ad and its zingerKamala is for they/them, President Trump is for youhelped shift the race 2.7 points to Trump in swing states.Part of why these attack ads succeed is thatsimilar to only 15% of Americans personally knowing someone with AIDS in 1990a majority of Americans dont know a trans person. Polling firm Data for Progress in 2023 found that only 30% of likely voters said they personally knew a trans person, with only 21% saying they personally knew a nonbinary person. Singer/songwriter Teddy Geiger, who has a song on Transa with DJ and artist Yaeji, says albums like Transa can help combat that unfamiliarity.Sam Smith & Beverly Glenn-Copeland [Photo: Eleanor Petry]When people have personal experiences with trans people and you really get to know someone that has been on that journey, it just clicks, says Geiger, who came out as trans in 2017. There are so many people who havent had that opportunity, and projects like this allow people [that experience].Transa is aimed at providing that example for a new generation at a critical time for the trans community, but doing so has required the organization to undergo its own transformation while confronting a music industry thats worlds apart from the one that helped Red Hot make an impact in its early years.Frankie Cosmos and Soft Rnin [Photo: Alex Tepper]Building a New LegacyWhile Transa fits well into Red Hots longstanding ability to bring musicians together for a cause and change some minds in the process, its also the first effort of what Reid hopes will be a new legacy he is charting for the organization.When Red Hot marked its 30th anniversary in 2020, Reid pushed the organization to adopt a new, formalized mission statement that encompassed its legacy of fighting AIDS while broadening its efforts to raise awareness of broader LGBT issues. I believe Red Hots primary mission is in promoting diversity, and thats through equal access to healthcare, they say.Ahya Simone [Photo: Kenny Laubbacher]Reid says the new focus opened the door to projects, like Transa, that are designed to showcase trans talent and solidarity from the broader industry rather than entirely focus on AIDS. Obviously we still care about that cause, too, Reid says. But this project is a way of suggesting that all of our issues are interconnected. We cant solve HIV and AIDS if we cant solve the issues within ourselves first.[Photos: courtesy Red Hot]Island in the StreamRed Hot is releasing Transa into a music industry thats starkly different from the one Red Hot + Blue launched into. That compilation sold more than a million copies and sprouted a TV special,helping bankroll a nearly $1 million donation to AIDS advocacy group Act Up.Streamings dominance and physical medias decline have completely changed howand ifprojects like Transa make money that can be donated. When I started at Red Hot, Spotify didnt even exist yet, Reid says. Its radically shifted the way the org has operatedthere were even some dormant years where we just didnt know how to bring projects to fruition.With Transa, Reid says Red Hot has acted as its own label, rather than partnering with a label that would fund recording and marketing budgets, as it has for past compilations. While it means that all revenue comes back to Red Hot, it also means sales have to make up for the costs of creating the recordpart of why Transa isnt positioned as a benefit album.Hunter Schafer [Photo: Elia Einhorn]In the 90s and 2000s, you could have a release that sold like, 500,000 [physical] units without any promotion, and then that would bankroll a huge gift to Act Up, Bell says, adding that with Transa, We havent wanted to promise something to the orgs wed want to support. She notes that the organizations Transa could benefit, if possible, include the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, the New York Trans Oral History Project, and housing-focused organizations Dallas Hope Charities in Texas and GLITS in New York.As part of the release, Red Hot is taking pre-orders for a six-LP box set that will ship in Spring 2025. Our main mission is to raise awarenesswe think this album is a historical document that will help lead people back to themselves, Reid says. Hopefully streaming, sync, and licensing will help raise funds. He adds that Spotify has helped boost Transas profile, with Transa tracks populating personalized playlists for users, and the album getting some Times Square billboard time as the album of the month for Spotifys Glow LGBT equity program.Its been a struggle to get on Spotifys radar for Red Hot releases to date, but Transa is unlocking a lot of doors, Reid says. It was industry people at MTV back in the 90s that really helped platform those early Red Hot projects. We need places like Spotify and Apple to step up and do the same today.

The Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, starring Timothe Chalamet, focuses on Dylans early 1960s transition from idiosyncratic singer of folk songs to internationally renowned singer-songwriter.As a music historian, Ive always respected one decision of Dylans in particularone that kicked off the young artists most turbulent and significant period of creative activity.Sixty years ago, on Halloween Night 1964, a 23-year-old Dylan took the stage at New York Citys Philharmonic Hall. He had become a star within the niche genre of revivalist folk music. But by 1964, Dylan was building a much larger fan base through performing and recording his own songs.Columbia Records was on hand to turn Dylans October 31, 1964, performance into a live album. [Photo: GAB Archive/Redferns/Getty Images]Dylan presented a solo set, mixing material he had previously recorded with some new songs. Representatives from his label, Columbia Records, were on hand to record the concert, with the intent to release the live show as his fifth official album.It would have been a logical successor to Dylans four other Columbia albums. With the exception of one track, Corrina, Corrina, those albums, taken together, featured exclusively solo acoustic performances.But at the end of 1964, Columbia shelved the recording of the Philharmonic Hall concert. Dylan had decided that he wanted to make a different kind of music.From Minnesota to ManhattanTwo-and-a-half years earlier, Dylan, then just 20 years old, started earning acclaim within New York Citys folk music community. At the time, the folk music revival was taking place in cities across the country, but Manhattans Greenwich Village was the movements beating heart.Mingling with and drawing inspiration from other folk musicians, Dylan, who had recently moved to Manhattan from Minnesota, secured his first gig at Gerdes Folk City on April 11, 1961. Dylan appeared in various other Greenwich Village music clubs, performing folk songs, ballads, and blues. He aspired to become, like his hero Woody Guthrie, a self-contained artist who could employ vocals, guitar, and harmonica to interpret the musical heritage of the old, weird Americaan adage coined by critic Greil Marcus to describe Dylans early repertoire, which was composed of material learned from prewar songbooks, records, and musicians.While Dylans versions of older songs were undeniably captivating, he later acknowledged that some of his peers in the early 1960s folk music scenespecifically, Mike Seegerwere better at replicating traditional instrumental and vocal styles.Dylan, however, realized he had an unrivaled facility for writing and performing new songs.In October 1961, veteran talent scout John Hammond signed Dylan to record for Columbia. His eponymous debut, released in March 1962, featured interpretations of traditional ballads and blues, with just two original compositions. That album sold only 5,000 copies, leading some Columbia officials to refer to the Dylan contract as Hammonds Folly.Full steam aheadFlipping the formula of its predecessor, Dylans 1963 follow-up album, The Freewheelin Bob Dylan, offered 11 originals by Dylan and just two traditional songs. The powerful collection combined songs about relationships with original protest songs, including his breakthrough Blowin in the Wind.The Times They Are A-Changin, his third release, exclusively showcased Dylans own compositions.Dylans creative output continued. As he testified in Restless Farewell, the closing track for The Times They Are A-Changin: My feet are now fast / and point away from the past.Released just six months after The Times, Dylans fourth Columbia album, Another Side of Bob Dylan, featured solo acoustic recordings of original songs that were lyrically adventurous and less focused on current events. As suggested in his song My Back Pages, he was now rejecting the notion that he couldor shouldspeak for his generation.Bringing it all togetherBy the end of 1964, Dylan yearned to break away permanently from the constraints of the folk genreand from the notion of genre altogether. He wanted to subvert the expectations of audiences and to rebel against music industry forces intent on pigeonholing him and his work.The Philharmonic Hall concert went off without a hitch, but Dylan refused to let Columbia turn it into an album. The recording wouldnt generate an official release for another four decades.Instead, in January 1965, Dylan entered Columbias Studio A to record his fifth album, Bringing It All Back Home. But this time, he embraced the electric rock sound that had energized America in the wake of Beatlemania. That album introduced songs with stream-of-consciousness lyrics featuring surreal imagery, and on many of the songs Dylan performed with the accompaniment of a rock band.Bringing It All Back Home, released in March 1965, set the tone for Dylans next two albums: Highway 61 Revisited, in August 1965, and Blonde and Blonde, in June 1966. Critics and fans have long considered these latter three albumspulsing with what the singer-songwriter himself called that thin, that wild mercury soundas among the greatest albums of the rock era.On July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, Dylan invited members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band on stage to accompany three songs. Since the genre expectations for folk music during that era involved acoustic instrumentation, the audience was unprepared for Dylans loud performances. Some critics deemed the set an act of heresy, an affront to folk music propriety. The next year, Dylan embarked on a tour of the U.K., and an audience member at the Manchester stop infamously heckled him for abandoning folk music, crying out, Judas!Yet the creative risks undertaken by Dylan during this period inspired countless other musicians: rock acts such as the Beatles, the Animals, and the Byrds; pop acts such as Stevie Wonder, Johnny Rivers, and Sonny and Cher; and country singers such as Johnny Cash.Acknowledging the bar that Dylans songwriting set, Cash, in his liner notes to Dylans 1969 album Nashville Skyline, wrote, Here-in is a hell of a poet.Enlivened by Dylans example, many musicians went on to experiment with their own sound and style, while artists across a range of genres would pay homage to Dylan through performing and recording his songs.In 2016, Dylan received the Nobel Prize in literature for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition. His early exploration of this tradition can be heard on his first four Columbia albums records that laid the groundwork for Dylans august career.Back in 1964, Dylan was the talk of Greenwich Village.But now, because he never rested on his laurels, hes the toast of the world. Ted Olson is a professor of Appalachian studies and bluegrass, old-time, and roots music studies at East Tennessee State University.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Finding the perfect present isnt always easyespecially if the people in your life are, lets say, challenging to shop for.And while gift guides can be a great resource for certain purposes, they arent exactly catered to your personal needs and the tastes of those around you.So what if AI could save the day? A new AI-powered gift-recommending chatbot has been winning over my colleagues, even leading one to find the just-right gift for her significant other.Heres how it works.Psst: If you love these types of tools as much as I do, check out my free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. Youll be the first to find all sorts of simple tech treasures!Your AI-powered personal shopperThe tool is called DreamGift, and it uses your input to provide personalized ideas for interesting giftsno matter who they may be for. To give it a go, just open the DreamGift website in any web browser on any phone, tablet, or computer in front of you. From there, click Start a chat here to get started.The chatbot will ask you a few quick questions, including the occasion for the gift, the persons relationship to you, their age, their interests, and how much youd like to spend. You can click an option within a dropdown list for each question or type out your own more detailed answer, if youd rather.You might, for instance, want to describe the specifics of your giftees interests more thoroughly than simply choosing Tech and Gadgets, Outdoors, or Cooking. But you can get some worthwhile recommendations just from choosing broad categories, too.DreamGift lets you describe what youre after in as muchor as littledetail as you want.Once youre done, the site will take a few seconds to put together some recommendations. Youll see categories like High-Quality Chefs Knife Set and Personalized Cutting Board along with individual product recommendations for each category the site offers up.The products it suggests all come from Amazonthough, of course, you can always opt to use those as mere recommendations and then look the same items up anywhere you like, on your own.DreamGifts recommendations include a range of options for each category it gives you.One of those picks might be just the right gift for the person you have in mindor, if nothing else, the AI-powered recommendations might give you some good ideas and a push in the right direction to finish searching yourself.DreamGift operates entirely on the webno downloads or installations required.The site is completely free. It uses Amazon affiliate links and may receive a commission when you click a link and buy a product directly from its suggestionsbut, again, you dont have to limit yourself to those specific store links.The service doesnt require an account to use and receives only the limited amount of data you share when using it.Give yourself the gift of productivity with my free Cool Tools newslettera single new off-the-beaten-path gem in your inbox every Wednesday!

