Pariss youngest neighborhood was built over the last two decades atop a former rail yard and a new station on the Paris Metro Line 14. Clichy-Batignolles, in the 17th arrondissement, is roughly split into thirds, with two developed areas hugging the massive, resplendent Martin Luther King Park.
The quarters quiet, mostly car-free streets are fronted by stores, cafes, and schools. These businesses and institutions occupy the ground floors of apartment and office buildings designed in an astonishing array of shapes, materials and textures. Some structures are gently curved, others are sharply angular; some are covered in stucco, others in bamboo. Each unique building is narrow and daintily proportioned, its diverse neighbors near at hand.
The neighborhoods invisible attributes are just as impressive. Clichy-Batignolles 3,400 homes are 50% mixed-income social housing, 20% rent controlled, and 30% market rate condos. The buildings tap into a geothermal energy source for their heating needs, and solar panels for their electricity. Garbage and recycling are carried out via a system of pneumatic tubes.
In the United States, we might use the term transit-oriented development to describe this neighborhood. But anyone remotely familiar with the types of places to which this term is typically applied would recognize it as a poor fit for Clichy-Batignolles. This place is categorically different from any contemporary urban development project in the U.S. Its one of the finest examples of an emerging set of urban planning best practices percolating in Europe. You can call these neighborhoods ecodistricts.
[Photo: courtesy of the author]
In a new book, Building for People, architect Michael Eliason introduces Americans to the principles behind this new urban development paradigm. He acknowledges the inadequacy of the term, ecodistricts, just like transit-oriented development before it, and the difficulty of communicating what these neighborhoods are really like to an American audience.
Much about modern urban development, and especially district-scale development, in other countries is a complete unknown to even practicing professionals on this side of the Atlantic, Eliason writes in the book. We have long lacked the syntax to even talk about many of these concepts.
[Photo: courtesy of the author]
What is an ecodistrict, really?
Eliasons attempt to spread the word about this new vision for city-building is a logical next step from his advocacy of single-stair architecture, another hard-to-explain concept that has profound implications for the built environment.
For years, Eliason has been telling anyone who will listen that single-stair buildings, rather than the dual-stairwell structures mandated by U.S. building codes, could make apartments cheaper, roomier, and homier. Now, the consciousness raising part of that mission has largely been accomplished. Eliason and a few other devoted advocates have convinced dozens of cities and states across the country to adopt new building codes that legalize this type of housing, most recently Los Angeles and Austin. Among a certain subset of policy nerds, single-stair architecture has become a household term.
With his new book, Eliason is widening the aperture of his advocacy to encompass not only buildings, but neighborhoods. Ecodistricts like Clichy-Batignolles embody the urban design concepts that single-stair architecture makes possible, particularly when combined with car-free streets, generous green space, and economically diverse communities.
[Photo: courtesy of the author]
Ive always been fascinated by these larger scale developments that they’re building in China or Europe, and how theyre vastly different from the transit-oriented development we do in the U.S., Eliason tells Fast Company. Im trying to unlock some of the reasons why.
One way to understand an ecodistrict is as a 15-minute city built from the ground up, according to Carlos Moreno, an urban planner in Paris who helped theorize both concepts. Whereas 15-minute cities can describe traditional or modern neighborhoods, when we evoke this notion of the ecodistrict, were talking about new urban developments, he says. At the same time, the ecodistrict, with these three elementsneighborhood, sustainability, and mixityis perfectly aligned with the 15-minute city.
Still, these abstract terms can only convey so much information. For Americans, perhaps its easiest to begin with what these neighborhoods are not.
Bulky dual-stair apartment buildings, the classic five-over-ones favored by American building codes and derided by Eliason, typically have a wide footprint on the land. Buildings that can take up an entire city block ensure theres little architectural variation in the cityscape. They tend to translate to minimal diversity in households or tenure, since the building design lends itself to one-bedroom rentals. With such wide structures, theres probably little rom on the property for green space; often, the only outdoor space is built atop the concrete parking podium.
TODshort for ‘transit-oriented development’in the U.S. is still incredibly auto centric, Eliason says. Not only is there often far too much parking in these buildings, but theyre also situated on heavily trafficked arterial boulevards that make walking unpleasant and unsafe. We are pretty good at connecting development to transit, Eliason says, but I think in a lot of instances we’re not really thinking beyond that.
