People like to say that change happens gradually, then all at once. That pattern seems to be holding with respect to AI in search, and we may be at the beginning of the “all at once” part now that Google has officially launched AI Mode, which turns internet searches into conversations where you get answers instead of links.
The point of AI Mode is for Google to act as an assistant to help you accomplish what you were trying to do with the search in the first place. Need to book a flight, find a sushi restaurant nearby, or grab a statistic that supports the email pitch you’re authoring? AI Mode will simply find what you need and even complete the action for you in many cases. And those cases will continue to expand: The company showed a future shopping capability where Google completes checkout for you without ever needing to leave the search page.
Potential for Disruption
The potential disruption to industries is staggering, not just for the media but also for marketing, e-commercethe whole web, really. For now, however, it remains mostly potential. AI Mode primarily lives as a button on the Google homepage and one of the tabs on results pages (alongside tabs for News, Photos, Videos, etc.). Users need to deliberately engage with it. And the omnibox in Chrome, where most Google searches occur, still defaults to regular search.
{"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/03\/mediacopilot-logo-ss.png","headline":"Media CoPilot","description":"Want more about how AI is changing media? Never miss an update from Pete Pachal by signing up for Media CoPilot. To learn more visit mediacopilot.substack.com","substackDomain":"https:\/\/mediacopilot.substack.com\/","colorTheme":"blue","redirectUrl":""}}
So despite the hype and panic emanating from Google’s I/O conference over AI Mode, Google isn’t going all-in just yet, and with good reason: Its existing business model depends greatly on the search results page. AI Mode can display ads, too, but it’s going to take time for the product to mature as a business. There’s also the simple fact that it costs Google more to serve up an AI answer versus a search pageit needs to move slowly in order to keep from tanking its own profits.
The undeniable rise of AI search
Make no mistake, though: The AI Mode summary will be the new battleground for attention. It’s fundamentally more engaging than even Google’s AI Overviews that appear at the top of search results pages. Whereas Overviews are a kind of “extra” to the list of links, AI Mode effectively creates a bubble around your Google experience, one that you deliberately enter and stay within. It’s designed to “fan out” from your initial query, turning search into something that’s more like a collaboration with Google on a task that search is just one part of.
While that may sound like work compared to just getting served a search query, you have to remember: Once you had those results, you had to do the workthe navigating to sites, judging which were credible, and then manually absorbing information, filtering the irrelevant stuff.
Now AI Mode does most of that work for you, greatly reducing the friction or “cognitive load” involved in getting information. I see this all the time in my own experience: Over the Memorial Day weekend, I ended up looping in AI assistants for several different projectshanging outdoor lights, what those metal ring-thingies are called, and how to optimize my cooking methods for pork ribs versus beef ribs. In all those interactions, no list of links was required, and in many cases, I got the information verbally, reducing friction even more.
I’m a sample size of one, but studies suggest I’m far from alone. A recent study revealed 17%, or one in five consumers, now rely on AI answers more than traditional search. Referrals from generative AI to websites surged over 1,200% between July 2024 and February of this year, according to Adobe research. The AI search wave is real.
When knowledge goes flat
AI search experiences are more convenient, but it comes at a cost. If the AI summary is the new place for information brokers to conquer, there’s less land to fight over. Summaries simply can’t meaningfully cite dozens of sources in a curt answer. Moreover, if one or two sources change, the effect on the summary will be minimal. If an AI answer gets a new site fueling it, it’s still an averaged, homogenized consensus built from several sources. You don’t have the unusual link suddenly gaining prominence on a results page, inviting users to go down a rabbit hole. An AI summary is made to pave over those holes.
This tendency toward singular, concise answers may have the inadvertent effect of flattening knowledge diversity. Mainstream perspectives will get prioritized, and niche or contrarian voices will have a tougher time standing out.
Signal generators
This shift puts a burden on journalists and media organizations to act not just as content creators but also as distinctive signal generators in a noisy, compressed ecosystem. In a world where AI systems synthesize information from thousands of sources, what gets retained are the most statistically common patternsnot necessarily the most insightful or original voices.
That’s why it’s going to be essential for media sites to be able to do both: structure content to acknowledge and align with the mainstream view, but also provide original and unique perspectives that will offer real value for those who go deeper. It’s an updated version of a diverse content strategy, only in the AI world it can mean serving those ingredients in new ways: possibly by remixing content into formats recognizable by a multimodal AI that cares just as much about sound and video as it does about text.
One thing’s for sure: AI answers are here to stay, and “winning” them is going to be the game to master. What’s unclear is what will be harder: influencing readers through what the summary says, or getting them to click through the AI ode bubble so you can influence them yourself. Let the games begin.
{"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/03\/mediacopilot-logo-ss.png","headline":"Media CoPilot","description":"Want more about how AI is changing media? Never miss an update from Pete Pachal by signing up for Media CoPilot. To learn more visit mediacopilot.substack.com","substackDomain":"https:\/\/mediacopilot.substack.com\/","colorTheme":"blue","redirectUrl":""}}
Mark Zuckerberg recently suggested that AI chatbots could combat social isolation by serving as friends for people experiencing loneliness.
He cited statistics that the average American has fewer than 3 friends but yearns for as many as 15. He was close: According to a 2021 report from the Survey Center on American Life, about half of Americans have fewer than four close friends.
Zuckerberg then posited that AI could help bridge this gap by providing constant, personalized interactions.
I would guess that over time we will find the vocabulary as a society to be able to articulate why that is valuable, he added.
Loneliness and social disconnection are serious problems. But can AI really be a solution? Might relying on AI for emotional support create a false sense of connection and possibly exacerbate feelings of isolation? And while AI can simulate certain aspects of companionship, doesnt it lack the depth, empathy, and mutual understanding inherent to human friendship?