Its a common seasonal refrain: Christmas just isnt like it used to be.This is not a new complaint. History shows that Christmas traditions are just as subject to change as any other aspect of human societies, and when customs change, there are always some who wish they could turn back the clock.In the 1830s, the English solicitor William Sandys compiled a host of examples of Britons bemoaning the transformation of Christmas customs from earlier eras. Sandys himself was especially concerned about the decline of public caroling, noting the practice appeared to get more neglected every year. He worried that this neglect was indicative of a wider British tendency to observe Christmas with less hospitality and innocent revelry in the 19th century than in the past.Yet the 19th century also produced new holiday customs. In fact, many of the new Christmas practices in Sandys time went on to become established traditions themselvesand are now the subject of nostalgia and fretted over by those who fear their decline. Take, for example, the humble Christmas card. My research shows that these printed seasonal greetings borrowed from the customs of the past to move Christmas into a new age.A British traditionAnnual sales and circulation of Christmas cards have been in decline since the 1990s. Laments over the potential death of the Christmas card have been especially vocal in the United Kingdom, where the mailing of Christmas greetings to family and friends via printed cards was long considered to be an essential element of a British Christmas.Indeed, historians Martin Johnes and Mark Connelly both argue that throughout the 20th century the Christmas card was viewed as just as essential a part of Britains distinctive blend of holiday traditions as children hanging stockings at the end of their beds, Christmas pantomimes, and the eating of turkey and Brussels sprouts.Yet, as these same historians are quick to note, at one time Britons did none of these things at Christmas. Each of these traditions became an element of the customary British Christmas only during the second half of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th.This makes them all relatively new additions to the countrys holiday customs, especially when viewed in light of Christmas more than 2,000-year history.Industrial revolution and Christmas cardsThe custom of mailing printed Christmas cards began in the middle decades of the 19th century and was a product of the industrial revolution. It was made affordable by new innovations in printing and papermaking and more efficient modes of transportation such as the railway.First world postal stamp the Penny Black. [Image: General Post Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland/Wikimedia Commons]The development of this new tradition was also facilitated by Parliaments introduction of the Penny Post in 1840, which allowed Britons to mail letters to any address in the United Kingdom for the small price of a penny stamp.Most historians date the Christmas cards arrival to 1843, the same year in which Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol.In that year, the inventor and civil servant Henry Cole commissioned the artist John Callcott Horsley to design a card to help Cole handle his Christmas correspondence more efficiently.Printed versions of Coles card were also made available for sale, but the high price of one shilling apiece left them outside the bounds of affordability for most of the Victorian population.Coles experiment, however, inspired other printers to produce similar but more affordable Christmas cards. The use of these cheaper cards began to spread in the 1850s and had established itself as a holiday tradition by the final decades of the century.A Victorian invention?While the Christmas card may have seemed like an entirely new invention to Victorian senders and receivers, the first Christmas cards design was actually influenced by other, older British holiday traditions.An illustration by artist Randolph Caldecott summarizing the range of old English Christmas traditions. [Image: The Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA]As historians Timothy Larsen and the late Neil Armstrong have demonstrated, Christmas status as an established holiday meant that new Christmas customs developed during the 19th century needed to connect with, supplement or replace already existing traditions. The Christmas card was no exception to this recorded pattern.In 1843, many Britons bemoaned the disappearance of a variety of Old English Christmas customs. Foremost among these were traditions of Christmas hospitality, including Christmas and New Years visiting, when family, friends and neighbors went to each others homes to drink toasts and offer best wishes for the holiday and the coming year.Scholars argue popular belief in these traditions depended on a mixture of recalled reality and constructed fictions. Foremost among the latter were the popular stories depicting old English hospitality at Christmas by the American writer Washington Irving, published in the 1820s. In fact, Britons regularly invoked Irvings accounts of Christmas at the fictional country house, Bracebridge Hall, when debating the changing character of their nations Christmas observances.Regardless of these old customs historical reality, they nevertheless came to feature prominently in discussions regarding the supposed disappearance of a range of community level Christmas observances, including feasting, caroling and public acts of charity.All of these, it was believed, were endangered in an increasingly urban Britain characterized by class tensions, heightened population mobility and mass anonymity.A union of the old and the newWhile it is unclear whether these ongoing debates inspired Coles decision to commission his 1843 Christmas card, the illustration Horsley designed for him alluded to them directly.The card features a family framed by trestles adorned with holly and mistletoe, accompanied on either side by charitable scenes involving the feeding and clothing of the poor. The center of the cardand the symbolic center of Horsleys Christmas visionhowever, is the family of three clearly defined generations enjoying a collective feast, including the classic English Christmas pudding.They face the viewer, their glasses raised in a toast, directly above a banner wishing them a A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The central visual imagery of the cardas a paper visitor to the home of the recipientreplicates the social act of toasting associated with the older custom of holiday visits.In fact, Horsleys design invoked many of the same elements featured in Irvings stories. This is not surprising, given that in later life Horsley recalled the impact of reading Irvings depictions of the Christmas at Bracebridge Hall as a boy, and how he and his sister Fanny had been determined to do our best to keep Christmas in such a notable fashion.Refashioning old English hospitalityEarly Christmas cards favored similar imagery associated with the Old English Christmas of carolers, acts of charity, the playing of country sports, games such as blindmans bluff, copious greenery, feasting and the toasting of Christmas and the New Year.A Christmas card. British Museum, [Image: William Maw Egley/CC BY-NC-SA]These Christmas cards were thus novel, industrial products adorned with the imagery of British Christmases past.The development, and ultimate triumph, of the Christmas card in Victorian Britain demonstrates how nostalgia was channeled into invention. The Christmas card did not revitalize the traditions of Christmas and New Years visiting; it offered a paper replacement for them.Industrial production and transportation transformed the physical visitor into a paper proxy, allowing more people to visit many more of the homes of others during the holiday season than they ever would have been able to in person.The desire to hold on to one element of an older, supposedly declining Christmas tradition thus proved instrumental in helping to create a new holiday tradition in the midst of unprecedented changes in the character of communications and social relations.Today, a similar context of social and technological changes has caused some to predict the death of the Christmas card. The history of the 19th century suggests, however, that should the tradition die, whatever replaces it will thrive by drawing selectively on the Christmas customs of the past.Christopher Ferguson is an associate professor of history at Auburn University.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Police investigating the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4, 2024, have announced that the suspected assailant had used a 3D-printed gun. Several high-profile crimes in recent years have involved this kind of homemade, or partially homemade, weapon.Often called ghost guns because they can be hard to trace, these firearms can be either partially or completely made with components that have been produced in metal or plastic on commercially available 3D printers. The U.S. Supreme Court is considering the legality of current federal restrictions on these firearms.The first known criminal case involving a 3D-printed gun resulted in the arrest of a U.K. man in 2013. But since then, police worldwide have reported finding increasing numbers of these weapons.My research focuses on the economic and social effects of advanced digital technologies, including 3D printing. I see that the use of 3D-printed guns in criminal and violent activities is likely to continue to increase. And it will likely prove ever harder for governments and police to regulate these firearms.Surge in arrests and seizuresArrests and seizures connected to 3D-printed guns are escalating quickly. Between 2017 and 2021, U.S. law enforcement agencies seized and reported nearly 38,000 suspected ghost guns, according to a 2024 report from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In 2021 alone, 19,273 suspected ghost guns were traced, a significant increase from 8,504 in 2020. The number of seized 3D-printed guns in New York state alone surged dramatically, from 100 in 2019 to 637 in 2022.Arrests linked to 3D-printed guns are also rising. The world recorded 108 arrests in the first half of 2023, compared to 66 arrests in all 2022.North America leads in 3D-printed gun-related arrests, with 166 cases from 2013 to June 2023. Europe followed with 48 arrests, while Oceania ranked third with 24 arrests.The U.S. is a particular hot spot, with 36% of total global arrests related to 3D-printed firearms in 2023. But Canada is close behind, with 34%. The U.K. had 10%, and Australia had 8%.Growing global security threatPolice and media reports indicate that many efforts to acquire or manufacture 3D-printed firearms were connected to plans for violent actions.These guns have been used by diverse groups including far-right extremists, ethno-separatists, jihadists, left-wing anarchists, organized crime groups in Europe and pro-democracy rebels in Myanmar.From 2019 to mid-2022, there were at least nine documented cases in Europe and Australia of extremists, terrorists or paramilitary groups either producing or attempting to produce firearms using 3D-printing technology. An analysis of 165 cases of 3D-printed firearms from 2013 to mid-2024 reveals that 15% were linked to terrorism. Far-right groups appear to be the most frequent users among terrorism-related cases.A widely varied legal landscapeOften, 3D-printed guns are homemade firearms without serial numbers. This lack of identification makes them attractive to criminals because it is harder for law enforcement to link specific guns to particular crimes or suspects. Different countries take very different approaches to regulating these weapons.Japan enforces stringent laws governing the manufacture, possession and sales of firearms. Its legal system strictly prohibits unauthorized firearm production, including 3D-printed guns. In 2014, a 28-year-old Japanese man was sentenced to two years in prison for producing plastic 3D-printed firearms.In 2023, Canada effectively banned ghost guns. It is illegal to possess or manufacture them without a license from the government.In Australia, making a 3D-printed firearm is illegal, and in some states, possessing a digital blueprint to create one is also an offense. In the state of New South Wales, a person convicted of possessing blueprints can face up to 14 years in prison. In Tasmania state, the punishment can be even more severe up to 21 years in prison.Across the European Union, making or owning homemade firearms, including 3D-printed ones, is broadly prohibited. However, laws and penalties vary, with some nations criminalizing even the possession of digital files or blueprints related to 3D-printing guns.In the U.K., where firearms are very restricted, 3D-printed guns have been considered illegal. But in November 2022, the government updated the laws to specifically ban possessing, buying or producing parts for 3D-printed guns. The proposal aims to explicitly ban 3D-printed guns, addressing their unique challenges directly, rather than relying on existing laws designed for traditional firearms. The U.K. National Crime Agency has called for a ban on possessing blueprints as well, and Parliament is currently considering two bills proposing such a ban.Federal rules in the U.S.The U.S. Constitution poses some unique challenges to regulating ghost guns, especially for the federal government, but also for states.For regular firearms that is, those not produced by 3D printing U.S. federal law requires that a key component, called the lower receiver, bear a unique serial number. Purchasing a lower receiver requires a federal background check and conducting the transaction through a merchant who holds a Federal Firearms License.The situation is more complicated when it comes to 3D printing weapons. The First Amendment to the Constitution protects freedom of expression, which includes sharing digital files that could contain firearm designs. And the Second Amendment protects citizens right to bear arms.In the U.S., selling 3D-printed firearms requires a federal license. But producing or owning homemade firearms for personal use is allowed. That includes 3D-printing the lower receiver component, and assembling the rest of the weapon with unregulated parts.Current federal law, under review by the Supreme Court, also requires 3D-printed guns meet specific guidelines, even if they do not contain any currently regulated firearms components. Under the rule, makers of ghost gun kits must obtain a federal license, conduct background checks, record information about their customers and add serial numbers to their products.The type of weapon also matters when determining the legality of a 3D-printed firearm. Automatic weapons, or machine guns, can continue to fire ammunition as long as the user holds the trigger down. These weapons have been heavily regulated by federal law for almost 90 years.Criminals have used 3D printers to produce Glock switches or auto-sears, which convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic machine guns. That turns those items into machine guns under federal law, making them illegal. Owning this kind of 3D-printed conversion device can lead to a maximum of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.In the statesThe states can also regulate firearms, and many are trying to get control of 3D-printed guns.By November 2024, 15 U.S. states had established regulations on ghost guns, though exact requirements vary. The rules typically require a serial number, background checks for firearm component purchases and reporting to authorities that a person is producing 3D-printed guns.For instance, in New Jersey, a 2019 law mandates that all ghost guns have a serial number and be registered. Under current New York law, possession or distribution of a 3D-printed gun is classified as a misdemeanor. However, a proposed law seeks to elevate the manufacturing of firearms using 3D-printing technology to a felony offense.As technology advances and rules evolve, criminals who use 3D-printed firearms will continue to pose threats to public safety and security, and governments will continue playing catch-up to effectively regulate these weapons.Nir Kshetri is a professor of management at the University of North CarolinaGreensboro.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Its hard to imagine a holiday season without A Charlie Brown Christmas. The 1965 broadcast has become a stapleetched into traditions across generations like decorating the tree or sipping hot cocoa.But this beloved TV special almost didnt make it to air. CBS executives thought the 25-minute program was too slow, too serious and too different from the upbeat spectacles they imagined audiences wanted. A cartoon about a depressed kid seeking psychiatric advice? No laugh track? Humble, lo-fi animation? And was that a Bible verse? It seemed destined to failif not scrapped outright.And yet, against all the odds, it became a classic. The program turned Peanuts from a popular comic strip into a multimedia empirenot because it was flashy or followed the rules, but because it was sincere.As a business professor who has studied the Peanuts franchise, I see A Charlie Brown Christmas as a fascinating historical moment. Its the true story of an unassuming comic strip character who crossed over into television and managed to voice hefty, thought-provoking ideaswithout getting booted off the air.Call from the blueThe Peanuts special came together out of a last-minute scramble. Somewhat out of the blue, producer Lee Mendelson got a call from advertising agency McCann-Erickson: Coca-Cola wanted to sponsor an animated Christmas special.Mendelson had previously failed to convince the agency to sponsor a Peanuts documentary. This time, though, he assured McCann-Erickson that the characters would be a perfect fit.Mendelson called up Peanuts comic strip creator Charles Sparky Schulz and told him he had just sold A Charlie Brown Christmasand they would have mere months to write, animate and bring the special to air.Charles Schulz drawing in the 1950s. [Photo: Roger Higgins/World Telegram & Sun via Library of Congress]Schulz, Mendelson and animator Bill Melendez worked fast to piece together a storyline. The cartoonist wanted to tell a story that cut through the glitz of holiday commercialism and brought the focus back to something deeper.While Snoopy tries to win a Christmas lights contest, and Lucy names herself Christmas queen in the neighborhood play, a forlorn Charlie Brown searches for the real meaning of Christmas. He makes his way to the local lot of aluminum trees, a fad at the time. But hes drawn to the one real treea humble, scraggly little thinginspired by Hans Christian Andersens fairy tale The Fir Tree.Jazzand the BibleThose plot points would likely delight the network, but other choices Schulz made were proving controversial.The show would use real childrens voices instead of adult actors, giving the characters an authentic, simple charm. And Schulz refused to add a laugh track, a standard in animated TV at the time. He wanted the sincerity of the story to stand on its own, without artificial prompts for laughter.Meanwhile, Mendelson brought in jazz musician Vince Guaraldi to compose a sophisticated soundtrack. The music was unlike anything typically heard in animated programming, blending provocative depth with the innocence of childhood.Most alarming to the executives was Schulzs insistence on including the heart of the Nativity story in arguably the specials most pivotal scene.When Charlie Brown joyfully returns to his friends with the spindly little tree, the rest of the Peanuts gang ridicule his choice. I guess I really dont know what Christmas is all about, the utterly defeated Charlie Brown sighs.Gently but confidently, Linus assures him, I can tell you what Christmas is all about. Calling for Lights, please, he quietly walks to the center of the stage.In the stillness, Linus recites the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, with its story of an angel appearing to trembling shepherds:And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord.Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men, he concludes, picking up his security blanket and walking into the wings. The rest of the gang soon concludes Charlie Browns scrawny tree isnt so bad, after allit just needs a little love.When Schulz discussed this idea with Mendelson and Melendez, they were hesitant. For much of U.S. history, Protestant Christianity was the default in American culture, but in the years since World War II, society had grown somewhat more mindful of making room for Catholic and Jewish Americans. Unsure how to handle the shifting norms, many mainstream entertainment companies in the 1960s tended to avoid religious topics.The Bible thing scares us, CBS executives said when they saw the proofs of the special. But there was simply no time to redo the entire dramatic arc of the special, and pulling it was not an option, given that advertisements had already run.Fun and philosophyFortunately for the Peanuts franchise, when the special aired on December 9, 1965, it was an instant success. Nearly half of American households tuned in, and the program won both an Emmy and a Peabody Award. Schulz had tapped into something audiences were craving: an honest, heartfelt message that cut through the commercialism.Millions of viewers have continued to tune in to the shows annual rebroadcast for over 50 years on CBS and then ABCand now Apple TV+.When I was researching my spiritual biography of Schulz, A Charlie Brown Religion, one of my favorite finds was a 1965 letter from a Florida viewer, Betty Knorr. She praised the show for stressing the true meaning of the Christmas season at a time when the mention of God in general (is) being hush hushed.The magic of Schulzs work, though, is that it resonates across demographics and ideologies. Some fans find comfort in the shows gentle message of faith, while others embrace it in a purely secular way.Simple but poignant, Schulzs art and gentle humor can do two things. They can act as safe entry points for some pretty hefty thoughtsbe they psychiatric, cultural or theological. Or Peanuts cartoons can simply be heartwarming, festive entertainment, if thats what you want.Today, both the Peanuts empire and the Christmas industry are thriving. Back in the 1960s, commercial realities almost derailed Schulzs special, yet those same forces ultimately ensured its broadcast. The result is a lasting touchstone of innocence, hope, and belief.Stephen Lind is an associate professor of clinical business communication at the University of Southern California.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Its safe to say that air travelespecially holiday air travelis back.According to online travel agencyHopper, more than 32 million people are currently scheduled to depart from U.S. airports between December 23 and New Years Daya 2.4% increase compared to this time last year. Deloitte, too, is finding that the average number of trips is rising, with 33% of Americans planning a trip that is a week or longer, versus 25% in 2023.Hopper just published a deep dive on what to expect from holiday travel this year. A few key takeaways? If you havent purchased tickets yet, get on it. Last-minute domestic airfare for Christmas is averaging $371 per round-trip ticket, up 8% from last year. Prices have risen 10% in the last five weeks, rising by $35 on average, and are set to spike as the holidays draw closer, writes Hayley Berg, lead economist and travel expert at Hopper.All that is to sayairports are going to be crowded. So Fast Company has turned to travel expertsfrom flight attendants to hotel executivesfor tips on navigating packed airports, delayed flights, and more.1. You can fast-track customsIf youre traveling internationally, customs is often the first hurdle after deplaning. During peak season, the wait at customs can be more than an hour long, says Henley Vazquez, CEO and cofounder of Fora Travel. Using the customs concierge service to expedite the process is a worthy splurge.The service is available through some luxury hotelsVazquez says both the Ritz Paris and La Reserve Paris offer the service to fast-track travelers through customs and get them to and from the airport. She recommends checking if your hotel offers the service, as it might make a room upgrade worth the money.Outside of hotels, there are companiesincluding Global Airport Concierge and Royal Airport Conciergethat offer a fast-track customs experience as part of their VIP airport offerings.[Photo: simonkr/Getty Images]2. Major airports can be closer to each other than you thinkHoppers Berg says big hub airports like Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Dallas-Fort Worth International, and Denver International will be the busiest this holiday seasonand they had the highest disruption rates this past October. Some potentially good news: If youre scheduled to fly from a major city and your flight gets canceled, its still possible to travel from an alternate airport. If youre stuck at OHare, for example, Midway could have a flight thats on time. If youre stranded in cities like New York, Chicago, and Dallas, your ticket home may be just a train or Uber ride away, Vazquez says.2. Know what youre getting intoNigel Goode, chairman of London-based design firm PriestmanGoode, has been working with advocacy group Air4All to make air travel more convenient and less stressful for people in wheelchairs. The firms first-of-its kind airplane seat, expected to be installed in select airplanes next year, will allow customers to remain in their own wheelchairs for the entire journey. The process has taught him that its critical for travelers, not just those with mobility constraints, to plan each stage of the journey before heading to the airport. The more you find out beforehand, the less anxiety there will be on the day, Goode says.3. Essentials should be easily accessiblePaige Davis, president of AdventureWomena travel outfitter with more than 60 trips planned for 2025always flies with a small, easily accessible pouch at the top of her carry-on. In it, she packs earplugs, an eye mask, a pair of comfortable headphones, and a USB cable to keep devices charged. Ill also toss in a mini tube of lip balm and hand sanitizer, because comfort and hygiene at 30,000 feet are a must.[Photo: Getty Images]4. The airport can be a destination, tooFew know the highs and lows of plane travel better than flight attendants like Renae Grady with Alaska Airlines. Given the amount of time she spends in airports, she says shes learned to enjoy them. She suggests holiday travelers try to think about the airport as a destination on its own.Allow extra time for your trip so you can relax with a good book or noise-canceling headphones and a great playlist, she says. It can make the overall airport experience more enjoyable for everyone, travelers and airline workers alike, when passengers are more relaxed. Patience and kindness during this busy travel period can really make someones day, Grady says.Drew Richardson, president and CEO of PADI Worldwide, embraces a slower approach to holiday travel. My advice is to adopt an ABC mindset when traveling. In other words, always be chill. Part of the charm of travel can be the unexpected. Adjust your expectations situationally, be aware of your emotions in the present, and enjoy the experience, he says.5. Or you can avoid it entirelyPatrick Goddard, president of train operator Brightline, may be biased , but he believes the ease of getting on a train versus a plane is worth the trade-off in travel time.[Photo: Kohei Hara/Getty Images]Passengers get through security faster, keep their bags with them, andin the case of Brightlines in-route experiencehave charging stations at every seat and free Wi-Fi.Amtrak will have a fleet of new trains running between Washington, D.C., and Boston launching in the spring. Along with USB plugs and winged head rests, the trains will offer 25% more capacity. Theyre also quieter and faster than ever, running at up to 160 miles an hour.And if travel in general makes you queasy, staying home is always an option to save up for travel when airports will less busy. The best time to travel is during the shoulder season, AdventureWomans Davis says. The airports are less chaotic, cities breathe easier, and popular attractions arent overrun with selfie sticks. Bonus: Overbooking is your enemyAvoid filling your travel calendar to the brim, advises Fora Travels Vazquez. This can be tempting, especially if youre exploring a new destination or this is your one big trip a year. Try to set aside some time for true relaxation instead, she suggests, whether that means booking a full spa day or simply giving the alarm clock a rest. The last thing you want to do is return home on January 2 even more tired than when you left.

