How can you keep your brain agile and young throughout your life, even as you get older? By spending time on creative pursuits as often as you can. Thats the fascinating finding of a study by researchers from Universidad Adolfo Ibáez in Chile and Trinity College in Ireland, among others.
As the studys authors note, earlier studies have shown a connection between creative activities such as playing a musical instrument and improved brain health. They wanted to know just how creativity affects brain health. So they first recruited more than 1,200 healthy people as controls, and then compared them with 1,467 research participants who spent at least some of their time in creative pursuits. This included dancers, musicians, visual artists, and strategy-based gamers. (Real-time strategy-based games are complex and involve creativity.)
Using EEG readings, they determined each participants brain age gap, the difference between their chronological age and the apparent age of the participants brain. What they found was that creative people across all disciplines had younger brains than their noncreative peers. Dancers had some of the youngest brains compared with their actual ages. This isnt surprising since previous research has consistently shown that strenuous physical activity also slows brain aging. This means that dancing, which is physically strenuous as well as creative, packs a double dose of brain health. Strategic gamers had the smallest brain age gap, though they still saw benefits.
The researchers also discovered that those who were most expert in their respective creative areas saw the greatest brain benefit. And they found that connections within the brain that typically deteriorate with aging were stronger in these creative types.
We tend to treat creativity as a luxury
What does all this mean to you? If your current work involves a lot of creativity, thats good news. Chances are its benefiting your brain and helping you stay mentally young. But whether your work is creative in itself or not, it also means that you should make time in your week for your own creative activities. We tend to treat creativity as a luxury after the real work is done, writes Karen E. Todd, a registered dietitian who writes the Feed Your Brain blog for Psychology Today. Instead, she writes, we should prioritize our creative practices the same way we prioritize sleep, because both are essential for keeping our brains young.
Even 10 minutes of creative activity can make a difference if you do it every day, she writes. And, as the study shows, the more time you spend on it, and the more expert you become, the greater that benefit will be.
So pick up a paintbrush, guitar, camera, or notebook. Dive into a complex creativity-boosting game either online or in real life. Or put on your dancing shoes and sign up for tango lessons. Whatever you choose, make sure its something you enjoy, so that you are happy to make time for it and stick with it. Your brain will be happy you did.
Theres a growing audience of Inc.com readers who receive a daily text from me with a self-care or motivational micro-challenge or tip. Often, they text me back and we wind up in a conversation. (Want to know more? Heres some information about the texts and a special invitation to a two-month free trial.) Many of my subscribers are entrepreneurs or business leaders. They know how important it is for all of us to keep our brains as young as possible throughout our lives. Getting creative can be a fun way to do that. Should you give it a try?
For a long time, I told myself I was choosing stability.
I was working at a prestigious university, doing work that mattered, surrounded by smart people. The role had legitimacy and the paycheck came on the same day, in the same amount, every month. The path forward was clear and the structure well-defined. At that point in my liferaising very young kidsthat predictability felt not just comforting, but necessary. My work mattered, and it held up easily when I described it to others. I could justify why staying made sense.
And yet, I was unhappy.
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Not in a dramatic, crisis-driven way. There was no single bad boss or catastrophic moment that forced my hand. It was quieter than that. A low-grade, persistent sense that I was out of alignment with myself. A feeling that I was expending more energy maintaining the arrangement than the work itself required.
The tricky part was that I already knew what I wanted. I wanted to leave and build my own business full-time. I had started it on the side. I had a growing number of clients and the work energized me. I felt more like myself doing that work than I had in years. Still, I stayed in my academic role far longer than I needed to.
The explanation I gaveover and over againwas the same: I like stability. I didnt want to lose a consistent monthly paycheck. I was being cautious, responsible, and thoughtful.
All of that was true. And also not the whole truth.
What I can see now is that stability was doing a lot of emotional labor for me. It allowed me to avoid naming something harder and more uncomfortable: I was stuck and I was playing it small.
When stability and stuckness look the same
This distinctionbetween choosing stability and being stuckis one I see constantly in my coaching work. And its not an easy one to make, because culturally, we tend to reward staying put. We admire endurance and praise loyalty. And the more together your life looks from the outside, the harder it can be to question whether staying is still serving you.
But psychologically, stability and stuckness can feel almost identical from the inside. Both involve staying. Both involve tolerating discomfort. Both can be justified with perfectly reasonable explanations.
The difference isnt in the external facts of your life. Its in your internal relationship to them.
When youre choosing stability, theres usually a sense of agency underneath it. Even if the situation isnt ideal, the decision feels settled. Youre not constantly renegotiating it in your head. You know why youre there and the trade-offs feel conscious.
When youre stuck, the decision never quite lands. You keep revisiting the same questions without moving forward. You tell yourself stories about why now isnt the right time, but those stories keep changing. Theres often a low-level irritabilitytoward your work, your schedule, often even yourselfthat doesnt resolve with rest or time off.
For me, the clearest signal was how much mental energy I spent justifying staying. If the choice had really been aligned, I wouldnt have needed to keep convincing myself.
