Parents, rejoice: For the first time ever, theres a Lego brick so tiny that you cant see it, let alone step on it.
The brick in question is a microscopic sculpture created by U.K.-based artist David A Lindon. Its made from a standard red square Lego, and it looks like one, too, aside from the fact that it measures just 0.02517 millimeter by 0.02184 millimeter (about the size of a white blood cell). As of this month, the brick has snagged the Guinness World Record for the smallest-ever handmade sculpture, measuring four times smaller than the previous record holder.
We’ve seen lunar Legos, renewable Legos, and giant Legos, but this brick might just be the most innovative one yetand the process of creating it was almost as unusual as the object itself.
The world’s tiniest Lego is the smallest of three micro Legos Lindons created, according to his website. Materials science firm Spectrographic professionally measured each Lego to confirm the Guinness record. With all three sculptures, one smaller than the other, they are so microscopic that even though you know where they are, on the head of a pin, when you look with your own eyes you still cannot see them, Lindon writes.
[Image: David A Lindon/Hammond Gallieries/SWNS]
Lindon has been creating micro paintings and sculptures since 2021. His past works include a version of Stonehenge small enough to live atop a miniature pushpin, a statue of Beetlejuice thats less than half the size of a match head, and a rendition of Vincent van Goghs Sunflowers that fits inside the eye of a needle.
To bring his works to life, Lindon uses a Nikon SMZ25 microscope that requires a foot pedal to control zoom and focus. Then, he works with what he calls micro precision tools and materials such as micro-size pigments, dust, minerals, Kevlar strands, carbon, and carpet fibers to carve and shape his creations.
Unsurprisingly, this niche practice presents a host of specific design challenges. In an interview with the BBC, Lindon shared that hes trained himself to work between the beats of his heart to prevent the pulse in his fingertips from destroying his work. To create his record-breaking Lego, he said, he worked 6 to 10 hours each night so as to avoid the vibrations brought on by passing traffic. On his website, Lindon details a slew of other threats to his work, including static electricity, sneezing, coughing, or a breath of wind from an open window.
My first Amy Winehouse is still somewhere in our bedroom carpet or stuck on the sole of my shoe, we never found her, Lindon writes. Luckily, he adds, his concentration has since improved, allowing him to hold still enough to create his microscopic works of art. Still, his practice takes time: Each piece may take several months to get right, he says.
While the record-holding Lego brick is unlikely to go on sale anytime soongiven that its essentially invisibleit remains a fascinating testament to the human capacity for artistic perseverance.
Spring is just around the corner, ushering in new growth, brighter days, and the heady anticipation of summer. For those of us with sizable screen time, springs arrival also means that the dreary weather is no longer an excuse for spending hours doomscrolling TikTok and Instagram Reels until our eyes glaze over. And now there’s an app that can help you feel like it’s spring year-round.
Rhys Kentish is a senior software engineer at the London-based app design firm Brightec. Hes spent the past four months building an app that makes users literally touch grass before they can open social media.
I was sick and tired of my reflex in the morning being to reach for my phone and scroll for upwards of an hour, Kentish says. It didn’t feel good and I wasn’t getting anything out of it.
[Image: courtesy Rhys Kentish]
His solution is an app called Touch Grass, currently available for preorder and expected to debut on the App Store for iOS devices around mid-March. The apps premise comes from a jab that gained popularity during the early pandemic, typically used to inform chronically online users that theyd become disconnected from real life.
Touch grass [is] used when someone is doing something weird, stupid, or pointless, according to Urban Dictionary. It means they need to come back to reality, they need to get some fresh air and get back in touch with how the real world works.
Kentishs app works by allowing users to select their most distracting apps, then blocking said apps by default until the user ventures outside to touch grass. Once they take a photo of grass and submit it to the app, they can then choose the amount of time theyd like their problem apps to be unblocked.
Currently, the app uses Google’s image-labeling Cloud Vision API to verify that the grass has, indeed, been touched. However, Kentish says, the app has gone so viral that hes considering training his own image-detection model for cost-reduction purposes before Touch Grass makes its App Store debut.
The apps current iteration includes a pixelated 8-bit logo and a grass-scanning screen inspired by retro sci-fi aesthetics. Kentish plans to use a freemium model to support the app, wherein subscribers can pay a fee to block unlimited apps and categories, view their screen time history, and purchase extra monthly skips to get around touching grass (free users get one monthly skip). According to Kentish, 50% of skip purchase profits will go toward wildlife conservation projects in the U.K.
The proposition of the Touch Grass app is simple: Before your digital fatigue drives you to embark on a full-on social media detox, maybe just try getting some fresh air.
