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As Ive been closely tracking in ResiClub’s monthly metro- and county-level housing inventory analysis, over the past year the supply-demand equilibriummeasured by shifts and levels in active housing inventory and months of supplyhas shifted directionally in favor of homebuyers. That doesnt mean buyers have all the leverage, or that the picture is the same in every market. Directionally, however, homebuyers in most markets have gained leverage compared to the 2024 spring housing market.
This shift is also showing up in the pricing dataspecifically the rate of change. Indeed, 49 of the nation’s 50 largest metro-area housing markets have a weaker year-over-year home price shift this spring than a year ago.
This widespread softening doesnt mean home prices are falling in every marketthey arent. Rather, in this context it means home price growth has decelerated across almost every market over the past 12 months, and more markets are seeing price declines compared to a year ago.
In March 2024, 47 of the nations 50 largest housing markets were experiencing rising year-over-year home prices, and just three of them saw falling year-over-year home prices.
In March 2025, 34 of the 50 largest housing markets saw rising year-over-year home prices and 16 were falling.
ResiClub expects to see the number of major housing markets with falling year-over-year home prices rise further in the coming months. (Full-month April data publishes later this week.)
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As ResiClub has closely documented, the recent softening and weakening have been more pronounced in the Sun Belt, particularly in Gulf housing markets. The greatest weakness is evident in parts of Texas (especially Austin and San Antonio) and Florida (notably its condo market and Southwest Florida).
Click here to view an interactive version of the chart below.
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Zooming out, the chart above shows what the ongoing price softening looks like in a recent historical context. The yellow line represents the national aggregate, which has decelerated in the Zillow Home Value Index. U.S. home prices went from rising 4.6% from March 2023 to March 2024 to rising just 1.2% from March 2024 to March 2025.
The deceleration in home price growth is welcomed by many homebuyers who saw prices overheat during the pandemic. In more markets than last year, homebuyers will see their incomes rise faster than local home prices.
Disability is often framed as something to accommodate instead of celebrate. But Visible Voices, a new digital platform launching today on Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2025, is challenging that mindset.
The platform is part magazine, part gallery, and part curated e-shop. As a whole, its repositioning disability as a source of culture, creativity, and style, fueled by the belief that accessibility and aesthetics should not be at odds.
Cofounded by journalist Bérénice Magistretti and creative entrepreneur Reuben Selby, both of whom live with invisible disabilities, Visible Voices is the platform they wish existed when they were first navigating those identities, with a Vogue-meets-MoMA editorial approach that leaves traditional disability resources in the past. The result is a cultural rebrand and design manifesto, as visually compelling as it is radically inclusive.
[Screenshot: Visible Voices]
Why is disability still something we tiptoe around? Selby asks. Why are we reluctant to claim it with pride? We realized there was a space missing. A space where people could feel proud of who they are, not despite their disabilities, but because of everything it taught them. A space that didnt feel clinical or heavy, but vibrant, creative, and human.
Bérénice Magistretti and Reuben Selby [Photo: Inez & Vinoodh (Magistretti)/courtesy Visible Voices]
Built over the course of a year, the Visible Voices platform is as considered in form as it is in content. The site, which they designed in collaboration with design firm Droga5, integrates accessibility from the ground up, without sacrificing visual impact. Embedded accessibility features on the website include a toggle button to shift between light and dark mode and clickable Text-to-Speech audio versions of each article. Rather than default to conventional accessibility plug-ins or overlays, every design choice was made with both beauty and usability in mind.
Foundry studio Modern Type also developed a bespoke, hyper-legible typeface to improve readability across the site. And sound designers at Lucky & Bamba created a sonic logo by translating the braille version of the brands name into a musical scale.
The result is a sensory-rich digital experience that invites users to engage with content on multiple levels. Were all used to visual logos, Magistretti says. But what if you cant see a logo? You should be able to hear it, feel it. Thats what weve created, and we hope it inspires other brands to think differently.
At the heart of Visible Voices are the three editorial pillars designed to reframe disability through a cultural lens: a magazine, digital gallery, and curated e-shop. The magazine features stories at the intersection of disability and aesthetics, including hairstylist Anna Cofones mission to make fashion more accessible, textile artist Caterina Frongias use of braille in her tapestries, and activist Nadya Okamotos reflections on living with Borderline Personality Disorder.