Researchers have started exploring these questions. But as a moral philosopher, I think its worth turning to a different source: the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle.
Though it might seem odd to consult someone who lived over 2,000 years ago on questions of modern technology, Aristotle offers enduring insights about friendshipsand which ones are particularly valuable.
More important than spouses, kids, or money
In his philosophical text Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle maintained that true friendship is essential for eudaimonia, a Greek word that is typically translated as flourishing or well-being.
For Aristotle, friends are not just nice to havetheyre a central component of ethical living and essential for human happiness and fulfillment.
Without friends, no one would choose to live, he writes, though he had all other goods.
A solitary existence, even one of contemplation and intellectual achievement, is less complete than a life with friends. Friendship contributes to happiness by providing emotional support and solidarity. It is through friendship that individuals can cultivate their virtues, feel a sense of security and share their accomplishments.
Empirical evidence seems to support the connection between friendship and eudaimonia. A 2023 Pew Center research report found that 61% of adults in the U.S. say having close friends is essential to living a fulfilling lifea higher proportion than those who cited marriage, children or money. A British study of 6,500 adults found that those who had regular interactions with a wide circle of friends were more likely to have better mental health and be happier.
And a meta-analysis of nearly 150 studies found that a lack of close friends can increase the risk of death as much as smoking, drinking, or obesity.
Different friends for different needs
But the benefit of friendship that Aristotle focuses on the most is the role that it plays in the development of virtue.
In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle identifies three tiers of friendship.
The first tier is what he calls friendships of utility, or a friendship that is based on mutual benefit. Each party is primarily concerned with what they can gain from the other. These might be colleagues at work or neighbors who look after each others pets when one of them is on vacation. The problem with these friendships is that they are often fleeting and dissolve once one person stops benefiting from the relationship.
The second is friendships of pleasure, which are friendships based on shared interests. These friendships can also be transient, depending on how long the shared interests last. Passionate love affairs, people belonging to the same book club, and fishing buddies all fall into this category. This type of friendship is important, since you tend to enjoy your passions more when you can share them with another person. But this is still not the highest form of friendship.
According to Aristotle, the third and strongest form of friendship is a virtuous friendship. This is based on mutual respect for each others virtues and character.
Two people with this form of friendship value each other for who they truly are and share a deep commitment to the well-being and moral development of one another. These friendships are stable and enduring. In a virtuous friendship, each individual helps the other become better versions of themselves through encouragement, moral guidance, and support.
As Aristotle writes: Perfect friendship is the friendship of men who are good and alike in virtue. . . . Now those who wish well to their friends for their sake are most truly friends; for they do this by reason of their own nature and not incidentally; therefore their friendship lasts as long as they are goodand goodness is an enduring thing.
In other words, friendships rooted in virtue not only bring happiness and fulfillment but also facilitate personal growth and moral development. And it happens naturally within the context of the relationship.
According to Aristotle, a virtuous friend provides a mirror in which one can reflect upon their own actions, thoughts, and decisions. When one friend demonstrates honesty, generosity, or compassion, the other can learn from these actions and be inspired to cultivate these virtues in themselves.
No nourishment for the soul
So, what does this mean for AI friends?
By Aristotles standards, AI chatbotshowever sophisticatedcannot be true friends.
They may be able to provide information that helps you at work, or engage in lighthearted conversation about your various interests. But they fundamentally lack qualities that define a virtuous friendship.
AI is incapable of mutual concern or genuine reciprocity. While it can be programmed to simulate empathy or encouragement, it does not truly care about the individualnor does it ask anything of its human users.
Moreover, AI cannot engage in the shared pursuit of the good life. Aristotles notion of friendship involves a shared journey on the path to eudaimonia, during which each person helps another live wisely and well. This requies the kind of moral development that only human beings, who face real ethical challenges and make real decisions, can undergo.
I think it is best to think of AI as a tool. Just like having a good shovel or rake can improve your quality of life, having the rake and the shovel do not mean you no longer need any friendsnor do they replace the friends whose shovels and rakes you used to borrow.
While AI may offer companionship in a limited and functional sense, it cannot meet the Aristotelian criteria for virtuous friendship. It may fill a temporary social void, but it cannot nourish the soul.
If anything, the rise of AI companions should serve as a reminder of the urgent need to foster real friendships in an increasingly disconnected world.
Gregg D. Caruso is a professor of ethics and management and director of the Waide Center for Applied Ethics at Fairfield University.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Parents used to be freaked out when kids were reading romance novels or Horatio Alger books. It seems quaint now, when so many parents (and teens!) are concerned about the effects of social media and screen time. But it speaks to a universal truth: The stories we learn have the power to shape our lives.
Stories are among the oldest forms of teaching. They dont just shape our thinking, they actually affect us at a neural level. This is especially true for kids: The entertainment that children consume during their most formative years plays an important role in shaping who they become and how they relate to the world around them.
Now, however, some of the most reliable sources for high-quality childrens media are on the chopping block with the administrations threat to cut federal funding of PBS, accounting for 15% of its funding, which will only limit access to valuable programming that can impact future generations. In fact, the U.S. Department of Education recently notified the Corporation for Public Broadcasting about the immediate termination of its Ready to Learn grant, taking away the remaining $23 million of a grant that was set to end on September 30. PBS has received this grant every five years for the past 30 years, and it accounts for one-third of PBS Kids annual budget.
There have been many studies on the immediate effects of media on children, from specific learning goals to impacts on self-esteem. But one thing that hadnt been measured extensively was how much those learnings persist over time. Thats why my colleagues and I at the Center for Scholars & Storytellers at the University of California, Los Angeles, studied the long-term impact of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, a modern-day Mister Rogers-inspired program. The show, which we weren’t involved with, was developed in close collaboration with child-development experts to purposefully and thoughtfully model social skills and emotional regulation tools for young kids.