The latest Big Tech-funded effort to improve affordable housing sees the solution in people’s backyards. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative announced today that its providing seed funding for a startup that helps turn backyard dwellings into new homeownership opportunities for Americans who are increasingly getting locked out.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) announced a $750,000 investment in BuildCasa, a California-based startup seeking to increase the supply of ADUs, or accessory dwelling units. The funding is part of CZI’s Affordable Starter Home Initiative, which aims to provide funding for a number of pilot programs addressing housing accessibility and affordability.
Were excited about BuildCasas model because it is creating new homes within existing, high-opportunity communities that can be sold for less than typical market rate homes without utilizing public funding to subsidize the projects, which is extremely limited, Amaya Bravo-France, a program officer at the CZI, told Fast Company.
[Image: BuildCasa]
Founded in 2022 and named one of Fast Company‘s Most Innovative Companies last year, BuildCasa utilizes California law SB 9, which allows owners of large lots to split them up. The startups model, and its proprietary means of analyzing building opportunities, pairs landowners with developers, allowing a homeowner to sell part of their land to a developer, who can add one or two housing units and then sell them separately. The process creates additional density in existing residential areas, and adds much-needed supply to a state in the throes of a growing housing shortage.
The grant will fund construction for eight housing units for those making 80% of AMI (area median income, a measure used to guarantee affordable housing goes to those in need). BuildCasa recently closed on a pair of properties in Sacramento using these grant funds, and the other six should be finished in the next two years. The Sacramento two-bedroom homes will be 650 square feet each and go for $325,000 (the area median price is $477,000). BuildCasa expects to break ground in the third quarter of this year. These kinds of lot split arrangements needs parcels that measure at least 2,400 square feet.
[Image: BuildCasa]
Decades of regressive housing policy and NIMBY activism on the local level has blocked this crucial missing middle development, leaving us with a catastrophic shortage of housing that young, lower, and middle-income families can afford to buy, said Paul Steidl, BuildCasas cofounder and CPO, in a statement. The only way out of this generational crisis is to build more housing.
So far, BuildCasa has helped add nearly 100 units, which are either approved or under construction, across California, concentrated mostly in Sacramento and the Bay Area. One reason they havent finished any units yet is that under Californias new laws, subdividing a lot via this process can take 10 to 18 months alone.
[Image: BuildCasa]
Can backyard building provide affordable housing at scale?
CZI says it chose BuildCasa because it believes the startup can help fill a gap in affordable housing production and provide more entry-level homeownership opportunities.
[Image: BuildCasa]
BuildCasas model stuck out because they utilize private capital to build these homes, but are able to offer them for more affordable rates, says Bravo-France. They also partner with homeowners to leverage their excess land to build these new affordable homes, allowing homeowners to receive a financial benefit from their land value while also contributing to solving CAs housing crisis.
Part of the appeal of this model, says BuildCasa CEO Ben Bear, was the ease of land acquisition. Often, affordable housing, especially larger apartment projects, requires substantial land, which adds to the cost, and the dense collection of new units can trigger neighborhood and NIMBY pushback. By using surplus land in oversize lots, and spreading a handful of units across numerous sites, the new housing blends into the neighborhood, Bear says.
Its just there, coexisting side-by-side, which is really the way development used to be 100 years ago, he says. You have different types of units, apartments, and single family homes, all on the same street.
BuildCasa believes theres significant opportunity for more such units, both statewide an nationally, if laws can be amended to mirror those in California. The firms algorithm has identified 1 million parcels of land in California alone where a lot split and ADU development would be possible.
Feeling the impact of eggflation? As egg prices have soared, and the avian flu continues to wipe out millions of birds, many egg producers are struggling, but Vital Farms has managed to keep growing. CEO Russell Diez-Canseco shares how the brands relationship with farmers and transparency with customers have allowed the company to turn crisis into opportunity.
This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by Robert Safian, former editor-in-chief of Fast Company. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with todays top business leaders navigating real-time challenges. Subscribe to Rapid Response wherever you get your podcasts to ensure you never miss an episode.
The price of eggs is up like 50% over the past year, and in some places, more. I know there’s talk about bird flu impacting supply and hens lost. What’s going on?
There’s a fair bit of conjecture about what’s going on in the market. The headline is, yes, a lot of birds have been destroyed over the last couple of years and even more recently in the last few months as a result of avian influenza, and that has resulted in a supply contraction in the market.
Russell Diez-Canseco [Photo: Vital Farms]
Some would say the price impact has been outsized relative to the amount of that enduring supply contraction. Almost all of those birds that have been, they call it depopulated, have been on really large farms, farms with a million or more birds, in cages, some outside of cages, but all in these big buildings with a lot of birds. That has resulted in more than 12% of the bird population in the United States being killed over the last year. On our network of small family farms, it’s been less than one-half of one percent.
