Most American presidents aspire to the kind of greatness that prompts future generations to name important things in their honor.Donald Trump isn’t leaving it to future generations.As the first year of his second term wraps up, his Republican administration and allies have put his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center performing arts venue and a new class of battleships.That’s on top of the “Trump Accounts” for tax-deferred investments, the TrumpRx government website soon to offer direct sales of prescription drugs, the “Trump Gold Card” visa that costs at least $1 million and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a transit corridor included in a deal his administration brokered between Armenia and Azerbaijan.On Friday, he plans to attend a ceremony in Florida where local officials will dedicate a 4-mile (6-kilometer) stretch of road from the airport to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach as President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
Another example of the unorthodoxy of Trump’s career
It’s unprecedented for a sitting president to embrace tributes of that number and scale, especially those proffered by members of his administration. And while past sitting presidents have typically been honored by local officials naming schools and roads after them, it’s exceedingly rare for airports, federal buildings, warships or other government assets to be named for someone still in power.“At no previous time in history have we consistently named things after a president who was still in office,” said Jeffrey Engel, the David Gergen Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “One might even extend that to say a president who is still alive. Those kind of memorializations are supposed to be just that memorials to the passing hero.”White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said the TrumpRx website linked to the president’s deals to lower the price of some prescription drugs, along with “overdue upgrades of national landmarks, lasting peace deals, and wealth-creation accounts for children are historic initiatives that would not have been possible without President Trump’s bold leadership.”“The Administration’s focus isn’t on smart branding, but delivering on President Trump’s goal of Making America Great Again,” Huston said.The White House pointed out that the nation’s capital was named after President George Washington and the Hoover Dam was named after President Herbert Hoover while each was serving as president.For Trump, it’s a continuation of the way he first etched his place onto the American consciousness, becoming famous as a real estate developer who affixed his name in big gold letters on luxury buildings and hotels, a casino and assorted products like neckties, wine and steaks.
Trump’s for-profit branding has continued
As he ran for president in 2024, the candidate rolled out Trump-branded business ventures for watches, fragrances, Bibles and sneakers including golden high tops priced at $799. After taking office again last year, Trump’s businesses launched a Trump Mobile phone company, with plans to unveil a gold-colored smartphone and a cryptocurrency memecoin named $TRUMP.That’s not to be confused with plans for a physical, government-issued Trump coin that U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach said the U.S. Mint is planning.Trump has also reportedly told the owners of Washington’s NFL team that he would like his name on the Commanders’ new stadium. The team’s ownership group, which has the naming rights, has not commented on the idea. But a White House spokeswoman in November called the proposed name “beautiful” and said Trump made the rebuilding of the stadium possible.The addition of Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center in December so outraged independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that he introduced legislation this week to ban the naming or renaming of any federal building or land after a sitting president a ban that would retroactively apply to the Kennedy Center and Institute of Peace.“I think he is a narcissist who likes to see his name up there. If he owns a hotel, that’s his business,” Sanders said in an interview. “But he doesn’t own federal buildings.”Sanders likened Trump’s penchant for putting his name on government buildings and more to the actions of authoritarian leaders throughout history.“If the American people want to name buildings after a president who is deceased, that’s fine. That’s what we do,” Sanders said. “But to use federal buildings to enhance your own position very much sounds like the ‘Great Leader’ mentality of North Korea, and that is not something that I think the American people want.”Although some of the naming has been suggested by others, the president has made clear he’s pleased with the tributes.Three months after the announcement of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a name the White House says was proposed by Armenian officials, the president gushed about it at a White House dinner.“It’s such a beautiful thing, they named it after me. I really appreciate it. It’s actually a big deal,” he told a group of Central Asian leaders.Engel, the presidential historian, said the practice can send a signal to people “that the easiest way to get access and favor from the president is to play to his ego and give him something or name something after him.”
Supporters say the tributes are well-deserved
Some of the proposals for honoring Trump include legislation in Congress from New York Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney that would designate June 14 as “Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day,” placing the president with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington and Jesus Christ, whose birthdays are recognized as national holidays.Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube has introduced legislation that calls for the Washington-area rapid transit system, known as the Metro, to be renamed the “Trump Train.” North Carolina Republican Rep. Addison McDowell has introduced legislation to rename Washington Dulles International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport.McDowell said it makes sense to give Dulles a new name since Trump has already announced plans to revamp the airport, which currently is a tribute to former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.The congressman said he wanted to honor Trump because he feels the president has been a champion for combating the scourge of fentanyl, a personal issue for McDowell after his brother’s overdose death. But he also cited Trump’s efforts to strike peace deals all over the world and called him “one of the most consequential presidents ever.”“I think that’s somebody that deserves to be honored, whether they’re still the president or whether they’re not,” he aid.More efforts are underway in Florida, Trump’s adopted home.Republican state lawmaker Meg Weinberger said she is working on an effort to rename Palm Beach International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport, a potential point of confusion with the Dulles effort.The road that the president will see christened Friday is not the first Florida asphalt to herald Trump upon his return to the White House.In the south Florida city of Hialeah, officials in December 2024 renamed a street there as President Donald J. Trump Avenue.Trump, speaking at a Miami business conference the next month, called it a “great honor” and said he loved the mayor for it.“Anybody that names a boulevard after me, I like,” he said.He added a few moments later: “A lot of people come back from Hialeah, they say, ‘They just named a road after you.’ I say, ‘That’s OK.’ It’s a beginning, right? It’s a start.”
Michelle L. Price and will Weissert, Associated Press
Taco Bell is saying new year, new offerings with the launch of its Luxe Value Menu.