As a stylist, Law Roach has helped stars like Zendaya, Celine Dion, and Anya Taylor-Joy stand out on the red carpet, dressing them in his signature mix of haute couture and vintage finds from designers such as Bob Mackie. Roach is also the author of How to Build a Fashion Icon, a guide to developing personal style. After announcing his retirement from day-to-day styling on Instagram in 2023, he launched School of Style, an educational program intended to help new stylists build a portfolio and get a foothold in the industry.Whats your best habit, and whats your worst?My best is getting lots of sleep. My worst is caving in to my cravings; when I find something I like, I want to eat it every day until Im sick of it. Right now Im obsessed with gochujang sauce.What do you do when youre creatively stuck?Ill just take a nap.Is there a businessperson you admire?Theres a photographer and stylist I admire named Wisdom Kaye.Is there a buzzword you never want to hear again?Diversity and inclusion. I wish we could get to a point where thats not even a thing because everybody is treated fairly and everybody has the same amount of equality and equity.Whats the best mistake you ever made?Retiring. When I wrote a now-infamous Instagram post, it was a way for me to take a breath. It was the best thing I ever did for myself. It gave me a chance to become happy.How do you unplug?I delete all social media off my phone.Is there a book you recommend to everyone?My book, How to Build a Fashion Icon. It teaches you that confidence can carry anything.Which advice are you glad you ignored?My first job was at a mental health facility. I wanted to quit and start my career in fashion. My grandmother told me not to because the job had healthcare benefits. Im happy I didnt listen to her.What advice would you give your younger self?Trust yourself.Did you have a career fork in the road?Working with Celine Dion put my name on a global level.Do you have a wardrobe staple?An oversize white button-down shirt. I get the cheapest brand in the biggest size off Amazon. I love being swallowed up by it. Its versatileI could wear it with a belt or with jeans or wrap it around me. I let it drop off my shoulder when I want to feel demure.Who is your style icon?Grace Jones.Whats always in your bag?Floss, La Roche-Posay Cicaplast lip balm, and a travel-size fragrance. Right now Im wearing Good Girl Gone Bad from Kilian.Do you have a favorite object in your office?A Kehinde Wiley portrait of a young Black girl.How do you exercise?Shopping. Especially in Soho.What TV show are you mid-binge on?Emily in Paris. I feel like I should be on that show.Do you have a mantra?The universe always protects and provides.What is your go-to food for fast fuel?Peanut butter M&Ms and a sip of Pepsijust enough to get that carbonation in my tummy.Is there a meal you still fantasize about?Dovetale, in London, has a sweet corn ravioli that I cant stop thinking about.What do you send to congratulate someone?White flowers. A white bouquet or a single white orchid is so chic to me.Is there a meeting you never miss?I never miss any meetings.

Anyone using a Mac in the workplace knows its a productivity powerhouse. Not only do Macs run business staples like Microsoft Office and Googles suite of online software but, thanks to Apple Silicon chips, modern Macs are absolute workhorses capable of driving advanced design, media creation, and scientific apps with ease.But a Mac is more than just the apps it runs when it comes to productivity. The operating system that powers the Mac, macOS, is packed with little productivity features throughout. Some of my favorites, which users often overlook, are found in the Mac menu barthat srtip that runs along the top of the screen and lets you access both individual app commands (such as File>Save) and shortcuts to system-wide tools.Here are the three menu bar shortcuts I find most invaluable during the workday.Passwords on the menu barIn September, with the release of macOS Sequoia and iOS 18, Apple introduced the new Passwords app. Passwords is a password manager that allows you to organize and sync your passwords across Mac, iPhone, iPad, and PC. And if you use multifactor authentication (MFA) for your online accounts, Passwords is where you can find the six-digit codes you need to enter whenever you log into an account.Passwords is nearly identical on the Mac and iPhone, but, the macOS version of the app has a hidden feature that the iOS version does not: a Passwords menu bar shortcut. Click on the key icon in the menu bar, and verify with your fingerprint or password in the small drop-down menu that appears. Youll then have access to a quick searchable database of all your passwords and verification codes, no matter which app you are currently working in.Clicking on any password entry in the menu will display all its details, including the username, password, and verification codes associated with the account. You can copy any of those items to your clipboard for pasting into other fields. I use the Passwords menu bar shortcut to quickly copy and paste my VPNs MFA code when the app requests it.Apple hides the Passwords menu bar shortcut by default. You can turn it on by opening the Passwords app, selecting Passwords>Settings from the menu bar, and checking the Show Passwords in Menu Bar box in the settings window.FocusFocus is the name of a feature on Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watch that lets you quickly silence distractions or receive notifications from only those you want to hear from. It is a great way to use your iPhone as both a dedicated work phone and personal phone. On the Mac, Focus mode lacks some advanced iPhone features, such as customizable home screen layouts based on the Focus you select. However, it is still beneficial for silencing notifications from specific apps and people while you are working.But activating Focus mode is hidden in a Control Center menu by default on the Mac. But you can put the Focus control in the Macs menu bar so it is front and center and just a click away when you want to enter or switch into a Focus. From the menu bar, click the crescent moon icon and then select any Focus you want. My new favorite focus is called Reduce Interruptions. It uses Apple Intelligences AI to determine which notifications should be allowed to interrupt you while silencing the ones it deems unimportant.By default, the Focus menu bar shortcut is hidden from the menu bar when not in use. But you can force it to always show in the menu bar so you can easily activate a Focus mode. To get the Focus shortcut to appear in the menu bar, open the System Settings app on your Mac, click Control Center, and by the Focus icon, select Always Show in Menu Bar from the drop-down menu.Apple Intelligence-powered Siri with ChatGPT accessSiri has long been a Mac staple, but thanks to Apple Intelligence, its received a massive upgrade. Siri is now smarter than ever, and you can interact with it via text instead of speaking, making it much less awkward to use in the workplace. In macOS 15.2, out now, Siri also gains ChatGPT support.This means that Siri is now an incredibly useful productivity tooland one you can access directly from the Macs menu bar. Simply click on the Apple Intelligence Siri logo in the menu bar to activate Siri. By default, Siri will wait for your spoken query. But if you click the Talk to Siri field that appears below the menu bar, it will change to a Type to Siri text entry field. You can then silently type your query to Siri.One of the best new Apple Intelligence-powered Siri features in macOS 15 is that Siri now contains robust knowledge about Apples own products and software. So, if your boss asks you to send him that Word document as a PDF and you dont know how to convert the file format, you can just ask Siri, How do I save a document as a PDF? and Siri will give you step by step instructions right below the menu bar.To make sure the Siri shortcut is showing in your menu bar, open the System Settings app on your Mac, click Control Center, and by the Siri icon, select Show in Menu Bar from the drop-down menu.

Kendra Adachi is the host ofThe Lazy Genius Podcastand theNew York Timesbestselling author of two books,The Lazy Genius WayandThe Lazy Genius Kitchen.The goal of excellent time management shouldnt be to achieve maximum productivity and perfection. That approach is a recipe for fleeting satisfaction amid anxiety and shame. To manage time without being at its mercy, learn to plan in a way that fills you with contentedness and confidence every single day. Learn to plan not for a good life someday but for good living today.Below, Adachi shares five key insights from her new book,The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius.Listen to the audio versionread by Adachi herselfin the Next Big Idea App.1. A good life doesnt have to be great to matter.In America, greatness, hustle, opportunity, and potential are in the fabric of our national identity. The American dream tells us to chase after and fight for what we want as we constantly seek to grow in greatness and prosperity. We should all be masters of our craft and our lives. Theres nothing wrong with that. In fact, some personalities are suited for the pursuit of greatness, some jobs require it, and some people genuinely love it. Trying to master something is a beautiful thing, and we all benefit from the mastery of others. But there is an expectation that if youre not always trying to be great, youre wasting your life. I disagree.The reality is that most of us live fairly average lives, but rather than celebrating and cultivating contentment and valuing beauty in the ordinary, were told to keep hustling. Make every minute of every day count toward an invisible future that you have reverse-engineered and are constantly striving to bring to fruition. If you cant do it, youre considered not disciplined or motivated enough.Thats a dangerous paradigm to live under. The future is beautiful. Mastery is, too, but I dont think that is where we can begin.2. Youre allowed to start with who and where you are today.I have read many time management books over the years. I have bought many planners. I have gone into so many Januarys fiercely optimistic about what I would make better and accomplish because the future felt bright. But just like we can have an unbalanced obsession with mastery, we can have an unbalanced obsession with the future.It is good and honorable to care about your future, plan for it, and take steps now to ensure it looks a certain way later. But youre allowed to start with who and where you are today. Youre allowed to focus only on today without any consideration of the future. You can make decisions today that only serve today, and not later. Not every choice, task, or habit has to be in service to future dreams. They can, but they dont have to.I remember feeling the difficulty of this in my early 30s when I had two tiny kids. I was in my peak time management era, trying to get every bit of information I could on how to be the architect of my future. That message communicates a false sense of security that I am in full control of my life. I dont know if youve ever spent an entire day with tiny children and then another day after that and then many, many more. You have very little control over what is going to happen. If the purpose of each day is to build on itself to serve an ideal, invisible future, those ordinary days that many people (especially women) have for months or years at a time feel like they are not enough. If thats you, you might experience a deep sense of loss, resentment, and insufficiency when you look at your life.In this pursuit of greatness and an invisible future, we often leave behind our humanity. We ignore the needs of our bodies, families, mental health, and peace. We dont prioritize rest and play. We call ourselves lazy when we arent optimizing every moment. There is this undercurrent that the best version of us is in the future, and we should focus on that person rather than who we are right now.In the current productivity paradigm, a contented life full of kindness, patience, and reasonable choices that honor who and where you are today is looked upon as an exceptionas settling, as giving up. Its a stopgap until you have enough energy, resources, discipline, and motivation to pursue greatness once again.I believe you are allowed to start with who and where you are today, not as a second measure, excuse, or necessity before real work begins, but as the foundation for everything. When you start with who and where you are today, it invites a new goal.3. The goal is not greatness. Its integration.Instead of greatness being the ultimate goal, what if its integration? What if its personal wholeness, groundedness, a steady stance in the face of any circumstance? Instead of reflecting on what happened during the day, what if you reflected on how you experienced it?One of the most pivotal moments for me in this paradigm shift was about ten years ago when I was home with two small children. I was reading a time management book geared towards mothers, and the author described two separate days. The first was a day of chaos. Her girls didnt nap; they threw their food; the errands were a bust; and the mom didnt get a chance to sit down, let alone shower. It was the quintessential image of being a hot mess mom. Then she described the next day when her children napped simultaneously. She completed all the errands, looked put together while doing it, and made dinner ahead of time. When her husband came home, surprisingly, with some clients from out of town to join their family for dinner, she was ready. I remember reading the account of these two days and anticipating that her next line would be something like, And both of those days matter. But thats not what she said. She said, And that day [the second one] was the proudest I ever felt as a mother and wife. I remember reading that like it happened yesterday. My heart sank. My confidence plummeted. I wanted permission to be myself, content with and proud of just getting through a hard day. That is when I realized I had a different goal. That authors goal was greatness. Mine is integration.When your entire life is oriented around being the truest version of yourself, no matter what happens, you are a lighthouse in the storm. You are an oak in the wind. You are the stubborn will of a toddler refusing to eat their peas. The strength that comes from the goal of personal integration is markedly different than the strength that comes from the goal of greatness. One is lifelong. The other is fickle. As my friend and poet David Gate wrote, Hustle makes for a terrible compass.4. Your season of life matters.We often see life as one long line from A to B. Ideally, there should be no speedbumps, detours, or changed minds during the journey. There always will be, but our intent is to avoid them at all costs. Stay the course.My life is not at all like that.Your season of life matters. If you are caring for an aging parent, adding a new baby to your family, changing jobs or homes, dealing with a chronic health condition, or struggling through a particularly tough season of mental illness, the way you manage your time and live your life must change. Its not laziness or plugging a leak. Honoring your seasons of life matters. Its critical to living a life of kindness and contentment.You no longer have to put your head down and fight through a difficult time to maintain the priorities other people have placed on you, particularly the priority of greatness. When integration is the goal, you see your season of life not with resentment but with compassion. You can be who and where you are today because you recognize that it is a seasonit is not forever, and you will honor it now.5. Its more valuable to learn how to pivot than how to plan.The name of my book isThe PLAN, so yes, Im aware of the irony of this last insight. I love planning, and plans are valuable. However, we are far more likely to require skills of pivoting than those of planning.Daily life is full of obstacles. We create a plan to get through the day, but when circumstances thwart those plans, we stand our ground, force rigidity (sometimes calling it discipline), and dont respond kindly to whatever is happening. That posture is harmful and unnecessary.Pivoting is a required skill, and we need to learn how to do it better. Rather than seeking out new and better ways to plan, prepare for the day, and create systems that succeed and routines that never break down, try putting some of that energy into learning to pivot. Be resilient and flexible when plans fall apart. Be nimble and compassionate. When you no longer pursue greatness first but instead honor integration and who you are today, your access to a skillset of pivoting is a beautifully wide door.This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.

