Half of remote workers run errands on the clock, and over a quarter skip full days altogetherso its no surprise some bosses have grown wary of their employees working from home.
But that doesnt mean remote work doesnt work. Were all different. While some people thrive while surrounded by colleagues, others excel in the quiet and comfort of their home office.
Most employers will recognize that rigid rules wont produce optimal results, but convincing your boss that the office isnt the right environment for you will still take some hard work: managing your time, delivering consistently, and giving it your all.
Heres how you can demonstrate that while remote working might not work for everyone, it is working for you:
1. Quantify your productivity
Most remote workers dont manage eight hours of focused workbut neither do those in the office. From chitchat between colleagues to frequent coffee breaks, there are constant distractions. You just need to prove to your boss that youre not spending all of your time running errands and watching Netflix. Work flow tracking appssuch as Rize or Toggl Trackare a great way to quantify your productivity. Integrating with hundreds of common tools and automatically tracking your activity across your apps and browser, you can effortlessly create reports showing what youve done, when, and how long it took. With the right data, you can prove that youre actually achieving more from the solace of your home office.
2. Respond with strategic urgency
You might mute your notifications to focus, but to your boss, this silence is suspicious. Are you getting on with your to-do list or running errands, having found a way to trick the employee tracking system? You dont need to live on Slack, but be ready to respond to urgent requests, whether for critical issues or deadlines that cant wait. Its not about being constantly available; its about being reliably responsive.
3. Highlight invisible tasks
When working remotely, your behind-the-scenes efforts often go unnoticed. Nobody sees you supporting your junior colleagues, updating spreadsheets, or fixing broken processes, but that doesnt mean they arent important. Dont let your impact slip under the radar. During check-ins, highlight all your contributions with confidencenot as small tasks but as essential work that keeps the office ticking over smoothly.
4. Bring energy to every meeting
If you’re half awake, barely dressed, and mumbling through early morning meetings, your boss will assume that’s your default setting. You might work from home, but you still need to show up. Get out of bed, jump in the shower, and put on something workplace-appropriateyou need to show you mean business. When your manager might only see you for 15 minutes a day, making the right impression makes all the difference.
5. Present your progress
Your boss can’t see you glued to your screen or tapping your keyboard. For all they know, you’re heading to the shops or learning how to bake the second you switch your camera off. Telling them you’ve been busy is one thing, but showing them? There’s no arguing with evidence. Start the week with a Zoom call to define your goals, share your screen, and walk them through what youve been doing. Log them in a tracking tool such as Weekdone or Teamwork, and end the week with a visual report that shows just how hard you’ve been working. Over time, that visibility and transparency will build trustand your boss will stop worrying about what you’re working on and where youre working from.
6. Share your schedule
If you want to build trust, transparency is the fastest way to earn it. Most calendar apps will let you share your schedule with your boss, which nips any doubt about where you are or what you’re doing in the bud. If your calendar is full of team meetings and client calls, there’s no question whether you’re deep in your workload or buried under your duvet. But you need time to work, too, and you should block it off just as you would an important call. Just avoid vague labels such as focus time. Be specific and make it goal-orientedBrainstorming: Q2 marketing or Writing: Leadership blog postso your boss isnt second-guessing whether youre really at your desk.
7. Beat your deadlines
Do you constantly deliver work with seconds to spare before the deadline? At best, your boss will assume that you’re managing your time poorly while working remotely. At worst, they’ll suspect you’re deliberately holding back finished tasks to sneak in some extra downtime. The best way to squash these doubts? Deliver work before it’s due. You don’t need to keep ahead of your schedule constantly. However, the occasional early delivery tells your boss you’re working autonomously effectively and wouldn’t benefit from them hovering over your shoulder.
8. Use saved time to upskill
You could hit snooze and sleep away all that time you’re saving by not having to commute, or you could invest that time in yourself. What challenges are slowing your team down, and which skills are in short supply? By filling those gaps, you’re not just benefiting your own career but providing additional value to your bosswhich will make them more accepting of your remote setup. If they’re still not convinced? Well, your sharpened skill set will open doors to companies that recognize and value the benefits of remote working.
If youre clocking in, doing the bare minimum, and then sneaking out to run errands, your boss has every right to be concerned. But if youre putting in the effort and producing the results? Any doubts about the effectiveness of your remote working setup will fade fast. No decent boss wants to force you back into an environment that stifles your productivitythey simply want to ensure you aren’t spending your workday on social media, shopping, and catching up on sleep.
If you pick up a pair of the newest sneakers from Stella McCartney, you might notice something unusual: The soles smell like cinnamon.
Thats because theyre dyed with cinnamon waste rather than synthetic coloringone of the ways the soles were designed to be as sustainable as possible. Theyre also made from other plant-based components like castor beans. When the sneakers wear out, the soles can either be composted or recycled.
[Photo: Stella McCartney]
For the brand, the sole was the missing piece in making a circular product. A previous version of the sneaker, which came out in 2022, used materials like grape-based leather in the shoes upper and recycled TPUa type of plasticin the sole. But that wasn’t a complete solution.