Florence Burns, Desert, 2022 [Image: courtesy Visible Voices]
The creative voices gallery highlights artists who are either disabled themselves or are reshaping how disability is represented in contemporary art. Among them are Florence Burns, a Manchester-based illustrator whose clients include Nike and Channel 4; award-winning photographer Anna Neubauer; and American painter, writer, and disability rights advocate Riva Lehrer.
Aliteia, The Ballad of Human Mutations [Image: courtesy Visible Voices]
Meanwhile, the e-shop takes a bold stance that says disabled consumers deserve products that are not only functional but beautiful. We didnt want to take the health-related route of selling medtech devices because we want to go beyond this patient-focused narrative and offer disabled people a beautiful, creative, and aspirational hub, Magistretti explains.
Anna Neubauer, Megan [Image: courtesy Visible Voices]
While many charities, foundations, and grassroots organizations continue to do vital work supporting disabled communities and advocating for systemic change, Magistretti and Selby intentionally structured Visible Voices as a for-profit business.
Commerce plays a huge role in pushing culture forward. People buy what brands tell them to buy, so diverse representation is crucial, Magistretti explains. If you only see nondisabled people in campaigns and runway shows, the assumption will be that the market for disabled people is niche, because its invisible. By increasing representation across fashion and beauty, that visibility generates awareness, and awareness creates demand.
Blind Beauty [Photo: courtesy Visible Voices]
At launch, the store features six brands across three categories, including clothing, accessories, and beauty. Each brand offers a tightly curated selection of 5 to 10 items. Standouts include Neo-Walks vibrant, sculptural canes; Auzis luxury hearing-aid jewelry; beauty brand Human Beautys inclusive makeup; and Liberares adaptive intimates. A visible voices merch line is also in the works, and the team plans to continue growing the store through exclusive collaborations and new brand partnerships that align with their mission.
Hearing Aid by Auzi [Photo: courtesy Visible Voices]
The bottom line, Magistretti says, is that disabled people arent just patients who need to buy functional medical items. They are consumers who want to buy what they desire, what makes them look good and feel great. The disabled demographic is a huge untapped market with massive spending power. We want to offer them what they want to buy, and show that disability is the next frontier in fashion and beauty.
In recent months, the drama around Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), President Trump’s efforts to defund federal agencies, and the court cases challenging these moves have consumed the news. Its understandable that an announcement last month about a small office lease on the Upper West Side of Manhattan being canceled didn’t get much attention.
But that 43,000-square-foot space near Columbia University is home to the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, or GISS, a NASA research outfit, think tank, and pioneer in climate change research that will see its lease terminated by the end of the month, per a NASA spokesperson. Currently, the institute has no permanent home to move into.
Its likely youve seen the building, even if youre not aware of the monumental achievements that have taken place there. The exterior shot of the diner in Seinfeld features that exact building; for decades, scientists working inside have dealt with an occasional fan taking selfies outside.
[Photo: Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket/Getty Images]
Youre also probably more aware of the ideas hatched inside than you think. During the 60s, when the institute was founded, the terms black hole and quasar were coined inside its walls. In the late 80s, NASA scientist James Hansen became famous for his warnings about the dangers posed by climate change. He was then the head of GISS, and the climate modeling that he and his colleagues did there proved the case.
This is the place we came finally to understand the threat to the Earth that global warming representedthe biggest threat in the history of our species, climate advocate and author Bill McKibben told Fast Company. Nothing less than that. Their datasets were what allowed Hansen to go before Congress and speak with authority. He had the numbers and no one else did.
The end of GISS as we know it represents many things, including the damage the Trump administration’s cost-cutting is doing to American scientific preeminence. Current head Gavin Schmidt said without funds for a new lease, hes racing to find a new home. (Though staffers haven’t been told where they’re moving to, as of yet, none have been terminated; a NASA spokesperson said, Over the next several months, employees will be placed on temporary remote work agreements while NASA seeks and evaluates options for a new space for the GISS team.) The move comes as the federal government has decried climate science, cut jobs at NASA, and proposed curtailing its mission.
But even the existence of GISS showcases the power of a small group of curious, driven people who, if given resources and freedom, can accomplish incredible things.
There is something that is quite distinct to working for NASA, said Schmidt. Because, literally the whole universe is your subject.