[Photo: courtesy of the author]
Beyond Transit-Oriented Development
It wasnt until I had the chance to visit Clichy-Batignolles in person that the implications of this urban development paradigm really clicked for me. On a purely qualitative level, the neighborhood feels different from any place Ive been in the U.S., particularly any newly built neighborhood.
The car-free and low-traffic streets make it easy and safe for anyone to walk to the park, the metro station, the shops, and office buildings, or the schools and daycares dotting the neighborhood. Though all of the buildings were constructed recently, their architectural variety, and their relatively narrow footprints make for a visually stimulating cityscape.
[Photo: courtesy of the author]
There were other unusual design features, to my American eyes. I noticed that balconies on these single-stair apartment buildings are ubiquitous. Instead of being bracketed onto the facade, as they often appear to be on American apartment buildings, these private outdoor spaces are embedded in the building envelope as a conscious element of the overall design.
Part of what makes Clichy-Batignolles so architecturally invigorating is that it sits among traditional Haussmannian neighborhoods in the center of Paris, and the historic faubourgian suburban neighborhoods that ring the city, Moreno explains. This is the signature of the ecodistrict, he adds, a modern architecture of sustainability.
[Photo: courtesy of the author]
The American challenge
Call it an ecodistrict, a 15-minute city, or an urbanist fever dream. Whatever it is, Americans are missing out.
Eliasons book describes similar such places in Germany, Austria, and Sweden, along with a few under construction ecodistricts in Canada. A couple of developments in the States are beginning to approach this ideal. Eliason highlights Culdesac, the car-free community in Tempe, Arizona, for showing that pedestrianized interior streets can work in the U.S. The recently completed Mission Rock development in San Francisco employs car-free streets at a larger scale, and does a better job integrating eye-catching architecture, park space, and a diverse mixture of land uses and residents.
But these examples are precious few, and they pale in comparison to Clichy-Batignolles. We have this idea around urbanism in the U.S. that cars have to go everywhere, Eliason says. Freed from that notion, the amount of open and public space there is to work with increases dramatically.
Another thing the U.S. struggles with in new development is the mixity that Moreno views as essential to both ecodistricts and 15-minute cities: the mixed-income housing, the schools, the eldercare, the public spaces. The danger with ecodistricts is that they only respect the first two points, the neighborhood and sustainability, without the social mixity, Moreno says. Otherwise, this is the ecodistrict in a gentrified way.
Eliason laments how in the U.S., the notion of the 15-minute city is generally understood in terms of being walking distance to stores and coffee shops. As with TOD, weve managed to absorb this urban planning best practice in only the most superficial sense. We’re so entrenched in the consumer aspect of 15-minute cities that we can’t even talk about those other things, he says.
Its high time to start that conversation. As cities and states launch social housing initiatives, and the federal government considers increasing development on public lands, its all the more important for Americans to be aware of what world-class urban development can look like. Our newest neighborhoods dont have to be super-sized versions of the ones built in the 1950s. The ecodistrict and the 15-minute city can offer a new framework for city-building, an antidote to mindless sprawl. Or, these urban design principles can remain a foreign delicacy, a way of living to appreciate on vacation, but never here at home.
A typical electric bike starts at $1,000and can top $10,000 or more. Even a cheap, low-quality model might cost $500. But a new attachment is designed to turn any bike into an e-bike for as little as $100.
Clip, a Brooklyn-based startup, initially launched a higher-end version of the tech a few years ago, focused on commuters in the U.S. and Europe. Somnath Ray, one of the companys cofounders, had started riding his bike a couple of miles each day to work, and realized that switching to an e-bike would make him more likely to keep up the habit. But it wasnt safe to leave an expensive e-bike parked on the street. He also didnt want to get rid of the bicycle he already owned.
The idea was: What if we could have something we could attach to the bike without any tools, within seconds? he says. When you get to work, youd carry the attachment inside. On the weekends, you could leave it off and ride your bike without it.
[Photo: Clip]
The Clip, with versions that now cost $499 and $599, is cheaper than most electric bikes. But the company wanted to make another option that was even more affordable. The new tech, called the Bolt, is aimed at global markets including India and consumers who otherwise likely couldn’t buy an e-bike.