Figuring out whos creditworthy is getting more complicated, and millions of Americans are stuck with thin files or are considered credit invisible. That means theyre struggling to borrow or access credit, while lenders miss out on potential customers.To tackle this, credit-scoring companies are stepping up and evolving.Recently, for example, last year, FICO launched a new program to help expand the use of alternative data for credit scoring. But years before that, Experian fired an opening salvo when it introduced Experian Boost, which helps consumers improve their credit scores by tapping into their payment histories for rent, insurance, and even streaming platforms.And now, the man behind Experian Boost, Jeff Softley, is helping transform Experians consumer business further, turning the company once known almost exclusively for credit reporting into what he describes as every consumers financial copilot.Part of that strategy is the recent launch of Experian Smart Money, which, like Experian Boost, is a service devised to help consumers build their credit. But Smart Money allows them to do so without taking on debt. Instead, it works by having users pay their bills with a debit card that works in tandem with Boost, using eligible transactions to potentially increase a customers credit score.Thats really just the beginning, says Softley, who is on a mission to broaden Experians role in consumers financial lives. For some who have rightly grown skeptical of credit reporting bureaus, that may sound questionable, as those bureaus (Experian and its key cohorts, Equifax and TransUnion) have had their share of issues in the past. Experian, however, believes it has worked out a model for creating new services that have put it on another level relative to its competitors.Its a data businessWe were a very narrow business, delivering credit reports and scores to consumers, Softley says of Experians former iteration. We were the front end of a credit bureau. And today, its a totally different business. Its a data business.Reams of data are allowing Experian to step into its new skin. Softley notes that a decade-and-a-half ago, when fintech companies were popping up left and right, making it obvious that one-dimensional financial firms were going to need to innovate or get left behind, Experian found itself in no-mans-land. The company had experienced 16 straight quarters of decline, and leadership was antsy to find new ways to expand or evolve.So Softley says they took a small team, put them in a different office, and had them build a different platform. Thats the platform we use today. That new platform involved moving away from a focus on supplying credit reports through FreeCreditReport.comyou may remember the catchy FreeCreditReport.com commercials, which were countered by the FTCs own commercialsand double-down on Experian as a brand.Softley says that meant building new products and services that were unique and relevant, and above all, actually served a purpose. Thats how Experian Boost came about. It was in its conceptual stage in the early 2000s, he says, on a sticky note.Spirit of 08The financial crisis and Great Recession gave Experian an opportunity to put its plans for evolution into action. During that time, new needs emerged, and new opportunities emerge if youre listening to the consumer, says Softley.And Experian was listening. In focus groups and interviews, consumers were saying that they didnt want to be punished for their past financial behavior via a bad credit score, but instead wanted to be rewarded for what they were doing now and in the future.It was an ideal time to get the ball rolling on Boost, which gave consumers a sense of agency and control over their credit scores and rewarded them for sharing their information related to their finances and expenses. Still, the backend tech and infrastructure also needed to be in place to be able to aggregate the data, crunch it, and spit out an updated credit score. Experian had the ability and manpower to do it, so it was off to the races.It was a watershed moment, Softley recalls. It was one of the first products that all of Experian built because it drew from so many capabilities across the organization. Experian tested it out, and it actually became a business case, and the business case became the platform rebuild.From there, the company started to zero in on developing and launching products that allow you to leverage your data to open up financial opportunitiesBoost helped create the blueprint to intertwine data and technology.Industry experts agree that Boost did push the envelope for consumer-facing credit products. Experian was the first to come out with plain-English credit reports back in the day, says Gerri Detweiler, a credit expert and the former director of Bankcard Holders of America, a nonprofit consumer credit and advocacy organization. So while Boost is an innovation, theyve been at the forefront of the consumer market for some time.Detweiler says that Boost is also notable because it raised the visibility of alternative data for consumers, or their ability to leverage it to their advantage. Its helped open up the ecosystem, she says. There are some criticisms and limitations, she adds. Thats truea WalletHub ranking of credit-builder products released in August 2024 ranked Boost 15 out of 20, and noted that it didnt report negative information to creditors, which may be problematic.Detweiler says that consumers (and creditors) should take that into account, and realize that Boost or similar services are not going to be a cure-all for people with thin or bad credit. But it will open the door to other products that can further help people rebuild their credit.A new trajectoryThat process has landed Experian with its current development model: Finding a consumer need, determining the best way to help them, and then creating a product or service that acts as a solution. Some trouble spots that the company could be looking at wading into include finding ways to help people buy homes or cars, or even developing tools for small business owners.But there are also areas that the company likely wont explore, or at least not right now. That could be because the technology simply hasnt caught up to the moment yet, which was the case with Boost, which ultimately incubated for a decade or so before the technology existed to create a fast, effective product.In the meantime, Experian is working on new AI features, such as a new virtual assistant. That will play a bigger role in 2025, with the aim of becoming a full-blown financial copilot for customers. Softley says that everything the company is doing now, though, can be traced back to the shift of thinking of itself as a data company first and foremost.Viewing ourselves as a data company put us on a different trajectory, he says. And this next chapter is all about providing financial power to all consumers.