From Friday, January 16, the fast food chain will offer 10 items for $3 or less. Initially, only Taco Bell Rewards members can access the new menu using the Taco Bell app or by checking in through the drive thru or in-store kiosk. The Luxe Value Menu will be available to all Taco Bell customers from Thursday, January 22.
However, starting 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, January 27, Taco Bell will give 30,000 Rewards members a new menu item for just $1. The deal is first come, first served, exclusively through the app.
Whats on the new Taco Bell Luxe Value Menu?
The 10 menu items include five new products, alongside five that were available on the Cravings Value Menu.
Below are Taco Bells new items, as described by the chain:
Mini Taco Salad for $2.49: Seasoned beef, creamy Chipotle Sauce, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and refried beans in a crispy, golden tortilla bowl
Beefy Potato Loaded Griller for $2.49: Seasoned beef, crispy potato bites, nacho cheese sauce, creamy Chipotle Sauce, and reduced-fat sour cream, wrapped up and grilled
Chips & Nacho Supreme Dip for $2.49: Seasoned beef, refried beans, nacho cheese sauce, reduced-fat sour cream, pico de gallo, and a three-cheese blendserved with tortilla chips
Avocado Ranch Chicken Stacker for $2.99: Grilled all-white-meat chicken, Avocado Ranch Sauce, three-cheese blend, lettuce, and tomatoesfolded and grilled
Salted Caramel Churros for $1.99: Churros dusted in salted caramel sugar (available only for a limited time)
The returning Taco Bell items on the Luxe Value Menu are:
Cheesy Roll Up for $1.19
Spicy Potato Soft Taco for $1.29
Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito for $1.49
3 Cheese Chicken Flatbread Melt for $2.29
Cheesy Double Beef Burrito for $2.79
The Luxe Value Menu was built on one ambition: to defy expectations of what value can be,” Luis Restrepo, North America CMO of Taco Bell, said in a statement. “Through extensive fan testing and bold innovation, we created menu items that deliver an elevated experience at an accessible price point. This isn’t just a menu refresh, it’s a new standard for value at Taco Bell and across the industry.
By the time they get into their 20s, every generation seems to have nostalgia for one year from their teenage years.
For people in my generation (Gen X), that year is usually cited as 1994the final year before the internet really started taking hold. But if a recent trend on TikTok is anything to go by, the year Gen Z is most nostalgic for is 2016.
Heres what you need to know.
‘2026 is the new 2016’
In recent days, TikTok has been flooded with variations of the phrase 2026 is the new 2016.
Along with the phrase, TikTokers are posting throwback pictures to when they were younger, listening to songs popular a decade ago, and reminiscing about how the world just seemed like a more stable and safe place in 2016.
@childhoodcore8 2016 is now officially a decade ago.. #nostalgia #fyp #2016 #edit original sound – Nostalgia
Its unclear exactly why or how this trend gained critical mass in the last few days, but at the start of any new year, it is natural to reflect on past years and compare how we and the world have changed over time.
Nostalgia and the 10-year rule
As a decade ago is both long enough to notice differences yet not so long ago that your memory becomes foggy of the time period, its little wonder why when we nostalgitize the past, we often choose a period that happened 10 years prior.
As for why many may feel nostalgic for 2016, you just have to look at events so far in 2026.
In America, we’re seeing increasing social upheaval and protests across the country, and once again, the U.S. is attacking other countries. Things feel chaotic, and that chaos makes us long for a time when things felt more stable.
For many on TikTok, that time was apparently 2016. As noted by Yahoo Entertainment, for many TikTok users, 2016 felt like the last year before the world shifted. The leader of the free world was predictable and stable, housing prices were more affordable, and AI hadnt yet put a big question mark over the future of peoples job security.
Its self-evident why those things are yearned for now.
The world that was 2016
If your memory is a little foggy about what 2016 was actually like, heres a little reminder.
Googles decade-old Year in Search 2016 roundup showed what people across the world spent their year searching for, which reveals key events from the time.
On the geopolitical front, the 2016 U.S. presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was at the top of peoples minds. So were mass shootings in Orlando and Dallas, as well as fears over the Zika Virus outbreak.
Culturally, people were obsessed with a new show called Stranger Things, as well as the shows Westworld, Luke Cage, Game of Thrones, and Black Mirror.
The Rio Olympics and World Series were also on top of peoples minds.
Deadpool, Captain America: Civil War, and Batman v. Superman got people into the theaters, and Celine Dion and Kesha were some of the musicians who generated the most interest.
Meanwhile, 2016 was also the year that people were obsessed with Pokémon Go, and the top tech products of the year included the iPhone 7 and Google Pixel.
The sonic backdrop of the Twin Cities in 2026 is a cacophony.
As thousands of ICE agents raid residential neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, and businesses, theyre trailed by the ambient noise of piercing sirens, whirring helicopters, and screeching whistles at all hours of the day, along with the occasional boom of flashbang grenades and the odd cry for help.
Conspicuously silent in all the commotion, however, are major corporations that are headquartered in Minnesota.
It’s a list that includes some of the most well-known consumer-facing brands in the country, including Target, Best Buy, and Land O’Lakesall of which have an obvious direct stake in the communities that are currently being disrupted by this occupation.
As of Friday morning, not one of them has released an official statement about whats happening.
After an ICE agent killed Renee Nicole Good last week and brought international attention to Minneapolis, escalating tensions have knocked residents out of their normal routines.
A pervasive awareness has sunk inviolent ICE sweeps of residents or their neighbors can happen anywhere, and anyone might get caught up in them just for walking their dog at the wrong moment or not carrying proof of citizenship. One of the consequences is that small businesses are sufferingespecially those owned by immigrants.
Local restaurants are speaking up about the situation.