We want to make it really affordable for people who essentially use the bicycle as a lifeline, says Ray.
Both Clip and Bolt use the same basic architecture: a friction-drive motor that attaches to the front wheel of a bike, with a roller that pushes the wheel to help boost your speed up hills or around cars. Pushing a button attached to your handlebars activates the extra power. But while Clip is designed to quickly go on and come off, Bolt stays in place. Only Bolts battery gets lifted out so it can be taken inside to charge (the battery charges within 30 minutes, and has a range of around 18 miles, depending on how often you push the button as you ride; if you need to go farther, you can carry an extra battery).
In pilots, the company is now testing the system in cities like Bangalore and Kolkata. Consumers pay $100, around 8,000 rupees, which is about a third of the price of a typical e-bike in India. The battery is available via a subscription of $5 a month, so that consumers don’t have to pay for the cost of an expensive battery upfront.
The startup will also sell the equipment to rideshare operators in the U.S. and Europe who want to upgrade their bikes, but dont have the budget to buy a new fleet of electric bikes. (They’ll pay $250 for each system, including the battery.) At a later point, it’s likely to also be available directly to U.S. consumers.
Making the attachments, as opposed to complete electric bikes, is also better for the environment, since it takes fewer resources. The company is manufacturing the Bolt in a zero-emissions factory in Kolkata, with local assembly in India, Europe, and the U.S. It will also recycle and recondition batteries. There are already a billion bikes out in the world, says Ray. There’s absolutely no need to replace them all with e-bikes. We can put them all back into circulation at a fairly minimal manufacturing footprint.
Instagram has begun testing AI-powered technology designed to proactively identify accounts it suspects belong to teenseven if the user has listed an adult birthdateand place them under special “Teen Account” settings.
This move is part of Metas broader effort to strengthen parental controls following criticism over the impact its platforms have on young users.
“The digital world continues to evolve and we have to evolve with it,” Instagram said in a press release. “Thats why it’s important that we work together with parents to make sure as many teens as possible have the protective settings that come with Teen Account.”
Instagram will also begin sending notifications to parents, offering guidance on how to talk to teens about “the importance of providing the correct age online.” The company noted it collaborated with experts, including a pediatric psychologist, to develop the advice.
Teen-focused accounts, introduced by Instagram last year, come with built-in restrictions on who can contact teens, what content they can see, and limits on their time spent on the app. These changes come after 41 states and Washington, D.C., filed lawsuits against Meta in 2023, alleging that the company knowingly designed features on Facebook and Instagram that could harm teens and other young users.
So far, the company reports it has enrolled at least 54 million teens into its teen account settings.
Music is everywhereplaying in coffee shops, on hold lines, in Ubers, behind YouTube ads, and of course, in your earbuds while you work. Its so constant, we often treat it like harmless background noise. But the brain doesnt.
Whether we realize it or not, music is processed across multiple brain regions tied to attention, memory, and emotionmeaning even passive listening can impact how we focus, feel, and make decisions. Background music is never truly in the background. It either supports or competes with your mental state. And that means we have a choice.
In todays fast-paced work culture, where multitasking is the norm and focus is scarce, how we use music can either support or sabotage our goals. The good news? With just a little intention, your playlist can become one of the most powerful productivity tools you already have.
Think about how youre listening to music
Music is one of the most overlooked productivity tools. The key isnt whether you listen to music, its how. Theres a difference between active listening and what we call purposeful passive listening. Both are powerful, but for different reasons.
Active listening is fully engaging with the musictuning into the melody, rhythm, harmony, or lyrics. Its nearly impossible to multitask during this kind of listening, and thats the point. Use active listening when you need to regulate stress, reset emotionally, or refocus. Breathing with a steady beat, or allowing a favorite instrumental piece to quiet your inner noise, can activate the brains attention and emotional regulation systems. Over time, practicing this kind of deep listening can even strengthen interpersonal relationships, as it helps reinforce our capacity to tune in to others.
Purposeful passive listening, on the other hand, involves choosing music to support a task or shift your mental state, without fully focusing on it. This is not about letting an algorithm autoplay. Its about intentionally selecting tracks: maybe lo-fi beats while cleaning out your inbox, or ambient strings while brainstorming.