[Image: Fred Rogers Productions]
To see how much teens had learned from watching Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood as younger children, we conducted a mixed-methods study surveying 150 teenagers across the United States. The results were striking: 57% remembered learning strategies from the show, like understanding and managing emotions, academic success, and behavioral regulation. And one in five told us they still use those techniques (like deep breathing and other calming strategies) when theyre upset today.
Interestingly, the teens in our study didnt just recall facts or songs. They also remembered feelings of safety and warmth. Many associated watching the show with solace during difficult moments in early childhood. We know that storytelling can provide frameworks for coping during times of uncertainty. And in fact, this kind of comfort is increasingly important to kids today: In our research, we found that young people ages 10 to 24 now rank safety as a higher priority than having fun.
Media can be a powerful way to support kids mental health: One study found that a popular hip-hop song featuring a story that has a man calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline led to increased calls to that hotline and a reduction in suicides.
But given our nation’s ongoing youth mental health challenges, we cant leave this to chance: Storytelling grounded in researchdesigned to meet children where they are emotionally, cognitively, and sociallyis more needed than ever. These kinds of stories can act as a form of early intervention, providing children with tools that can support their psychological well-being for years to come.
When Fred Rogers testified in front of Congress back in 1969, he said, If we in public television can only make it clear that feelings are mentionable and manageable, we will have done a great service for mental health. Our study of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood provides concrete evidence supporting his prescient statement, showing how quality children’s programming can indeed make feelings mentionable and manageable, thereby serving mental health.
Nearly 60 years later, public television continues to be a haven for thoughtfully produced programs that have a research-backed positive impact on kids. PBS Kids is one of the rare organizations that intentionally creates media in deep collaboration with researchers who study child development.
Another study we published found that movies featuring more character virtues like gratitude or empathy make more money at the box office. This is a real opportunity for the rest of the media industrypublic media has shown us where the bar should be: If we give young people stories that honor their feelings, and help them navigate an increasingly complex world, the positive impact will last for years to come.
Were not going back to the days of romance novels and Horatio Alger for teens: Screens are here to stay. But the real question is: What kinds of content are we putting on them? The majority of the media industry is motivated by profit, which means putting kids first is not always the objective. This is exactly the reason we need to continue to fund public media. Because when we prioritize and fund thoughtful, research-based content that meets kids where they areand shows them where they can gowere not just creating better programming. Were building the foundations for better mental health, a stronger society, and a healthier democracy.
This week, JAMA Internal Medicine published the results of a large new study that tracked mothers health from 2016 to 2023. It found that maternal mental health declined significantly over the past seven years.
The crisis we regularly write about in Two Truths, my best-selling Substack on womens and maternal health, is now being reported in one of the world’s most respected medical journals.
Which journals matter
I read the story with interestnot just because I write about womens health for a living, but because I still pay a little bit more attention when I see JAMA in a headline. When I started my career as a health journalist at Mens Health magazine in 2011, we were quickly taught which medical journals mattered most. The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The Lancet. JAMA. These were the powerhouses. When research appeared in one of them, it carried weight. It still does.
{"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2015\/08\/Two-Truths-single.png","headline":"Subscribe to Two Truths...","description":"a newsletter that explores the many truths of motherhood through news round-ups, trend reports, and expert-backed deep dives on topics that matter to moms. To learn more visit twotruths.substack.com","substackDomain":"https:\/\/twotruths.substack.com","colorTheme":"salmon","redirectUrl":""}}
The maternal mental health study published this week found, among other things, that in 2016, 1 in 20 mothers rated their mental health as poor or fair. In 2023, that figure rose to 1 in 12. The research underscored the need for immediate and robust interventions in mothers mental health.
Not a niche issue
The study wasnt perfect; it was cross-sectional (meaning it examined women at different points versus following them over time) and it relied on self-reported healtha far from flawless strategy. Still, its presence in JAMA Internal Medicine signals what I know and what you know to be true: Maternal mental health is not a niche issue. Its national. Urgent. Undeniable.
As my friend and trusted source Dr. Catherine Birndorf, cofounder of the Motherhood Center, told The New York Times, We all got much more isolated during COVID. I think coming out of it, people are still trying to figure out, Where are my supports?
The sad truth is that theyre still missing; were actively fighting for them over at Chamber of Mothers.
Corrupt vessels
But heres the thing that really caught my attention in all of this: Earlier this week, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested potentially banning federal scientists from publishing in leading medical journals, calling The NEJM, The Lancet, and JAMA corrupt vessels of Big Pharma. He proposed creating government-run journalsones that would anoint scientists with funding from the National Institutes of Health.
Its true: Leading medical journals do accept advertising and publish industry-funded studies. There is also a long history of criticism surrounding the influence of pharmaceutical companies in academic publishing. Kennedys concerns are not new.
Whats also true is that these journals disclose their funding, have rigorous peer-review processes (where independent experts, usually leaders in a field, assess the research and flag concerns), and have low acceptance rates. They publish research that changes the way medicine is practiced globally, informs policy decisions, and protects patients, particularly women and mothers. (The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations on breast cancer screening, which many clinicians follow, have been published and updated in JAMA; The Lancet regularly highlights maternal mortality disparities; The NEJM has published large-scale trials on critical womens health issues, from cardiovascular disease to hormone replacement therapy.)
Program terminated
And heres something else you need to know: Last week, I interviewed a leading physician and expert on gestational diabetes at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She shared a statistic that surprised me (sometimes hard to do when Ive been reporting on health for 15 years): Up to one-half of women who have gestational diabetes in pregnancy go on to develop type 2 diabetes within 5 to 10 years of giving birth.