Minneapoliss Mothership Pizza, for instance, announced its owners are giving 10% of all dinner sales directly to team members affected by ICE, while Owamni by the Sioux Chefwhich the New Yorker dubbed the best new restaurant in the U.S. in 2022donated 10% of its proceeds last weekend to Goods family.
As for the Fortune 500 companies based in Minnesota, well, its anyones guess how those in their C-suites feelor at least prefer to be seen as feelingabout what ICE is doing in the state.
Fast Company reached out multiple times this week to General Mills, Target, Best Buy, Cargill, UnitedHealth Group, 3M, and Land OLakes for comment. None of them responded.
What a difference five yearsand a pivotal electioncan make.
The reckoning of the reckoning
In the summer of 2020, another broad-daylight killing at the hands of a law enforcement officersimilarly captured on videobrought this city international attention.
The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police sparked massive protests, and what some at the time prematurely called a racial reckoning. Even Donald Trump, whom many seem to forget was president at the time, briefly acknowledged in a statement, All Americans were rightly sickened and revolted by the brutal death of George Floyd, before turning his ire forever toward the angry mob of protesters.
Meanwhile, all of those major companies mentioned above were sufficiently moved to join the chorus of CEOs who had publicly weighed in on that moment.
Depending on your perspective, they were either unburdening their consciences or paying lip serviceyour mileage may varybut it’s notable that their ranks included Targets then-CEO Brian Cornell, who declared in a statement, “We are a community in pain.
Graveyard of good intentions
The intervening Biden years saw a swift and relentless rightwing backlash against anguished executives promising to do better. Tech CEO Vivek Ramaswamy, for instance, squeezed so much juice out of his staunch opposition to what he termed “woke capitalism” that he briefly became a long-shot 2024 presidential contender.
Conservative media hubs like Fox News and Trump-Lite figures like Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida strongly denounced corporate gestures toward social justice, including Targets Pride merch and Disneys LGBTQ advocacy.
After a flurry of high-profile boycotts, the sprawling corporate conscience of 2020 looked more like a dream blinked away in the harsh light of day.
Many companies had already begun retreating from DEI initiatives and inclusive messaging by 2024; partly for organic reasons, and partly as a result of MAGA influencers orchestrating social media attack campaigns.
The election, however, changed everything.
The Eye of Sauron is watching brands
Conservatives hailed Trumps return to office as the final nail in the coffin of Woke. Mega-companies such as Meta Platforms and Amazon, formerly critical of Trump, made a grand show of shredding their last remaining vestiges of DEI, seemingly part of a broader strategy to ingratiate themselves with the new president and his supportersor, at least, to avoid their wrath.
Nearly a year into Trump 2.0, corporations now understand that speaking up about social issues might bring to bear the full force of the federal government in retaliation.
Before Good was killed, for instance, a local Hilton affiliate declined to house ICE agents booked at the hotel. The Department of Homeland Security responded by posting on X that Hilton had launched a coordinated campaign against the agency, siding with murderers and rapists to deliberately undermine and impede DHS law enforcement.
By the end of the day, the #BoycottHilton hashtag was all over X and the companys shares were down by 2.5%.
The hotel giant quickly clarified that the establishment responsible for canceling the reservations was independently owned, and that Hilton is in fact a welcoming oasis for any government agency conducting violent missions in any U.S. city. (More or less.)
In another era, the company might have ended its ass-covering there. In this one, Hilton went scorched earth. It de-franchised the hotel, lest there be any confusion about whether the brand itself had been taking a stand against ICE, or even permitting a stand to be made on its property.
No brand wants to be a target
If it was unexpected how vehemently Hilton distanced itself from the possibility of having an opinion, other recent brand reactions to government overreach are much less surprising.
Not a peep was heard from Jeff Bezos this week when the FBI raided the home of a reporter at the newspaper he owns. Nor is anyone holding their breath waiting for Mark Zuckerberg to speak out about ICE reportedly abducting workers from a Meta data center in Louisiana this week
As for Minnesota businesses, the most conspicuously silent among them is Target. Its perhaps the company most closely associated with the area, the one whose name adorns local baseball stadium and concert venue Target Field.
And its the company most closely connected to the ICE raids, after agents snatched and injured two employees in the middle of a shiftboth of whom turned out to be U.S. citizens, as caught on a disturbing video.
But Target also might be the company with the most financially at stake. The retailer incurred persistent boycotts in 2025, after rolling back DEI initiatives amidst a changing political landscape. Its share price has only recently begun to recoverit’s up more than 10% in 2026.
Still, the Twin Cities community wants action from the brand. Since the incident last week, residents have protested outside the store where the employees were abducted, demanding a response.
A strong statement at least acknowledging that Minneapolis is, once again, a community in pain, might even help win back disappointed progressive shoppers.
Then again, if Minnesota businesses continue to keep quiet about the ICE invasion, perhaps consumer demand within the state will become silent too.