The fossil-fuel-based plastics in typical soles, like TPU or EVA, have multiple sustainability challenges. They’re energy-intensive to produce, and rarely recycled. When they end up in a landfill, the material can last hundreds of years. Even if a particular shoe uses recycled material, it can break down and create microplastic pollution when you walk or run.
To find an alternative, Stella McCartney’s team partnered with Balena, a materials science startup focused on biopolymers.
The real hurdle was how to match the durability and flexibility of traditional fossil-based plastics . . . using a bio-based material that could also break down at end of life, says Yael Vantu, head of product at Balena, which is based in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Milan. That balance of true compostability without sacrificing performance simply hadnt been cracked yet. Most biodegradable materials on the market just arent built to handle the stress, abrasion, and longevity needed in a sneaker sole. Thats where our material came in.
[Photo: Stella McCartney]
The startup engineered a new product, called BioCir Flex, designed to have the same comfort and resilience as conventional plastic, but with the ability to either be composted in an industrial facility or recycled. Essentially, we created a material that behaves like plastic when you need it, and like nature when youre done with it,” Vantu says.
Balena had already started working on the material before the partnership with Stella McCartney, but then spent two years working with the designer label to go through multiple rounds of development, from lab tests to real-world production runs.
The white version of the new sneaker, the $550 S-Wave, uses a mix of hemp and agricultural waste from the pineapple industry in the shoe’s upper. When the shoe wears out, it can be sent back to Stella McCartney. The company will then separate the components. While the soles can be composted, the brand priority is to recycle the material into new soles, so it can avoid the environmental footprint of making the material again from scratch.
The material is still more expensive than standard TPU, both because bio-based manufacturing and circular supply chains are still maturing. Some brands, like Stella McCartney, are willing to foot the higher bill. “They see the value in future-proofing against regulations, reducing environmental risks, and building deeper connections with consumers who expect products to truly align with their values,” Vantu says.
In theory, the material could scale up to be widely used in the industry. “Now its about building out robust supply chains and end-of-life systems and having brands prioritize circularity not just for capsule collections, but across their main lines,” Vantu says. “Regulatory momentum and growing consumer expectations are definitely accelerating that shift.”
I’ve worked at the bleeding edge of robotics innovation in the United States for almost my entire professional life. Never before have I seen another country advance so quickly.
In the span of the last few years, China has overtaken the U.S. as the leader in the robotics race, especially when it comes to humanoid robots designed to mimic the human body and behavior. Earlier this year China literally raced robots against human counterparts, and they show no sign of slowing down.
While AI steals the investment and media spotlight, the competition for humanoid robotics supremacy has been quietly accelerating for 50 years, and were now on the cusp of a momentous breakthrough. Mass-produced humanoid robots may reach us within the next 35 years, and the market is predicted to grow to $38B within just 10 years.
China is poised to capture the lion’s share of this industry: Morgan Stanley found that 56% of robotics companies are already based there. However, this competition isnt just about market shareit’s about industrial supremacy.
Fixed industrial robots now operate with productivity rates estimated to be 10 times that of humans, working almost 24/7 with virtually no errors. In this new era of free-moving humanoid robots, adaptable machines will navigate entire factory floors with equal precision and even higher productivity rates than their fixed (and human) counterparts.
American companies like Boston Dynamics are building impressive prototypes but those don’t win industrial wars, production does. If the U.S. continues to lag behind in the robotics race, American businesses will face increased supply chain dependence on China and citizens could see wage stagnation and job losses to robotics leaders overseas.
I witnessed the U.S. lead the world in robotic advancements. Two of my humanoid robots went into space; one called “Robonaut” now lives in the Smithsonian. Over the past decade, our momentum has slowed. To take back robotics supremacy, the U.S. must overcome four critical hurdles that could cost us this race.
Why the U.S. Isnt ‘All-In’ on Humanoids
Yes, Chinese robotics startups are benefiting from established supply chains, local adoption opportunities, and strong national government support, but nagging domestic problems are holding the United States back, regardless of any other countrys advancements.
First, we’re battling our own cultural fears. There’s a prevailing anxiety that robots will replace human jobs, particularly in factories. While massive change in manufacturing is fast approaching, the fear of replacement is not only wrongit’s counterproductive. Humanoid robots excel at “dirty, dark, and dangerous” jobs that often lack willing human labor anyway.
To overcome U.S. cultural fears around robotics, we must think of robots not as standing in our place but standing by our sides. WWII was won as much on the mechanized manufacturing floor as on the battlefield and novel machines were essential to winning the space race. When Robonaut shook hands with a fellow astronaut aboard the International Space Station, it was proof that robots can and should support human work, not compete with it.
Second, were not cultivating the people behind the humanoids. The real challenge in winning the humanoid race isn’t job displacement; it’s the massive lack of skilled domestic workers to develop, operate, and maintain advanced robotics. At Texas A&M, I teach brilliant students ready to tackle real-world problems with robots. Educating the workforce about how to leverage robots will empower the next generation and dispel fear. However, across the country, preparation for careers in STEM is lacking. We need more accessible science programs, apprenticeships, and pathways into robotics now.