The landmark study that laid the groundwork for understanding diabetes prevention in high-risk groups, including women with a history of gestational diabetes? It was called the Diabetes Prevention Program, and it was first published in The NEJM in 2002. Recently, under Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s leadershipan administration that claims to be committed to ending chronic illnessthat program was terminated.
Holding institutions accountable
Im not a doctor, scientist, or researcher. Im trained as a health reporter. And I trust that trainingjust as I trust the countless physicians and researchers Ive interviewed over the years, many of whom have spent their careers trying to get their work published in the most rigorous medical journals out there.
As a journalist, I believe in holding institutions, including medical journals, accountableespecially when it comes to conflicts of interest. Thats part of the job. But this administration has attempted to infuse a tremendous amount of chaos and confusion into a whole host of topics, health included. Health is nuanced. So is science.
But lets be clear: Suggesting that medical research be limited, controlled, or replaced by in-house publications is dangerous. Defunding evidence-based programs that serve high-risk groups, including mothers, is backward. Supporting high-quality, peer-reviewed research should be the bare minimum for anyone who cares about womens health.
Canary in a coal mine
In their report, the authors of the new JAMA Internal Medicine study wrote, Our findings are supportive of the claim made by some scholars that maternal mortality may be a canary in the coal mine for womens health more broadly.
Its a statement that places maternal health where it belongs: at the center of womens health.
As Dr. Tamar Gur, director of the Soter Womens Health Research Program at Ohio State, told The New York Times, Now I have something I can point towhen Im seeing a patient and say, Youre not alone in this. This is happening nationally, and its a real problem.
Thats the power of credible, peer-reviewed research. Thats where real change starts.
{"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2015\/08\/Two-Truths-single.png","headline":"Subscribe to Two Truths...","description":"a newsletter that explores the many truths of motherhood through news round-ups, trend reports, and expert-backed deep dives on topics that matter to moms. To learn more visit twotruths.substack.com","substackDomain":"https:\/\/twotruths.substack.com","colorTheme":"salmon","redirectUrl":""}}
The goal for any leader is to build strong and productive relationships with their team and other stakeholders. And the best way to do this is by inspiring their audience every time they speak. This means creating believers with every set of remarks, whether theyre having a brief hallway conversation or delivering a keynote speech.
But how? To inspire others, embrace these five fundamentals:
1. ADOPT AN INSPIRATIONAL MINDSET
The starting point for becoming an inspiring leader is developing the right mindsetone that is focused not on informing but on inspiring. Information, even when its up-to-date and accurate, lacks the power to move others. Avoid content-rich presentations or conversations full of too many facts. Instead, always be in inspire mode.
Inspire mode keeps you away from delivering content-heavy slides or numbing statistics, and instead gets you to engage your audience with your belief or idea. Bring your listeners to the realm of possibilities.
2. LISTEN INTENTLY
To inspire others, you need to listen intently. Leaders who fail to listen will not understand their audiences mindset and they wont be able to focus their message so it has maximum impact.
There are three ways to listen. First, listen with your body. Face your audience and align your body with the person (or people) to whom you are speaking. Stand or sit up straight. Keep a receptive expression on your face and make strong eye contact. Keep your arms open. This body language will send a message that you care about your audience.
Second, listen with your mind. You need to listen for the points the other person is making, and you also need to show that youve heard what theyve said. You might interject phrases like Oh, thats so true or Yes, thats a good point or I agree or Tell me more about that. Such responses show that your mind is engaged and responsive.
Third, listen with your heart. When you listen with your heart, you show that you are emotionally engaged. Heartfelt responses include being polite, being sensitive, and using expressions like I share your feelings and That must have been difficult. (For a full discussion of these three ways to listen, consult the chapter Listen, Listen, Listen in my book Speaking as a Leader.)
3. SPEAK WITH A MESSAGE
If you want to inspire, you need to speak with a message. Without a big, central idea, you cant expect people to follow you.
Your message should be stated at the beginning of your remarks and elaborated on by everything else you say. So, after opening your conversation or speech with a bridge or a grabber, get to your point. If youre giving formal remarks, you might say My message to you is . . . If its a less formal situation, you might say, I believe that . . . Own your message and present it clearly at the beginning.
After you state your message, prove it. This requires sharing supporting evidence, usually in two to four points. Youll lift your audiences thinking from what is to what can be.
4. USE STRONG WORDS
Inspiring leaders use compelling language. They know that every word testifies to their credibility.
A leaders language is confident. They own what they are saying with expressions like I believe, I see, I know, and I care.
They avoid tentative language like Im not sure, I dont know, and I cant. They also avoid filler expressions like um and ah.
5. END WITH ACTION
Whether you are giving a formal presentation or offering a comment at a meeting, be sure to end your remarks with a call to action.
After a job interview, you might say to the candidate, This has been a great meeting. Well be in touch with you shortly. You might conclude a more formal presentation with If we take the steps I have outlined, we will be a much stronger company. I look forward to your support for these initiatives.
By ending with a call to action, youll move your audience from the present to the future you envision. You’ll inspire your listeners by taking them from what is to what can be.
Krista Vasquez had her heart set on getting married in a body-hugging, halter-style gown from Spain. In April, the Atlanta paramedic learned her dream dress would cost nearly $300 more because of new U.S. tariffs on imported goods.
With little wiggle room in her timing, the bride-to-be quickly checked around for similar styles. The story was the same: Any dresses from Europe would come with tariff-driven price increases ranging from $150 to $400. And that was before President Donald Trump said he would increase the tariff on goods produced in the European Union from 10% to 50%.