What stability was really protecting
Instead, I was always explaining myself. I had a reason for everything. It wasnt practical. It was risky. It wasnt the right moment. Eventually, I realized how much energy I was spending justifying a decision I claimed to feel good about.
Stability does something important for us. It regulates anxiety. Predictable income, clear roles, and familiar routines create a sense of containment that makes the rest of life possible. They reduce the cognitive and emotional load of uncertainty. When youre already carrying a lotchildren, relationships, aging parents, health, a world that feels increasingly fragileit makes sense to protect whats steady. Trust me, I get it.
So when someone says, I value stability, I tend to believe them. I value it too.
But heres the part we often skip over: fear and stability are frequently entangled. And when we dont separate them, stability can quietly become a cover story for fearfear of failing, fear of being exposed, fear of discovering that were not as capable or competent as we hope we are.
In my case, the paycheck wasnt just money. It was proof. Proof that I was legitimate. Proof that I hadnt made a reckless mistake. Proof that I still belonged in a system that knew how to recognize me. Letting go of that wasnt only a financial decision. It was an identity one.
Thats one reason stuckness can persist for so long. It often protects more than our income. It protects our sense of self and our story about who we are. The version of us that other people understand without explanation.
A few ways to tell the difference
This isnt about pressuring yourself to make a big shift. Its about getting more precise.
One thing I pay attention to now is the quality of my reasoning. Does it feel calm and grounded, or repetitive and defensive? Calm reasoning has space in it; defensive reasoning loops and spirals.
I also get specific about what Im actually protecting. When we say were protecting stability, it helps to finish the sentence. Stability of income? Stability of identity? Stability of other peoples expectations? Vagueness tends to keep us stuck.
Time language matters too. Stuckness lives in someday. Someday when things settle down. Someday when I feel more confident. Stability usually comes with a clearer horizon: For the next year, Im choosing this because
And then theres the shift from abstraction to action. You dont have to blow anything up to stop being stuck, but you do have to make something concrete. Run the numbers instead of imagining them. Set a decision deadline. Increase your commitment to the thing you say you want, rather than keeping it safely on the side.
Finally, I listen for where Im outsourcing authority. Am I deferring to a version of being responsible that no longer reflects my actual values or life stage? Am I living by a script I inherited rather than one I consciously chose?
Redefining stability
Leaving academia didnt mean I stopped valuing stability. It meant I redefined it.
Stability, for me now, includes agency and alignment. It includes trusting my ability to build something rather than relying on a single institution to hold me. That version of stability isnt as nea, but its far more honest.
I didnt leap blindly. I planned, I built a runway, I tolerated discomfort. And yes, there was fear. But fear turned out not to be a signal that I was doing something wrong. It was a signal that I was doing something consequential.
You dont owe anyone a dramatic reinvention. But you do owe yourself honesty about whether youre groundedor just standing still.
Clarity rarely comes from thinking harder. It comes from telling yourself the truth more precisely. And in my experience, thats often the first real form of stability.
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Most American presidents aspire to the kind of greatness that prompts future generations to name important things in their honor.Donald Trump isn’t leaving it to future generations.As the first year of his second term wraps up, his Republican administration and allies have put his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center performing arts venue and a new class of battleships.That’s on top of the “Trump Accounts” for tax-deferred investments, the TrumpRx government website soon to offer direct sales of prescription drugs, the “Trump Gold Card” visa that costs at least $1 million and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a transit corridor included in a deal his administration brokered between Armenia and Azerbaijan.On Friday, he plans to attend a ceremony in Florida where local officials will dedicate a 4-mile (6-kilometer) stretch of road from the airport to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach as President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
Another example of the unorthodoxy of Trump’s career
It’s unprecedented for a sitting president to embrace tributes of that number and scale, especially those proffered by members of his administration. And while past sitting presidents have typically been honored by local officials naming schools and roads after them, it’s exceedingly rare for airports, federal buildings, warships or other government assets to be named for someone still in power.“At no previous time in history have we consistently named things after a president who was still in office,” said Jeffrey Engel, the David Gergen Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “One might even extend that to say a president who is still alive. Those kind of memorializations are supposed to be just that memorials to the passing hero.”White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said the TrumpRx website linked to the president’s deals to lower the price of some prescription drugs, along with “overdue upgrades of national landmarks, lasting peace deals, and wealth-creation accounts for children are historic initiatives that would not have been possible without President Trump’s bold leadership.”“The Administration’s focus isn’t on smart branding, but delivering on President Trump’s goal of Making America Great Again,” Huston said.The White House pointed out that the nation’s capital was named after President George Washington and the Hoover Dam was named after President Herbert Hoover while each was serving as president.For Trump, it’s a continuation of the way he first etched his place onto the American consciousness, becoming famous as a real estate developer who affixed his name in big gold letters on luxury buildings and hotels, a casino and assorted products like neckties, wine and steaks.