And I can’t prove to you exactly why we’ve been so lucky to avoid this issue, but we’ve been a lot luckier than many.
Vital Farms eggs are particularly expensive, premium eggs. What makes an egg worth paying extra for, especially when eggs are already more expensive?
Matt O’Hayer, our founder, is a serial entrepreneur with a big heart around animal welfare. When we first started this business, more than 95% of the laying hens were in cages, and he wanted to create a business that could liberate some of them.
And that’s exactly what he ended up doing. So in those early days, we were the only nationally distributed brand of pasture-raised eggsa new kind of egg that we were trying to popularize.
In the ensuing years, starting as far back as when I joined the company in 2014, there have been lots of options besides Vital Farms to buy pasture-raised eggs.
Yet over the years, ours has been the most expensive version of that commodity. We’ve been growing rapidly with healthy margins. We had an IPO in 2020.
It’s more than just the features and benefits. They are buying our purpose and how we do what we do in addition to this certain kind of egg. We operate with a lot of transparency. For example, our egg cartons have the name of the farm from which those eggs came on them, and you can see a video of that farm on our website.
When we go to a retailer, were not just trying to transact with them. Were trying to help them plan their business to achieve their goals. Right now, its no secret that were not filling orders in full. A lot of egg companies aren’t, but we’ve developed a powerful brand, and demand, especially since we havent raised prices in over a year, is outstripping our supply of eggs.
Were pretty transparent about what we commit to with those retailers. It’s a rare thing in this world and certainly in the food system. That’s appealing to some.
And if you haven’t had to raise prices over the last year when prices of other eggs have gone up, that means that premium is narrower than it used to be, right? How do you maintain that?
There is some balance to the way we think about the choices we make around pricing. We might have built a strong brand that we could command an even higher price at some point in the future.
We also have a commitment to improving the lives of people, animals, and the planet through food. And we might price ourselves out of some growth that leaves some chickens in cages and leaves some people stuck with an egg that may not be as good for all of our stakeholders. So, we take all that into account when we set pricing.
But the truth is that our cost structure has faced some inflation over the last few years, but nothing that would inspire us or force us to double pricing the way we’ve seen it in the market over the last year.
And that it sounds like is you’re using more smaller farms as opposed to these bigger industrial farms?
Input costs are what they are. It takes a certain amount of feed, space in a barn, heat in the winter, and veterinary care to produce an egg. These are measurable commodities. We feed our birds corn and soy in addition to what they find out on the pasture, for example.
Those have not doubled in the last six months. There is a pricing discovery mechanism for commodity eggs in this market, driven in part by spot pricing of eggs. When there’s a dislocation of supply, that number can jump up and suddenly find its way into production, pricing to retailers, and pricing on the shelf.
We price as a branded CPG company. I don’t look at that index. We price based on what we think is right as part of the marketing mix, like any other branded company.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm0CFIKPEBY
What’s at stake for Vital Farms right now?
Our goal is to build America’s most trusted food brand. The way we build this company is by operating in a certain waya values and purpose-driven way.
So from that sense, what’s really important and whats at stake is how do we continue to scale a world-class organization with a strong culture in a remote environment? We went remote in 2020. We’re still remote-first. Some crew members packing eggs or servicing farms needto be in a specific location, but a lot of us work from home.
That is top of mind for me because, long before it shows up in any performance indicator, there’s always a risk of losing trust or upsetting the culture you’ve built. So that’s a primary focus for me.
For all the chickens, it’s about the people.
It’s an interesting but appropriate way to put it. Again, we focus significantly on treating chickens well and preventing them from getting sick from avian influenza. It’s working, but it requires vigilance, ownership from farmers and crew members who support them, and great execution.
Those qualities are hard to come by in many respects, so we work hard to maintain that level of commitment.
Quantum researchers are in a race for qubits, and Microsoft is in the thick of the competition.
Microsoft has spent the last 20 years pursuing a topological approach to quantum development. Last week, they had a breakthrough: The company counted eight topological qubits on their Majorana 1 chip. They published a paper in Nature, got a glowing New York Times piece about a new state of matter, and buoyed quantum stocks across the market.
Eight qubits isnt anywhere near what would be needed to reach full-scale quantum computing. That number is in the millions, and they would need to be error-corrected. Other companies, like IBM and Google, are much further ahead on thatjust with different models. Microsoft finally proved that the topological approach could work; now, theyve got to catch up. (Think of it like discovering a new way to build a car engine: Microsoft just got theirs to start, while others are already racing down the track.) There are reasons to be excitednamely, that a topological approach could be less susceptible to noisebut theyre still vastly behind in scale.