Vasquez, 33, went with her first choice, fearing shipping delays or additional costs like a rush fee before her October wedding if she placed an order elsewhere.
It’s already expensive enough to get married, she said. It just kind of made me a little sad.”
Wedding cakes, decor, attire, flowers, party favors, photo and video equipment, tableware, wine and Champagne. Not many goods used in the wedding industry remain untouched by the tariffs Trump has imposed since returning to office. How much of the import taxes get passed down to consumers is up to florists, photographers, caterers, and myriad other vendors and intermediaries, such as wholesalers.
Olivia Sever, a 28-year-old online content creator in San Diego, has a lot of wedding shopping ahead of her. Much of what she wants may cost more because of tariffs. An immediate concern is some of her paper goods. Her wedding planner has already flagged a 10% price increase for the menus, place cards, and signage she wanted for her September celebration in Hawaii.
Sever said shifting to American goods isn’t always cost-effective. For instance, flowers grown in Hawaii are in high demand, with increased prices to match, in response to 10% tariffs imposed on a large number of imports around the world. That includes flowers from Ecuador, Colombia, and other countries that grow the bulk of the flowers the U.S. imports.
There’s just so many unknowns, but we have our budget and were trying to work within our budget, Sever said. If that means we cant get these, you know, specific shell cups I want, then we just wont get them and well get something else.
Here’s a look from inside the wedding industry on tariffs.
Tariffs and the wedding cake industry
Clients of Phoenix cake artist Armana Christianson pay roughly $750 to $800 for one of her creations. She spent two years perfecting the 16 flavor combinations she offers.
They range from simple vanilla bean, made with vanilla bean paste imported from Mexico, to dark chocolate raspberry with a whipped hazelnut ganache that’s dependent on chocolates and powders from Belgium.
Not all of Christianson’s cost woes are tariff-driven. The chocolate industry was already struggling because of a cocoa bean shortage.
I’m a small business with just myself as my employee. I’ve seen at minimum a 20% increase in just the chocolate I use. It’s a type of chocolate that I’ve built into my recipes. Changing brands isn’t acceptable, Christianson said.
The imported white chocolate in her white chocolate mud cake, a popular flavor, shot up from $75 or $100 per cake to $150. She used nearly 10 pounds of it in a recent order, a cake that had five tiers.
Christianson may have to come up with new recipes based on less expensive ingredients. In the meantime, she said, she’s eating the cost of tariffs for clients already on her books.
I don’t have it in my contract where I can raise prices for unexpected events like this, she said. Unfortunately, that’s something I have to add to new contracts for my future couples.
Tariffs and the wedding dress industry
Almost all bridal gowns are made in China or other parts of Asiaand so are many of the fabrics, buttons, zippers, and other materials used, according to the National Bridal Retailers Association. Manufacturing in those countries, where labor generally costs less, has put the price of high-quality bridal gowns within reach for many American families.
Retailers and manufacturers say the U.S. lacks enough skilled labor and production of specialized materials to fully serve the market. Skilled seamstresses are hard to find and often come from older generations.
The materials that we sell in a bridal shop include lace, beadwork, boning for the corsetry. We dont really make stuff like that in this country. There just arent very many designers who create and put their whole looks together in this nation, said Christine Greenberg, founder and co-owner of the Urban Set Bride boutique in Richmond, Virginia.
The designs done here are normally very simple designs. You dont see a lot of American-made gowns that have a lot of detail, a lot of embroidered lace, and thats a really popular wedding gown style, she said.
Many designers with gowns labeled “made in the U.S.” still are using imported materials, Greenberg noted.
If Trump’s highest tariffs on China are reinstated after a current pause, Greenberg said her small business will pay between $85,000 and $100,000 extra in import taxes this year.
For a small, family-owned business that only hosts one bride at a time, this will absolutely lead us and many others to close for good, she said. We can’t buy American when the products don’t exist.
Tariffs and the cut flower industry
Roughly 80% of cut flowers sold in the U.S. come from other countries. And lots of quality faux flowers are made in China.
Colombia is a large supplier of roses, carnations and spray chrysanthemums. Ecuador is another major rose supplier. The Netherlands produces a huge share of tulips and other flowers. In addition, some of the cut greens used as filler in flower arrangements and bouquets in the U.S. are imported.
If youre talking about cars and computer chips, theyve got inventory thats sitting there. Its already stateside. Our inventory turns in days, and we saw the impact almost immediately, said Joan Wyndrum, co-founder of the online floral distributor Blooms by the Box. Were all absorbing a little bit, but its inevitable that it comes out on the consumer end of it.
Wyndrum, who works drectly with wholesalers and growers, said the U.S. flower industry isnt capable at the moment of absorbing all the production from elsewhere. She does a lot of business with U.S. suppliers, though, and sees a huge opportunity for growth stateside.
Theres a benefit to the U.S. bride to have flowers grown here. Its the simple reason of freshness, she said.
Tariffs and the wedding industry overall
Jacqueline Vizcaino is a luxury wedding planner and event designer in Atlanta. She’s also national president of the Wedding Industry Professionals Association, a 3,500-member, education-focused trade group whose members include transportation and photo booth providers, makeup artists, caterers, linen distributors, and planners.
Any one wedding may involve 40 or more vendors, Vizcaino said. Huge jumps in costs are already widespread due to tariffs, she said, with florals and fabrics among them.
With many weddings planned up to a year or more in advance, she and others in the industry are girding for more bad news.
We’re going to see a lot of interactions that aren’t so pleasant in the next eight to 12 months,” she said.
Tariffs have delayed decision-making among many couples planning weddings.
Decisions are taking double the time because of the uncertainty. People are shopping around more and wanting [vendors] to lock in at the lowest price possible, Vizcaino said.