This kind of listening taps into the brains default mode network, the system that activates during daydreaming, introspection, and idea incubation. Engaging the default mode network can help you step back from focused work and allow space for insight, creativity, and big-picture thinking. Music, when used intentionally in the background, becomes a bridge between tasks and a subtle support system for imaginative work.
Turn music into a mental habit
Music also plays a surprising role in executive functionthe cognitive control system that helps us switch between tasks, regulate impulses, and manage working memory. Background music can enhance learning outcomes by improving arousal and mood, which are closely linked to cognitive performance.
Listening to familiar, patterned music while working can help create structure for the brain, making transitions smoother and sustained attention more accessible. Its why some people instinctively reach for a playlist before writing an email, prepping for a meeting, or transitioning into a different type of work block.
And it goes deeper. Have a go-to song that gives you a burst of energy? Dont just save it for the gym. Drop it into the middle of your workday, right before a presentation, during an afternoon slump, or when motivation dips.
When you use the same song consistently with a particular task, your brain starts building an association. Over time, the music becomes a cue, like a mental shortcut into a focused or energized state. Maybe its We Will Rock You before a big pitch, or River Flows in You for concentration.
Music activates the brains reward system, releasing dopamine, the same neurotransmitter associated with motivation and pleasure. The more consistently we attach meaning to a song, the more powerful its effect becomes.
Use music enough, and your brain doesnt just hear the notes, it knows what to do next.
Sound can be a strategy
Music isnt just something we hear; its something that actively shapes our brain states. When used with intention, sound becomes a strategy: for focus, for recovery, for creativity, or for connection. In a world full of noise, its not about turning the music off. Its about tuning in.
How to use music more intentionally at work
Create a 3-track playlist: one for focus, one for a reset, one to energize.
Pair a consistent song with a task you want to build into habit, like writing, prepping, or unwinding.
Avoid music with lyrics when doing language-based tasks like writing or reading.
Use instrumental or ambient music to transition between meetings or block your day.
Try bookending your work day with music. Use the same track to start and end, and signal your brain into a productive rhythm.
With just a little intention, your daily soundtrack can become one of the most effective tools for doing better workand feeling better while doing it.
Spring showers might bring flowers, but they can be a real hassle when you’re trying to look presentable at the office.
Many of the best raincoats are made by outdoor brands, which tend to focus on utility rather than aesthetics. But a rugged jacket that is perfect for hiking through the rain can really ruin a professional look.
When you’re headed to work, what you need is a jacket that is sleek and minimal, inspired by a traditional silhouette, like a trench coat or a car coat, but made from high-tech waterproof or water repellent materials. And ideally, you can find one that is so elegant that you want to reach for it throughout the spring and fall, even when the forecast is clear.
Fortunately, there are many beautiful rain jackets that fit this description that match many styles and price points. Here are some of our favorites.
Best Performance
Canada Goose: Cardero Rain Jacket, $895
If you’re looking for complete rain protection, the Cardero jacket offers 100% waterproofing, thanks to its fabric and seam-sealed construction. It features three layers of material to keep you warm (It is perfect for spring days when the temperatures hover around 30 degrees Fahrenheit.) But it is not bulky. It has a sleek, contoured silhouette, thanks to a drawcord on the interior that cinches your waist. The large hood will keep your face dry (and makeup from running) through even the stormiest weather.
Most Effortlessly Chic
Sezane: Hugo Parka, $365
The French label Sezane has developed a parka designed to fit perfectly with its vintage-inspired, effortless Parisian aesthetic. What makes this jacket sing is all the little details: the large buttons, the wide sleeves that can be rolled up and attached, the oversize hood. It is made from a breathable organic cotton, with a water-resistant finish so it will keep you dry in most conditions. (You may want to wait out the torrential downpour, however.) That said, it is so fetching that you’ll want to wear it throughout the spring and fall.
Best For Travel
Stutterheim: Mosebacke Lightweight Raincoat, $270
Swedish label Stutterheim specializes in raincoats, so it knows what it’s doing. The Mosebacke epitomizes Scandinavian style, with its a-line shape and oversized hood. It is designed to make it easy to move: The eyelets under the arms create ventilation and the drawstring on the hood ensures it stays on when it’s very wet outside. It is thin, which makes it easy to pack for unpredictable weather as well as for traveling.