If anybody believes this means that Microsoft is close to a commercial quantum computer, they’re missing the point, says Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave Quantum, a rival quantum company. It’s a validation that [topological] is a viable approach. Will it be a better approach than superconducting or trapped ion or photonic or neutral atom? That remains to be seen.
The many paths to quantum computing
All of our computers operate using bits, the smallest unit of digital information. This bit can be either a zero or a one. Quantum researchers are now developing bits that can be both zero and one at the same timesomething that would dramatically speed up computations. These qubits are difficult to develop, even harder to scale, and almost impossible to correct for errors. Still, researchers at major companies have made significant progress.
But theres not one singular way to build a qubit. The most prominent approach to making a qubit relies on superconducting circuitsGoogle, IBM, and Amazon Web Services have all bet big on that. Another is the photonic technique, which uses light particles as qubits; thats being developed domestically by PsiQuantum and Xanadu, and overseas by Chinese researcher Jian-Wei Pan. Each has shown promise, but most still face major hurdles, keeping large-scale, error-corrected quantum computing years away.
Microsoft has added a topological approach to the rat race. [For other modalities], we’ve demonstrated the physics as a community. Now it’s about scale, says Jack Hidary, CEO of AI company SandboxAQ. In the case of topological, it’s the one modality that needed a fundamental science breakthrough.
But, while Microsoft has reached their science breakthrough, other companies have pushed further. Both Hidary and Baratz reference Googles Willow chip, which employs the superconducting approach. Not only did Willow employ significantly more qubits, but it also proved that error-correction was scalable. The more qubits, Google found, the more they reduced error.
They were able to show partial error correction on gate model qubits for the first time, and that’s critically important, Baratz says. That’s a true advance. I think [Majorana 1] is just a proof of concept widening.
Baratz is, like a number of physicists, generally skeptical of the Microsoft announcement. He references Microsofts previous failure in the arena: After publishing a 2018 paper in Nature claiming a Majorana discovery, quantum researchers began to question their findings. Microsofts scientists admitted insufficient scientific rigour in 2021, and Nature retracted the paper. Baratz also notes that the paper ignored qubit or gate fidelity, both measures of accuracy. It leads you to wonder, what is this chip actually capable of doing, and to what extent is it actually a process? he asks.
For their part, Microsoft is embracing the spirit of competition. Others are working to bring this same vision to life, but with different approaches, a Microsoft spokesperson wrote in an email to Fast Company. This is what makes science fun. Some in the field believe an alternative approach is the right one to take and have invested significant time and resources into their methods. We understand why they would want to advocate for their approach. Discourse and skepticism are all part of the scientific process.
Still, theres a reason scientists continue to call Microsofts paper a breakthrough. While the company may not have anything close to a quantum computeror even a lead in the race to get theretheyve pulled off something thought previously unimaginable. Most had simply given up on the topological approach.
The topological approach is the most scientifically daunting approach to building a quantum computer, and that’s why Microsoft deserves credit, Hidary says. Kudos.
How far are we from full-scale, marketable quantum computing? Thats still unknown. But experts like Karthee Madasmy, who was an early investor in PsiQuantum, thinks the Microsoft news is yet another good sign. The timeline has shrunk, he says.
Its not multiple decades away, Madasmy says. Its actually a few years away.
In 2034, Salt Lake City will join a short list of cities that have hosted a Winter Olympic Games twice, joining the likes of Turin and Innsbruck. But unlike in any Olympics of the past, skiers and bobsledders may glimpse a surreal sight overhead as they competeflying air taxis.
Though still nine years away from the Opening Ceremony, aviation company Beta Technologies sees the state of Utah as a proving ground for its electric planes. As competitors focus on major cities like New York and Los Angeles, Beta has inked a deal with Utah to start exploring transportation solutions across the very rural state.
The Beehive State had a confluence of benefits for Beta, including a varied geography, well-distributed airports, expansive land for testing, and a foot already in aviation. In our space, everybody (municipalities and states) wants to raise their hand, says Kyle Clark, Betas founder and CEO. But it’s only a few who step up and [allocate] the right money, the right political resources, the right regulatory support, the right businesses.
If Beta can create a functioning network of electric planes to connect the remotest parts of Utah, initially focusing on cargo and logistics, then it should be able to streamline naturally into carrying passengers for the 2034 Olympics.