McKenzi Taylor, a planner who coordinates weddings in Las Vegas, San Diego, and the Black Hills in South Dakota, said: Our inquiry-to-booking window has grown from 40 days to 73. Cancellations are up so far this year, on pace to double from last year, with costs definitely being a concern for couples. My vendors are shaking in their boots.
By Leanne Italie, AP lifestyles writer
A short walk beneath the dense Amazon canopy, the forest abruptly opens up. Fallen logs are rotting, the trees grow sparser, and the temperature rises in places sunlight hits the ground. This is what 24 years of severe drought looks like in the worlds largest rainforest.
But this patch of degraded forest, about the size of a soccer field, is a scientific experiment. Launched in 2000 by Brazilian and British scientists, Esecaflorshort for Forest Drought Study Project in Portugueseset out to simulate a future in which the changing climate could deplete the Amazon of rainfall. It is the longest-running project of its kind in the world, and has become a source for dozens of academic articles in fields ranging from meteorology to ecology and physiology.
Understanding how drought can affect the Amazon, an area twice the size of India that crosses into several South American nations, has implications far beyond the region. The rainforest stores a massive amount of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is the main driver of climate change. According to one study, the Amazon stores the equivalent of two years of global carbon emissions, which mainly come from the burning of coal, oil, and gasoline. When trees are cut, or wither and die from drought, they release into the atmosphere the carbon they were storing, which accelerates global warming.
Creating drought conditions and observing the results
To mimic stress from drought, the project, located in the Caxiuan National Forest, assembled about 6,000 transparent plastic rectangular panels across one hectare (2.5 acres), diverting around 50% of the rainfall from the forest floor. They were set 1 meter (3.3 feet) above ground on the sides to 4 meters (13.1 feet) above ground in the center. The water was funneled into gutters and channeled through trenches dug around the plots perimeter.
Next to it, an identical plot was left untouched to serve as a control. In both areas, instruments were attached to trees, placed on the ground and buried to measure soil moisture, air temperature, tree growth, sap flow, and root development, among other data. Two metal towers sit above each plot.
In each tower, NASA radars measure how much water is in the plants, which helps researchers understand overall forest stress. The data is sent to the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, where it is processed.
The forest initially appeared to be resistant to the drought,” said Lucy Rowland, an ecology professor at the University of Exeter.
That began to change about eight years in, however. “We saw a really big decline in biomass, big losses and mortality of the largest trees, said Rowland.
This resulted in the loss of approximately 40% of the total weight of the vegetation and the carbon stored within it from the plot. The main findings were detailed in a study published in May in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. It shows that during the years of vegetation loss, the rainforest shifted from a carbon sink, that is, a storer of carbon dioxide, to a carbon emitter, before eventually stabilizing.
There was one piece of good news: The decades-long drought didnt turn the rainforest into a savanna, or large grassy plain, as earlier model-based studies had predicted.
Next steps include measuring forest recovery
In November, most of the 6,000 transparent plastic covers were removed, and now scientists are observing how the forest changes. There is currently no end date for the project.
The forest has already adapted. Now we want to understand what happens next, said meteorologist Joo de Athaydes, vice coordinator of Esecaflor, a professor at the Federal University of Para and coauthor of the Nature study. The idea is to see whether the forest can regenerate and return to the baseline from when we started the project.
During a visit in April, Athaydes guided Associated Press journalists through the site, which had many researchers. The area was so remote that most researchers had endured a full-day boat trip from the city of Belem, which will host the next annual U.N. climate talks later this year. During the days in the field, the scientists stayed at the Ferreira Penna Scientific Base of the Emilio Goeldi Museum, a few hundred yards (meters) from the plots.
Four teams were at work. One collected soil samples to measure root growth in the top layer. Another gathered weather data and tracking soil temperature and moisture. A third measured vegetation moisture and sap flow. The fourth focused on plant physiology.
“We know very little about how drought influences soil processes, said ecologist Rachel Selman, researcher at the University of Edinburgh and one of the co-authors of the Nature study, during a break.
Esecaflor’s drought simulation draws some parallels with the past two years, when much of the Amazon rainforest, under the influence of El Nio and the impact of climate change, endured its most severe dry spells on record. The devastating consequences ranged from the death of dozens of river dolphins due to warming and receding waters to vast wildfires in old-growth areas.
Rowland explained that the recent El Nio brought short-term, intense impacts to the Amazon, not just through reduced rainfall but also with spikes in temperature and vapor pressure deficit, a measure of how dry the air is. In contrast, the Esecaflor experiment focused only on manipulating soil moisture to study the effects of long-term shifts in rainfall.
But in both cases, were seeing a loss of the forests ability to absorb carbon, she said. Instead, carbon is being released back into the atmosphere, along with the loss of forest cover.
___
The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
By Fabiano Maisonnave, Associated Press
Early in my career, I was a loan underwriter at a bank. I was responsible for training a new employee, one with very little banking experience. During the training, she caught something I had missed and asked about it.
I was shocked because I considered myself a diligent underwriter. But I quickly realized something: She was better than I was. She had a knack for noticing little abnormalities and was confident enough to point them out.
For a moment, I was nervous. We worked at a small bank, and I felt threatened by her skill. But I quickly realized that she was an asset. She could work on the detail-driven parts of underwriting, which freed me up for other work. So I encouraged her to keep learning.
{"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/04\/workbetter-logo.png","headline":"Work Better","description":"Thoughts on the future of work, career pivots, and why work shouldn't suck, by Anna Burgess Yang. To learn more visit workbetter.media.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.workbetter.media","colorTheme":"green","redirectUrl":""}}
Great leaders dont compete with their teams. Instead, they build teams that complement them and recognize that the entire team is stronger with high-performing people.