Trump’s for-profit branding has continued
As he ran for president in 2024, the candidate rolled out Trump-branded business ventures for watches, fragrances, Bibles and sneakers including golden high tops priced at $799. After taking office again last year, Trump’s businesses launched a Trump Mobile phone company, with plans to unveil a gold-colored smartphone and a cryptocurrency memecoin named $TRUMP.That’s not to be confused with plans for a physical, government-issued Trump coin that U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach said the U.S. Mint is planning.Trump has also reportedly told the owners of Washington’s NFL team that he would like his name on the Commanders’ new stadium. The team’s ownership group, which has the naming rights, has not commented on the idea. But a White House spokeswoman in November called the proposed name “beautiful” and said Trump made the rebuilding of the stadium possible.The addition of Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center in December so outraged independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that he introduced legislation this week to ban the naming or renaming of any federal building or land after a sitting president a ban that would retroactively apply to the Kennedy Center and Institute of Peace.“I think he is a narcissist who likes to see his name up there. If he owns a hotel, that’s his business,” Sanders said in an interview. “But he doesn’t own federal buildings.”Sanders likened Trump’s penchant for putting his name on government buildings and more to the actions of authoritarian leaders throughout history.“If the American people want to name buildings after a president who is deceased, that’s fine. That’s what we do,” Sanders said. “But to use federal buildings to enhance your own position very much sounds like the ‘Great Leader’ mentality of North Korea, and that is not something that I think the American people want.”Although some of the naming has been suggested by others, the president has made clear he’s pleased with the tributes.Three months after the announcement of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a name the White House says was proposed by Armenian officials, the president gushed about it at a White House dinner.“It’s such a beautiful thing, they named it after me. I really appreciate it. It’s actually a big deal,” he told a group of Central Asian leaders.Engel, the presidential historian, said the practice can send a signal to people “that the easiest way to get access and favor from the president is to play to his ego and give him something or name something after him.”
Supporters say the tributes are well-deserved
Some of the proposals for honoring Trump include legislation in Congress from New York Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney that would designate June 14 as “Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day,” placing the president with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington and Jesus Christ, whose birthdays are recognized as national holidays.Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube has introduced legislation that calls for the Washington-area rapid transit system, known as the Metro, to be renamed the “Trump Train.” North Carolina Republican Rep. Addison McDowell has introduced legislation to rename Washington Dulles International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport.McDowell said it makes sense to give Dulles a new name since Trump has already announced plans to revamp the airport, which currently is a tribute to former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.The congressman said he wanted to honor Trump because he feels the president has been a champion for combating the scourge of fentanyl, a personal issue for McDowell after his brother’s overdose death. But he also cited Trump’s efforts to strike peace deals all over the world and called him “one of the most consequential presidents ever.”“I think that’s somebody that deserves to be honored, whether they’re still the president or whether they’re not,” he aid.More efforts are underway in Florida, Trump’s adopted home.Republican state lawmaker Meg Weinberger said she is working on an effort to rename Palm Beach International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport, a potential point of confusion with the Dulles effort.The road that the president will see christened Friday is not the first Florida asphalt to herald Trump upon his return to the White House.In the south Florida city of Hialeah, officials in December 2024 renamed a street there as President Donald J. Trump Avenue.Trump, speaking at a Miami business conference the next month, called it a “great honor” and said he loved the mayor for it.“Anybody that names a boulevard after me, I like,” he said.He added a few moments later: “A lot of people come back from Hialeah, they say, ‘They just named a road after you.’ I say, ‘That’s OK.’ It’s a beginning, right? It’s a start.”
Michelle L. Price and will Weissert, Associated Press
Taco Bell is saying new year, new offerings with the launch of its Luxe Value Menu.
From Friday, January 16, the fast food chain will offer 10 items for $3 or less. Initially, only Taco Bell Rewards members can access the new menu using the Taco Bell app or by checking in through the drive thru or in-store kiosk. The Luxe Value Menu will be available to all Taco Bell customers from Thursday, January 22.
However, starting 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, January 27, Taco Bell will give 30,000 Rewards members a new menu item for just $1. The deal is first come, first served, exclusively through the app.
Whats on the new Taco Bell Luxe Value Menu?
The 10 menu items include five new products, alongside five that were available on the Cravings Value Menu.
Below are Taco Bells new items, as described by the chain:
Mini Taco Salad for $2.49: Seasoned beef, creamy Chipotle Sauce, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and refried beans in a crispy, golden tortilla bowl
Beefy Potato Loaded Griller for $2.49: Seasoned beef, crispy potato bites, nacho cheese sauce, creamy Chipotle Sauce, and reduced-fat sour cream, wrapped up and grilled
Chips & Nacho Supreme Dip for $2.49: Seasoned beef, refried beans, nacho cheese sauce, reduced-fat sour cream, pico de gallo, and a three-cheese blendserved with tortilla chips
Avocado Ranch Chicken Stacker for $2.99: Grilled all-white-meat chicken, Avocado Ranch Sauce, three-cheese blend, lettuce, and tomatoesfolded and grilled
Salted Caramel Churros for $1.99: Churros dusted in salted caramel sugar (available only for a limited time)
The returning Taco Bell items on the Luxe Value Menu are:
Cheesy Roll Up for $1.19
Spicy Potato Soft Taco for $1.29
Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito for $1.49
3 Cheese Chicken Flatbread Melt for $2.29
Cheesy Double Beef Burrito for $2.79
The Luxe Value Menu was built on one ambition: to defy expectations of what value can be,” Luis Restrepo, North America CMO of Taco Bell, said in a statement. “Through extensive fan testing and bold innovation, we created menu items that deliver an elevated experience at an accessible price point. This isn’t just a menu refresh, it’s a new standard for value at Taco Bell and across the industry.