Third, the economics still intimidate us. Developing humanoid robots involves significant upfront costs and still faces expensive technical hurdles, including improving spatial awareness and task adaptability. But here’s what the bean counters are missing: once mass production kicks in, the cost of robot labor could plummet from $10 to just $0.25 per hour in as little as 10 years. The industry will transform overnight and whichever country controls this shift owns the future of manufacturing. Focusing on the future affordability of robot labor will incentivize both the private and public sector to invest now.
Fourth, our policy framework is falling behind. While the U.S. offers some incentives for research and innovation, they pale in comparison to China’s commitment. The Chinese government has poured over $20 billion into robotics and next-generation technologies, providing subsidies for startups and covering costs for equipment and talent acquisition. They’re projected to match U.S. robotics research and development levels by 2034.
Meanwhile, current U.S. tax code continues to disincentivize longer-term innovation projects by forcing companies to pay more up front for R&D. As the U.S. federal government increasingly overlaps its ambitions with AI tech companies, so too must it champion the development of humanoid robots as a national security and productivity imperative.
How America Can Take The Lead Again
In tandem with overcoming these inherent challenges, the US. must seize two unique opportunities that offer a high return on investment and a clear path to victory.
Humanoid robots can maintain our edge in advanced manufacturing. Humanoids integrated with AI and embedded into the internet of things will create smart factories that enhance precision, improve product quality, and accelerate production times. The U.S. currently leads the world in the development of smart textileshumanoid robots could accelerate production to maintain this advantage.
Warehouses offer an arena for rapid humanoid adoption. The number of warehouses across the U.S. continues to expand, with Amazon recently announcing plans for dozens more across rural areas. Our vast network of warehouses is primed for humanoid robots to revolutionize its operations by automating sorting, packing, and transport alongside humans to boost efficiency and slash costs.
These aren’t theoretical applications: they’re already being tested at sites like BMW’s South Carolina plant, where robotics partners are deployed for logistics and warehousing tasks.
These deployments leverage our existing strengths in technology and innovation while addressing real, immediate market needs. We don’t need to wait for the perfect humanoid robotwe can start dominating these sectors today and build from there.
This race not just about machines; its about maintaining U.S. leadership in technology, safety, and industrial strength. If we want the next generation of robotics to serve American interests, we must act now or be left standing on the sidelines of the next industrial revolution.
During my two decades at NASA, I saw what American innovators can achieve when given a mission. We sent robots to the Moon, Mars, and into orbitnot because it was easy, but because we believed it mattered for future generations. That same spirit must drive our investment in humanoid robotics today so we can cross the finish line first tomorrow.
Aquaphor has become this summers hottest accessory.
The no-frills beauty stapleonce relegated to the bottom of your bag, the glove box, or a bedside draweris now dangling from key chains and bedazzled with tiny rhinestones. Over on Etsy, you can even buy Aquaphor bag charms and custom caps.
TikToks 114 million Aquaphor-tagged videos have thrust the old-school salve back into the spotlight. I dont know how many times I have to explain this to people, but there is nothing that Aquaphor will not fix, one TikTok creator explains. Do you have a scrape? Aquaphor. Do you have a burn? Aquaphor? Broken heart? Aquaphor. Severed leg? Aquaphor!!!
@caffeinatedbutchill aquaphor sponsor me original sound – caffeinatedbutchill
Another TikToker rubs the ointment on her eyelashes and eyebrows, smears it across her lips, dabs it on the bridge of her nose and cheekbones, and uses the excess to slick back her hair. Aquaphor = summer makeup routine, the closed-captioning on the video reads.
@itz_justlola The best thing ever to exist original sound – pl8ylistt
Aquaphor has leaned into the hype, frequently reposting TikToks from its legion of Gen Z fans. When my daughter Aquaphora asks how she got her name, one repost reads. Fans are setting up Aquaphor charcuterie boards and sharing Aquaphor-themed promposals. Meanwhile, the brands parent company, Beiersdorf, beat Q1 earnings expectations by $40 million.
@aquaphorus watch party essentials #Aquaphor #awards The Warm Lounge – Cassiopeia
How did a bathroom cabinet staple earn this kind of cultural cachet? Aquaphor hooked Extremely Online shoppers through a riff on the high-low model beloved by luxury fashion brands, Faran Krentcil recently wrote for The Business of Fashion. A tactic that combines ultra-prestigious products with a breezy, common message to assuage the guilt of the wealthy and to charm the cynicism of the working class (TL;DR: by making everyone feel seen, regardless of their bank balance).
Weve heard of the “lipstick effect,” in which affordable luxuries like lip products see an uptick in sales during economic downturns. Now, lip balms are more than just cheap, everyday essentialstheyve evolved into miniature status symbols.
Sales of lip treatments are up 179% year over year at Space NK. Beauty mogul Hailey Bieber sells phone cases that double as lip balm holders and recently sported a custom belly chain designed to carry her viral Rhode Peptide Lip Tint. On TikTok, there are lip balm vlogs, lip balm collection tours, and what lip balms are in my bag videos.
