World Changing Ideas

In this podcast, leaders in HR and AI reveal what it will take for businesses to get their staff on board.

In 2022, The Bored Ape Yacht Club was kind of inescapable on some parts of the internet. People—including a range of celebrities from Gwyneth Paltrow to Eminem—were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to acquire some monkey jpegs store on the blockchain as NFTs. The conglomerate overseeing the collection along with other NFT series, such as CryptoPunks, is called Yuga Labs. VCs including A16...

January was a big month for AI hardware, and we wanted to go over some of the biggest devices and tech out there. ‘Fast Company’ global design editor Mark Wilson joined us to chat about a couple of devices, including the Humane Pin, the Rabbit r1, and a wearable AI microphone called Tab. For more on these, check out Mark’s reporting, and what he thinks about the Apple Vision Pro. In 2022, the beau...

We’re about to hit the end of peak dating season with Valentine’s Day this week and what better way to commemorate that than to chat about the state of the dating industry. Fast Company Staff Writer Jess Bursztynsky joined us to chat about what the apps are doing to address dating fatigue and how they're continuing to incorporate AI into their strategies, for example, Tinder is able to use AI to h...

The Super Bowl is set to kick off this Sunday, and we’re taking a look at some of the ads that are already out there. ‘Fast Company’ senior staff editor Jeff Beer joined us to share what he thinks about this year’s slate of ads. He’s noticed how brands are evolving to use the Super Bowl itself in their teasers and ads, which shows the trajectory of the way brands are going . . . they used to go fo...

Yaz wrote a story about an upstart wrestling league called All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and its founder and CEO Tony Khan. ‘Fast Company’ deputy editor David Lidsky joined us to chat about Yaz’s piece on Tony, why he formed AEW in 2019, and how he was a huge wrestling nerd who grew up doing e-wrestling. And here are some more wrestling updates: Starting in January 2025, WWE’s flagship series, Raw, wi...

Daily Harvest is introducing a new collection of meals tailor-made for people on weight-loss medications like Ozempic. Daily Harvest president Ricky Silver explained how Daily Harvest’s January Jumpstart program includes GLP-1-focused meal plans. Then we chatted with Sharp Entertainment CEO Matt Sharp. Sharp is the guy behind such reality TV hits as ‘90 Day Fiancé,’ ‘Inmate to Roommate,’ and ‘Help...

A number of recent court cases are using a new tactic to take on tech platforms, including Snap, Meta, and TikTok. ‘Fast Company’ contributing writer Issie Lapowsky walked us through the complicated legalese behind these cases. Basically, they’re using a novel legal workaround to Section 230 called a ‘product liability claim.’ Rather than faulting these platforms for other people’s posts—the kind...

In the United States, nearly three-quarters of adults qualify as overweight or obese, 42% of whom are considered obese. The World Obesity Federation predicts that 51% of the global population will be overweight or obese by 2035. ‘Fast Company’ contributing writer Adam Bluestein joined us to break down how Novo Nordisk, the company behind Ozempic and Wegovy, developed and marketed its weight-loss d...

Shein is a giant fast fashion retailer that's looking into filing an IPO. Fast Company Senior Staff Writer Liz Segran helps break down what that might mean for both the company and the fast fashion industry at large. For more on Shein, check out Liz's article Serendipitously, Shein’s head of strategic communications Peter Pernot-Day also joined us. He filled us in on how the company's on-demand mo...

James Vincent talks with Josh Wolfe, co-founder and managing partner of Lux Capital, about the need for technology to come from companies we trust and the role human nature plays in the application of technology.

The long-simmering fault lines within OpenAI over questions of safety with regard to the deployment of large language models like GPT, the engine behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Dall-E services, came to a head on November 17 when the organization’s nonprofit board of directors voted to fire CEO Sam Altman. But then he was reinstated on November 22. It’s been a wild ride, but Fast Company senior writer...

James Vincent talks with Jason Citron from Discord about safety, togetherness, and how we can use good AI to battle bad AI.

After 118 days, the SAG-AFTRA strike finally came to a close. Fast Company deputy digital editor Morgan Clendaniel breaks down what happened this past summer with the strike, as well as the overall state of unions at the moment. As of airing this episode, the union’s national board approved the new contract with major studios and sent it to membership for ratification. “I’m completely uninterested...

James Vincent talks with Hovhannes Avoyan, founder and president of Picsart, about leaning into AI and how the future will favor problem solving

A year ago, Elon Musk bought Twitter for a whopping $44 billion. Since then the platform has changed dramatically . . . even its name. Senior staff editor Max Ufberg joins us again to break down what’s been going on at Twitter, er X, over the past year. Also, “Black women are the fastest-growing segment of entrepreneurs in this country,” says Nyakio Grieco, “yet still receive less than 1% of ventu...

James Vincent talks with Rachel Delacour, co-founder and CEO of Sweep, about how to make your company resilient, how constraints breed creativity, and how climate impacts business.

Companies now have mountains of data to help drive decisions and develop products, but a holistic approach to product development must also prioritize customers’ needs and preferences. In this podcast interview, Stephanie Mehta, CEO of Mansueto Ventures, the parent of Fast Company, sits down with Emily Roberts, Senior Vice President and Head of Enterprise Consumer Product at Capital One to hear ho...

Halloween season is here! And actor-director-producer Emma Tammi joined us to chat about her upcoming film, Five Nights at Freddy’s, based on the popular video game franchise. She told us all about adapting a video game to a movie, working with large animatronic puppets, and creating a horror movie that’s aimed at a PG-13 audience. But the scariest part of the movie process, according to Emma? Rea...

James Vincent talks with Thomas Clozel, co-founder and CEO of Owkin, about innovative approaches to AI, the need to help develop "collective intelligence", and how innovation requires systemic change.

The company’s director of finance explains how her job goes well beyond accounting. Tina Hetzer, director of finance at Pink Lily, is one of the rising financial stars who are helping to bring their businesses to the next level. She built Pink Lily’s finance team from scratch and has helped the company become one of the fastest-growing retailers in the country. In this podcast, part of the SAP-spo...

Actor, producer, and entrepreneur Issa Rae has several businesses under her belt already, and now she has partnered with Gallo to launch her own prosecco line, Viarae. We chatted about her business ventures, and how she decides which creative projects to pursue. It comes down to backing things that she loves and/or needs. When she wanted to start a coffee business, for example, it was because she...

James Vincent talks with Tyler Huggins, CEO and co-founder of Meati, about sustainability, how to introduce the new with the familiar, and how startups are looking to nature for the next innovation.

Duolingo’s freemium subscription model, beloved brand and strategic investments have allowed it to execute its educational mission and become a cultural touchstone. Matthew Skaruppa, CFO of Duolingo, is one of the rising financial stars who are helping to bring their businesses to the next level. Since he joined the company in 2020, Duolingo has grown its base of monthly active users by more than...

Only 10% of Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs, even though women make up 47% of the workforce. And female founders only get 2% of venture capital. When Sophia Amoruso coined the term ‘girlboss’ in her 2014 memoir, #Girlboss, she helped spark a movement for women to step into more leadership roles. But then she and a couple of other girlbosses faced backlash over their management practices, in...