By the time they get into their 20s, every generation seems to have nostalgia for one year from their teenage years.
For people in my generation (Gen X), that year is usually cited as 1994the final year before the internet really started taking hold. But if a recent trend on TikTok is anything to go by, the year Gen Z is most nostalgic for is 2016.
Heres what you need to know.
‘2026 is the new 2016’
In recent days, TikTok has been flooded with variations of the phrase 2026 is the new 2016.
Along with the phrase, TikTokers are posting throwback pictures to when they were younger, listening to songs popular a decade ago, and reminiscing about how the world just seemed like a more stable and safe place in 2016.
@childhoodcore8 2016 is now officially a decade ago.. #nostalgia #fyp #2016 #edit original sound – Nostalgia
Its unclear exactly why or how this trend gained critical mass in the last few days, but at the start of any new year, it is natural to reflect on past years and compare how we and the world have changed over time.
Nostalgia and the 10-year rule
As a decade ago is both long enough to notice differences yet not so long ago that your memory becomes foggy of the time period, its little wonder why when we nostalgitize the past, we often choose a period that happened 10 years prior.
As for why many may feel nostalgic for 2016, you just have to look at events so far in 2026.
In America, we’re seeing increasing social upheaval and protests across the country, and once again, the U.S. is attacking other countries. Things feel chaotic, and that chaos makes us long for a time when things felt more stable.
For many on TikTok, that time was apparently 2016. As noted by Yahoo Entertainment, for many TikTok users, 2016 felt like the last year before the world shifted. The leader of the free world was predictable and stable, housing prices were more affordable, and AI hadnt yet put a big question mark over the future of peoples job security.
Its self-evident why those things are yearned for now.
The world that was 2016
If your memory is a little foggy about what 2016 was actually like, heres a little reminder.
Googles decade-old Year in Search 2016 roundup showed what people across the world spent their year searching for, which reveals key events from the time.
On the geopolitical front, the 2016 U.S. presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was at the top of peoples minds. So were mass shootings in Orlando and Dallas, as well as fears over the Zika Virus outbreak.
Culturally, people were obsessed with a new show called Stranger Things, as well as the shows Westworld, Luke Cage, Game of Thrones, and Black Mirror.
The Rio Olympics and World Series were also on top of peoples minds.
Deadpool, Captain America: Civil War, and Batman v. Superman got people into the theaters, and Celine Dion and Kesha were some of the musicians who generated the most interest.
Meanwhile, 2016 was also the year that people were obsessed with Pokémon Go, and the top tech products of the year included the iPhone 7 and Google Pixel.
The sonic backdrop of the Twin Cities in 2026 is a cacophony.
As thousands of ICE agents raid residential neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, and businesses, theyre trailed by the ambient noise of piercing sirens, whirring helicopters, and screeching whistles at all hours of the day, along with the occasional boom of flashbang grenades and the odd cry for help.
Conspicuously silent in all the commotion, however, are major corporations that are headquartered in Minnesota.
It’s a list that includes some of the most well-known consumer-facing brands in the country, including Target, Best Buy, and Land O’Lakesall of which have an obvious direct stake in the communities that are currently being disrupted by this occupation.
As of Friday morning, not one of them has released an official statement about whats happening.
After an ICE agent killed Renee Nicole Good last week and brought international attention to Minneapolis, escalating tensions have knocked residents out of their normal routines.
A pervasive awareness has sunk inviolent ICE sweeps of residents or their neighbors can happen anywhere, and anyone might get caught up in them just for walking their dog at the wrong moment or not carrying proof of citizenship. One of the consequences is that small businesses are sufferingespecially those owned by immigrants.
Local restaurants are speaking up about the situation.
Minneapoliss Mothership Pizza, for instance, announced its owners are giving 10% of all dinner sales directly to team members affected by ICE, while Owamni by the Sioux Chefwhich the New Yorker dubbed the best new restaurant in the U.S. in 2022donated 10% of its proceeds last weekend to Goods family.
As for the Fortune 500 companies based in Minnesota, well, its anyones guess how those in their C-suites feelor at least prefer to be seen as feelingabout what ICE is doing in the state.
Fast Company reached out multiple times this week to General Mills, Target, Best Buy, Cargill, UnitedHealth Group, 3M, and Land OLakes for comment. None of them responded.
What a difference five yearsand a pivotal electioncan make.
The reckoning of the reckoning
In the summer of 2020, another broad-daylight killing at the hands of a law enforcement officersimilarly captured on videobrought this city international attention.