Best Value
Everlane: The Anorak, $178
If you want a rain jacket that will get the job done without breaking the bank, we suggest Everlane’s anorak. Made of a lightweight fabric blend of organic cotton and recycled nylon, it is treated with a water-resistant finish. It has a large hood that is both practical and a nice design element. In keeping with the brand’s pared-down aesthetic, it features clean lines without any unnecessary details. For those who need a slightly more casual jacket to wear to work, this is a good pick.
Best in Class
Mackage: Winn 2-in-1 Classic Trench Coat, $1,190
For a classic trench style that will keep you both warm and dry, Mackage has you covered. The Canadian brand has developed a flattering, tailored coat that is full of versatile features. It has a removable inner liner that adds warmth, so you can wear it through the colder months of the spring and fall, when the weather falls to below freezing. (This liner is also washable.) The exterior fabric is water-repellent and features a rain shedder feature that wicks water away from your body.
But apart from its functionality, it is just a beautiful coat with plenty of chic details that make it stand out: buttoned shoulder tabs, a statement belt, adjustable cuffs and buttoned throat latch. While this jacket is on the pricier end of our list, it is good value because you can wear it year-round.
Whether youre familiar with the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche or are a fan of singer Kelly Clarkson, youve probably heard the phrase, What doesnt kill you makes you stronger. While it sounds like a cheer for persistence during tough times, its also scientifically true, says Jeff Krasno, author of Good Stress: The Health Benefits of Doing Hard Things.
Stress, whether from physical challenges like ice baths or mental stressors like tough conversations, fosters resilience and long-term wellbeing, he says. The key is to differentiate between good stress and bad stress and use the former to your advantage.
To understand the difference between good and bad stress, Krasno offers this example: If you were hiking and ran across a rattlesnake on the path, you’d probably have a stress response that serves your biological imperative to survive, he says. The problem with modern stress for so many people is that the rattlesnake never leaves the path.
Bad Stress Versus Good Stress
Many of us live in a state of chronic agitation that includes personal hardship, overwork, past trauma, and a 24-hour social media algorithm designed to keep people in a state of amygdala hijack.
We live in an attention economy where everyone is vying for your focus at every moment through increasing levels of sensationalism and scandal and fear and outrage, says Krasno. It keeps people in a state of chronic stress, and that’s really when stress is bad.
Good stress, on the other hand, comes from the discomforts our ancestors endured. We evolved for hundreds of thousands of years as Homo Sapiens with a relationship to Paleolithic stress, such as calorie scarcity, fluctuations in temperature, immersion in nature, communal living, and exposure to light, says Krasno. Adaptive mechanisms to those forms of stress formed physiological pathways in the body that promoted longevity and resilience.
The problem is that weve denuded life of most Paleolithic stressors, says Krasno. For example, many of us we have an endless supply of calories at our disposal. We generally spend most of our time sedentary and inside temperature-regulated environments, removed from nature. And we rely on artificial light, which can impact sleep.
Removing good stress in favor of comfort has had consequences, and Krasno says the increasing prevalence of chronic disease results from chronic ease. Weve fooled ourselves into thinking that we can exist as separate individuals in our single-family homes, ordering up DoorDash all day, says Krasno. Since the industrial revolution, particularly accelerating in the last 50 years, we have engineered our lifestyle for comfort and convenience.
Introducing Good Stress
Counterbalance bad stress by introducing good stress at the appropriate amount. Early 16th century Swiss physician Paracelsus said, only the dose makes the poison. The right dosage of self-imposed discomfort, such as strenuous activities, and temperature regulation, can make you stronger, says Krasno. But it’s important to start slowly.
I would never advise anyone who has never ice plunged before to get into a 33-degree ice bath for the first time, says Krasno. Get into a 60-degree ice bath see what that feels like. Find the edge of your discomfort and lean into it and be curious about what’s on the other side of it, because it’s generally a very good thing.
Krasno also advocates for leaning into social stress. I call it diving into the ice bath of hard, stressful conversations, becoming just a little bit more comfortable with our discomfort, so we can unwind a lot of infirmities, he says.
As the host of the Commune podcast, where he talks about health and wellness, Krasno regularly encounters people who dont agree with his points of view, emailing or commenting on his posts. Instead of ignoring them or disagreeing publicly, he invites them to jump on a Zoom call. Most ghost him, but some accepted the call. He created a safe setting, acting polite, open, and curious.