@rachelalexandra lip balm vlog from a lip balm addict #lipbalmaddict #lipbalmcollection #lipbalm Yacht Club – MusicBox
Aquaphor may have the staying power to outlive TikToks trend cycle. But as one TikTok creator asked: Do you guys ever worry about how much lip balm we are actually consuming.
Bentley has updated its emblem for just the fifth time since its founding in 1919, and without breaking hard from 106 years of branding tradition, it still manages to be the most radical redesign in company history. A Jaguar-style rebrand this is not.
The British luxury automaker’s “Bentley Wings” are a chrome winged monogram showing a white B for founder Walter Owen Bentley’s last name inside a black oval. Originally designed by British automotive illustrator F. Gordon Crosby, updates were made in 1931, the 1990s, and 2002, according to the company, but the changes were small and subtle. A tweak in the angle of the wings here, changes to the decorative elements on the metallic seal there, but the form has stayed the same. The company’s latest logo redesign of its “Winged B” logo still keeps most of the basic elements in place, but it’s the sleekest, most minimalist version yet.
Designed in-house by a creative team led by Bentley director of design Robin Page and based on a concept by Young Nam, a member of the company’s interior design team, the new wings have been reshaped and abstracted with the feathers turned into a radial diamond design. The B mark, which Bentley calls the emblem’s center jewel, was redesigned to be able to stand on its own as a mark without wings, and the feathers below it were removed to look cleaner. The details, like a bevelled glass edge, were inspired by luxury watch design.
[Photo: Bentley]
Look at Bentley’s logo evolve, and like a Transformer or Animorph book cover, it slowly changes one frame at a time from bird to machine as the wings go from soft to sharp. Bentley says its new shape was inspired by the the angled wings of a peregrine falcon, but it also looks more high tech.
“The mission in designing the new emblem was to capture some of the beautiful details from the previous designs for example, the diamond pattern of the inner wings and the B centre jewel but create a more modern and progressive design,” the company said in a statement.
Their attempt at a modern and progressive rebrand stands in contrast to Jaguar, which retired its jaguar logo last year for a controversial all-lowercase sans-serif logo. Rather than build off the brand’s legacy and heritage like Bentley, Jaguar started from scratch, and so far, it hasn’t paid off, as production, and thus sales, are down.
Still, the rebrands for both British luxury automakers are signs of a larger shift as companies adapt for a future that’s more electric. There’s an industry-wide trend towards lighter, rounder, simpler logos. Whereas car logos once resembled the physical car badges, brands like Audi, Toyota, and Volkswagen have in recent years flattened and de-chromed their logos.
For Bentley, the rebrand signals a new era. The company plans to debut its first fully electric vehicle next year and promised a new line-up of products to come. Next Tuesday, it will unveil a still-under-wraps concept car and new design studio at its headquarters in Crewe, England.
Reimagining a legacy brand for the future can be challenging, but Bentley’s finished product delivers on the mission it set out to accomplish. Without jettisoning the core visual elements of it’s long-running brand, designers found a way to make heritage look modern and new.
President Trumps tax and spending bill just passed in the House of Representatives and is now on its way to his desk to become law. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the legislation (aka the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) will cause 11.8 million Americans to lose their health insurance by 2034, thanks to $1.1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and Obamacare.
Which Americans will lose access to these entitlement programs? When it comes to Medicaid at least, several GOP politicians have offered a suspiciously similar answer: It will be adults between the ages of 29 and 35 who choose to live in their mothers basement to avoid working.
Hinson on Medicaid benefits: "They shouldn't be going to a 29-year-old guy who's living in his mom's basement choosing not to work." pic.twitter.com/Sj0LvuICTI— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 3, 2025
My message to Illinois Democrats crying about @realDonaldTrump kicking able bodied men and Illegals off Medicaid:Young men, GET A JOB. Get out of Mommys basement. We cant Make America Great when we have able bodied Americans completely out of the workforce and on the pic.twitter.com/h1gdhIkD6b— Blaine Wilhour (@BlaineWilhour) May 30, 2025
As Trumps stated July 4 weekend deadline approached, Republican senators and representatives have talked in interviews and on the House floor about why proposed Medicaid cuts are meant to target this extremely specific subset.
The idea of making cuts to Medicaid has historically been unpopular, with a recent poll finding that even 54% of Trump voters are opposed to it. This unpopularity is why Trump has falsely claimed, again and again, that his tax bill would not touch Medicaid.
In order to make those cuts palatable, the politicians in favor of them needed a bogeyman. They needed the modern-day equivalent of the 1980s mythic creature “The Welfare Queen”who, pundits at the time contended, strategically gave birth to more children in order to enjoy free handouts from the government.
Now we have a new version of the old stereotype: the 29- to 35-year-old loser who lives in his moms basementoften while playing video games.