Connecting Utahs remote areas
Utah has created a coalition designed to support companies like Beta comprises the governors office, the state Department of Transportation, and public-private aerospace partnership, 47G (named for 1847, the year the first Mormons reached the Salt Lake Valley, and for a number close to the most G-force ever experienced, 46.2). 47G is focused on growing aerospace and defense in the state, industries that already represent 20% of Utahs economy. The organization helps 200 aerospace-adjacent companiesfrom startups, to contractors, to Delta Air Linesto source capital, build infrastructures, and incubate.
Beta was a welcome addition. We want to move people and packages, and we want Utah to lead out on this space, says Aaron Starks, 47Gs president and CEO. We wanted to bring a partner in and not just sell us aircraft, but build the ecosystem with us.
One significant hurdle is FAA certifications, which Beta will need to progress. It has three certifications pending: It expects the first, for its pusher motorthe propulsion device that pushes the craft forwardto be completed this year, followed by those for its eCTOL (conventional take-off and landing) and eVTOL (vertical take-off and landing) models.
If they come through, Utah will be an inviting market. Utah was the fastest-growing state by population between 2010 and 2020, and is due to welcome 500,000 new residents by 2033. Thatll increase demand for cargo, medical, and logisticsall of which Beta wants to operate in, having already secured partners that include Amazon, UPS, and United Health Therapeutics.
Utahs unique geography suits Betas goals. Of its 29 counties, only four are not considered rural, and a third of the state is desert. That allows the possibility for aircraft to improve rural routes that are otherwise inefficient to traverse. Clark says the minor roads that connect eastern and western Utah slow down transport, which is precarious when it involves goods like emergency medical supplies. Its a state actively seeking out faster and cheaper options.
Carbon emissions from vehicles also contribute to poor air quality, as the mountainous topography leads to a phenomenon called inversion, whereby cold air and pollutants, including carbon, get trapped under a layer of warmer air, resulting in thick smog. As a state, we are very much on board with decreasing the emissions footprint through clean technologies, Starks says.
Making it happen
The coalitions first order of business will be developing airport infrastructure to accommodate Betas vehicles across Utah, where 94% of the population lives within a 30-minute drive of an airport. They have started identifying five initial existing airports that could serve as bases for both of Betas aircraft offerings: eCTOLs and eVTOLs. The latter, which rise upward like helicopters instead of accelerating along a runway and taking off, need slightly different sites known as vertiportswhich could easily be added to existing airports.
Vertiport sounds big and scary, Clark says, [but] weve built vertiports that are de-iced landing pads with lights on them. These are pretty simple things.
Beta and the coalition have also begun an assessment of optimal sites for a charging network, with the help of Betas algorithm, which its used to place 60 of its charge cubes across the U.S., mainly concentrated in the Northeast and South. The fast chargers are multi-modal, meaning they can accommodate EV road fleets like trucks and delivery vans.
So, once Betas FAA certifications come through, both the planes and networks will be ready to go for their partners. UPS loves the fact that we’re putting in a bunch of charging network nodes throughout Utah, Clark says.
For Clark, the ability to validate the entire system holistically within a single state makes Utah a better market entry point than major metropolitan areas, where its competitors, including Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation, have focused on passenger air taxis. Archer has announced Newark-to-Manhattan and OHare-to-Chicago routes with United Airlines, which has conditionally approved $1.5 billion of investment; and Joby has partnered with Delta, with up to $200 million.
But cities pose complicated regulatory hurdles from municipalities and communities, Clark says, as well as the need for intricate power and flight infrastructures. And for such a new offering, the size of demand from would-be passengers is yet unknown. It’s going to happen, he says. But you have to ask the question: Is that the right entry point?
Archer and Joby, both public companies, are reportedly both planning to use the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics as the milestone event for proving out their air taxis. But caution lingers from the Paris Olympics, where grand promises of air taxis by European companies fell flat.
Clark believes the L.A. Games are too soon to do this effectively, and it would merely be a bit of a stunt to show the world flying taxis without providing any real use. Conversely, he says the plan in Utah gives them time to rehearse with cargo and logistics for almost a decade, so that by 2034 they can meaningfully taxi Winter Olympics visitors across the skies.
Clark insists hes unfazed by his competitors, but still slams what he views as their superficial strategies. We are aquiet, private company, and we have been crushing the technology, he says. You may not see us out there making fancy videos of the future, because we’re building the real stuff here.
When Netflix reality show Dubai Bling debuted in 2022, it became a global sensation, garnering viewers across 51 countries. And it’s kept up the momentum: The show’s recently released third season racked up 18.6 million hours of viewing time in its first week alone.
Dubai Bling, filmed in English and Arabic, is subtitled in 31 languages and dubbed in 5. The show has been part of a surge in Arabic content on Netflix attracting global viewership. Last springs Honeymoonish, an Arab-language rom-com from Kuwait, trended in the top 10 film list of 73 countries, amassing more than 22 million views.