The Justice Department’s investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has brought heightened attention to a key drama that will play out at the central bank in the coming months: Will Powell leave the Fed when his term as chair ends, or will he take the unusual step of remaining a governor?Powell’s term as Fed chair finishes on May 15, but because of the central bank’s complex structure, he has a separate term as one of seven members of its governing board that lasts until January 31, 2028. Historically, nearly all Fed chairs have stepped down from the board when they are no longer chair. But Powell could be the first in nearly 50 years to stay on as a governor.Many Fed-watchers believe that the criminal investigation into Powell’s testimony about cost overruns for Fed building renovations was intended to intimidate him out of taking that step. If Powell stays on the board, it would deny the White House a chance to gain a majority, undercutting the Trump administration’s efforts to seize greater control over what has for decades been an institution largely insulated from day-to-day politics.“I find it very difficult to see Powell leaving before midnight on Jan. 31, 2028,” said David Wilcox, a former top economist at the Fed and senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “This is a mortal threat to the governance structure of the Fed as we’ve known it for 90 years. And I think that Powell does take that threat exceedingly seriously, and therefore will believe that it is his solemn duty to continue to occupy his seat on the board of governors.”Powell, 72, was appointed as Fed chair by Trump in 2018, and must step down from the position in May because his second four-year term is ending. He has declined several times to comment on his plans beyond that when asked by reporters. A spokesperson declined to comment for this story.Trump has sought to push out Powell before his time is up, obsessively attacking him for not cutting rates as sharply as the president wants, particularly in light of ongoing concerns about high costs for groceries, utilities, and housing that have remained a salient political issue even as inflation has cooled.On Tuesday, Trump highlighted that mortgage rates have declined in the past year. “If I had the help of the Fed, it would be easier,” he said. “But that jerk will be gone soon.”Or maybe not.Here is a look at the impacts of whether or not Powell stays on the board could have:
What happens if Powell stays on the board
Trump said Tuesday that he hopes to name a new Fed chair in the next few weeks. But that could get held up by the criminal investigation of Powell.Several Republican senators, including at least two on the banking committee who would have to approve Trump’s nominees to the Fed, have expressed skepticism that Powell committed crimes during his testimony last June regarding the Fed’s $2.5 billion renovation of two office buildings, a project that Trump has criticized as excessive. That testimony is the subject of subpoenas sent to the Fed by U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said he would not vote for any Fed nominees until the legal cloud around Powell is resolved. That would be enough to delay a nomination from getting out of the banking committee.If no new chair of the Fed’s board has been confirmed by May 15, then Powell could remain in that post until a replacement has been confirmed. As a result, the Fed might not cut interest rates anywhere near as quickly as Trump wants.If Powell stays on as a governor even after he is no longer chair, Trump could still name someone to lead the Fed but that would give him a total of three appointments on the board including two from his first term and short of a majority.So even if Trump nominates a chair who seeks to do the president’s bidding regarding interest rates, that person “would have very little persuasive power with his colleagues,” said Wilcox, who is also director of research at Bloomberg Economics. Powell, along with other members of the Fed’s 19-member interest-rate setting committee, could outvote the new chair. That hasn’t happened since 1986.
What happens if Powell leaves the board
In that case, Trump could nominate a fourth person to the board and gain a majority. He could even then add a fifth, if the Supreme Court allows his attempt to fire Governor Lisa Cook to proceed. The high court will hear her case on Wednesday.A majority on the board would enable the White House to make sweeping changes to the Fed. Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, has advocated numerous reforms to reduce the central bank’s influence in the economy and financial markets.Trump’s majority on the Fed’s board could also remove some of the presidents of the 12 regional banks, who are members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee. The New York Fed president has a vote on the committee and four others vote on a rotating basis.Several of those bank presidents have expressed opposition to the deep rate cuts that Trump has demanded. The board of governors could seek to have them fired if a chair wanted to do so.
What past Fed chairs have done
While nearly all Fed chairs have left the board of governors before their terms were up, there is some precedent for Powell to stay. In 1978, then-Chair Arthur Burns stayed on the board for about three weeks after his chairmanship ended. But in 1948, then-Fed chairman Marriner Eccles remained as a governor for three years after finishing as chair, in part because President Harry Truman asked him to remain.In 1951, however, he played a key role in undercutting the Truman administration in a dispute over interest rates, which led to the Fed-Treasury Accord that established the modern Fed as a largely independent institution.Eccles became a symbol of Fed independence, though some academics say that reputation is overstated. The Fed’s principal office building currently under renovation and at the center of the criminal investigation of Powell is named after him.Truman then appointed a Treasury official, William McChesney Martin, to the Fed chairmanship and assumed he would do his bidding. Yet Martin defied Truman and raised interest rates. Years later, Truman ran into Martin in New York City and called him a “traitor.” The Fed’s second office building in Washington is named after Martin.“So it’s a cautionary tale also for Trump, thinking he’s going to get his own Fed chair in there,” said Lev Menand, a law professor at Columbia University who studies the Fed. “Martin didn’t do what Truman wanted.”
Christopher Rugaber, AP Economics Writer
Everything from coffee to a used car is more expensive these days, and now your music streaming service is too. Spotify announced this week that it will raise prices for U.S. subscribersagain.
Spotify Premium plans will jump up to $12.99 from $11.99 starting with the next billing date. The streamer last increased prices for U.S. users in 2024 after a decade-plus run of charging $9.99 for ad-free listening on its Premium individual streaming plan.
The main individual plan isnt the only Spotify subscription getting a price hike. Discounted student plans are getting bumped up to $6.99 from $5.99, the Duo two-person plan will go to $18.99 from $16.99 and the streamers Family plans will hop to $21.99 from $19.99. Users outside the U.S. in Estonia and Latvia will also see prices go up next month.
Spotify offered little in the way of explanation for the pricing changes. Occasional updates to pricing across our markets reflect the value that Spotify delivers, enabling us to continue offering the best possible experience and benefit artists, the company wrote in a blog post announcing the new pricing scheme.
The early 2026 pricing changes are the third time Spotify has raised prices for U.S. listeners since launching in the country in 2011. Two of those price hikes were back-to-back $1 increases, one in 2023 and one in 2024. In 2024, Spotify explained that the service would occasionally update its pricing in order to continue to invest in and innovate on our product features and bring users the best experiencelanguage echoed in its short statement on the latest price increase.
Why is Spotify raising prices?