Rep. Steve Scalise says of proposed Medicaid cuts: "35-year-olds sitting at home playing video games, they're gonna now have to go get a job." "And by the way, that's a good thing for them their mom doesn't want them sitting in the basement playing video games anyway." pic.twitter.com/xrUegCsdeN— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) July 3, 2025
Ogles: "The people that are getting off Medicaid are people that shouldn't be on Medicaid to begin with … it's the loser in his mama's basement playing video games instead of going out and getting a job." pic.twitter.com/hr2Ltfhfwl— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 3, 2025
The more GOP politicians have gone on about this supposed drain on society (House Majority Leader Steve Scalise alone has mentioned it at least three times in the past six weeks), the more rank-and-file social media users have seemed to absorb it.
Kicking millions of basement dwellers off of welfare, foods stamps and Medicaid is not cruel or wrong. Its called a life lesson. Get off your lazy ass and get a job!!!!!— John Gilbertson (@TJandCasper) April 30, 2025
A stereotype that doesn’t pass the smell test
But how many such basement dwellers could actually be out there, enjoying the taxpayers largesse without contributing anything to society?
According to the Peoples Policy Project, in December 2022, only 4 million able- bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD) were persistently enrolled in Medicaid and working fewer than 80 hours a month.
Of those 4 million, its anyones guess how many were simply choosing to play video games all day, as Scalise and his cohort suggest, rather than struggling to find work in a harsh job climate; finding it, but not being able to work the full 80 hours a month; dealing with mental health problems that still leave them technically able-bodied; taking care of other family members; or matriculating at a university.
A generous estimate might be that one in four within/em> the ABAWD cohort fit the stereotype, which would mean that approximately 1 million of the more than 70 million people currently on Medicaid fall within the narrow parameters of fraud, waste, and abuse that these politicians claim to be targeting exclusively.
Considering that over 11 million people are set to lose their health insurance now that this bill has passed, it seems extremely unlikely that Medicaid cuts will only affect basement dwellers. Ironically, though, they might actually cause a lot of people to move into their moms basement.
Nothing says summer more than a trip to the beach, and for many people, that includes the perfect summer read.
If you’re looking, here’s some good news: After a decade of downsizing, partly due to Amazon’s rise combined with changes in consumer behavior, bookstores are backwith Barnes & Noble leading the renaissance with a major expansion, on track to open over 60 new bookstores in 2025 alone, according to a spokesperson for the bookseller. The retailer currently runs approximately 600 bookstores nationwide, as well as BN.com online.
Halfway through the year, Barnes & Noble told Fast Company it has already opened 23 bookstores in 2025. “[We] are enjoying a period of tremendous growth as the strategy to hand control of each bookstore to its local booksellers has proven so successful,” a spokesperson for Barnes & Noble said. “We are experiencing strong sales in existing stores and have been opening many new stores as a result.”
In the early 2000s, Barnes & Noble opened 30 stores or more a year, but simultaneously closed about half that number too, according to The Wall Street Journal. By 2013, a decade later, it was on track to close about a third of its brick-and-mortar retail stores, and would continue shrinking over the next 10 years. But by 2023, consumer demand was back, and the bookseller started ramping up again.
As Fast Company previously reported, the resurgence is thanks in large part to social media, in particular, TikToks #BookTok. But some credit also goes to a rise in so-called third spacesplaces people are flocking to post-pandemic that are neither home nor work, as Americans seek real connection amid an epidemic of loneliness now plaguing our nation (especially among Gen Z). As Americans spend more time at home and on their devices, many now have fewer friends (particularly men) and fewer social outlets. But many new bookstores today are opening with a cafe or even a bar to allow for more interaction, like New York City’s Book Club Bar and Bibliotheque, or (my personal favorite) Boston’s romance novel bookstore, Lovestruck Books.
“Bookstores are a social spot to gather and offer that third space that online shopping cannot provide,” Barnes & Noble told Fast Company. “Our booksellers are knowledgeable and can provide a dedicated customer service to the in store shopper.”
Heres a list of locations where Barnes & Noble has already opened new stores, as well as a list of states where it will be opening new locations in 2025.
New Barnes & Noble locations opened in 2025
Pennsylvania: 2935 Concord Rd, York, PA 17402
720 W Lancaster Ave. Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
Virginia: 9840 Brook Rd, Glen Allen, VA 23059
1961 Chain Bridge Rd, Tysons, VA 22102
8139 Stonewall Shops Square, Gainesville, VA 20155
Arizona: 2011 E. Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85016
Connecticut: 775 Main St S., Southbury, CT 06488
1145 High Ridge Rd., Stamford, CT 06905
Washington: 10330 59th Ave. Southwest, Lakewood, WA 98499
775 NW Gilman Blvd, Issaquah, WA 98027
1140 Bellevue Square, Bellevue, WA 98004
Ohio: 3708 W. Dublin-Granville Road, Columbus, OH 43235
5501 Dressler Rd. NW, North Canton, OH 44720
Illinois: 9 Jackson Ave, Naperville, IL 60540
Florida: 13123 N. Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa FL 33618
151 N US Highway 1, Tequesta, FL 33469
4149 Tamiami Trail N., Naples, FL 34103
New York: 301 Walt Whitman Rd., Huntington Station, NY 11746
Nebraska: 7949 Towne Center Pkwy, Papillion, NE 68046
Michigan: 2236 E. Beltline Ave NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525
Texas: 12850 Memorial Drive, Houston, TX 77024
California: 2475 Sand Creek Rd, Brentwood, CA 94513
Colorado: 550 Marshall Rd, Superior, CO 80027
Barnes & Noble locations expected to open in the second half of 2025
A spokesperson for Barnes & Noble told Fast Company that the company has signed leases to open additional stores in the following states:
Pennsylvania
New Hampshire
Washington
South Dakota
Texas
Massachusetts
Tennessee
New Jersey
Kansas
Minnesota
Maryland
California
Louisiana
Florida
Idaho
Michigan
Colorado
Ohio
District of Columbia
Rural hospitals in the U.S. already operate on a razors edge, but new cuts to Medicaid in the Republican appropriations bill could tip many of them into failure.