The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police sparked massive protests, and what some at the time prematurely called a racial reckoning. Even Donald Trump, whom many seem to forget was president at the time, briefly acknowledged in a statement, All Americans were rightly sickened and revolted by the brutal death of George Floyd, before turning his ire forever toward the angry mob of protesters.
Meanwhile, all of those major companies mentioned above were sufficiently moved to join the chorus of CEOs who had publicly weighed in on that moment.
Depending on your perspective, they were either unburdening their consciences or paying lip serviceyour mileage may varybut it’s notable that their ranks included Targets then-CEO Brian Cornell, who declared in a statement, “We are a community in pain.
Graveyard of good intentions
The intervening Biden years saw a swift and relentless rightwing backlash against anguished executives promising to do better. Tech CEO Vivek Ramaswamy, for instance, squeezed so much juice out of his staunch opposition to what he termed “woke capitalism” that he briefly became a long-shot 2024 presidential contender.
Conservative media hubs like Fox News and Trump-Lite figures like Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida strongly denounced corporate gestures toward social justice, including Targets Pride merch and Disneys LGBTQ advocacy.
After a flurry of high-profile boycotts, the sprawling corporate conscience of 2020 looked more like a dream blinked away in the harsh light of day.
Many companies had already begun retreating from DEI initiatives and inclusive messaging by 2024; partly for organic reasons, and partly as a result of MAGA influencers orchestrating social media attack campaigns.
The election, however, changed everything.
The Eye of Sauron is watching brands
Conservatives hailed Trumps return to office as the final nail in the coffin of Woke. Mega-companies such as Meta Platforms and Amazon, formerly critical of Trump, made a grand show of shredding their last remaining vestiges of DEI, seemingly part of a broader strategy to ingratiate themselves with the new president and his supportersor, at least, to avoid their wrath.
Nearly a year into Trump 2.0, corporations now understand that speaking up about social issues might bring to bear the full force of the federal government in retaliation.
Before Good was killed, for instance, a local Hilton affiliate declined to house ICE agents booked at the hotel. The Department of Homeland Security responded by posting on X that Hilton had launched a coordinated campaign against the agency, siding with murderers and rapists to deliberately undermine and impede DHS law enforcement.
By the end of the day, the #BoycottHilton hashtag was all over X and the companys shares were down by 2.5%.
The hotel giant quickly clarified that the establishment responsible for canceling the reservations was independently owned, and that Hilton is in fact a welcoming oasis for any government agency conducting violent missions in any U.S. city. (More or less.)
In another era, the company might have ended its ass-covering there. In this one, Hilton went scorched earth. It de-franchised the hotel, lest there be any confusion about whether the brand itself had been taking a stand against ICE, or even permitting a stand to be made on its property.
No brand wants to be a target
If it was unexpected how vehemently Hilton distanced itself from the possibility of having an opinion, other recent brand reactions to government overreach are much less surprising.
Not a peep was heard from Jeff Bezos this week when the FBI raided the home of a reporter at the newspaper he owns. Nor is anyone holding their breath waiting for Mark Zuckerberg to speak out about ICE reportedly abducting workers from a Meta data center in Louisiana this week
As for Minnesota businesses, the most conspicuously silent among them is Target. Its perhaps the company most closely associated with the area, the one whose name adorns local baseball stadium and concert venue Target Field.
And its the company most closely connected to the ICE raids, after agents snatched and injured two employees in the middle of a shiftboth of whom turned out to be U.S. citizens, as caught on a disturbing video.
But Target also might be the company with the most financially at stake. The retailer incurred persistent boycotts in 2025, after rolling back DEI initiatives amidst a changing political landscape. Its share price has only recently begun to recoverit’s up more than 10% in 2026.
Still, the Twin Cities community wants action from the brand. Since the incident last week, residents have protested outside the store where the employees were abducted, demanding a response.
A strong statement at least acknowledging that Minneapolis is, once again, a community in pain, might even help win back disappointed progressive shoppers.
Then again, if Minnesota businesses continue to keep quiet about the ICE invasion, perhaps consumer demand within the state will become silent too.