Spotify isnt explaining much about the decision to tack another dollar onto its core Premium subscription service, but the company is in a very different place now compared to when it was duking it out with Pandora in the dark ages of music streaming more than a decade ago.
Now, the Swedish company is the globally dominant force in streaming audio, boasting north of 713 million users and 281 million paid subscribers worldwideup from 252 million in 2024. Apple Music and Amazon Music are the next closest competitors, but Spotify sits pretty with a much bigger share of the market.
As a household name at this pointa level of brand recognition boosted even further by its genius flourish of marketing, Spotify WrappedSpotify will be increasingly hard-pressed to reach new subscribers in super-mature markets like the U.S. Like other public companies, Spotify is beholden to a set of shareholders who want to see the line go upand its sort of that simple. The company needs to squeeze more money out of its entrenched, very popular subscription service, all while likely approaching a saturation point in markets like the U.S.
Changes afoot for the Swedish streamer
Last November, the Financial Times reported that another price jump was on the way for Spotify subscribers in the U.S. Questions around the timing of the potential U.S. pricing step-ups . . . have taken a toll on sentiment, Deutsche Bank analysts observed late last year. Analysts at JPMorgan estimated that another $1 price hike in Spotifys U.S. market would net the company an additional $500 million in revenue.
Another big factor: Spotifys founder and CEO Daniel Ek announced last September that he would step down from his role after steering the company through two decades of explosive growth. Entering 2026 without its longtime leader, Spotify wants to signal to investors that stability and sustainability are the name of the game.
In Spotifys November earnings report, Ek emphasized that Spotifys business is healthy and focused on growing its profit and revenue. It all comes back to user fundamentals and thats where we are: 700 million users who keep coming back, engagement at all-time highs, Ek said. Were building Spotify for the long-term.
After this weeks price increase, Wall Street will likely agree. But in an age of mounting inflation stress, yet another price hike may not go down easy for Spotifys already financially exhausted U.S. users.
In two years, there could be a space station orbiting the moon. NASAs Gateway Lunar Space Station, set to launch as early as 2027, will support the Artemis IV and V moon missions and, eventually, be a jumping-off point for missions to Mars. And maybe, one day, a colony.
But before any of that can happen, the Gateway will need a power sourcea powerful one, at that. The challenge is getting that energy supply into orbit the way anything reaches space: in the nose cone of a rocket.
Gateways power will come from a pair of blankets of photovoltaic cells, known as Roll-Out Solar Arrays (ROSAs). Each is roughly the size of a football end zone, and together theyll provide 60 kilowatts for 24 hours a dayenough energy to power roughly 50 American homes. But to minimize their profile on the trip out of Earths atmosphere, the arrays will be launched in a rolled-up state, a pair of sci-fi rugs bound for lunar orbit. The Gateways ROSAs are built by space company Redwire, using tech initially developed by its subsidiary Deployable Space Solutions.
When the arrays get to the Gateway, theyll be attached [to the station] and then roll out, says Mike Gold, a NASA veteran and Redwires president of civil and international space business. The unrolling process doesnt require an electric motor: A flexible boom simply guides the arrays as they unspool. After successfully testing the panels roll-out capabilities in July, Redwire is handing them off for prelaunch testing to space tech company Lanteris (formerly Maxar), which is building the Gateways power and propulsion element.
Though the arrays for the Gateway are the largest and most powerful ROSAs that Redwire has built, the companys tech is all over space. Six smaller ROSAs have already deployed on the International Space Station, with two more set to be launched and installed in 2026. Smaller versions of Redwires arrays will power the new Space Inspire telecom satellites from aerospace company Thales Alenia Space (launching in 2026). Redwire is also working on two ROSA wings for Axiom Spaces planned module for the International Space Station, slated to launch in late 2027.
We like to say we are second only to the sun when it comes to providing power in space, Gold says.
The Most Interesting Man is set to make a return to television.
In a marketing push that kicks off with a new 60-second spot airing on ESPN during the College Football Championship Game, Heinekens Dos Equis has rehired Jonathan Goldsmith to play the Most Interesting Man, closing the ad with a familiar, iconic line. I dont always drink beer, but when I do, I still prefer Dos Equis.
That copy, the return of Goldsmith, and even the original campaigns Western-themed instrumental music were all elements of what felt like some magic that we need to bring back, says Alison Payne, chief marketing officer of Heineken USA in an interview with Fast Company. Payne, who assumed the role of CMO at the beginning of 2025, says her creative team did some soul-searching with Le Pub, the Publicis Groupe-owned creative agency that Dos Equis hired in May 2025 to help Dos Equis resonate with todays drinkers.
Why age became an asset
They landed on reviving a campaign that broke through the cultural zeitgeist enough to be spoofed on Saturday Night Live. The return of Goldsmith, now 87 years old, may seem counterintuitive as beer brands like Dos Equis aim to lure younger drinkers, with Gen Z now being the most prized demographic. Dos Equis did consider more youthful talent, but Payne says we actually learned that consumers wanted someone who had some age and wisdom. You cant have an interesting archive of life lived if youre really young.
The campaign comes as Dos Equis parent company Heineken has faced some sales pressures. In October, the Dutch brewer announced that annual profits for 2025 would be lower than anticipated due to weak demand in Europe and the Americas. Amid the woes, Heineken announced in January that CEO Dolf van den Brink would step down in May, after six years leading the company.
[Photo: Dos Equis/HEINEKEN USA]
A campaign that once tripled the brand
The Most Interesting Man campaign recalls more heady times. Debuting in 2006, it helped triple the size of the Dos Equis brand for the creative campaign over a decade, according to Heineken, citing internal U.S. sales volume data. After a decade, the creative concept was scrapped shortly after Heineken hired a decades-younger actor, Augustin Legrand, to play the Most Interesting Man in 2016. A more abstract concept that said basically anyone could be interesting also had a short shelf life. Goldsmith moved on to laud Astral Tequila.