“No room for ego”
A good manager shouldn’t be the smartest person in the room. Strong teams are never built on ego, and when you hire smart people, you get a more innovative team and better outcomes.
Keep in mind that smarter can mean different thingstechnical skills, creativity, or subject matter expertise. More than likely, youll hire someone who may be smarter in one area, which will allow you to shine with different skills. That was my experience with the new loan underwriter; I moved on to compliance work, which required some critical thinking skills I had.
AI app-building startup Lovable is known for hiring top-tier talent. The company puts its principles right on its careers page, stating that there is no room for ego and that employees amplify each other. As one of the fastest-growing startups in Europe, Lovable has now reached $17 million in annual recurring revenuedue in part, no doubt, to hiring the best and its approach to teamwork.
Ideally, you uncover someones potential during the hiring process. Ask questions that might help you determine that someone has the skills you dont have, or might be smarter than you in certain aspects of the job. Look for exceptional problem-solving skills or boundless curiositysigns that a person can take a project and run with it.
Let others shine
Once you hire them, you have to give your new employees room to do their best work and grow. You should set goals and offer resources, but not micromanage. It will be an ongoing process of giving the employees more responsibility to see how they handle the work. Smart employees will be up to the challenge, and youll gradually transition your own role to other work.
Make sure your talented employees feel appreciated. Give them credit publicly and advocate for their growth. They should know that you know how smart and capable they are.
You might fear that if you nurture a smart employee, they might eventually outgrow the role. Maybe theyll move to another team or leave the company altogether. Thats a legitimate concern and bound to happen at some point.
But you cant hold people back. If employees reach a ceiling within your team, they should move on. Think of yourself as a talent developer, capable of finding and nurturing people in their careers. Thats a skill by itself. And when someone moves on, it creates opportunities for others to rise.
{"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/04\/workbetter-logo.png","headline":"Work Better","description":"Thoughts on the future of work, career pivots, and why work shouldn't suck, by Anna Burgess Yang. To learn more visit workbetter.media.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.workbetter.media","colorTheme":"green","redirectUrl":""}}
U.S. consumer demand for renewable energy continues to grow, with more solar panel capacity installed in 2024 than in 2023, which saw more than in 2022. But U.S. trade policy is in flux, and high tariffs have been imposed on imported solar panels, which may cause shortages.
I am a scholar who studies the Sun, as well as an entrepreneur who is working to harness its power here on Earth by creating new designs for generating solar electricity. As part of that effort, Ive studied market trends and manufacturing capabilities in the U.S. and abroad. Right now, U.S. manufacturers do not produce enough solar panels to meet the nations demand, but industry investments and federal tax incentives have been making progress, though recent federal moves have created uncertainty.
In 2024, U.S. installers put up enough solar panels to generate 50 gigawatts of electricityenough to power New York City for a year.
U.S. manufacturers made only a small fraction of that4.2 GW of solar modules in the first half of 2024. That was a big boost, thougha 75% increase compared with the same period in 2023. And the prices were roughly three times the cost of imports.
A look at recent imports
In 2024, the U.S. imported far more panels than the country needed, suggesting developers may be stockpiling panels for future projects.
Most of those imported panels were made in Asia, particularly Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. In fact, nearly all of the U.S.-made panels used at least some components from overseas. China currently makes about 97% of the worlds supply of photovoltaic wafers, which are building blocks of solar panels.
The effects of proposed U.S. trade policies on the solar industry remain unclear. Through 2024, manufacturing continued a yearslong ramp-up to take advantage of government policies favoring domestic manufacturing. And imported panels seem slated to suffer from ever-increasing tariffs, which drive up costs.
Domestic production rises
Since 2010, U.S. solar panel production has increased about eightfold. But U.S.-made panels are more expensive than imported alternatives. In 2024, U.S.-made panels typically cost 31 cents per watt, but imported panels, even including tariffs that existed before President Donald Trumps second term, cost about one-third of that: 11 cents per watt.
But domestic manufacturers are bringing costs down by ramping up production while relying on the government to maintain or increase tariffs on imports, which may make U.S. panels more competitive domestically in the future.
Reliance on overseas sources
Despite that increase in domestic production, U.S. demand for solar panels has grown even faster. To meet demand, the U.S. imports a substantial portion of its solar photovoltaic modules.
Tariffs, including a 30% tariff on solar cells and solar panels starting in 2018, aimed to boost domestic manufacturing.
But those tariffs and falling global prices made solar installations more costly in the U.S. than in the rest of the world. The average global cost of installed solar systems dropped from $1.15 per watt in 2012 to $0.72 per watt in 2016, nearly half that of U.S. installations.
The 2018 tariffs, as well as earlier rounds in 2012 and 2014, have shifted the source of U.S. imports of solar panelsfrom China and Taiwan to Malaysia and South Korea. Manufacturers are also building solar panels in Singapore and Germany to maintain access to the U.S. market. And Chinese companies are even investing in U.S. solar manufacturers to take advantage of federal incentives and avoid tariffs.
New tariffs emerge
Trumps proposal for new tariffs on foreign-made solar goods, including panels and components, particularly target Chinese-owned companies in Southeast Asia.
They could include a potential 375% tariff on Thai productsnearly quadrupling prices and a 3,500% tariff on products from Cambodia.
In contrast, U.S.-made solar panels will be cheaper. But a reduced supply of solar panels will raise prices even of domestic-made panels, at least until U.S. manufacturing can catch up with the demand. Some developers have begun to delay or cancel solar installations to address rising costs.
Domestic investment
Due in large part to the Biden administrations Inflation Reduction Act, enacted in 2022, the U.S. solar panel industry has seen significant investments.