Danya Diva Dee Mohammed in Dubai Bling, Season 1 [Photo: Hyku Desesto/Netflix]
Love Is Blind Habibi, the Arab adaptation of the hit reality show Love Is Blind, premiered on Netflix in October 2024 and ranked among the top 10 global non-English shows in 26 countries.
Netflix’s commitment to showcasing stories from the Arab region has been a game changer for Arab filmmakers, according to Dubai Bling creator Mazen Laham. Though he had worked on multiple Arabic-language shows previously, they were local projects with nowhere near the scope of Netflixs viewership.
As the streaming platform has invested in stories told in Arabic, it has given Arab-led projects global reach by dubbing them in multiple languages. [Before Netflix] we didn’t have the chance to show the world what content we can produce, Laham says. We were always producing for local platforms and channels. Nobody had the opportunity to see what we do.
Netflixs targeted move
Investing in original content from the Arab region is a strategic move for Netflix: The worlds fastest-growing population is in the Middle East and Africa. Arab-speaking countries have a combined population of more than 473 million people, and more than 55% of the people in the Middle East and North Africa are younger than 30. A young and growing population poses a lucrative viewership opportunity for Netflix.
Nour El Haj in Love is Blind: Habibi [Photo: Netflix]
Netflix has also launched several initiatives aimed at encouraging young creative talent from the Arab world, focusing especially on nurturing female filmmakers through financial grants and upskilling opportunities. Because She Created provides a platform for female creatives in the Arab world who are pioneering new paths in the film industry. As part of the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, the initiative also offers a onetime grant of $250,000 to support female filmmakers in their creative endeavors. In July 2024, Netflix also launched the Saudi Female Future Filmmakers Program, an advanced mentoring initiative designed to identify the next generation of female talent in the Saudi film industry.
Through these projects [Netflix is] automatically nurturing the industry. The more projects that we deliver to the industry, the better the industry will become, says Wael Abumansour, a Saudi producer with Telfaz11, the studio behind Netflix films such as AlKhallat+, The Matchmaker, and Naga. He adds that the demand for content from the Arab region is accelerating really fast, which makes it an exciting time to be an Arab filmmaker.
Taking Arab content global
Abumansour says the creative freedom that Netflix extends to showrunners and filmmakers allows them to explore diverse narratives and cultural themes. In 2024, the platform aired a diverse slate of shows and films from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kuwait, and Jordan from both emerging and seasoned creatives from the region.
Raneem Haitham (in pink) plays Farah in the second season of the Jordanian series AlRawabi School for Girls. [Photo: Courtesy of Netflix 2024]
One of those emerging talents is Tima Shomali, the Jordanian writer-director of the teen drama AlRawabi School for Girls, one of Netflixs most successful series, garnering solid viewership in 43 countries. Shomali believes that Arab content has increasing appeal on streaming platforms because of its well-crafted scripts and characters who resonate with audiences.
Tima Shomali created and directs the Jordanian teen drama AlRawabi School for Girls. [Photo: Courtesy of Netflix 2024]
The most important thing in a story is writing root-worthy characterscharacters that people can relate with, sympathize with, Shomali says. AlRawabi connected with people regionally and internationally, because maybe a lot of people actually connected or saw themselves or someone they know in one of these characters.
The hope is that Netflixs investment continues to pay off for Arab storytelling. It’s time for Arabic content to travel, Shomali says. We’ve always imported content from the West. And now it’s time for us to export our content.
In the short time since Grazas 2022 launch, the wunderkind olive oil slinger has become a standout in a crowded market with its dynamic duo of extra-virgin olive oils: Sizzle for cooking and Drizzle for finishingcleverly packaged in matte-green squeeze bottles.
On Tuesday, Graza introduced its third product to the lineup, the high-heat cooking oil Frizzle. Its being sold online as well as in select Whole Foods locations nationwide in squeeze bottles and a company-first nonaerosol spray bottle.
Made from the remaining pressed olives from Grazas flagship oils, Frizzle is extracted and refined without the use of chemicals or solvents. The natural refinement process results in a neutral taste and high smoke point, making it a wholly olive-based alternative to seed oils (those being the latest boogeyman of the wellness-industrial complex). Entering the neutral oil market has also allowed Graza to play around with new packaging, something the brand explored last year with its olive oil refill cans.
[Photo: Graza]
A new spin on neutral oil
Graza cofounder and CEO Andrew Benin was well aware of the risks of tinkering with the brand. Why mess with something that’s working? he says. Frizzle may be the new kid on the block, but the products conception is as old as Graza itself. The Graza braintrust had always envisioned three use cases for its oil: frying and high-heat cooking, sautéing, and raw finishing.