Millennials, who were the target demographic for brewers like Dos Equis back in 2016, rebuffed the younger pitchman. Heineken then parted ways with the creative agency Havas in favor of Droga5, with media reports attributing the switch to the Most Interesting Mans failed pivot. Purchase consideration for Dos Equis dropped by more than half, according to a YouGov poll published in 2017.
But Dos Equis says Goldsmith is returning as the Most Interesting Man because theres still some thirst for the brands most well-known creative concept. More than eight out of every ten consumers who were exposed to the original Most Interesting Man campaign wanted to see it back, according to a survey conducted by Dos Equis.
Age is actually almost irrelevant in this campaign, says Payne of Goldsmith. He’s totally timeless.
A broader beer marketing trend
The new Most Interesting Man campaign aligns with an emerging trend among brewers that have built marketing campaigns around more seasoned spokespeople. Over the past couple of years, actor Christopher Walken appeared in a new Miller Lite spot, actors Willem Dafoe and Catherine OHara have pitched Michelob Ultra, Bud Light called in former NFL star Peyton Manning, actor Pedro Pascal starred in bilingual ads for Corona, and UFC legend Chuck Liddell fronted a martial arts-inspired campaign for Garage Beer.
[Image: Miller]
Manning, at the age of 49, is the most spry of the bunch.
Christopher Walken is really one of those rare cultural figures who truly transcends generations, Sofia Colucci, the chief marketing officer for Miller Lites parent company Molson Coors, tells Fast Company about the companys Legendary Moments Start with Lite creative campaign that launched this January.
Beer has faced sluggish sales as millennial and Gen Z drinkers have increasingly prioritized a healthier lifestyle and more moderation. Theyve been spending more on non-alcoholic beverages and other alternatives, like cannabis. Americans spent $925 million on non-alcoholic beer, wine, and spirits at retail stores in 2025, a 22% increase from the prior year, according to market researcher NIQ.
Selling connection, not consumption
Miller Lites latest ad is a sequel between the light beer brand and the Dune: Part Two actor, who did voiceover work last year in a campaign tied to Miller Lites 50th anniversary. He went in front of the camera for a series of TV spots built around the premise that drinkers should cancel fewer plans and spend more time connecting in person. Promoting socialization has been a key throughline in alcohol marketing, a theme that Heineken itself tapped into with its Social Off Socials marketing blitz that aired last year, starring singer Joe Jonas.
[Photo: Garage Beer]
Colucci said that the brewer conducted extensive researchincluding panels that focused exclusively on the Gen Z cohortand determined that the Miller Lite brand would benefit from Walkens strong name recognition and positive sentiment across more established Miller Lite drinkers and younger adults the brand would like to attract.
Nostalgia, with a wink
Garage Beer, a scrappier upstart founded in 2018, has aimed to lure millennial drinkers who have turned away from craft beers but dont want legacy brands like Coors Light or Miller Lite. CEO Andy Sauer, who acquired the Ohio-founded brewer in 2023 and added NFL stars and brothers Jason and Travis Kelce as majority owners in 2024, says the brands marketing isnt meant to be too serious.
People arent getting together to have beers because theyre bummed out, says Sauer in an interview with Fast Company.
Garage Beers martial arts-inspired Brewmite campaign, which included a 17-minute spot starring the Kelce brothers and 56-year-old Liddell, generated 9.3 million views across social media in the first week after its debut last year. With the exception of a single fight in 2018, Liddell has been retired from mixed martial arts since 2010, but Sauer says 30-something consumers still think fondly of the champion fighter.
He was a great fit for the nostalgia of what we were trying to do with that spot, says Sauer.
Hello again, and thanks for reading Fast Companys Plugged In.
Three days after Donald Trumps second inauguration, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman tried to have it both ways. I’m not going to agree with him on everything, Altman tweeted of the new president. [B]ut I think he will be incredible for the country in many ways!”
The gist of Altmans sentimentlavish praise for Trump, tempered with a polite disclaimer that it wasnt a blanket endorsementwas far closer to a love letter than a critique. But at least it broached the possibility of disagreement. Almost a year later, most tech executives who have commented on the president have tended to follow a different principle: If you cant say something nice about Donald J. Trump, dont say anything at all.
Shortly before Trump returned to the White House, I wrote about tech CEOs attempts to newly ingratiate themselves with him, which included congratulatory social posts, million-dollar donations to his inauguration fund, and pilgrimages to Mar-a-Lago. I predicted that the era of good feelings would eventually run up against the certainty that the administrations policies, such as the promise of unprecedented mass deportations, would embroil it in controversy.
What I didnt know was how overwhelming the assault on norms, the rule of law, and decency itself would be. Even a partial accounting of recent examples would include Renee Nicole Goods death and the rest of the crackdown in Minneapolis by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Venezuela. Greenland. RFK Jr. The Justice Departments targeting of James Comey, Letitia James, and Jerome Powell. Pardons. Epstein. Unbridled racism. Possible war crimes. The East Wing (RIP) and its vanity replacement. Distaste for democracy. From the heartbreaking to the merely mind-numbing, it just keeps coming.
During the first Trump administration, policies at the border that separated children from their parents did inspire tech executives to speak in anguished terms and call for change, though they avoided criticizing Trump directly in the process. In the past year, there has been no equivalent moment of moral clarity, however cautious. The indelible symbol of the industrys current relationship with the president is the trophyfashioned from American-made glass on a solid gold basethat Apple CEO Tim Cook bestowed on him at a White House press conference last August.