One of the benefits of rewatching your favorite holiday films year after year is getting the opportunity to take a deeper look into the stories. Were all familiar with overt themes about how Christmas is a time for giving, togetherness, and Red Ryder carbine-action, 200-shot range model air riflesbut the hidden messages in these movies can also provide some surprisingly cogent financial advice. In particular, the Grinch and other Christmas movie villains teach some of the most useful lessons about money. Heres how the worst characters in your beloved Christmas movies can change how you look at money.The Grinch reminds us to ask ourselves whyHes a mean one, that Mr. Grinch. He steals Christmas just so the Whos down in Whoville cant have it. While the noise the Whos make during their holiday celebrations could be an understandable complaint, there is no real reason for him to take out his frustration by snatching the roast beast (and stockings, ornaments, and other non-noisemaking holiday accouterments).The Grinch should have questioned his own motives when little Cindy Lou Who finds him stealing her familys Christmas tree and asks him, Sandy Claus, why? But our small-hearted anti-hero comes up with a lie instead of actually engaging with Cindy Lous question. However, the innocent query gets to the heart of whats wrong with the Grinchs plan.The Grinch is looking to hoard Christmas because he doesnt like that other people enjoy it. His why is both inherently selfish and short-sighted, since Christmas joy arrives in Whoville anyway, even without presents, decorations, or food. He didnt actually want what he stole, and his theft didnt do anything to stop the singing. Had he asked himself why, he might have realized what really wanted was to not be quite so alone.While none of us wants to think were Grinch-like, its easy for us to treat money like he treats Christmas. Those of us who have enough may still want more without questioning why we want it. Getting more money can seem like an end in itself, but that may mean we dont think through what it costs us to keep acquiring more, and we dont figure out what it is we really want.Mr. Potter teaches us that the power of money has limitsA key figure in the long line of Chirstmas baddies that includes Scrooge and the Grinch, the villain of the 1946 classic Its a Wonderful Life is the heartless Mr. Potter, who owns the bank and most of the town of Bedford Falls. George Baileys Building & Loan is the only thing keeping Mr. Potter from completely dominating and destroying the small town.In one of his more subtle attempts to dissolve the Building & Loan, Potter offers George a job for $20,000 per year (over $320,000 in 2024 dollars). While George is momentarily dazzled by the huge dollar amount, he quickly recognizes that taking the job offer will mean the downfall of the Building & Loan.Later in the film, Georges Uncle Billy loses the Building & Loans $8,000 cash deposit (nearly $130,000 in 2024 dollars) by accidentally handing it over to Mr. Potter. When George approaches Mr. Potter to ask for a loan to replace the money, offering his small life insurance policy as collateral, Potter is delighted to point out that George is worth more money dead than alive.Mr. Potter believes throughout the film that he should be able to get what he wants because he has money. He tries to entice George Bailey with a huge salary early on, and later assumes that he has George and his Building & Loan over a barrel because of the missing deposit. But in both cases, the power he wields with his money is no match for Georges idealism and morals and the respect the rest of the town has for him. The money Potter wields cant deliver him the Building & Loan because there is a limit to the power of his wealth.(That said, Mr. Potter does successfully get away with stealing the $8,000. Unfortunately, justice does tend to work differently for those with money.)Hans Gruber shows us corporate greed is a type of terrorismAlan Rickmans portrayal of the faux-terrorist Hans Gruber in Die Hard is part of what makes this film as delightfully rewatchable as How the Grinch Stole Christmas or Its a Wonderful Life. Grubers team claims to take the party guests at Nakatomi Plaza hostage for ideological reasons, but they are actually after the $640 million in bearer bonds (over $17 billion in 2024 dollars) hidden in the buildings vault.Throughout the film, the Nakatomi Corporation executives hosting the office party are compared to Gruber. The sleazy Harry Ellis tries to befriend the terrorists by telling them, Hey, business is business. You use a gun, I use a fountain pen, whats the difference? Similarly, Gruber remarks on Joseph Takagis John Phillips suit, saying that he has two himself. The audience is invited to see the parallels between the terrorists and the businessmen.The characterization of protagonist John McClane as a regular Joe compared with Gruber and the businessmen helps reinforce the similarities between the terrorists and the corporate executives. McClane is a New York cop who is uncomfortable in a limousine and resentful of the gold Rolex watch his estranged wife Holly received as a gift. He spends the film fighting the terrorists while also trying to win Holly back from her new life and corporate career.When Gruber grabs onto Hollys Rolex in the finale, the connection between terrorism and corporate greed goes from metaphor to reality. The watch represents the Nakatomi Corporation, since it was a gift to Holly from her workplace, and the greedy Gruber grabs onto it in a last-ditch effort to kill Holly and McClane. Only by unclasping the watchreleasing his wife from the thrall of corporate greedcan McClane kill the terrorist.Learning from villainsCurling up with a classic Christmas movie is a delightful way to spend a snowy evening. But while you watch, remember that even the characters you most love to hate can teach you something unexpected.In addition to letting your heart grow three sizes, remind yourself to ask why you sometimes act Grinchly. While you feel the warm truth that no one is poor who has friends, take the time to be thankful that moneys power is limited. And as you enjoy the seasonal cries of Yippee-Ki-Yay, remember theres a thin line between greed that destroys via business practices and greed that destroys via terror plots.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a set of tax cuts Donald Trump signed into law during his first term as president, will expire on Dec. 31, 2024. As Trump and Republicans prepare to negotiate new tax cuts in 2025, its worth gleaning lessons from the president-elects first set of cuts.The 2017 cuts were the most extensive revision to the Internal Revenue Code since the Ronald Reagan administration. The changes it imposed range from the tax that corporations pay on their foreign income to limits on the deductions individuals can take for their state and local tax payments.Trump promised middle-class benefits at the time, but in practice more than 80% of the cuts went to corporations, tax partnerships, and high-net-worth individuals. The cost to the U.S. deficit was hugea total increase of $1.9 trillion from 2018 to 2028, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. The tax advantage to the middle class was small.Advantages for Black Americans were smaller still. As a scholar of race and U.S. income taxation, I have analyzed the impact of Trumps tax cuts. I found that the law has disadvantaged middle-income, low-income and Black taxpayers in several ways.Cuts worsened disparitiesThese results are not new. They were present nearly 30 years ago when my colleague William Whitford and I used U.S. Census Bureau data to show that Black taxpayers paid more federal taxes than white taxpayers with the same income. In large part thats because the legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, and structural racism keeps Black people from owning homes.The federal income tax is full of advantages for home ownership that many Black taxpayers are unable to reach. These benefits include the ability to deduct home mortgage interest and local property taxes, and the right to avoid taxes on up to $500,000 of profit on the sale of a home.Its harder for middle-class Black people to get a mortgage than it is for low-income white people. This is true even when Black Americans with high credit scores are compared with white Americans with low credit scores.When Black people do get mortgages, they are charged higher rates than their white counterparts.Trump did not create these problems. But instead of closing these income and race disparities, his 2017 tax cuts made them worse.Black taxpayers paid higher taxes than white taxpayers who matched them in income, employment, marriage and other significant factors.Broken promises, broken trustFairness is an article of faith in American tax policy. A fair tax structure means that those earning similar incomes should pay similar taxes and stipulates that taxes should not increase income or wealth disparities.Trumps tax cuts contradict both principles.Proponents of Trumps cuts argued the corporate rate cut would trickle down to all Americans. This is a foundational belief of supply side economics, a philosophy that President Ronald Reagan made popular in the 1980s.From the Reagan administration on, every tax cut for the rich has skewed to the wealthy.Just like prior trickle down plans, Trumps corporate tax cuts did not produce higher wages or increased household income. Instead, corporations used their extra cash to pay dividends to their shareholders and bonuses to their executives.Over that same period, the bottom 90% of wage earners saw no gains in their real wages. Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO, a labor group, estimates that 51% of the corporate tax cuts went to business owners and 10% went to the top five highest-paid senior executives in each company. Fully 38% went to the top 10% of wage earners.In other words, the income gap between wealthy Americans and everyone else has gotten much wider under Trumps tax regime.Stock market inequalityTrumps tax cuts also increased income and wealth disparities by race because those corporate tax savings have gone primarily to wealthy shareholders rather than spreading throughout the population.The reasons are simple. In the U.S., shareholders are mostly corporations, pension funds and wealthy individuals. And wealthy people in the U.S. are almost invariably white.Sixty-six percent of white families own stocks, while less than 40% of Black families and less than 30% of Hispanic families do. Even when comparing Black and white families with the same income, the race gap in stock ownership remains.These disparities stem from the same historical disadvantages that result in lower Black homeownership rates. Until the Civil War, virtually no Black person could own property or enter into a contract. After the Civil War, Black codeslaws that specifically controlled and oppressed Black peopleforced free Black Americans to work as farmers or servants.State prohibitions on Black people owning property, and public and private theft of Black-owned land, kept Black Americans from accumulating wealth.Health care hitThat said, the Trump tax cuts hurt low-income taxpayers of all races.One way they did so was by abolishing the individual mandate requiring all Americans to have basic health insurance. The Affordable Care Act, passed under President Barack Obama, launched new, government-subsidized health plans and penalized people for not having health insurance.Department of the Treasury data shows almost 50 million Americans were covered by the Affordable Care Act since 2014. After the individual mandate was revoked, between 3 million and 13 million fewer people purchased health insurance in 2020.Ending the mandate triggered a large drop in health insurance coverage, and research shows it was primarily lower-income people who stopped buying subsidized insurance from the Obamacare exchanges. These are the same people who are the most vulnerable to financial disaster from unpaid medical bills.Going without insurance hurt all low-income Americans. But studies suggest the drop in Black Americans coverage under Trumps plan outpaced that of white Americans. The rate of uninsured Black Americans rose from 10.7% in 2016 to 11.5% in 2018, following the mandates repeal.The consumer price index conundrumThe Trump tax cuts also altered how the Internal Revenue Service calculates inflation adjustments for over 60 different provisions. These include the earned income tax credit and the child tax creditboth of which provide cash to low-wage workersand the wages that must pay Social Security taxes.Previously, the IRS used the consumer price index for urban consumers, which tracks rising prices by comparing the cost of the same goods as they rise or fall, to calculate inflation. The government then used that inflation number to adjust Social Security payments and earned income tax credit eligibility. It used the same figure to set the amount of income that is taxed at a given rate.The Trump tax cuts ordered the IRS to calculate inflation adjustments using the chained consumer price index for urban consumers instead.The difference between these two indexes is that the second one assumes people substitute cheaper goods as prices rise. For example, the chained consumer price index assumes shoppers will buy pork instead of beef if beef prices go up, easing the impact of inflation on a familys overall grocery prices.The IRS makes smaller inflation adjustments based on that assumption. But low-income neighborhoods have less access to the kind of budget-friendly options envisioned by the chained consumer price index.And since even middle-class Black people are more likely than poor white people to live in low-income neighborhoods, Black taxpayers have been hit harder by rising prices.What cost $1 in 2018 now costs $1.26. Thats a painful hike that Black families are less able to avoid.The imminent expiration of the Trump tax cuts gives the upcoming GOP-led Congress the opportunity to undertake a thorough reevaluation of their effects. By prioritizing policies that address the well-known disparities exacerbated by these recent tax changes, lawmakers can work toward a fairer tax system that helps all Americans.Beverly Moran is a professor emerita of law at Vanderbilt University.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The choking game has potentially deadly consequences, as players are challenged to temporarily strangle themselves by restricting oxygen to the brain. It sounds terrifying, but rough estimates suggest that about 10% of U.S. teenagers may have played this type of game at least once.Theres more, unfortunately: The skull breaker challenge, the Tide Pod challenge, and car surfing are but a few of the deadly games popularized through social media, particularly on Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X. Many of these games go back more than a generation, and some are resurging.The consequences of these so-called games can be deadly. The skull breaker challenge, for example, involves two people kicking the legs out from under a third person, causing them to fall and potentially suffer lasting injuries. Swallowing detergent pods can result in choking and serious illness. A fall from car surfing can lead to severe head trauma.Coming up with an exact number of adolescent deaths from these activities is difficult. Data is lacking, partly because public health databases do not track these activities wellsome deaths may be misclassified as suicidesand partly because much of the existing research is dated.A 2008 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 82 U.S. children over a 12-year period died after playing the choking game. About 87% of the participants were male, most were alone, and their average age was just over 13. Obviously, new, updated research is needed to determine the severity of the problem.Peer pressure and the developing brainWe are a professor of educational neuroscience and a PhD student in educational psychology. Both of us study how children regulate their behaviors and emotions, why teenagers are particularly vulnerable to dangerous games, and how social media amplifies their risks.Risk-taking is a necessary part of human development, and parents, peers, schools and the broader community play an integral role in guiding and moderating risk-taking. Children are drawn to, and often encouraged to engage in, activities with a degree of social or physical risk, like riding a bike, asking someone for a date or learning how to drive.Those are healthy risks. They let children explore boundaries and develop risk-management skills. One of those skills is scaffolding. An example of scaffolding is an adult helping a child climb a tree by initially guiding them, then gradually stepping back as the child gains confidence and climbs independently.Information-gathering is another skill, like asking if swallowing a spoonful of cinnamon is dangerous. A third skill is taking appropriate safety measuressuch as surfing with friends rather than going by yourself, or wearing a helmet and having someone nearby when skateboarding.The perfect stormDuring adolescence, the brain is growing and developing in ways that affect maturity, particularly within the circuits responsible for decision-making and emotional regulation. At the same time, hormonal changes increase the drive for reward and social feedback.All of these biological events are happening as teenagers deal with increasingly complex social relationships while simultaneously trying to gain greater autonomy. The desire for social validation, to impress peers or to attract a potential romantic interest, coupled with less adult supervision, increases the likelihood of participating in risky behaviors. An adolescent might participate in these antics to impress someone they have a crush on, or fit in with others.Thats why the combination of teenagers and social media can be a perfect stormand the ideal environment for the proliferation of these dangerous activities.Social media shapes brain circuitsSocial media platforms are driven by algorithms engineered to promote engagement. So they feed you what evokes a strong emotional reaction, and they seem to prioritize sensationalism over safety.Because teens strongly react to emotional content, theyre more likely to view, like and share videos of these dangerous activities. The problem has become worse as young people spend more time on social mediaby some estimates, about five hours a day.This may be why mood disorders among young people have risen sharply since 2012, about the time when social media became widespread. These mood disorders, like depression and conduct issues, more than double the likelihood of playing dangerous games. It becomes a vicious cycle.Rather than parents or real-life friends, TikTok, YouTube, and other apps and websites are shaping a childs brain circuits related to risk management. Social media is replacing what was once the communitys role in guiding risk-taking behavior.Protecting teens while encouraging healthy risk-takingMonitoring what teens watch on social media is extraordinarily difficult, and adults often are ill-equipped to help. But there are some things parents can do. Unexplained marks on the neck, bloodshot eyes or frequent headaches may indicate involvement in the choking game. Some social media sites, such as YouTube, are sensitive to community feedback and will take down a video that is flagged as dangerous.As parents keep an eye out for unhealthy risks, they should encourage their children to take healthy ones, such as joining a new social group or participating in outdoor activities. These healthy risks help children learn from mistakes, build resilience, and improve risk-management skills. The more they can assess and manage potential dangers, the less likely they will engage in truly unhealthy behaviors.But many parents have increasingly adopted another route. They shield their children from the healthy challenges the real world presents to them. When that happens, children tend to underestimate more dangerous risks, and they may be more likely to try them.This issue is systemic, involving schools, government, and technology companies alike, each bearing a share of responsibility. However, the dynamic between parents and children also plays a pivotal role. Rather than issuing a unilateral no to risk-taking, its crucial for parents to engage actively in their childrens healthy risk-taking from an early age.This helps build a foundation where trust is not assumed but earned, enabling children to feel secure in discussing their experiences and challenges in the digital world, including dangerous activities both online and offline. Such mutual engagement can support the development of a childs healthy risk assessment skills, providing a robust basis for tackling problems together.Steven Wolterning is an associate professor of educational psychology at Texas A&M University.Paige Williams is a doctoral student in educational psychology at Texas A&M University.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClubin your inbox?Subscribeto theResiClubnewsletter.While homebuyers and home sellers still see headlines about the housing market being a sellers market and national home prices reaching all-time highs, a deeper look reveals that several regional housing markets have shifted, giving homebuyers some power.During the pandemic housing boom, from summer 2020 to spring 2022, the number of active homes for sale in most housing markets plummeted as homebuyer demand quickly absorbed almost everything that came up for sale. Fast-forward to the current housing market, and the places where active inventory has rebounded to 2019 levels (due to strained affordability suppressing buyer demand) are now the very places where homebuyers hold the most power.In November 2024, national active inventory for sale was still 17% below November 2019 levels. However, more and more regional markets are surpassing that threshold.Among the nations 400 largest metro area housing markets, 59 markets ended November 2024 with more active homes for sale than they had in pre-pandemic November 2019. These are the places heading into 2025 where homebuyers will be able to find the most leverage or market balance.Many of the softest housing markets, where homebuyers have gained leverage, are located in Gulf Coast and Mountain West regions. These areas were home to many of the nations top pandemic boomtowns, which experienced significant home price growth during the pandemic housing boom, which stretched housing fundamentals far beyond local income levels.When pandemic-fueled migration slowed and mortgage rates spiked, markets like Punta Gorda, Florida, and Austin, Texas, faced challenges as they had to rely on local incomes to sustain frothy home prices. The housing market softening in these areas was further accelerated by the abundance of new home supply in the pipeline across the Sun Belt. Builders in these regions are often willing to reduce prices or make affordability adjustments to maintain sales. These adjustments in the new construction market also create a cooling effect on the resale market, as some buyers who might have opted for an existing home shift their focus to new homes where deals are still available.In contrast, many Northeast and Midwest markets were less reliant on pandemic migration and have less new home construction in progress. With lower exposure to that demand shock, active inventory in these Midwest and Northeast regions has remained relatively tight, keeping the advantage in the hands of home sellers.Generally speaking, housing markets where inventory (i.e., active listings) has returned to pre-pandemic levels have experienced weaker home price growth (or outright declines) over the past 24 months. Conversely, housing markets where inventory remains far below pre-pandemic levels have, generally speaking, experienced stronger home price growth over the past 24 months.

Andrew Ng came up with a theory almost 15 years ago: What if Google, the internet giant, thought of machines like the brain and trained neural networks on mass amounts of data using computational power in an attempt to lead to artificial general intelligence?Google bit on Ngs line of thinking, and in 2011 he helped launch Google Brain, one of the most ambitious artificial intelligence programs at the time. Flash forward: Ng has cemented his status as one of the most respected figures in computer science.Earlier this year, Ngs AI Fund, which backs small teams of experts using AI to solve key problems, said it planned to raise over $120 million for its second fund. A June filing with the SEC showed that the fund had amassed $69.75 million from 13 partners.Ng launched the AI Fund in 2018 with $175 million, and initial backers included Sequoia and Softbank Group. Its made 43 investments to date, according to Crunchbase data.In April, Amazon also named Ng to its corporate board of directors, a further sign the tech giant wants to advance its profile in the space. In addition to his time at Google, Ng helped build out Baidus AI development.Part of Ngs efforts have been getting more people to understand the field of artificial intelligence.Ng has been working for years to democratize deep learning by teaching more than 8 million students through online courses through projects like Coursera and DeepLearning.AI. (More than one in 1,000 persons on the planet have taken an AI course from me, Ng tells Fast Company.)Ngs name has come up again and again in the past year as Ive spoken with people in the tech world. He is not only, as Fast Company put it in 2017, one of the most important people in AI but an AI superstar.This is all to say, Ng can be considered central to AIs future. Now, Ngs thinking about how agentic AI could shift the intelligence space.Earlier this year, Ng put out a prediction through DeepLearning.AI saying that agentic AIessentially, AI-powered agents that can autonomously solve taskswas going to be a big focus in the tech space in the coming years as it would contribute even more to progress in AI than scaling up large language models would.It was a slightly controversial prediction, he says. To be sure, agentic workflows are starting to cement their status as the next keyword.Google, for example, recently announced a slew of agentic prototypes. Microsoft has Copilots to help businesses automate tasks. Anthropics Claude released a feature that lets users create their own AI assistant.Agentic workflows have really taken off and are driving meaningful business results, Ng says. What Im seeing is that it feels like an early and accelerating phase of development of agentic workflows where more and more technology companies are trying to build platforms to better support agentic workflows and more and more applications are also being built using it.This story is part ofAI 20, our monthlong series of profiles spotlighting the most interesting technologists, entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, and creative thinkers shaping the world of artificial intelligence.

Alex Morgan doesnt like the word retirement. Ive been saying post-playing career, she said, because retirement makes it sound like Im old. Its definitely more of a transition.Morgan, 35, announced her retirement in September, along with the news that shes pregnant with her second child. In her 15-year career, Morgan was prolific on the pitch, scoring 123 goals for the U.S. Womens National Team (fifth-most all-time) and winning two World Cups, an Olympic gold medal, four Concacaf Player of the Year awards, and many more accolades along the way.Perhaps more importantly, her career spanned a period of meteoric growth in womens sports that saw breakthroughs in gender equality, with Morgan at the fore of some of the most crucial efforts. In 2016, she was part of a group of USWNT players who filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over inequality in pay and treatment in U.S. womens soccer. In 2022, the results of that filing required men and women to be paid an equal rate for all friendlies and tournaments, including the World Cup. She also fought for anti-harassment policies in the National Womens Soccer League, helping transform team-player relations for a league that eventually grew to set valuation and attendance records in 2024.Morgan recently talked to Fast Company about her retirementwhat it looks like for her, how shes navigated the process, and how shes continuing to support current and future generations of female athletes, on and off the pitch.Fast Company: Its been nearly four months since you announced your retirement. What has life been like, and what does retirement look like for you?Alex Morgan: For me, its been about getting into venture capitaldoing a lot more investing and building my personal portfolio. Ive been doing that quietly for the last four or five years. I have about 15 companies that Ive invested in spanning sports, health tech, and consumer goods. Now, I have my own fund alongside my husband, which has been really exciting, and its something that Ive been able to dedicate a lot more time to.FAST COMPANY: You mentioned you were investing in sports. As an investor, where do you see the most opportunity right now?AM: I think were seeing an incredible opportunity in the WNBA and the NWSL. The valuations of these teams and leagues are continuing to increase. And were seeing it not only here, but in womens sports overseas as well. So what excites me most about my next chapter is that even though Im not able to be on the field, Im able to uplift and support womens sports leagues and teams around the world.FAST COMPANY: You say youre able to support womens sports around the world. How so? What are you doing personally to support these teams and leagues in the U.S. and abroad?AM: I think its an all-around approach. Through my media company, TOGETXER, were working to uplift these women and give them opportunities to share their stories, whether thats through podcasts or short or long-form content. Then theres the investing side and the mentorship and advising roles, which Im still refining to figure out how I can have the biggest impact. Im also continuing to support the NWSL and looking for ways to be most impactful, whether thats with my former team, the San Diego Wave, or the league as a whole. Ive been a big advocate of the NWSL, playing in every season since its inception in 2013.FAST COMPANY: Whats it been like for you to witness the NWSLs tremendous growth over the last 12 years?AM: Its incredible to witness, and to have been part of it. Things really started to turn when we forced the league to be more professional with their standards in 2020 and 2021, pushing the league to adopt anti-harassment policies and regulations that really, at their core, protected players. There was sometimes a power imbalance between coaches or higher-ups and the players, so we wanted players to feel safe and protected and to have control over where they wanted to gowhat city and market they wanted to play in. We wanted them to feel like their contracts were safe for that year and that they couldnt be waived tomorrow and have their contract cut and their [team-provided] housing taken away. I think professionalizing things like that took the league to a whole new level.Now, with the return on investment being so much larger, were seeing all these owners and funds coming in that I never would have imaginedlike Sixth Street [investing $125 million] with Bay FC and Bob Iger and Willow Bay with Angel City FC [valued at $250 million]. Its incredible to see these people not only wanting a piece of the upside in womens soccer but also believing in its trajectory. The players have put in so much to make this work, and seeing it actually successful now is really excitingand validating.FAST COMPANY: You say this is more of a transition than a retirement. Having navigated the process, what advice would you give someone who is going through a similar process of retirement or career transition?AM: The biggest thing Ive learned is that nothing is a steady incline. There were peaks and valleys in my soccer career, and I have them post-career. Getting into venture involves a lot of learning, difficult days, and questioning yourself. Then you get a small win and you celebrate that, and that gives you the motivation to do the next thing. So you celebrate the small wins when you can, but you keep pushing forward and stay on track.The most important thing is dedicating yourself to what youre putting your time and effort into and not giving up when things get hard, because they absolutely will.FAST COMPANY: The landscape of womens sports has changed drastically during your career. How do you think the conversation around mental health has changed?AM: I think athletes want to feel supported. Period. I fought for pay equity, maternity leave, and support for moms as professional athletes. Those are specific needs. But taking care of your overall mental well-being is just as important.Just look at what Powerade is doing now with The Athletes Code, announcing that theyre going to have it written into every athletes contract that they can pause their partnerships to prioritize their mental healthwith continued pay and support, no questions asked. I think its extremely important in the landscape of professional sports. Because athletes do need that support. Every sport is as much mental as it is physical, and taking care of the mental sideeven though you cant see itis just as important as the physical.Its something that I have absolutely needed to do in my career. When I came back after having my first child, it was really mentally drainingnot getting a full nights sleep and having a full-time job while playing for the National Team and Orlando and just trying to do it all at once. It was a lot. And I applaud Powerade for providing the kind of support athletes in those kinds of situations, and in general, require.Having the ability to take a pause without retribution, without consequence, is extremely important because every athlete goes through periods where their sport becomes their identityits how theyre validated in the community, how they value themselves or how others value them. That alone can be mentally draining. So I can see what Powerade is doing having a ripple effect in the sports community.FAST COMPANY: Why is it especially important for female athletes to have this kind of support from their sponsors and partners?AM: From my personal experience, soccer opens a lot of doors to these brand partnerships, but these partnerships actually account for more of my annual compensation than my sport alone. And I think thats the case for a lot of female athletes and athletes who compete on the Olympic stage. A lot of their brand partnerships actually support them financially more than their sport can. So they disproportionately rely on their brand partners.FAST COMPANY: So you think athletes have more support now than ever before?AM: I think the evolution of everything outside of the physical aspect of sport has done a complete 180 from when I entered the game. And I think athletes perform at their best when theyre completely supported. Thats all athletes want. That involves pay equity. It involves accepting and embracing female athletes who want to become moms while staying at the top of their game. And it involves talking about mental health within sports.I feel like we went through a dark time with athletes being vulnerable and then being shamed just because people couldnt see their suffering. But I think were in a good place now, and Im really proud of the work that Ive put inthe work that a lot of my teammates and other athletes have put in, and now the work that the brands are putting into change that.To see that now after playing professionally for 15 years, it feels good to be able to leave the sportat least in a playing senseknowing that not only do I walk away as a world champion and an Olympic champion, but I walk away actually leaving the sport better, and having athletes come into the sport where they feel supported enough to just play and be the best at it. Thats the best feeling for me.