Leaning into discomfort
We build our physiological immune system through low-grade exposure to pathogens and virus and bacteria, says Krasno. Through having these conversations, I built what I call my psychological immune system.
In addition to being an exercise in connection, active listening, and open-mindedness, Krasno says it provided an opportunity for personal growth. It fortified my own opinions, because, for once, I had to consider the best part of an opposing opinion, he explains.
People get trapped in the story that they tell themselves about themselves, but Krasno says change is possible if youre willing to lean into discomfort.
Once you actually grasp your own impermanence, you can take agency over the trajectory of your life, he says. Embracing discomfort will change the trajectory of your life. Humans are just a process, not a product. We move dynamically across this spectrum from wholeness to disease and disaster. You can move towards wholeness as a process, too. You have agency over the trajectory of that journey.
Residents of the mostly Black communities sandwiched between chemical plants along the lower Mississippi River have long said they get most of the pollution but few of the jobs produced by the regions vast petrochemical industry.
A new study led by Tulane University backs up that view, revealing stark racial disparities across the U.S.s petrochemical workforce. Inequity was especially pronounced in Louisiana, where people of color were underrepresented in both high- and low-paying jobs at chemical plants and refineries.
It was really surprising how consistently people of color didnt get their fair share of jobs in the petrochemical industry, said Kimberly Terrell, a research scientist with the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic. No matter how you slice or dice the data by states, metro areas, or parishes, the datas consistent.
Toxic air pollution in Louisianas petrochemical corridor, an area often referred to as Cancer Alley, has risen in recent years. The burdens of pollution have been borne mostly by the states Black and poor communities, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The Tulane studys findings match what Cancer Alley residents have suspected for decades, said Joy Banner, cofounder of the Descendants Project, a nonprofit that advocates for Black communities in the parishes between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
You hear it a lotthat Black people are not getting the jobs, she said. But to have the numbers so well documented, and to see just how glaring they arethat was surprising.
People of color were underrepresented in all of the highest-paying jobs among the 30 states with a large petrochemical industry presence, but Louisiana and Texas had the most extreme disparities, according to the study, which was published in the journal Ecological Economics.
While several states had poor representation on the upper pay scale, people of color were typically overrepresented in the lower earnings tiers.
In Texas, nearly 60% of the working-age population is nonwhite, but people of color hold 39% of higher-paying positions and 57% of lower-paying jobs in the chemical industry.
Louisiana was the only state in which people of color are underrepresented in both pay categories. People who arent white make up 41% of the working-age population but occupy just 21% of higher-paying jobs and about 33% of lower-paid jobs.
The study relied on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Louisiana Economic Development.
The chemical industry disputed the studys findings.
We recognize the importance of examining equity in employment, however, this study offers an incomplete and misleading portrayal of our industry and its contributions, David Cresson, president and CEO of the Louisiana Chemical Association, said in a statement.
Cresson pointed to several industry-supported workforce development programs, scholarships, and science camps aimed at closing the training gap in Louisiana.
But the study indicates education and training levels arent at the root of underrepresentation among states or metro areas. Louisianas education gap was modest, with college attainment at 30% for white residents and 20% for people of color. In places like Lake Charles and St. John the Baptist Parish, where petrochemical jobs are common, the gap was minimalfive percentage points or less.
The industrys investments in education are just public relations spin, Banner said.
The amount of money theyre investing in schools and various programs pales in comparison to how much theyre profiting in our communities, she said. We sacrifice so much and get so little in return.
Louisiana is also getting little from generous tax breaks aimed at boosting employment, the study found.
The states Industrial Tax Exemption Program has granted 80% to 100% property tax exemptions to companies that promise to create new jobs. For each job created in Cameron Parish, where large natural gas ports have been built in recent years, companies were exempted from almost $590,000 in local taxes. In St. John, each job equated to about $1 million in uncollected tax revenue.
This tradeoff of pollution in exchange for jobs was never an equal trade, said Gianna St. Julien, one of the studys authors. But this deal is even worse when the overwhelming majority of these companies property taxes are not being poured back into these struggling communities.
Tristan Baurick, Grist
This article originally appeared in Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Sign up for its newsletter here.