Only Salesforce CEO Marc Benioffwhose company has sought a contract to help ICE scale upseems to have suffered serious backlash for erring on the side of Trump friendliness. In October, he expressed enthusiasm for the idea of the president sending National Guard troops to San Francisco, his companys hometown. Prominent VC Ron Conway ripped into the comment in a letter of resignation from the Salesforce Foundations board; Benioff ended up apologizing.
Other executives continue to butter up Trump at events such as a December 10 business roundtable attended by Dells Michael Dell, IBMs Arvind Krishna, and Qualcomms Cristiano Amon. Tech companies are also still greasing their presidential relationship with cash, including donations toward the absurd White House ballroom expansion from Amazon, Apple, Google, HP, Meta, Microsoft, and T-Mobile.
The industrys failure to mount the modest level of public pushback we saw during Trump 1.0 is not exactly a mystery. This time, the president and his appointees increased eagerness to use levers such as tariffs, antitrust approvals, Federal Communications Commission policy, and plain old lawsits creates an even starker imbalance of power with companies that cross him. The emergence of generative AI as techs next big thing is another factor: Executives who want to influence federal policy, such as its AI Action Plan, have every incentive to avoid ticking off the president on other fronts.
Tech giants may have concluded that their current approach to dealing with the administrationplaying nice where tenable and ignoring one disaster after anotheris working for them. It certainly seems to be working for Trump. But in the wake of the disaster unfolding in Minneapolis, there are signs the uneasy status quo might be slipping.
On January 14, Wireds Lauren Goode reported on a petition signed by 150 tech workers calling on the industrys leaders to speak out on ICEs violent tactics in U.S. cities. Goodes story also notes a few examples of industry figures tweeting about the situation in Minneapolis, including Google DeepMinds chief scientist, Jeff Dean (whose Twitter profile notes that his posts dont speak for Google) and Box CEO Aaron Levie.
CEOs of Big Tech companies, who have grown less accommodating of employee activism, may not be swayed by worker petitions. Brushing off their customers concerns is riskier. Unlike the business community, the American public doesnt seem to be compartmentalizing its assessment of Trump. The presidents polling collapse has him underwater even on those issues he has embraced most tightly, including immigration, trade, and the economy.
After so many years of playing toin New York Times TV columnist James Poniewoziks wordsan audience of one, the tech industry might be slow to decide that the reputational damage is no longer worth it. At some point, however, even targeted buddying up to Trump could be intolerable to consumers, who have powerful ways to register their displeasure. One relevant data point: After Disney briefly pulled ABCs Jimmy Kimmel off the air in September, seemingly at the behest of FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, cancellations of Disney+ and Hulu reportedly doubled.
Trying to get on the right side of history has never provided most companies with adequate incentive to resist Trumps excesses. But even short-term thinkers would reassess matters if they believed that palling around with him was costing them money. And the administrations commitment to doubling down on its existing crises and manufacturing new ones may be bringing that day closer.
Youve been reading Plugged In, Fast Companys weekly tech newsletter from me, global technology editor Harry McCracken. If a friend or colleague forwarded this edition to youor if you’re reading it on fastcompany.comyou can check out previous issues and sign up to get it yourself every Friday morning. I love hearing from you: Ping me at hmccracken@fastcompany.com with your feedback and ideas for future newsletters. I’m also on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads, and you can follow Plugged In on Flipboard.M
More top tech stories from Fast Company
Crypto scams took $17 billion last year. 2026 could be even worseAfter a banner year for people being fleeced out of their cryptocurrency, 2026 started with major news of new hacks, scams, and rug pulls. Read More
Why becoming Chinese is taking over social mediaIf your TikTok For You page has recently shifted to videos of people boiling apples and shuffling around in house slippers, heres why. Read More
Why Anthropics new Cowork could be the first really useful general-purpose AI agentAnthropic announced a new general-purpose AI agent tool on Monday called Coworkand it may emerge as the first actually useful agent tool for work. Read More
Apples new Creator Studio isnt just about getting you to subscribe to appsYes, the company is turning software into a service. But its new creativity bundle also helps clarify its strategy around pro tools, AI, the iPad, and more. Read More
Fujifilms new camera has a Gen Dial so Gen Z can get the perfect retro shotTaking aesthetic, vintage-inspired photos and videos has never been easier. Read More
Apple just straight-up robbed GoogleApple didnt lose the AI race to Google. It won the chance to show us what Apple Intelligence might actually look lie. Read More
Burnout has quietly become the norm in todays workplace, rising at alarming levels. Yet most organizations still assume burnout as an individual issue that could be solved with resilience workshops, wellness apps, or additional resources such as PTO/vacation time. In my experience as an HR leader and culture change strategist in workplace mental health, adding additional resources can be part of the broader strategy to support employee burnout; however, they do not proactively prevent it from happening in the first place.
The truth is that burnout is an operations workflow flaw, not an individual issue. Collectively, we should look to fix the bottlenecks where burnout actually thrives: challenging stakeholders with unreasonable expectations, addressing toxic leadership behaviors, and evaluating inefficient workflows, such as creating a false sense of urgency.
Rather than reviewing their operational design, many organizations expect additional investment, like wellness apps or resilience workshops, to serve as a magic cure for all workplace stressors, shifting the burden of addressing workplace stressors entirely onto employees. This “carewashing” approach not only oversimplifies complex workplace issues but also risks absolving leadership from its responsibility to address the root causes of things like employee burnout.
If organizations double down on solely resources, they will face unfortunate costs with psychological safety, inefficient cycles of operations, and undermining employee long-term performance.