The Justice Department’s investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has brought heightened attention to a key drama that will play out at the central bank in the coming months: Will Powell leave the Fed when his term as chair ends, or will he take the unusual step of remaining a governor?Powell’s term as Fed chair finishes on May 15, but because of the central bank’s complex structure, he has a separate term as one of seven members of its governing board that lasts until January 31, 2028. Historically, nearly all Fed chairs have stepped down from the board when they are no longer chair. But Powell could be the first in nearly 50 years to stay on as a governor.Many Fed-watchers believe that the criminal investigation into Powell’s testimony about cost overruns for Fed building renovations was intended to intimidate him out of taking that step. If Powell stays on the board, it would deny the White House a chance to gain a majority, undercutting the Trump administration’s efforts to seize greater control over what has for decades been an institution largely insulated from day-to-day politics.“I find it very difficult to see Powell leaving before midnight on Jan. 31, 2028,” said David Wilcox, a former top economist at the Fed and senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “This is a mortal threat to the governance structure of the Fed as we’ve known it for 90 years. And I think that Powell does take that threat exceedingly seriously, and therefore will believe that it is his solemn duty to continue to occupy his seat on the board of governors.”Powell, 72, was appointed as Fed chair by Trump in 2018, and must step down from the position in May because his second four-year term is ending. He has declined several times to comment on his plans beyond that when asked by reporters. A spokesperson declined to comment for this story.Trump has sought to push out Powell before his time is up, obsessively attacking him for not cutting rates as sharply as the president wants, particularly in light of ongoing concerns about high costs for groceries, utilities, and housing that have remained a salient political issue even as inflation has cooled.On Tuesday, Trump highlighted that mortgage rates have declined in the past year. “If I had the help of the Fed, it would be easier,” he said. “But that jerk will be gone soon.”Or maybe not.Here is a look at the impacts of whether or not Powell stays on the board could have:
What happens if Powell stays on the board
Trump said Tuesday that he hopes to name a new Fed chair in the next few weeks. But that could get held up by the criminal investigation of Powell.Several Republican senators, including at least two on the banking committee who would have to approve Trump’s nominees to the Fed, have expressed skepticism that Powell committed crimes during his testimony last June regarding the Fed’s $2.5 billion renovation of two office buildings, a project that Trump has criticized as excessive. That testimony is the subject of subpoenas sent to the Fed by U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said he would not vote for any Fed nominees until the legal cloud around Powell is resolved. That would be enough to delay a nomination from getting out of the banking committee.If no new chair of the Fed’s board has been confirmed by May 15, then Powell could remain in that post until a replacement has been confirmed. As a result, the Fed might not cut interest rates anywhere near as quickly as Trump wants.If Powell stays on as a governor even after he is no longer chair, Trump could still name someone to lead the Fed but that would give him a total of three appointments on the board including two from his first term and short of a majority.So even if Trump nominates a chair who seeks to do the president’s bidding regarding interest rates, that person “would have very little persuasive power with his colleagues,” said Wilcox, who is also director of research at Bloomberg Economics. Powell, along with other members of the Fed’s 19-member interest-rate setting committee, could outvote the new chair. That hasn’t happened since 1986.
What happens if Powell leaves the board
In that case, Trump could nominate a fourth person to the board and gain a majority. He could even then add a fifth, if the Supreme Court allows his attempt to fire Governor Lisa Cook to proceed. The high court will hear her case on Wednesday.A majority on the board would enable the White House to make sweeping changes to the Fed. Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, has advocated numerous reforms to reduce the central bank’s influence in the economy and financial markets.Trump’s majority on the Fed’s board could also remove some of the presidents of the 12 regional banks, who are members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee. The New York Fed president has a vote on the committee and four others vote on a rotating basis.Several of those bank presidents have expressed opposition to the deep rate cuts that Trump has demanded. The board of governors could seek to have them fired if a chair wanted to do so.
What past Fed chairs have done
While nearly all Fed chairs have left the board of governors before their terms were up, there is some precedent for Powell to stay. In 1978, then-Chair Arthur Burns stayed on the board for about three weeks after his chairmanship ended. But in 1948, then-Fed chairman Marriner Eccles remained as a governor for three years after finishing as chair, in part because President Harry Truman asked him to remain.In 1951, however, he played a key role in undercutting the Truman administration in a dispute over interest rates, which led to the Fed-Treasury Accord that established the modern Fed as a largely independent institution.Eccles became a symbol of Fed independence, though some academics say that reputation is overstated. The Fed’s principal office building currently under renovation and at the center of the criminal investigation of Powell is named after him.Truman then appointed a Treasury official, William McChesney Martin, to the Fed chairmanship and assumed he would do his bidding. Yet Martin defied Truman and raised interest rates. Years later, Truman ran into Martin in New York City and called him a “traitor.” The Fed’s second office building in Washington is named after Martin.“So it’s a cautionary tale also for Trump, thinking he’s going to get his own Fed chair in there,” said Lev Menand, a law professor at Columbia University who studies the Fed. “Martin didn’t do what Truman wanted.”
Christopher Rugaber, AP Economics Writer
Everything from coffee to a used car is more expensive these days, and now your music streaming service is too. Spotify announced this week that it will raise prices for U.S. subscribersagain.
Spotify Premium plans will jump up to $12.99 from $11.99 starting with the next billing date. The streamer last increased prices for U.S. users in 2024 after a decade-plus run of charging $9.99 for ad-free listening on its Premium individual streaming plan.
The main individual plan isnt the only Spotify subscription getting a price hike. Discounted student plans are getting bumped up to $6.99 from $5.99, the Duo two-person plan will go to $18.99 from $16.99 and the streamers Family plans will hop to $21.99 from $19.99. Users outside the U.S. in Estonia and Latvia will also see prices go up next month.
Spotify offered little in the way of explanation for the pricing changes. Occasional updates to pricing across our markets reflect the value that Spotify delivers, enabling us to continue offering the best possible experience and benefit artists, the company wrote in a blog post announcing the new pricing scheme.