This holiday season, the last thing my coworkers and I wanted to do was go on strikebut this week Starbucks has left us no other choice.As baristas, we make Starbucks run. Were the reason the company hit record-breaking salesin its fourth quarter last yearand yet Starbucks continues to fail to invest in us, choosing to cut our hours rather than give us more support on the floor as we struggle to fulfill thousands of ever-more-complicated drink orders every day.When I started working as a barista at Starbucks almost 18 years ago, I was drawn in by the companys warm atmosphere and commitment to building community. As a barista, I loved being able to connect with our customers, along with the dozens of amazing baristas Ive been honored to work alongside. But lately that connection has been strained by the impossible workload my colleagues and I have been saddled with due to understaffing across stores.Working at a drive-through store where there are a maximum of four baristas on the floor at one time, each of us is expected to do the job of multiple people. And the work multiplies when the holidays bring in a flood of customers, making things far from merry for the skeleton crew often tasked to handle the chaos with a smile on our faces. Its no wonder customersespecially younger customersare turning away from Starbucks, finding other options, and spending their hard-earned money elsewhere.On top of dealing with the stress of understaffing at my store, I wake up every day fearing that my hours are going to be cut. I make just a little over $18 an hourthats far from a livable wage in Urbana, Illinois, where an average one-bedroom apartment costs $1,125 a month to rent. Thats especially true when I have to beg my manager to ensure Im scheduled for at least 20 hours of work a week. If I dont meet those 20 hours every week, I could lose my benefits and the health insurance I rely on to care for my three children, including my 10-year-old daughter, who has type 1 diabetes. For me, ensuring Im able to get enough hours is literally a life-or-death situation. My daughter needs her insulin.Starbucks Workers United members picket outside a Starbucks store in Chicago on December 20, 2024. [Photo: Vincent Alban/Bloomberg/Getty Images]When the opportunity came around to organize my store last year, I immediately jumped at it. I was proud to join the thousands of Starbucks workers organizing with the union to win a voice on the job, living wages, and the protections and staffing we need to be able to make Starbucks the great place it used to be.And Im just as proud to be joining baristas across the country this week as we go on strike to protest the companys unfair labor practices and show executives that their behavior at the bargaining table wont fly and that weand our customersdeserve better. Its great the company has invested in leadership at the topnow its time for Starbucks to pay us what were worth, and to move toward resolving the hundreds of outstanding unfair labor practice charges its still facing for violating labor law during the unions national organizing campaign.After union partners put forth a bargaining proposal last month to double parental leave for retail employees, the company declared just weeks later it is expanding leave to all baristasshowing that when our union organizes and speaks out together, we can deliver results for all baristas. But our work is far from over, and isolated policies alone cant fix our workplaces. (Starbucks did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.)How did we get here? Less than two weeks before the companys end-of-year deadline to bargain a foundational framework for contracts with our unionone that would transform the lives of more than 11,000 Starbucks baristas across the countryit proposed an economic package this month with no new wage increases for union baristas now and a guarantee of only 1.5% in future years.Just think about that. Starbucks CEO Brian Niccols pay package is worth $57,000 an houron top of his salarya shocking 10,000 times what the median barista makes. In the same year that Starbucks gave Niccol a $113 million golden greeting, the company had the audacity to tell usthe very baristas who fuel its profitsthat theres no money to invest in our raises.We entered an agreement back in February to bargain a foundational frameworkthe company said repeatedly that it wanted one finalized by December 2024. A part of that framework included resolving outstanding legal issues with union baristas. Yet Starbucks has failed to fully resolve hundreds of unfair labor practice charges. And it has not brought a viable economic proposal to the table. Starbucks did not put forth a real raise for baristas over the past three months of bargaining meetings.These walkouts, over unresolved unfair labor practice charges and the companys failure to offer a serious economic package, are just the beginning. Starbucks cant turn its business around without baristas like us. We want to partner with the company to return Starbucks to its storied past. Were ready to consider proposals that include meaningful raises for union workers and resolve the outstanding unfair labor practices. Starbucks, its your move.

In 2018, L.L. Bean ended its century-old lifetime return policy, limiting returns to one year after purchase and requiring receipts. The demise of this popular policy sparked backlash, with several customers filing lawsuits.It also inspired my team of operations management researchers to study how customers respond when retailers make their return policies more strict. Our key finding: Whether they often or rarely return products theyve purchased, consumers objectunless those retailers explain why.I work with a group of researchers examining product return policies and how they affect consumers and retailers.As we explained in an article published in the Journal of Operations Management, we designed experiments to study whether and why return policy restrictions irk customers. We also wanted to understand what retailers can do to minimize backlash after making it harder for customers to return stuff.We conducted three experiments in which we presented scenarios to 1,500 U.S. consumers who played the role of loyal customers of a fictional retailer. We examined their reactions to the fictional retailers return policy restrictions, such as charging a 15% restocking fee and limiting open-ended return windows to 365, 180, and 30 days.Participants became less willing to buy anything from the fictional retailer after it restricted its long-standing lenient return policy. They also said they would become less willing to recommend the retailer to others.This occurred because the customers began to distrust the retailer and its ability to offer a high-quality service. The backlash was stronger when the restriction was more severe. Even those consumers who said they usually dont return any products often reacted negatively.When the fictional retailer announced its new, harsher return policy using official communication channels and provided a rationale, there was less backlash. Consumers found the changes more justified if the retailer highlighted increased return abuse, in which customers return products theyve already used, or the high cost of processing returns.You might presume that making it harder and more costly to return stuff could drive some shoppers away. Our research shows that the concern is valid and explains why. It also shows how communicating return policy changes directly with customers can help prevent or reduce backlash against retailers.Why it mattersAmericans returned products worth an estimated US$890 billion to retailers in 2024. Processing a single item typically costs $21 to $46. Most of this merchandise ends up in landfills.The rise of e-commerce and other technological changes have contributed to this trend. Another factor is the ease with which consumers may return stuff long after making a purchase and get a full refund.Many other retailers besides L.L. Bean have done away with their long-standing lenient return policies. Over the past decade, for example, Macys, a department store chain, and Kohls, a big-box clothing store chain, have shortened the time frames for returns.Macys restricted its open-ended return window to one year in 2016, further winnowed it to 180 days in 2017, then to 90 days in 2019. It then stopped accepting returns after 30 days in 2023. Kohls didnt have any time limit on returns it would accept until 2019. Then it imposed a 180-day limit. Others, such as fast-fashion giants Zara and H&M, now charge their customers fees when they return merchandise.However, research shows that customers value no-questions-asked return policies and see them as a sign of high-quality service. And when these arrangements become the industry standard, customers can get angry if retailers fail to meet it.Interestingly, most retailers that restricted their policies didnt tell customers directly. Instead, they quietly updated the new policies on websites, store displays, and receipts. Although not drawing attention to bad news might appear prudentas most customers wouldnt notice the changes that waydozens of threads on Reddit about these changes suggest that this isnt always true.What still isnt knownWe focused on restrictions on refunds and how long after a purchase customers could return merchandise. Other restrictions, such as retailers making heavily discounted items ineligible for returns, could also be worth investigating.The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.Huseyn Abdulla is an assistant professor of supply chain management at the University of Tennessee.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Lightning struck deep in the central Idaho mountains on July 24, 2024, igniting the Wapiti Fire that burned across 129,063 acres around Stanley, Idaho a place known for its scenic vistas and idyllic rural landscape.Local communities evacuated, then returned home when the danger had passed. But for ranchers who graze livestock here, evacuation doesnt end when the smoke clears.When federal land burns, livestock often cannot return to the area for two years, according to federal land use and forest management plans. Two years of lost income and the added cost of purchasing feed and repairing infrastructure can be as devastating to rural communities as the fires themselves.I study the impacts of environmental policy on rural communities, particularly those that provide the food, fiber, timber, and minerals that society relies on. Research and ranchers experiences, including in my home state of Idaho, raise questions about whether the two-year rule, implemented decades ago, is really necessary and whether its actually doing more harm than good.2-year delay can tip ranchers into the redWildfires are burning more often and across more land in the West today than in the past with hotter, drier conditions. To make matters worse, many landscapes are threatened by invasive cheatgrass that burns easily and regrows faster after fires than native plants do.Often, restoration efforts are focused on slowing the spread of cheatgrass. Herbicides and plant seeding are marshaled to slow the growth of cheatgrass after fires.Buried in the multitude of federal land management plans that guide the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Services management actions is another restoration toola two-year grazing rest period after wildfires for land leased to ranchers. Some plans require a two-year break before cattle can return to the land, and some only recommend it.That two-year rest can tip the scales for ranchers finances into the red, forcing some to sell cattle herds that took decades to develop, lease other grazing landsoften at a financial lossor close up shop altogether.Few question that the land must have a chance to recoverranchers livelihoods depend on healthy rangelandbut is it necessary to wait two years and sacrifice a rural community to do it?Wildfires in Idaho can burn wide swaths of forest and rangeland. [Photo: Jared L. Talley/Boise State University]Grazing after fires has pros and consIndigenous communities across the West used fire since time immemorial to manage these sprawling landscapes. Fire can clear underbrush and dead plant material. It can provide new growth for deer, elk, and cattle to feed on.Livestock graze on invasive grasses when native plants are dormant, which can help increase native species and reduce invasive grasses, including varieties that easily burn. Reducing invasive grasses reduces risk of future fire. Trampled plant material can increase soil moisture, a benefit to the arid soils of the West.There is also evidence, however, that grazing after wildfires can increase soil erosion as hooves break up sensitive soils. And grazers also eat native plants that take longer to establish.But there are caveats to some of the evidence used to underpin arguments for a two-year break.A 2016 study documented increased soil erosion when grazing resumed two weeks after a fire. But cattle, deer, and elk would not likely be on a fire scar within two weeks.A 2019 study of post-fire impacts suggests that the steepness of the burned areas and grazing immediately following a fire can increase soil erosion, but it also acknowledges that it is currently unknown how the impact of livestock changes over time after wildfires.Similarly, a 2014 study found that during the first growing season after a fire, grazing that removed up to 50% of the biomass did not affect recovery. It found no evidence . . . to suggest complete rest from grazing was required to conserve plant productivity. Instead, it found that recovery was more responsive to weather than grazinga factor on burned and unburned areas alike.Not all fires are the same. They vary in burn severity, a measure of the impact to plant and soil ecology. Plants and soils respond differently to fire depending on a host of factors, from weather and topography to fire-return intervals and human interaction.Instead of a blanket two-year rest policy, the rule could be revised to demand a tailored decision-making process that accounts for variance in fire severity, plant communities and weather. In my view, allowing strategic and intentional grazing in post-fire landscapes benefits rural communities, while removing it can sound a death knell.Recovery, or notRural ranching communities in the West hold their breath every fire season.The fires can be devastating, but so can the recovery time. Fences and barns burn. Cattle herds are sold in lieu of purchasing expensive feed, and then must be rebuilt later. Lines of credit collapse, generational ranches are sold, and rural community traditions are lost.In Boise, residents are already looking forward to spring, when skis will be replaced with mountain bikes and hiking shoes. The foothills, where another 2024 fire burned nearly a quarter of the Boise River Wildlife Management Area, will be emerald green with invasive grasses, and thousands of deer and elk will graze through the burned area to their summer feeding grounds. No rules can stop them.Near Stanley, where the Wapiti Fire burned, cattle ranchers are working hard to find unburned land to lease for their herds. Theyre making plans to rebuild fences and working with the banks to keep their operations running until they can return to their grazing allotments in two years. Research suggests that the wait doesnt always need to be so long.Jared L. Talley is an assistant professor of environmental studies at Boise State University.Phoenix Willard, a student in environmental journalism at Boise State University, contributed to this article.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Shipping deadlines? Checkout lines? Traffic? Christmas morning panic? Amateur hourall of them.Whether youre forgetful, inconsiderate, or just plain unorganized, eleventh-hour gifts dont always demand springing for exorbitant shipping fees or, worse, diving between Targets sliding doors mere milliseconds before the store closes.These last-minute gift ideas prove that you can be thoughtful, creative, and budget-conscious, all while appreciating the convenience the 21st century.EntertainmentA subscription or gift card to a popular streaming service is a present that truly keeps on giving. It requires very little effort on your part, and expects very little effort on your recipients part.If, for some reason, youre feeling especially ambitious, you could curate a list of show or movie recommendations based on your giftees unique tastes, or even suggest a virtual watch party to enjoy some streaming time together.Here are a few options to consider:Netflix Digital Gift CardsDisney+ Digital Gift CardsSpotify Digital Gift CardsGamingIf the person youre gifting is a gamer, nothingand I mean nothingsays lovin like some in-game currency or, better yet, credit that can be used toward full games.Just make sure you know their gaming preferences, including the platform or platforms they use to game.Here are some popular platforms to check out:Steam Gift CardsPlayStation Store Gift CardsNintendo eShop Gift CardsXbox Gift CardsOnline LearningEven though schools out for a bit, for the person who loves to learn and explore new ideas, gifting them access to an online course or workshop could be perfect.Platforms offer a wide range of subjects, from photography to coding, cooking to creative writing. They can explore a new passion or develop their existing skills over the break.Your choices include:Udemy Gift Courses (Note: Youll need to select a specific course to gift)Skillshare Gift MembershipMasterClass Gift MembershipSubscription BoxesSometimes, a gift that keeps on giving month after month is the perfect solution. Remember how happy Clark Griswold was when he got that Jelly of the Month subscription? Wait, maybe Im mis-remembering that.Anyhow, From coffee and snacks to books and beauty products, theres a subscription box for almost every hobby. Best of all, its a tangible gift that you can initially give virtually.Theres something for everyone:FabFitFun Gift CardsBirchbox Gift CardsCratejoy (Use this to find a specific box)AudiobooksThere are officially too many podcasts to sift through, so lets all resurrect the tried and true audiobook.Whether a single audiobook or a gift membership to an audiobook service, this is a great gift for someone to enjoy stories while commuting, exercising, or relaxing.Audible might be the biggest name, but its not the only one:Audible Gift OptionsAudiobooks.com Gift OptionsLibro.fm Gift Options