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist and Verite News, a nonprofit news organization with a mission to produce in-depth journalism in underserved communities in the New Orleans area.
Amid the video podcast boom, Netflix is making its own move into the space.
According to Business Insider, the streaming giants co-CEO Ted Sarandos said video podcasts may be the next format to land on the platform. During Netflixs first-quarter earnings call Thursday, Sarandos noted that “the lines are getting blurry” between podcasts and talk shows, adding, “as the popularity of video podcasts grows, I suspect you’ll see some of them find their way to Netflix.”
In 2025, audiences want to watch their podcasts. As a result, YouTubenot audio-first platforms like Spotify or Applehas become the top destination for American podcast listeners. Data from Edison Podcast Metrics shows YouTube attracts 31% of weekly podcast listeners, compared to Spotifys 27% and Apples 15%. Nearly half of podcast listeners now watch their favorite shows on Smart TVs, and in March, YouTube made up 9.7% of all TV viewingedging out Netflixs 8.1%.
When asked about competition from YouTube, Sarandos told The Hollywood Reporter that Netflix remains the best place for premium content, as defined by fans. The platform already licenses content from kids favorite Ms. Rachel, as well as Tony Hinchcliffe, the conservative comedian behind the podcast Kill Tony.
And Netflix is far from done. “We’re looking for the next generation of great creators, and we’re looking everywhere, not just in film schools and certainly not just in Hollywood,” Sarandos said during the call.
When it comes to helping creators scale and monetize, Sarandos says Netflix stands apart. You know, the question thats out there is, is it premium? Well, some of it is, and we believe we have the best monetization model on the planet for premium storytelling, he said. I think we could help those creators reach an audience. Our model can also support more ambitious efforts for them, could help derisk them, unlike the kind of typical [user generated content] models.
With Netflix becoming YouTube, Instagram turning into TikTok, and X becoming whatever X is now, no one wants to stay in their lane anymore.
Exhaustion. Mental fatigue. Difficulty concentrating. Irritability. Dreading your next calendar appointment.
Nobody likes showing up to work with a hangover. But these days, you dont need a long night of drinking to feel the effects.
Instead, you might be suffering from a meeting hangoverthe lingering exhaustion, disengagement, and productivity drain that follow an unproductive meeting.
Studies show that 28% of workplace meetings leave employees feeling drained, with more than 90% of workers experiencing meeting hangovers at least occasionally. Nearly half (47%) report feeling less engaged with their work afterward, while more than half say these hangovers disrupt their workflow and productivity.
Meetings are a double-edged sword. Despite their pitfalls, they remain the most common form of workplace communication. In fact, research suggests face-to-face meetings are more effective for idea generation and task absorption than video calls. In other words, meetings arent going anywhere.
But leaders can take chargeensuring meetings are productive, efficient, and, most importantly, not hangover-inducing. Here are the strategies I use as CEO of Jotform.
Set a concise agenda
If youve ever walked into a grocery store for a few essentials and walked out with a cart full of snacks, you understand the power of having a clear list. The same principle applies to meetings.
At Jotform, meeting agendas are indispensable. We also believe in minimizing meetings. By preparing an agenda, you can determine if a meeting is really necessary.
If an asynchronous methodlike an email, Slack message, or shared documentcan achieve the same outcome faster, we opt for that instead. But when a real-time discussion is necessary, such as brainstorming solutions to an ongoing issue, a meeting is the right call.
An agenda also ensures that only the necessary people are in the room. If someone isnt essential to the conversation, they can contribute asynchronouslyperhaps by answering follow-up questions afterward.
As a result, we have fewer, more efficient meetings and fewer meeting hangovers.
Keep the conversation on track
The Big Apple Circus in New York once featured a team of Chinese jugglers who could each spin eight plates at a time on the ends of long, slender sticks. Interviewing is a similar balancing act, writes professor and journalist Helen Benedict.
The same is true for leading a meeting. Youre listening, observing, processing, and asking questionsall while ensuring the discussion stays focused.
Benedicts strategy for interviews is to arrive with a list of questions and stick to them religiouslyeven if it means cutting off tangents and redirecting the conversation. It may not be smooth conversational technique, she writes, but it can save me hours of listening to off-the-track waffling.