The early 2026 pricing changes are the third time Spotify has raised prices for U.S. listeners since launching in the country in 2011. Two of those price hikes were back-to-back $1 increases, one in 2023 and one in 2024. In 2024, Spotify explained that the service would occasionally update its pricing in order to continue to invest in and innovate on our product features and bring users the best experiencelanguage echoed in its short statement on the latest price increase.
Why is Spotify raising prices?
Spotify isnt explaining much about the decision to tack another dollar onto its core Premium subscription service, but the company is in a very different place now compared to when it was duking it out with Pandora in the dark ages of music streaming more than a decade ago.
Now, the Swedish company is the globally dominant force in streaming audio, boasting north of 713 million users and 281 million paid subscribers worldwideup from 252 million in 2024. Apple Music and Amazon Music are the next closest competitors, but Spotify sits pretty with a much bigger share of the market.
As a household name at this pointa level of brand recognition boosted even further by its genius flourish of marketing, Spotify WrappedSpotify will be increasingly hard-pressed to reach new subscribers in super-mature markets like the U.S. Like other public companies, Spotify is beholden to a set of shareholders who want to see the line go upand its sort of that simple. The company needs to squeeze more money out of its entrenched, very popular subscription service, all while likely approaching a saturation point in markets like the U.S.
Changes afoot for the Swedish streamer
Last November, the Financial Times reported that another price jump was on the way for Spotify subscribers in the U.S. Questions around the timing of the potential U.S. pricing step-ups . . . have taken a toll on sentiment, Deutsche Bank analysts observed late last year. Analysts at JPMorgan estimated that another $1 price hike in Spotifys U.S. market would net the company an additional $500 million in revenue.
Another big factor: Spotifys founder and CEO Daniel Ek announced last September that he would step down from his role after steering the company through two decades of explosive growth. Entering 2026 without its longtime leader, Spotify wants to signal to investors that stability and sustainability are the name of the game.
In Spotifys November earnings report, Ek emphasized that Spotifys business is healthy and focused on growing its profit and revenue. It all comes back to user fundamentals and thats where we are: 700 million users who keep coming back, engagement at all-time highs, Ek said. Were building Spotify for the long-term.
After this weeks price increase, Wall Street will likely agree. But in an age of mounting inflation stress, yet another price hike may not go down easy for Spotifys already financially exhausted U.S. users.
In two years, there could be a space station orbiting the moon. NASAs Gateway Lunar Space Station, set to launch as early as 2027, will support the Artemis IV and V moon missions and, eventually, be a jumping-off point for missions to Mars. And maybe, one day, a colony.
But before any of that can happen, the Gateway will need a power sourcea powerful one, at that. The challenge is getting that energy supply into orbit the way anything reaches space: in the nose cone of a rocket.
Gateways power will come from a pair of blankets of photovoltaic cells, known as Roll-Out Solar Arrays (ROSAs). Each is roughly the size of a football end zone, and together theyll provide 60 kilowatts for 24 hours a dayenough energy to power roughly 50 American homes. But to minimize their profile on the trip out of Earths atmosphere, the arrays will be launched in a rolled-up state, a pair of sci-fi rugs bound for lunar orbit. The Gateways ROSAs are built by space company Redwire, using tech initially developed by its subsidiary Deployable Space Solutions.
When the arrays get to the Gateway, theyll be attached [to the station] and then roll out, says Mike Gold, a NASA veteran and Redwires president of civil and international space business. The unrolling process doesnt require an electric motor: A flexible boom simply guides the arrays as they unspool. After successfully testing the panels roll-out capabilities in July, Redwire is handing them off for prelaunch testing to space tech company Lanteris (formerly Maxar), which is building the Gateways power and propulsion element.
Though the arrays for the Gateway are the largest and most powerful ROSAs that Redwire has built, the companys tech is all over space. Six smaller ROSAs have already deployed on the International Space Station, with two more set to be launched and installed in 2026. Smaller versions of Redwires arrays will power the new Space Inspire telecom satellites from aerospace company Thales Alenia Space (launching in 2026). Redwire is also working on two ROSA wings for Axiom Spaces planned module for the International Space Station, slated to launch in late 2027.
We like to say we are second only to the sun when it comes to providing power in space, Gold says.
The Most Interesting Man is set to make a return to television.
In a marketing push that kicks off with a new 60-second spot airing on ESPN during the College Football Championship Game, Heinekens Dos Equis has rehired Jonathan Goldsmith to play the Most Interesting Man, closing the ad with a familiar, iconic line. I dont always drink beer, but when I do, I still prefer Dos Equis.
That copy, the return of Goldsmith, and even the original campaigns Western-themed instrumental music were all elements of what felt like some magic that we need to bring back, says Alison Payne, chief marketing officer of Heineken USA in an interview with Fast Company. Payne, who assumed the role of CMO at the beginning of 2025, says her creative team did some soul-searching with Le Pub, the Publicis Groupe-owned creative agency that Dos Equis hired in May 2025 to help Dos Equis resonate with todays drinkers.