Since the laws enactment, more than 95 GW of manufacturing capability have been added across the solar supply chain in the U.S., including new facilites that in a year can construct enough solar panels to produce nearly 42 GW, beyond existing manufacturing levels. This growth in manufacturing capabilities is largely located in Texas and Georgia.
Still, the new administrations shifting priorities and trade policies make the landscape uncertain. Before Trump began discussing various solar-related trade policies, the industry projected it would install an average of 45 GW of solar panels every year for the next decade.
Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti is an associate research scientist at the University of Michigan.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Why did your hometown newspaper vanish while the next town over kept theirs?
This isnt bad luckits a systemic pattern. Since 2005, the United States has lost over one-third of its local newspapers, creating news deserts where corruption is more likely to spread and communities may become politically polarized.
My research, published in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, analyzes the factors behind the decline of local newspapers between 2004 and 2018. It identifies five key driversranging from racial disparity to market forcesthat determine which towns lose their papers and which ones beat the odds.
1. Newspapers follow the money, not community needs
You might expect news media to gravitate toward areas where their work is needed mostcommunities experiencing population growth or facing systemic challenges. But in reality, newspapers, like any business, tend to thrive where the financial resources are greatest.
My analyses suggest that local newspapers survive where affluent subscribers and deep-pocketed advertisers cluster. That means wealthy white suburbs keep their watchdogs, while low-income and diverse communities lose theirs.
When police brutality spikes, when welfare offices deny claims, when local officials divert fundsthese are the moments when communities need their journalists the most.
Poor and racially diverse communities often face the harshest policing and interact more with street-level bureaucrats than wealthier citizens. That makes them more vulnerable to government corruption and misconduct. Yet, these same communities are the first to lose their newspapers, because there are no luxury real estate agencies buying ads, and few residents can afford the monthly subscriptions.
Without journalistic scrutiny, scholars find that mismanagement flourishes, corruption costs balloon, and the communities most vulnerable to abuse receive the least accountability. This is how news deserts exacerbate inequality.
2. Newspapers dont adequately serve diverse communities
Picture this: A newsroom sends its reporters, most of whom are white, to a Black neighborhoodbut only after reports of gunshots or building fires. Residents, still in shock, dont want to talk. So journalists call the same three community leaders they always quote, run the tragic story and disappear until the next crisis. This approach, often referred to as parachute journalism, results in shallow coverage that paints the community in a negative light while overlooking its complexities.
Year after year, the pattern repeats. The only time residents see their neighborhood in the paper is when something terrible happens. No feature story of the family-owned restaurant celebrating its 20-year anniversary, no reporter at the town hall when the new police chief gets grilled about stop-and-friskjust the constant drumbeat of crime and crisis.
Is it any wonder racially diverse communities stop trusting and paying for that paper? Not when many working-class families of color can barely afford to add a newspaper subscription to their bills.
Diverse neighborhoods get hit twice. First, their local papers inadequately represent them. Then, when people understandably turn away, subscriptions drop, advertisers pull back and the outlets shut down, leaving whole communities without a voice.
Only in recent years have more media outlets begun to make a concerted effort to engage with and reflect the communities they serve. However, such efforts are often led by newer media organizations with fresh ideologies, while many long-standing media outlets remain stuck in traditional reporting practices, as illustrated in Jacob Nelsons Imagined Audiences. Although my analyses of local newspaper decline from 2004 to 2018 paints a frustrating picture, the emerging trend of community-oriented journalism holds promise for positive changes in diverse communities.
3. Population growth doesnt always save newspapers
Its easy to assume that more people = more readers = healthier news organizations. But my research tells a different story: Counties with larger population growth actually saw greater declines in local newspapers.
The catch lies in who is moving in: Population growth saves papers only when it comes with wealth. Affluent newcomers bring subscriptions and advertisers attention. But growth driven by high birth rates, typically seen in less developed areas with more racial and ethnic minorities, doesnt translate to revenue. In short, growth alone isnt enoughits the type of growth, and the economic power behind it, that matters.
This highlights the fragility of market-dependent journalism. The news gap experienced by fast-growing communities may persist where local journalism depends primarily on traditional advertising and subscription revenues rather than diversified revenue sources such as grants and philanthropic donations. The latter, which often focus on community needs rather than profit potential, are more likely to help sustain journalism in areas with significant population growth.
4. Neighbors newspapers can save yours
Youd think that competition between newspapers would be a cutthroat affair. But in an era of decline, my analyses reveal a counterintuitive truth: Your towns paper actually has better odds when nearby communities keep theirs.
Rather than competing, neighboring papers often become allies, sharing breaking news, splitting investigative costs and attracting advertisers who want egional reach. While this collaboration can sometimes cause papers to lose their local identity, having some local journalism is still better than none. It ensures some level of accountability, even if the news isnt as focused on each towns unique needs.
Resilient local journalism clusters together. When one paper invests in original reporting, its neighbors often benefit too. When regional businesses support multiple outlets, the entire news ecosystem becomes more sustainable.
5. Left or right? Local papers die either way
In this highly polarized era, it turns out that theres no significant link between a countys partisan makeup and its ability to keep newspapers.
Urban hubs such as Chicago keep robust media thanks to dense populations and corporate advertisers, not because they vote for Democrats. Meanwhile, newspapers in conservative rural areas can survive by cultivating loyal readerships within their communities.
In contrast, communities with lower income and a diverse population lose outlets no matter whether they are red, blue, or purple.
Partisan battles might dominate national headlines, but local journalisms survival hinges on practical factors such as money and market size. Saving local news isnt a left vs. right debateits a community issue that requires nonpartisan solutions.
Abby Youran Qin is a Ph.D. candidate at the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