After spending much of 2024 closing stores and recent months trying to solidify a sale of the company to keep its doors open, discount retail chain Big Lots has announced that it now plans to close all stores and go out of business. Heres what you need to know about Big Lotss closure.Whats happened?On Thursday, Big Lots released a statement saying that it now plans to go out of business and close all of its remaining stores (in the absence of a Hail Mary playmore on that below). Big Lots says it came to the decision to prepare to commence going-out-of-business sales after a deal with Nexus Capital Management fell through.Big Lots had been working with the investment firm on a deal that would have seen it sell itself to Nexus Capital Management. Big Lots had been facing severe financial difficulties in 2024 as inflationary pressures bit into profits and caused customers to cut back on discretionary spending, which is Big Lotss bread and butter.Things got so bad for the company that it began closing stores over the summer. In September, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as a way to get its finances under control.In recent months, Big Lots had been working on an asset purchase agreement with Nexus Capital Management, but that possible deal has now collapsed. In its statement announcing going-out-of-business sales, Big Lots did not give a reason why it would be unable to complete a sale to Nexus Capital Management, but Bloomberg reports that a valuation appraisal of Big Lotss inventory came in below expectations, which made it economically unviable for Nexus Capital Management to proceed with the sale.Is there any hope for Big Lots?Yes, but its a slim one. Announcing that it would commence going-out-of-business (GOB) sales, Big Lots CEO Bruce Thorn said, While we remain hopeful that we can close an alternative going concern transaction, in order to protect the value of the Big Lots estate, we have made the difficult decision to begin the GOB process.An alternative going concern transaction means a sale to another party. Some Big Lots stores may be saved if a sale can still be completed. As for who Big Lots would sell itself to, the companys statement said it could be with Nexus or another party. Big Lots said it hopes any such deal could be closed by early January.But Big Lots isnt waiting until then to begin closing stores.When will the going-out-of-business sales be held? Likely soon. According to Big Lots, every remaining location will commence sales in the coming days to protect the value of its estate. The company has about 870 locations left. What about Big Lots employees?Big Lots did not address the impact that closing stores would have on its employees. Bloomberg pegs the companys employee headcount at around 27,000. Unfortunately, most of these workers will likely lose their jobs once the going-out-of-business sales are complete.Big Lots stock price collapsed in 2024Unsurprisingly, with all of Big Lotss financial troubles, the stock crashed this year. Shares had previously traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BIG, but with its collapse in price, it now trades on the over-the-counter exchange OTCPK under the ticker BIGGQ.As of yesterdays market close, BIGGQ shares were trading at 8 cents per share, representing a year-to-date decline of nearly 99%.Big Lots was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1967 as Consolidated International, Inc. and, in 2001, changed its name to the one it has today. The company celebrated its 57th anniversary this year.

There are certain social media rules we can all agree on: Ghosting a conversation is impolite, and replying k to a text is the equivalent of a backhand slap (violent, wrong, and rude). But what about the rest of the rules? When can we really remind someone of our old Venmo request? What happens when someone tries to flirt with you on LinkedIn?Fortunately, terminally online writers Delia Cai and Steffi Cao are here to answer all your digital quandaries, big or small. Welcome to Fast Companys advice column, Posting Playbook. This week, Delia and Steffi will both tackle the question of internet shadethrowing and receiving.What are the rules of throwing internet shade? Were all doing it, but whats the difference between being snarky and being mean? I see my co-worker tweeting shadily about our other colleagues and even our manager all the time, and Im wondering if Im the prude for feeling like thats not cool.Steffi: Subtweeting your colleagues on your main feed when you know they follow you is wild work, and I dont think its out-of-bounds to think its not cool. You cant spend eight peaceful hours on Slack together and then switch tabs to see them writing nonsense like, ugh I hate these ugly losers I spend eight hours a day on Slack with. Its awkward! Everyone has problems with their coworkers at some point or anotherbut at least for me, its the insincerity that becomes the grating part of it all.To me, the delineation of being snarky and being mean is the depth of the cut. A catty swipe at someones work is one thing, but taking it to the level of someones personal values and identity is mean. No ones a saint, either! Weve all been snarky, and weve all been mean. But the difference comes when youre not willing to own up to either.I tend to live by the idea that anything you tweet publicly, you should be able to say in person to someones face. Not that the world should be one giant episode of Bad Girls Club, but weve entered the era of social media where I think we can all agree that our statements online can come back to haunt us. So you better be ready to stand on it.Delia: Im all for the basic rules of comedy: Punching up is good, but punching down is bad. Leaving specific names out of it offers good plausible deniability. But your coworkers tweets are crossing the line in my opinion because, as Steffi and I have addressed in the past, people should be very careful about how they mix their online and professional lives. Tweeting about your evil boss is probably punching up, technically, but Id save that kind of shade for your group chats and IRL vent sessions.Steffi: Agreedif I can leave you with one last thing, I will reiterate that you need to stop letting your coworkers follow you on socials. Use your Close Friends tools. If you dont want the smoke, dont light a gigantic fire on your feeds.An article I wrote came out recently, and I saw peoplenot friends of mine, but like, we definitely know each otherdisparaging my writing on X and even in their newsletters. It definitely hurt my feelings, but I also get that criticism is a fact of life. Should I say anything? It just sucks because were not strangers, and I wish theyd given me a heads up. But is that even fair to expect?Delia: Receiving criticism is definitely the name of the game if youre a writer, of course, but youre also allowed to defend yourself! Its up to you. I would probably not say anything but make a nice little mental note (meaning, I would memorize every dastardly word they said), and then simply wait for the opportunity to come when we end up seeing each other in person. Then Id casually bring up something like, So I saw/heard that you didnt like my work! in a kind of cheery voice, and see how they react. A real critic at heart would be willing to engage with you about the work; someone whos just shading for clout will probably start spluttering and backpedal.If they were being more personally shady, i.e., calling into question your character or spreading a rumor about you, then you are well within your right to reach outvia a public reply, DM, or what have youand tell them that theyre being a jerk. Ive personally gone in with a quote tweet around the offending shade and gotten snippy right back, but that is a matter of personal preference!Steffi: Ive been on both sides of this coin, getting heat from people for disagreeing with their hot take, as well as having hordes of people piling on my work and subtweeting my skill. Heres the truth that Ive learned over the years: If you are going to stir the pot, you have to be prepared for a splash zone. Not everyone is going to like your work, just as you arent going to like everyone elses. The same goes for anyone trying to put their work out online, whether its music or paintings or vlogs. Obviously, prejudice and attacks on character are never okay. But to be honest, I think everything else is fair game.Your feelings are entirely valid! No one has ever been raised to handle this kind of digital feedback loop. But I think you have to maintain some level of perspective. At the end of the day, do you still stand by what you wrote? Did it resonate with the people you wanted it to? If yes, then who cares! To be a writer analyzing the world means accepting that your perspective will in turn be analyzed. It is childish to demand sympathetic immunity as a one-way street, and it makes you a poorer writer for it. Actually, Delia imparted some incredibly important advice when I was in the throes of getting a lot of shade about my writing: there is a kind of criticism that sees what you are trying to do and can acknowledge where you fell short, and there is the kind of criticism that is grading you against an entirely different scale. Only you get to decide what you intake and improve on.Ultimately, this is the kind of problem that only really exists online, because most of these mutuals do not have the gall to fight you IRL. And more realistically, I would guess that theyre also trying to curry for some likes online. Who among us? Let yourself feel hurt by it, but know that this will likely be the end of such negativity. Sticks and stones may break your bones. . . .

Workers at Starbucks stores plan to go on a five-day strike starting Friday to protest lack of progress in contract negotiations with the company.The strikes are scheduled to begin in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle and could spread to hundreds of stores across the country by Christmas Eve.Starbucks Workers United, the union that has organized workers at 535 company-owned U.S. stores since 2021, said Starbucks has failed to honor a commitment made in February to reach a labor agreement this year. The union also wants the company to resolve outstanding legal issues, including hundreds of unfair labor practice charges that workers have filed with the National Labor Relations Board.The union noted that Starbuckss new Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol, who started in September, could make more than $100 million in his first year on the job. But the company recently proposed an economic package with no new wage increases for unionized baristas now and a 1.5% increase in future years, the union said.Union baristas know their value, and theyre not going to accept a proposal that doesnt treat them as true partners, said Lynne Fox, president of Workers United.Seattle-based Starbucks said Workers United prematurely ended a bargaining session this week. Starbucks has nearly 10,000 company-owned stores in the U.S.We are ready to continue negotiations to reach agreements. We need the union to return to the table, Starbucks said in a statement.Starbucks said it already offers pay and benefitsincluding free college tuition and paid family leaveworth $30 per hour for baristas who work at least 20 hours per week.The strikes arent the first during Starbuckss busy holiday season. In November 2023, thousands of workers at more than 200 stores walked out on Red Cup Day, a day when the company usually gives away thousands of reusable cups. Hundreds of workers also went on strike in June 2023 to protest after the union said Starbucks banned Pride displays at some stores.The union and the company struck a different tone early this year, when they returned to the bargaining table and pledged to reach an agreement. Starbucks said it has held nine bargaining sessions with the union since April, and has reached more than 30 agreements with the union.But the two sides now appear to be at an impasse.In a year when Starbucks invested so many millions in top executive talent, it has failed to present the baristas who make its company run with a viable economic proposal, said Fatemeh Alhadjaboodi, a Starbucks barista from Texas and bargaining delegate, in a statement.Dee-Ann Durbin, AP Business Writer

One of the oldest architectural sites in the world is getting the MrBeast treatment.A recently released video clip features the famous YouTuber saying that he rented the Great Pyramids of Giza for an upcoming video.We got all three of the pyramids of Egypt for a hundred hours, Jimmy Donaldson (aka MrBeast) says in an upcoming episode of the Beyond The Records podcast, hosted by Olympians Noah Lyles, Rai Benjamin, and Grant Holloway. Im going to do a video where theyre going to let me explore anywhere I want in the pyramids for 100 hours. Were going to sleep at the pyramids, all to ourselves.MrBeast is known for producing highly dramatic, heavily funded videos that routinely rake in hundreds of millions of views. A random smattering of recent videos on his channel include I saved 100 Dogs from Dying, Face Your Biggest Fear to Win $800,000, and 100 Identical Twins Fight For $250,000.Hes managed to relay his over 337 million YouTube subscribers into a new Amazon Prime Video show called Beast Games and other businesses. Theres even a Harvard Business School case study on his empire. But hes also faced heavy criticism along the way. Hes been accused by a handful of contestants on Beast Games for shamelessly exploiting them while competing. An employee also left his company in July following accusations that she shared inappropriate sexual messages with minors.MrBeast says on the podcast that he worked with the Egyptian government to get access to the historic site.Ive never been inside of it, he says. I want to just find secrets and go through all the rooms and the tombs and that kind of stuff. He adds that he and his crew will have a guide showing them around.MrBeast, who has distilled online virality to a science, knows what people will be looking for. I want them to be like, this is the room no ones seen publicly or whatever, he adds. Im so excited, because theres all these secret quarters deep below too, and I dont know what to expect.

The party is over for Party City, which is closing all its stores and going out of business after 40 years of supplying balloons, cups, candles, and tableware for everything from birthday and anniversary parties to Halloween and Super Bowl celebrations. The New Jersey-based retailer is the largest party supply store in the U.S., with more than 800 locations.In a video meeting on Friday, a recording of which was seen by Fast Company, CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employees that Party City is winding down operations immediately and Friday would be their last day of work, adding that the companys best efforts have not been enough to overcome its current financial challenges.Litwin, who took over as CEO just four months ago, said that store closing sales are beginning today and will continue over the coming weeks and months.According to CNN, which reported the news of the closing, Litwin noted that the company struggled with inflation and high costs leading to declining sales.Like many retailers, including Big Lots, which is also going out of business, Party City struggled with changing consumer habits as fewer Americans are shopping in-store at big retailers and are opting instead for cheaper goods online or forgoing purchases altogether. Party City also faced increased competition from Spirit Halloween and its new Christmas pop-up stores, which debuted this holiday season.Fast Company has reached out multiple times and to multiple points of contact at Party City for comment, but did not immediately hear back.The news follows a Bloomberg report that the companys parent company, Party City Holdco Inc., was considering selling the business or filing for bankruptcy for the second time in less than two years. Party City had been struggling financially for years, with poor sales and about $1.8 billion in debt when it entered bankruptcy in 2023.This story has been updated with new developments.