Frizzle is still made from olives, but dont call it olive oil. Per regulations of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, that title is reserved for the substance directly extracted from the olive fruit (such as Grazas Drizzle and Sizzle). Frizzle, on the other hand, is technically an upcycled by-product made from the spent olives. But unlike some other cooking oils, it isnt chemically refined.
After spinning the pressed olives in a high-speed centrifuge, a tapenade-like slurry of flesh, pits, and peels known as pomace is left behindwhat the Graza team lovingly calls olive mush. Once the oil is extracted, the product is naturally refined through multistep filtration and gradual heating, which removes impurities without the use of hexanes, solvents, or deodorants.
[Photo: Graza]
No seeds, no problem?
These common refinement techniques are at the center of an ongoing push against seed oils, the detractors of which range from gently concerned at best to conspiratorial at worst. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new secretary of Health and Human Services, has been a particularly vocal skeptic of seed oils, suggesting Americans are being “unknowingly poisoned by them. Nutrition experts insist such concerns have been exaggerated.
Benin is quick to point out that neutral seed oils have a role to play. By diminishing them, you’re diminishing the people who need to consume them as a functional ingredient in their diet, he says, alluding to the presence of dietarily necessary omega-6 fatty acids that occur in corn oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, and the like.
To lump all seed oils into one category, he continues, is as overly generalizing as presuming all olive oil meets the same quality standards. Still, Benin will go to bat for Graza any day of the week. This is a superior product than canola oil because we can back it up with lab data, and taste, he says. But we’re not going to be bashing seed oils as part of our brand.
[Photo: Graza]
Standing out by blending in
Despite conventional wisdom, Benin says, you can fry with extra-virgin olive oil. In fact, he notes that you can fry more, repeatedly, in EVOO than you can in other types of oils. But its capabilities top out around its smoke point of 410 degrees. At that temperature, youre essentially refining the oil yourself, and all of those lovely grassy, bitter notes flame out, making way for an acrid-tasting substance called acrolein.
[Photo: Graza]
Frizzles 490-degree smoke point makes it optimal for wok cooking, grilling, or searing in a ripping-hot cast iron. But Benin says those capabilities presented some new challengs for the oil aficionados at Graza. How do you sell a product whose defining characteristic is neutrality? Extra-virgin olive oil is known for its variety of tasting notes, whether grassy, peppery, or fruity, due to EVOOs high percentage of antioxidant-rich polyphenols.
The refining process breaks down polyphenols, resulting in more neutral-tasting oil. Graza adds 7% of its Sizzle formula to Frizzle post-refinement, replacing some lost polyphenols and adding a soupçon of buttery flavor that Benin says eludes other neutral oil options. “Adding [EVOO] after the Frizzle has been refined means that all the antioxidants from the Sizzle are not affected as part of the refining process,” he says. “We’re adding in the health benefit afterwards.”
New oil, new packaging
One advantage of refined oil is its longer shelf lifeapproximately three years as opposed to extra-virgin olive oils two (or even one, in some instances). That wiggle room allowed Graza, which has limited its refills to single-use sizes, to introduce a new suite of packaging volumes, all decked out in a lemon-yellow color scheme.
Frizzle can be bought in Grazas first at-home jug, a 2-liter vessel with an ergonomic handle that retails for $29.99 exclusively on the companys website. Frizzle also comes in a nonaerosol spray bottleanother Graza firstfor grilling and baking ($6.99). And it wouldnt be Graza without the signature squeeze bottle that put the brand on the map, available in the same 750-milliliter bottle as Sizzle ($14.99).
Benin and company have no doubt that Frizzle will stand up to Grazas flagship oils, even if it means expanding its lexicon to include the word neutral. We’re trying to push it, we’re trying to innovate, we’re trying to prove it in our products, he says. It’s been exciting and difficult to orient a company around a new word.”
If you are career-minded, you may think applying for a loftier position in another company is the best route. In fact half of millennials expect to leave their current company within a year.
But it’s not always the right move. Advancing in your present company may be a smarter move. You already know the culture and the people. If you enjoy them, who is to say that you’d find something better elsewhere? Also, some companies reward loyalty. And why would you want to compete with hundreds of applicants in a chaotic job market?
If you are staying, hone your strategy. Follow these five steps to boost your likelihood of advancing.
1. ASK FOR VISIBLE ASSIGNMENTS
First, seek out high-profile assignments. You want to be seen as a go-getter.
Do this, and your boss and other leaders in the firm will regard you as a creative, productive worker with aspirational goals. Im not talking about doing extra grunt work. I mean seizing opportunities to come up with innovative ideas and initiatives that impress others.