Additionally, misunderstanding the root cause of burnout does not hold leaders accountable for creating an impactful solution. For example, in recent years, mental health and wellness apps have surged in popularity as organizations aim to prioritize employee well-being, including burnout. However, a wellness app solely does not resolve overloaded roles or competing priorities; research affirmed by a study published by Oxford University found the effectiveness of well-being programs is low.
At a previous organization, leadership doubled down on a wellness app, hoping it would solve employee burnout. Rather than focusing on structural advancements such as hiring more capacity or building sustainable relationships with external stakeholders, this approach shifted responsibility onto employees themselves. As a result, the wellness app saw low engagement.
Employees who consistently experience chronic burnout without systemic support are prone to be less engaged or leave entirely. I have witnessed many employees at various levels be frustrated with wellness perks, rather than address the work systems that are depleting them in the first place. Deloittes Well-Being at Work survey reinforces this reality with 80% of employees saying work itself is the primary obstacle to improving their well-being, with heavy workloads, stressful jobs, and long hours being at the top of the list.
From personal experience of burning out three times in my career, I can attest to the fact that burnout starts with small accumulations of stressors, such as workload. However, the good news is that HR leaders and people managers can identify, correct, and prevent employee burnout by applying a robust framework that evaluates operational drivers.
Leaders must first change the behaviors they reward, then surface the real capacity constraints, and finally redesign workflows so reasonable work doesnt become unreasonable in practice.
Change Leadership Behaviors
Even when capacity is managed well, burnout can occur in environments where leadership behaviors create fear, urgency, or inconsistency. Many leaders still behave and create conditions where employees dont feel they can make mistakes, voice concerns, or expect managers to include them in decision-making.
Across my work with global firms, I have witnessed firsthand how this can impact employees when their ideas are dismissed or their concerns minimized. Leaders must recognize that their role naturally creates a power dynamic, and while they say a healthy culture is important, they must act the part. For example, if you are amplifying an employee working at all hours, allowing others to accept every client demand, or creating a model where the employees feel compelled to say yes to everything, you are not fostering an inclusive environment for others to raise their hand for support. In fact, you are telling your employees that this is the golden rule for everyone to follow.
A first step in shifting this dynamic is being intentional about one-on-ones with team members. Too often, one-on-ones focus solely on tasks rather than checking in on the person, their capacity, and their career growthassuming one-on-ones even happen at all. When leaders skip these conversations, they lose visibility into early signs of burnout.
Modeling healthy boundaries is another critical role model exercise. Limiting communication outside of normal working hours or blocking personal appointments on your calendar, so your team feels permission to do the same, reinforces a more sustainable balance.
Finally, leaders must evaluate how effectively their messages are communicated internally. Many organizations experience a disconnect between leadership perception and employee reality. While executives may speak openly about healthy work-life integration, those messages often fail to cascade if direct reports are not reinforcing them. Establishing a consistent cadence of communication and ensuring leaders visibly practice the behaviors they promote is essential to changing the narrative.
Capacity Audit
Once there is an environment of trust, you can start evaluating the workload itself.
A capacity audit forces leaders to confront the actual bandwidth required to do a specific project, which includes meetings, cross-collaboration with other teams, project analysis, and any other related items to the task. A simple yet impactful practice is to assign a low/medium/high rubric to every project or task, with these definitions in mind:
Low: a few hours a week
Medium: a steady weekly commitment
High: a significant portion of someones time, impacting other priorities
After this is mapped across the entire team, leaders should be able to see certain patterns, especially if the trend is high. While not all projects can be deprioritized or add more people to the team immediately, a solution does need to be put in place. As an interim solution, deadlines can be extended or team members from other departments can allocate a portion of their time until a permanent solution is agreed upon by all team members.
This audit can also surface common operational issues such as scope creep or unrealistic client expectations. While lients may push for more deliverables, it is an organizations duty of care to manage those expectations. Simply put, clients cant have it all, and boundaries must be set.
One effective way to do this is by establishing a client social contract at the start of an engagement. A social contract defines mutual expectations, including clear communication channels and hours, agreed-upon scope and deliverables (with no scope expansion without revisiting fees or timelines), respect for personal time, and confidentiality. When done well, this creates a more professional, respectful, and sustainable working relationship for both parties.
Workflow Design
Even when expectations are clear and capacity is well-governed, burnout can still flourish when workflows are outdated, handoffs are unclear, processes are duplicative, or tools make simple tasks unnecessarily complex. In one previous client engagement, this became evident between the sales, project management, and technology teams.
Sales repeatedly overpromised deliverables to new clients to drive revenue, without checking team capacity or infrastructure readiness. While revenue generation is critical, inefficient governance and gaps in cross-functional communication created friction that quickly turned into burnout. Instead of teams aligning early on what was realistically possible, I spent unnecessary time moving between groups, forcing timelines, and responding to urgency that didnt need to exist.
To address this, I introduced a governance checkpoint. After an initial client conversation, Sales entered key details into a Jira ticket as a potential sale, which was flagged for review against the infrastructure roadmap and current project load. If work was urgent or high priority, I partnered with IT to assess feasibility and impact, allowing timelines, scope, or cost to be adjusted before any commitments were made.
The caveat here is that it takes a few iterations to create operational efficiency that yields meaningful results. Each organization and team will be different, and evaluating those specific bottlenecks using the capacity audit from earlier can reduce employee burnout. By using an agile methodology, youll get clearer signals on whats working, faster course correction when its not, and a system that evolves before people disengage or leave altogether.
Burnout continues to be one of the leading issues facing our workforce today. The solution isnt always the easiest, yet it is possible with the right amount of strategy and empathy.