The Republican megabill that the House just passed in a 218-214 vote is a massive piece of kitchen sink legislation, extending Trumps tax cuts and allocating hundreds of billions for immigration enforcement, among the presidents priorities. To pay for all of that spending, the bill will slash programs that make up the federal safety net by the largest amount in decades, mostly through major cuts to Medicaid.
Medicaid is the joint federal and state health insurance program that millions of low-income Americans rely on for healthcare coverage. As of March of this year, 71 million people in the U.S. were enrolled in Medicaid, which also extends coverage for pregnant people, elderly adults, and Americans with disabilities.
An estimate from the Congressional Budget Office expects about 12 million people will lose their Medicaid coverage under the legislation. Among its major changes, the bill would cut $1 trillion in funding from Medicaid over the next decade and add new eligibility restrictions that require able-bodied adults up to age 65 to work 80 hours per month to qualify.
Older Americans between ages 50 and 64 could be hit hardest by the new work requirements, according to analysis from the UC Berkeley Labor Center. That set of aging adults is too young to be eligible for Medicare but face the challenge of juggling work with chronic illness and disability, two factors that contribute to plunging employment numbers after age 50.
Rural hospitals hit hardest
Beyond shrinking the number of Americans covered by Medicaid, the bill would also place a cap and a gradual set of reductions on the taxes that states charge healthcare providers to pay for their share of Medicaid. Those taxes are a big piece of what makes the system work, and any changes risk destabilizing an already fragile healthcare system.
Limits to state reimbursements are anticipated to further imperil hospital and clinic funding, particularly in rural areas where a larger share of the population relies on Medicaid. In those areas, an increased number of people without healthcare coverage and preventive care also means more patients showing up in emergency rooms.
In Nebraska, nearly half of our rural hospitals are currently operating in the red, Nebraska Hospital Association president Jeremy Nordquist said. This change would pull the rug out from under them, leading to a loss of critical patient services and putting the health of our communities at risk.
On Tuesday, Senate Republicans added more funding for rural hospitals to compensate for funding losses after a push from Maine Sen. Susan Collins, whose state stands to be slammed by the cuts due to a large rural population that relies on Medicaid. An earlier version of the bill allocated $25 billion to rural hospitals over five years, a number that was doubled to $50 billion in the final version. Whether the $50 billion fund will be enough to offset a rural healthcare crisis is about to become a live social experiment with steep stakes.
At least one hospital that’s closing its doors in the state is already blaming Trumps signature legislation. Nebraskas Community Hospital just announced the closure of a clinic in the rural southwest Nebraska town of Curtis, which serves 900 people locally.
Unfortunately, the current financial environment, driven by anticipated federal budget cuts to Medicaid, has made it impossible for us to continue operating all of our services, many of which have faced significant financial challenges for years, Community Hospital CEO Troy Bruntz said.
Over a million could lose coverage
According to the National Rural Health Association, the bill is expected to reduce Medicaid funding for rural hospitals by 21% while leaving more than a million rural residents without coverage.
While the Senate Finance committee proposal has made some cuts deeper than the House-passed bill, both are certain to lead to more hospital closures and reduced access to care for rural residents, exacerbating economic hardship in communities where hospitals are major employers, the association wrote in a report exploring the rural impacts of the bill.
An analysis by the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that hospitals would be down $321 billion over the next decade if changes in the less severe House version of the bill went into effect. On top of that, hospitals could be hit with $63 billion in additional costs from handling a larger base of uninsured patients, including those seeking emergency services.
The cuts to Medicaid are controversial, even among some of the lawmakers that ultimately supported the bill, which the Senate approved on Tuesday. Do I like this bill? No, said Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who cast a decisive vote for the legislation after securing special carve-outs for her state. I know that in many parts of the country, there are Americans that are not going to be advantaged by this bill.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries attempted to push back Republicans self-imposed July 4 deadline by filibustering the massive legislative package, speaking on the House floor for eight hours and 44 minutes. With Jeffries record-setting critique wrapped up, Democrats could no longer delay the inevitable vote on Trumps so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, which passed the House on Thursday afternoon.