Commit to projects that reach beyond your department. Youll open the door to new relationships with potential bosses in other departments. For example, you might lead a fundraising project, or help another executive with her presentation, or volunteer to speak at an International Womens Day event in your company.
2. BUILD YOUR NETWORK AT THE COMPANY
It’s important to build your network within the firm. Youll meet and gain the favor of leaders who recognize your talent and initiative. That can lead to important new relationships with strategically placed individuals.
Take part in activities where you can meet senior leaders. These include conferences, sports such as company golf tournaments, leadership forums, and training sessions. If there is someone in the company you admire and think youd like to work for, find a way to get onto their calendar. You might have a mutual interest. Or, you might invite them to speak to your team as a guest expert. Be creative in setting up that meeting.
Once youve made that contact, broach the discussion about reporting to them. There might be an advertised position or not. Either way, if you want to work in that department go for it, set up a meeting, and prepare to pitch yourself.
3. PREPARE A STRONG PITCH
If youre job hunting in your present company, it might seem like overkill to prepare for each encounter. But you must do soeven for conversations with people who may not have a job to offer you at the moment. They may be able to recommend you to others.
Your preparation should include a résumé that is polished and geared to opportunities in the company. If someone has agreed to meet with you, youll also want to prepare speaking notes in the form of a well-crafted statement explaining what kind of position you are looking for and why you feel ready for it. And dont forget to write a thank-you note after the meeting.
For guidelines on how to create a strong networking pitch, see the chapter on Pitching Yourself inside Your Company. in my book, The Job Seekers Script. Youll discover how to sell yourself within your present company.
4. DONT LET YOUR BOSS GET IN YOUR WAY
Its important to get along with your boss. But dont let that person slow you down if you want to advance.
A manager who praises your work may not want to see you move to another department. One woman I know had an opportunity to take a VP position elsewhere in the company. That would have been a big step forward since she was a director. But her boss pleaded dont go . . . I need you here. So, she stayed, and after a decade she is still a director.
If you have a boss who encourages you to pursue next steps within the company, be thankful. But be wary of a bad boss who tries to block ascent. All the more reason to develop strong network ties that will allow you to get around that roadblock.
5. AVOID COMPLAINING ABOUT YOUR CURRENT ROLE
As you have conversations with others and seek to move up the corporate ladder, never complain about your current position. A bad boss is, of course, only one reason for seeking a new position. There are many others. But if you are looking to move up because you are unhappy with your current manager or some other aspect of your job, keep that to yourself. No one wants to hire a complainer. They fear it might be a personality trait.
Instead, focus on what you like about your present role, what you have learned from your boss, what a great team of professionals youve had the pleasure of working with. And then look ahead and share your excitement about moving to the next role, whatever it may be. That kind of self-portrayal will get you a potential job offer and it will help you build your career.
A $19 strawberry has broken the internet.
Over the weekend, several content creators went viral with reviews of one very expensive berry, purchased from the upscale Los Angeles-based grocery chain Erewhon.
Apparently its the best-tasting strawberry in the entire world, influencer Alyssa Antoci says in a video that has racked up more than 15 million views. It’s worth noting that Antoci appears to be a social media manager for Erewhon, and her family also owns the store. Wow. That is the best strawberry. Thats crazy, she adds.
@alyssaantocii insane original sound – lyss
Along with the $19 price tag, the berries from luxury Japanese fruit vendor Elly Amai are individually packaged, set on a small cushion inside a miniature plastic cloche for protectionexactly how one would expect such an expensive berry to be packaged. On its website, the company claims to sell only the “highest-quality fruits from Japans most celebrated farms.”
Not everyone is impressed. People in L.A. are so gullible, one commenter wrote. If I dropped $20 on a strawberry, Id probably convince myself it was the best one Ive ever tasted too, wrote another.
It does taste good but is it worth the $19? content creator @janemukbangs questioned in a TikTok video with 5.5 million views. (Spoiler alert: It wasnt.)
@janemukbangs $19 strawberry from Erewhon #erewhon #foodtiktok #fyp #strawberries original sound – janemukbangs
Whether people are willing to pay a premium for Japanese berries or its simply a case of clever marketing, this isnt the first time the celeb-loved L.A. grocery store has made headlines for its pricey products. This month, its a $19 strawberry; last year, it was a $32 bag of specialty ice. In a time when many are struggling to afford even basic groceries, its easy to see why a ridiculously expensive strawberry has rubbed some people the wrong way.
Or, as one commenter theorized, Erewhon was 100% started by a group of uni students who wanted to run a social experiment on consumerism. They ended up accidentally creating a successful grocery so now they just watch and laugh.