Why age became an asset
They landed on reviving a campaign that broke through the cultural zeitgeist enough to be spoofed on Saturday Night Live. The return of Goldsmith, now 87 years old, may seem counterintuitive as beer brands like Dos Equis aim to lure younger drinkers, with Gen Z now being the most prized demographic. Dos Equis did consider more youthful talent, but Payne says we actually learned that consumers wanted someone who had some age and wisdom. You cant have an interesting archive of life lived if youre really young.
The campaign comes as Dos Equis parent company Heineken has faced some sales pressures. In October, the Dutch brewer announced that annual profits for 2025 would be lower than anticipated due to weak demand in Europe and the Americas. Amid the woes, Heineken announced in January that CEO Dolf van den Brink would step down in May, after six years leading the company.
[Photo: Dos Equis/HEINEKEN USA]
A campaign that once tripled the brand
The Most Interesting Man campaign recalls more heady times. Debuting in 2006, it helped triple the size of the Dos Equis brand for the creative campaign over a decade, according to Heineken, citing internal U.S. sales volume data. After a decade, the creative concept was scrapped shortly after Heineken hired a decades-younger actor, Augustin Legrand, to play the Most Interesting Man in 2016. A more abstract concept that said basically anyone could be interesting also had a short shelf life. Goldsmith moved on to laud Astral Tequila.
Millennials, who were the target demographic for brewers like Dos Equis back in 2016, rebuffed the younger pitchman. Heineken then parted ways with the creative agency Havas in favor of Droga5, with media reports attributing the switch to the Most Interesting Mans failed pivot. Purchase consideration for Dos Equis dropped by more than half, according to a YouGov poll published in 2017.
But Dos Equis says Goldsmith is returning as the Most Interesting Man because theres still some thirst for the brands most well-known creative concept. More than eight out of every ten consumers who were exposed to the original Most Interesting Man campaign wanted to see it back, according to a survey conducted by Dos Equis.
Age is actually almost irrelevant in this campaign, says Payne of Goldsmith. He’s totally timeless.
A broader beer marketing trend
The new Most Interesting Man campaign aligns with an emerging trend among brewers that have built marketing campaigns around more seasoned spokespeople. Over the past couple of years, actor Christopher Walken appeared in a new Miller Lite spot, actors Willem Dafoe and Catherine OHara have pitched Michelob Ultra, Bud Light called in former NFL star Peyton Manning, actor Pedro Pascal starred in bilingual ads for Corona, and UFC legend Chuck Liddell fronted a martial arts-inspired campaign for Garage Beer.
[Image: Miller]
Manning, at the age of 49, is the most spry of the bunch.
Christopher Walken is really one of those rare cultural figures who truly transcends generations, Sofia Colucci, the chief marketing officer for Miller Lites parent company Molson Coors, tells Fast Company about the companys Legendary Moments Start with Lite creative campaign that launched this January.
Beer has faced sluggish sales as millennial and Gen Z drinkers have increasingly prioritized a healthier lifestyle and more moderation. Theyve been spending more on non-alcoholic beverages and other alternatives, like cannabis. Americans spent $925 million on non-alcoholic beer, wine, and spirits at retail stores in 2025, a 22% increase from the prior year, according to market researcher NIQ.
Selling connection, not consumption
Miller Lites latest ad is a sequel between the light beer brand and the Dune: Part Two actor, who did voiceover work last year in a campaign tied to Miller Lites 50th anniversary. He went in front of the camera for a series of TV spots built around the premise that drinkers should cancel fewer plans and spend more time connecting in person. Promoting socialization has been a key throughline in alcohol marketing, a theme that Heineken itself tapped into with its Social Off Socials marketing blitz that aired last year, starring singer Joe Jonas.
[Photo: Garage Beer]
Colucci said that the brewer conducted extensive researchincluding panels that focused exclusively on the Gen Z cohortand determined that the Miller Lite brand would benefit from Walkens strong name recognition and positive sentiment across more established Miller Lite drinkers and younger adults the brand would like to attract.
Nostalgia, with a wink
Garage Beer, a scrappier upstart founded in 2018, has aimed to lure millennial drinkers who have turned away from craft beers but dont want legacy brands like Coors Light or Miller Lite. CEO Andy Sauer, who acquired the Ohio-founded brewer in 2023 and added NFL stars and brothers Jason and Travis Kelce as majority owners in 2024, says the brands marketing isnt meant to be too serious.
People arent getting together to have beers because theyre bummed out, says Sauer in an interview with Fast Company.
Garage Beers martial arts-inspired Brewmite campaign, which included a 17-minute spot starring the Kelce brothers and 56-year-old Liddell, generated 9.3 million views across social media in the first week after its debut last year. With the exception of a single fight in 2018, Liddell has been retired from mixed martial arts since 2010, but Sauer says 30-something consumers still think fondly of the champion fighter.
He was a great fit for the nostalgia of what we were trying to do with that spot, says Sauer.