Running a meeting requires the same discipline. If a discussion starts veering off course, our meeting leaders are tasked with gently steering it back. If were stuck on a point with no resolution, we note it and ask participants to revisit it later rather than letting it derail the agenda.
This helps us conclude meetings on timeand sometimes early. If an hour-long meeting ends up taking 45 minutes, theres no need to fill the space with white noise.
Recap with clear deliverables
Finally, we never leave a meeting without a clear recap of whos responsible for what.
Outlining deliverables ensures that nothing falls through the crackstasks dont get lost, and responsibilities dont blur or overlap. This is where Ive found AI agents make a huge difference.
Combined with AI-powered note-taking apps, agents can generate concise summaries, highlight key takeaways tailored to each participants role, and compile a clear action-item list. This accountability creates a sense of shared leadership and boosts team effectiveness.
An AI agent can also streamline follow-ups by creating a separate document with action items and deadlines, time-stamping key moments so participants can revisit discussions without replaying the entire meeting, and even drafting follow-up emailsleaving nothing more to do than review and hit send.
With these tasks automated, meeting participants can stay focused on the actual substance of the meeting rather than getting bogged down in administrative details. This also cuts down the total time spent on meetings.
Despite technological advancements, the time that workers spend in unproductive meetings has doubled since 2019to five hours per week. With automation and the above strategies, employees can spend less time on meetings, experience fewer hangovers, and feel energized to take on more meaningful work.
On the morning of March 20, Mathew Roberts was working at a chemical plant on the outskirts of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when he was involved in an accident with a forklift. Unresponsive and in critical condition, the father of two and Iraq War veteran known for his big laugh and warm smile was taken from the Nutrien nitrogen plant to a local hospital, where he died of his injuries.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident, along with local law enforcement, but Robertss family members said they are still waiting for answers.
The workplace death is not unusual in Louisiana, which has been ranked the sixth-most-dangerous state for workers in the U.S., according to a study that used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than 200 chemical plants and refineries sit along an 85-mile stretch of the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, which has been dubbed Cancer Alley because of the high rates of cancer linked to petrochemicals.
In recent years, there have been multiple chemical plant exposures or explosions in the state. In December, a possible explosion occurred at a Westlake Corp. chemical plant not far from the Nutrien plant. In October, four workers were sent to the hospital after being exposed to ammonia at a Formosa Plastics plant. In September, a hydrogen gas explosion at the nearby Chevron Renewable Energy Group plant injured two people.
Several weeks before Robertss accident, Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency announced that it will close 11 OSHA field offices, including the one in Baton Rouge that is investigating Robertss death. It is the agencys only office in Louisiana, and its potential closure is raising concerns among workplace safety experts. The closures remain under review, per the U.S. Department of Labor, which oversees OSHA.
A Department of Labor spokesperson told Capital & Main, Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors continue to conduct legally required inspections and remain focused on OSHAs core mission to prevent injury, illness, and death in the workplace and promote safe and healthy workplaces for U.S. workers.
A spokesperson for DOGE did not respond to Capital & Mains request for comment.
Former OSHA Director David Michaels said by closing the office, those enormous oil and petrochemical facilities with significant safety and health hazards will be inspected even less frequently than they are now. By closing the office, the government will save $109,346, according to DOGE.
OSHA staffers in the office will have to choose between leaving OSHA entirely or relocating to another region hundreds of miles away, Michaels said. Staffers at the Baton Rouge office said theyre not aware of any layoffs, though rumors have been swirling since the DOGE announcement in mid-March.
Were still here, but I dont know for how long, said one staffer who asked not to be identified out of fear it would put their job in jeopardy.
In addition to the Baton Rouge office, which conducted 386 workplace inspections over the last year and assessed more than $750,000 in penalties for serious violations, DOGE is also planning to close field offices in Houston and in Mobile, Alabama. These closures will result in more injuries, illnesses, and deaths, Michaels said.
Musks efficiency mandate will end up affecting workers, said Bernard Fontaine Jr., a former OSHA compliance officer.
What theyre trying to do is consolidate offices and reduce costs, Fontaine said. But the impact of the services being provided is going to be dramatically reduced so that when people call and file a complaint, it may not be addressed for a very long period of time. By then, someone could be very sick.
This piece was originally published by Capital & Main, which reports from California on economic, political, and social issues.