An interstellar object called 3I/ATLAS is passing through our solar system this year, NASA announced yesterday. Today at 6 p.m. ET, you can see it for yourself, thanks to a livestream from the Virtual Telescope Project.
3I/ATLAS is the third interstellar object ever detected within our solar system, following Oumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. These objects moved quickly through our solar system, giving astronomers limited time to study themjust two weeks in Oumuamuas case.
However, scientists currently expect 3I/ATLAS to continue getting brighter and more visible until September 2025, giving astronomers and interested nonscientists more chances to see it themselves.
This is a tremendous step forward and a tremendous opportunity, says Teddy Kareta, a postdoctoral researcher at Lowell Observatory in Arizona and press officer at the American Astronomical Societys division for planetary science, tells Fast Company. And if the public is excited about it, the astronomers are twice as excited. It’s a really big deal.
‘The building blocks of planets’
The object was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). One of the observatories affiliated with this NASA-funded system, El Sauce Observatory in Chile, first spotted it in photos taken July 1.
So far, astronomers think its a comet, an icy body that appears to have a tail due to gas and dust trailing behind it. Comet movements are largely predictable, and NASA is confident the object is merely passing by us.
The comet poses no threat to Earth and will remain at a distance of at least 1.6 astronomical units (about 150 million miles or 240 million kilometers), NASA wrote in a statement about the objects discovery.
Scientists study interstellar objects the same way they study the comets and asteroids that form closer to home, asking what the objects are made of and how they formed.
But for interstellar objects, the answers to these questions yield answers about what the universe is like outside our solar system, ultimately giving us a better idea of whether our solar system is rare in some way and if intelligent life on Earth is alone in the universe.
These [interstellar objects] are the building blocks of planets from other planetary systems, Kareta says. That lets us ask really fundamental questions about why our solar system looks the way it does.
How and when to see the object as it zips by
Beyond the philosophical questions this object lets us ask, it is also an opportunity to see something truly out of this world.
The Virtual Telescope Projects livestream will show imagery from telescopes in Italy starting at 6 p.m. ET today (Thursday, July 3). You can watch from the VTP’s website or on YouTube.
And even if you miss the livestream, it wont be your last chance to see the object. Scientists predict even amateur astronomers might be able to see the object with their telescopes as the object gets closer to the sun and brighter.
It might require you getting up early or staying up late, Kareta says. But youre seeing light reflected off of something that formed around another star . . . What a wild experience.
Because these objects are so rarely detected and such a recent area of study, astronomers from different disciplinessuch as those who study exoplanets and those who study comets or asteroidscome together to study them.
Thats where the best and most interesting science gets done and when you can push the envelope in a way that doesnt just matter to me and my research group, but to tons of people across the world, Kareta says.
The $297 collectors edition of Grace Given has shimmering gilded edges, a simulated white antique leather cover, lush full-color illustrations on heavy coated stock, and a flocked slipcase with extensive gold-foil detailing.
Such elaborate, ornate bookmaking is the purview of a handful of passionate and obsessive publishersmost notably among them The Folio Society. But whereas The Folio Society is known for its luxe editions of classic and contemporary works, Grace Given is, against all odds, about a video game.
Of course, its not just about any video game: its about the mythology of Elden Ring, FromSoftwares 2022 Game of the Year winner. The game just crossed the $30 million mark in sales, putting it in the company of Call of Duty titles, Super Mario Odyssey, and Diablo III.
[Photo: Tune & Fairweather]
Video game books tend to be flimsy, mass-produced affairs. But publisher Jason Killingsworth believes in the staying power of FromSoftwares cult-fave games, which launched the Soulsborne genre with titles like Demons Souls, Bloodborne and the Dark Souls series. So the Dublin-based creative launched a publishing company, Tune & Fairweather, that celebrates their rich worldsand the obsessive fan bases they command. Five years in, he says the enterprise has crossed the 10 million ($11.7 million USD) mark, and made around 3.5 million ($4.1 million USD) last year alone. In the process, Tune & Fairweathers books are perhaps doing something else via their elaborate form factors: elevating the art form of video games at large. And the runaway success of Elden Ring gave them an opportunity to take it all to an unprecedented level, creating perhaps the most opulent video game book ever made.
You’re hoping for that project thats just going to let you throw everything you’ve ever learned [at something], use every tool in the toolbeltand Grace Given just seemed like the perfect project to take that kitchen-sink approach, Killingsworth says.
[Photo: Tune & Fairweather]
LEVELING UP
Killingsworth was born in Ireland to Christian missionaries, but found himself drawn to the demons of scripture over the angels; he just saw them as more textured and interesting. He also loved role-playing video games, so after working as an editor at Paste in its heyday (where he launched its video game coverage), he got a gig at the U.K.-based game magazine Edge, where he discovered Demons Souls. He was entranced by FromSoftwares strange immersive worlds where every detail felt considered and intentional, and went further down the rabbit holeeventually writing a book about Dark Souls in 2016 with video game journalist Keza MacDonald, dubbed You Died. Named after the screen that pops up in the notoriously difficult Soulsborne titles when you, well, die (a lot), the book explored the game from a variety of angles, from its creation to the psychology behind its popularity to its fandom (which includes director Alex Garland).