Several environmental groups are suing California air regulators over their recent update of a contentious climate program, saying they failed to address the pollution impacts of biofuels.The lawsuits target the low-carbon fuel standard, which requires California to reduce the environmental impact of transportation fuels by incentivizing producers to cut emissions. The California Air Resources Board voted last month to increase the states emission reduction targets, fund charging infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles, and phase out incentives for capturing methane emissions from dairy farms to turn into fuel.California, which often leads the nation on climate policy, plans to achieve so-called carbon neutrality by 2045, meaning the state will remove as many carbon emissions from the atmosphere as it emits. The state has passed policies in recent years to phase out the sale of new fossil-fuel powered cars, trucks, trains and lawn mowers.One of the lawsuits filed this week, by the nonprofit Communities for a Better Environment, accuses the board of failing to thoroughly analyze the climate impacts of burning biofuels derived from plants and animal waste. Another, filed by Food and Water Watch, Central Valley Defenders of Clean Air and Water, and the Animal Legal Defense Fund, focuses on the impact of pollution often impacting low-income and Latino communities from the capture of methane from cow manure to turn into fuel.People who live near refineries in California are harmed by the spiraling expansion of polluting biofuels, but CARB failed to analyze the resulting harm to these communities, said a statement by Katherine Ramos, a program director at Communities for a Better Environment.Environmentalists say the LCFS program has stimulated the production of polluting biofuels, competing with food production and contributing to deforestation. They want California to focus more on expanding the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.The agency declined to comment on the lawsuits but said the program plays an important role in combating climate change and improving air quality.The amendments channel global, national and local private sector investment towards increasing cleaner fuel and transportation options for consumers, accelerating the deployment of zero-emission infrastructure, and keeping the state on track to meet legislatively mandated air quality and climate targets, Dave Clegern, a spokesperson for the board, said in an email.Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on Twitter: @ sophieadannaSophie Austin, Associated Press/Report for America

With just days until Christmas and the start of the holidays, President Joe Biden is taking care of some last-minute business, givingmost federal employees Christmas Eve off. Bidens parting gift to government workers was signing an executive order on Thursday giving them an early start to the holiday to be with family and friends. However, employees who are vital to national security, defense, or other public need are exempt.If youre wondering if this makes it a national holiday, were sorry to say, the answer is no. Unfortunately, Christmas Eve is not a designated federal holiday. To create a federal holiday, it needs to be proposed like any other bill in the U.S. Senate and House, passed, and then signed by the president.And Biden isnt the first president to give government employees the day before Christmas off. Federal staffers last had Christmas Eve off in 2020, under President Donald Trump, who also gave them the day off in 2018 and 2019. (This is, of course, ironic because Trump is currently working on a plan to slash thousands of government jobs, which could leave many out of a job in the new year. Under Trump,billionaires Elon Muskand former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy have said they aim to cut government spending by 30%, with Ramaswamy calling for firing half of the federal workforce.)So, for most American workers, Christmas Eve remains a work day, unless you requested paid time off or your employer just happens to be as generous as Joe.What are the federal holidays in 2025?Typically, there are only 11 federal holidays.In 2025, however, there is one catch, but a good one. Inauguration Day is on the list, but the holiday only applies to federal employees in Washington, D.C., and certain federal offices. However, January 20, is also the Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., so it will be observed as a federal holiday either way. Heres the list of federal holidays in 2025. These are the official holiday names as designated when they were signed into law and they may differ from how state governments list them or how theyre known colloquially (i.e. January 20 is listed as Martin Luther King Jr. Day on many state calendars; and for at least two dozen states, the third Monday in February is called either Washington and Lincolns Birthday or Presidents Day):January 1, 2025: New Years DayJanuary 20, 2025: Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. January 20, 2025: Inauguration DayFebruary 17, 2025: Washingtons BirthdayMay 26, 2025: Memorial DayJune 19, 2025: Juneteenth National Independence DayJuly 4, 2025: Independence DaySeptember 1, 2025: Labor DayOctober 13, 2025: Indigenous Peoples DayNovember 11, 2025: Veterans DayNovember 27, 2025: Thanksgiving DayDecember 25, 2025: Christmas Day

President-elect Donald Trump said on Friday that the European Union may face tariffs if the bloc does not cut its growing deficit with the United States by making large oil and gas trades with the worlds largest economy.The EU already buys the lions share of U.S. oil and gas exports, according to U.S. government data.No extra volumes are currently available as the United States is exporting at capacity, but Trump has pledged to further grow the countrys oil and gas production.I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large-scale purchase of our oil and gas, Trump said in a post on Truth Social.Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!! he added.The European Commission said it was ready to discuss with Trump how to strengthen what it described as an already strong relationship, including in the energy sector.The EU is committed to phasing out energy imports from Russia and diversifying our sources of supply, a spokesperson said.The United States already supplied 47% of the European Unions liquefied natural gas imports and 17% of its oil imports in the first quarter of 2024, according to data from EU statistics office Eurostat.Tariff threatsTrump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has vowed to impose tariffs of 10% on global imports into the U.S. along with a 60% tariff on Chinese goods duties that trade experts say would upend trade flows, raise costs and draw retaliation against U.S. exports.The U.S. ran a $208.7-billion goods trade deficit with the EU in 2023, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Although the U.S. runs a surplus with the EU on services, Trump has focused mainly on goods trade, frequently complaining about the blocs car exports to the U.S. with few vehicles shipped east across the Atlantic.German and Italian car exports currently face a 2.5% U.S. tariff, which could quadruple if Trump makes good on his threats.Trump has also vowed to authorize hefty tariffs on the top three U.S. trading partners, Mexico, Canada and China, on his first day in office if they fail to stem illegal border crossings into the U.S. and trafficking of the deadly opioid fentanyl.William Reinsch, a trade expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the EU could negotiate its way out of Trumps tariffs.This could be a win-win, telling them to buy something they want and need anyway, Reinsch said.However, most European oil refiners and gas firms are private and governments have little say on where their purchases come from unless authorities impose sanctions or tariffs. The owners usually buy their resources based on price and efficiencies.The U.S. is already producing and exporting record volumes of oil and gas and increasing those would require significant investment, especially for LNG export terminals.Reinsch noted that while there is demand in Europe now for U.S. oil and gas to replace shunned Russian supplies, long-term demand is unclear with the transition to renewable energy sources. Companies will be reluctant to invest if they think current demand is transitory, Reinsch said.Buying more U.S. energyThe EU has steeply increased purchases of U.S. oil and gas following the blocks decision to impose sanctions and cut reliance on Russian energy after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.The United States has grown to become the largest oil producer in recent years with output of over 20 million barrels per day of oil liquids, or a fifth of global demand.U.S. crude exports to Europe stand at around 2 million bpd, representing over half of U.S. total exports, with the rest going to Asia.The Netherlands, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, and Sweden are the biggest importers, according to the U.S. government data.Europe is taking close to its maximum capacity for U.S. crude, meaning there is little scope for stronger imports next year, said Richard Price, oil markets analyst at Energy Aspects. He also said refinery closures in Europe in 2025 wont help increase imports.The United States is also the worlds biggest gas producer and consumer with output of over 103 billion cubic feet per day.The U.S. government projects that U.S. LNG exports will average 12 bcfd in 2024. In 2023, Europe accounted for 66% of U.S. LNG exports, with the UK, France, Spain and Germany being the main destinations.U.S. oil production growth will likely be slow until 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.Gas output could meanwhile rise further to meet record U.S. domestic demand and LNG exports could also increase if the government approves more LNG terminals.The EU imported around 2 bcfd of Russian LNG in 2024 and it could move to ban those supplies and seek replacement from other sources, said Alex Froley, LNG analyst at ICIS.Rishabh Jaiswal, Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Enes Tunagur, Alex Lawler, Marwa Rashad, Philip Blenkinsop, and Jan Strupczewski, Reuters

Tesla is issuing a major recall on nearly 700,000 vehicles, including its 2024 Cybertruck.In a report Tuesday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said three Tesla models are affected by the issue: certain 2024 Cybertruck, 2017-2025 Model 3, and 2020-2025 Model Y vehicles.The pressure monitoring system warning light on the vehicles might fail to warn drivers about low tire pressure. On affected vehicles, upon detection of a malfunction with the tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS), the TPMS malfunction telltale does not persist between drive cycles where the vehicle is off or asleep between the drive cycles, the recall report said.At a 2023 event at the Tesla headquarters in Austin, CEO Elon Musk praised the strength of the Cybertruck. The apocalypse can come along any moment, and here at Tesla we have the best in apocalypse technology, the tech mogul said. But the latest recall is the seventh this year for Cybertruck. Eight more recalls have affected other Tesla vehicles, bringing the 2024 total for the company to 15.In February, two million vehicles were recalled due to the their safety warning signals appearing in too small a font size. Five months later, the company recalled 1.8 million vehicles after it received reports of unintended hood opening events. And just last month, it issued a recall on 2,400 vehicles over a drive-inverter issue that the company said may cause a loss of drive power to the wheels.In December of last year, Tesla issued another major recall, too, over a serious auto-pilot issue that the NHTSA suspected led to multiple crashessome which caused deaths. At the time, it recalled 2,031,220 vehicles, all of which had the defect. The official recall report explained that if Autopilot was engaged the driver is still responsible for the vehicles movement with their hands on the steering wheel at all times, remaining attentive to surrounding road conditions, and intervening (e.g., steer, brake, accelerate, or apply the stalk) as needed to maintain safe operation.Prior to the string of recalls, Tesla was plagued by Cybertruck design and quality issues, which caused the release date for the vehicle to be pushed back by two years. Adrian Clarke, a professional car designer previously told Fast Company that the issues were predictable. As soon as we saw [the Cybertruck], everyone I know in the industry started laughing. We just thought there is no way theyre gonna be able to get that into production.In regard to the latest recall, the automaker is providing a free software update to owners to address the issue and said notification letters will be sent to drivers by Feb. 15, 2025.

American farmers, small business owners and wildfire survivors are among those who will suffer if Congress cannot agree on a new spending bill after President-elect Donald Trump abruptly rejected a bipartisan plan that included more than $100 billion in disaster aid.A mayor in Hawaii is watching closely to see what happens because a potential allocation of $1.6 billion in funding is on the line. Its critical to ongoing disaster recovery efforts from the 2023 Maui fire, which proved to be the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.I think what funding does is provides people with hope so they can plan for their future, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen told The Associated Press Thursday. And the longer we go without funding, the longer people wallow and wonder, is there a chance? Is there a path? Do I cut my losses? Do I leave?While money from the Federal Emergency Management Administration has provided temporary relief, the disaster recovery funding was intended for long-term needs such as housing assistance and rebuilding infrastructure, he said. The historic town of Lahaina is still struggling after the August 2023 fire killed at least 102 people and leveled thousands of homes, leaving behind an estimated $5.5 billion in damage.The money is also urgently needed after Hurricanes Helene and Milton slammed the southeastern United States one after the other this fall. Helene alone was the deadliest storm to hit the U.S. mainland since Katrina in 2005, killing at least 221 people. Nearly half were in North Carolina where flooding and winds caused an estimated $60 billion in damage.Im tracking this bill like a hawk right now, to be honest, Asheville Tea Co. founder and CEO Jessie Dean said. I think a lot of us are.Flooding from Helene in September washed away the companys building along with all of its equipment and inventory. Her small business employs 11 people directly and also works with small farmers in the area to supply the herbs for its teas.On Thursday, Republicans released a new version of the bill to keep the government operating and to restore the disaster aid with Trumps support. But it was rejected by the House of Representatives. The next steps are uncertain.I realize there are other distractions that are going on, but I would just bring everybody back to their commitment to help disaster survivors, said Bissen, Mauis mayor. And thats really all this is. We have a proven and established, legitimate disaster that took place. And we are coming up on 16 months, which no other disasters ever had to wait that long for.In Asheville, Dean is extremely grateful for support the business has received from customers and nonprofits that is helping it stay afloat right now, but more is needed. So far she has received no money from the U.S. Small Business Administration after applying for a disaster relief loan. Neither have any of the other business owners she knows.In day to day life right now, Im talking to friends every day who are struggling with the decision around whether or not to continue to run their business, whether or not they can, she said.Many farmers are in the same boat, since about $21 billion of the disaster aid in the earlier version of the bill was assistance for them.Without federal disaster money right now, or without some assistance, people like me will not be farming much longer, Georgia pecan farmer Scott Hudson said. He farms 2,600 acres (1,050 hectares) of pecans across five counties in southeastern Georgia that were hammered by Hurricane Helene.We lost thousands of trees that will be decades before they are back to where they were the night before the storm, he said. And we lost upwards to 70% of the crop in certain counties.Some of his fellow farmers fared even worse.Whether youre a Democrat or Republican, the farmers need this money, he said. American ag needs this money not to be profitable, to just stay in business.People like retired engineer Thomas Ellzey are also counting on disaster aid. He has been living in a mud-filled house in Fairview, North Carolina, for almost three months. Although he pre-qualified for a low-interest loan from the SBA that helps homeowners rebuild, officials have told him the agency does not have the money and is waiting on Congress to act.Ellzey is 71 years old and said he budgeted carefully for his retirement, trying to prepare for every possible emergency that could come up once he stopped working. But he couldnt have predicted a hurricane, he said.Everything I owned was paid for, including my cars, the house, the land. I had no bills, he said. Going back in debt is kind of rough at my age.The earlier version of the spending bill included included funding for low-interest loans for businesses, nonprofits and homeowners trying to rebuild after a disaster; money for rebuilding damaged roads and highways; and funds for helping communities recover through block grants administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The block grant money is one of the key funds for homeowners who dont have insurance or enough insurance recover from disasters.Although hurricanes Helene and Milton are the most recent large natural disasters to hit the U.S., a lot of the money was intended more generally for relief from any major disaster in recent years, including droughts and wildfires.Stan Gimont is senior adviser for community recovery at Hagerty Consulting who used to run the community development block grant program at HUD. He noted that the country is still paying for disasters that happened while it simultaneously prepares for events that will happen in the future.The Maui fire is a clear example.It took a year to clean that up and to get it to a point where they have removed all the debris, all the toxic materials and the burned up cars, whatever was in those houses, Gimont said. So even though that event occurred in the past, the bills for that are going to come due in the future.Travis Loller, Leah Willingham, and Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, Associated PressRebecca Santana and Gary Robertson and Brittany Peterson contributed to this report.

We already know sexism is bad for womens paychecks, as women are paid 84% of what men are paid on average. We also know its historically been bad for womens mental health. But now, were learning that it could be harmful in ways we hadnt even realized.A new study found women born in the most sexist U.S. states experience faster memory decline later in life, compared to women born in the least sexist U.S. states, according to a researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.The study measured sexism over six decades, from 1900 to 1960. Each states level of structural sexism was calculated based on male-to-female ratios in the labor force, the number of females in state legislatures, poverty rates, and other factors like inequality in resources and power that stem from social policies and societal norms. The state with the highest structural sexism was Mississippi in 1910, and the lowest was Connecticut in 1940, study leader Justina Avila-Rieger told Fast Company.For women born in those two example cases, the difference between their cognitive decline after age 65 was a staggering 9 years, or nearly a decade.The findings are particularly important because women are disproportionately affected by Alzheimers disease in the U.S. Nearly two-thirds of Americans currently living with Alzheimers are women, and women also make up some 60% of Alzheimers caregivers, partly due to the fact that women live longer than men, and the risk of developing dementia increases with age.The study, Early Life Exposure to Structural Sexism and Late-Life Memory Trajectories Among Black and White Women and Men in the U.S., was published Wednesday online in Alzheimers & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimers Association. It looked at relationships between structural sexism and memory performance among 21,000 people in theWashington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Projectand theHealth and Retirement Study, and found the connection was highest among Black women.The research adds to a growing body of studies looking at the relationship between structural sexism and womens health. Previous studies found women who endured greater structural sexism in adulthood had higher rates of mortality, increased risk of chronic health conditions, and less accessible and affordable healthcare.