The thing was, the book was released by a small publisher, and I had been cajoling and sort of begging them to do this really exalted fetish object of a book that I knew that Souls fans would revel inand it just wasn’t what they wanted to make, Killingsworth says.
So they released the book at a low price (and the production specs to match), and that was that. Until it wasnt, when Killingsworth bought the hardcover rights to the project.
There was this unfinished quest line with You Died, where there was an ideal version of that book in my mind that hadn’t been created, and it was still sitting in there like a little splinter, he says.
He formally launched Tune & Fairweather in 2019 when he announced a Kickstarter campaign for an updated, expanded, and, most importantly, richly produced volume, from the art to the paper stock and the hardcover bindings (one tier even involved an etched pine coffin box for the book at $347).
[Photo: Tune & Fairweather]
Because of their high level of difficulty, FromSoftware games can be a punishing experience for casual gamers who are not expecting to die dozens upon dozens of times before learning the right moves to conquer a given foe. As such, they are polarizingand they yield either enraged naysayers, or rabid obsessives. Would the latter be willing to support the ultimate book tie-in, not to mention the price it would command?
I had a really strong, strong hunch, Killingsworth says. Gaming is, after all, a largely intangible experienceand when you have a physical object that deepens that experience, not unlike music fandom and a vinyl record box set, you might have exactly what a devoted fan would want. And Killingsworth would know. Its what he wanted. I just knew that video game fans were some of the most collector-minded audiences on the planet, he says.
Moreover, with Kickstarter, there really was no risk in probing the concept (save embarrassment, he notes with a laugh). It went on to provide compelling proof of concept when it made 126,346 on a 50,000 goal. But the true watrshed moment came when Tune & Fairweather Kickstarted Soul Arts in 2021, a book featuring a range of work from YouTuber Michael VaatiVidya Samuels Soulsborne fan art competitions. It was funded in one hour, and made $2.15 million on a $58,880 goal.
At the time, Killingsworth had been laid off from Riot Games, where he had been working, and was coasting on (the last of) his severance. The Kickstarter came at a critical moment: It really was those first minutes of the Soul Arts campaign where I had the realization that I was going to be able to do Tune & Fairweather full-time, he says.
(Curious about the IP legalities of all this? Killingsworth notes that FromSoftware doesnt interfere, and similar to fans who make YouTube videos about the companys games, Tune & Fairweather is essentially doing the same thing in print, providing original analysis and art.)
[Photo: Tune & Fairweather]
A DESIGN FREE-FOR-ALL
The publisher has since scaled up to making three to four books a year, and moved from Kickstarter to an internal sales system. Its worth noting that not all of its output is Soulsborne books. While those remain Tune & Fairweathers bread and butter, they allow Killingsworth the space to explore other projects, like this years typographic/visual novel Process.
Its most ambitious book so far is Grace Given: The Mythology of Elden Ring. When it came to the production, Killingsworth drew inspiration from a few critical placesnotably Italy, where all of Tune & Fairweathers books are printed. When he ventures over for each production run, he tacks on a few days for explorationand that can be immediately seen on the cover, which was designed by Elliott Wells (whose double gatefold also dominates the middle of the book). The debossed demigod faces that frame the cover echo, say, the carvings in the Golden Staircase of the Doge’s Palace in Venice. The weathered marble throughout Italy finds its way into the faux antique white leather, and the gilded edges are synonymous with so much ornamentation in the country.
Another key influence is the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, and its permanent Arts of the Book exhibit featuring elaborate tomes of the ancient world, where Killingsworth often finds inspiration, as in the case of the overall color palette or the fabric spine labels that made their way to Grace Given.
Ultimately, We used almost every design technique that you could think of, Killingsworth says. It was just an absolute free-for-all. It was so fun and so indulgent.
The book showcases more than 20 illustrations by the popular artist Shimhaq and more than 100 spot illustrations by MenasLGboth regarded for their takes on the genre. The core text detailing Elden Rings mythology, meanwhile, comes from Geoff SmoughTown Truscott, who maintains a popular YouTube channel where he explores game lore.
[Photo: Tune & Fairweather]
Tune & Fairweather printed 5,000 copies of the collectors edition, which have been shipping, and Killingsworth says theyre nearly sold out. While the collectors edition is limited to just one run, a $144 deluxe edition with downgraded (but still impressive) specs is on its way in the coming months, as is a $42 softcover.
Like the games that Killingsworth documents, the high-tier pricing can polarizeand he has weathered his share of commenters online who arent thrilled about it.
It’s just such an expensive enterprise. Never mind the price of the materials and the production costs, which themselves are eye-watering, he says. I just made a conscious decision that even if there was some blowback, I felt like I had built up enough trust with our audience where I could say, ‘Trust me. I will make this worth your while.’
And hey, when it comes to that price tag, if theres one group thats used to really grinding for what they want, its a Souls fan.