A postcard for the Oxford Hotel, circa 1930-1945 [Image: Digital Commonwealth]
A Small Office With Expansive Freedoms
Located across a few floors in a former apartment building, GISS has never been a well-outfitted office.
Until recently, it was a shithole, said Schmidt, who noted that even though a long-overdue renovation was just finished, the air-conditioning system is still pretty much nonfunctional.
But the office decor was never the attraction. It was the people you could bump into. Named after rocketry pioneer Robert Goddard, the institute was established in 1961, and initially called the Institute for Space Studies. It was led by Robert Jastrow, a celebrated researcher and public figure who would help millions of Americans learn about space via prolific writings and TV appearances. Locating in New York City helped attract the leading lights of academia from surrounding universities.
Jastrow said the institutes goal was to arouse the interest and enlist the participation of this rich scientific community. It became a hotbed for debate and ideas, hosting seminars and talks that are credited with birthing the concepts behind black holes, quasars, and plate tectonics. A sidewalk bookseller who specialized in sci-fi books positioned himself nearby to pick up business from the high concentration of astrophysicists. Jastrow could be a competitive and energetic bosshe would push researchers to pull all-nighters and even get them to run laps with him around Central Parkbut academic freedom remained paramount.
GISS, from the very beginning, was set up as a place with a light federal presence, said Schmidt, who took the reins at the institute in 2014. There would be civil servants, but most of the people there would be postdocs early in their caeer. The idea was to have this kind of fervent, enthusiastic, free from programmatic responsibilities [space]. It wasnt an operational center. We had a lot of workshops.
In the 70s, Hansen and others helped work on projects that sent probes to other planets, including Venus and Jupiter. By the early 80s, NASA changed its focus to what was called mission Earth; the agency realized it knew more about the polar ice caps on Mars than it did the polar ice caps on Earth, and sought to rectify that.
In analyzing Earths climate, the previous GISS work on other-planetary atmospheres came in handy. Those frameworks could be applied to Earths climate, and its change over time. In addition to that deep bench of multifaceted scientific talent, GISS also had the gear. At the time, it had one of the most powerful computers in operation. While it still used punch cards and spinning disks, it enabled researchers to create the most sophisticated models of climate change that had been done thus far.
McKibben remembers spending time by this machine, as Hansen explained what was being computed.
I would have been there in the late 80s, right before or after Hansen’s testimony [before Congress], he said. I went a bunch of times, and he showed me around the mainframes and interpreted for me what they were spitting out. It was classic big science of that eraspinning disks and all.
Circa 1985
Why Its Climate Models Remain So Valuable
Having that technology, steady support, and a revolving cast of experts made it a perfect place to perfect climate modeling. According to Schmidt, as the task of analyzing the climate became more and more complicated, there basically ceased to be university-based climate modeling to predict future temperature shifts a few decades ago. Everything globally is done at labs like GISS, and it offers a substantial benefit to research around the world. The institutes famous temperature series, which it has maintained since the 1980s and provides monthly surface temperature data back to 1880, is provided free. Its not even a line-item in the GISS budget; Schmidt says it comes out of general operating expenses.
And GISS continues to be one of, if not the most, influential organizations in the field, Schmidt argues, because it’s cutting edge without being rigid. Its a small, nimble group of roughly 130 researchers without a strict hierarchy, so new ideas and research can quickly be vetted, tested, and applied to the model to improve its accuracy.
Circa 2023 [Photo: Robert Schmunk/GISS/NASA]
GISS continues to refine and improve its model. Earlier this year, NASA launched a long-delayed satellite project called PACE that will explore phytoplankton growth on the ocean surface, algal blooms and aerosols, and other factors impacting temperature shifts. The institute also remains at the forefront of using machine learning to create models that chart the possible course of climate change.
What happens to this work when GISS leaves the only home its ever known remains to be seen. Obviously, it is not our idea, Schmidt said, adding that he doesnt think itll save money or lead to increased efficiency. The lease termination notice does say the work will continue in a new home.
Is this going to impact our mission? Yes, of course, he said.
Schmidt has made some progress in his search for a new location, but hes far from finished. Hes essentially begging for desks in the neighborhood, looking to find a home at Columbia University, New York University, or the Natural History Museum. He doesnt have any budget, so he cant pay rent and he fears theres a limit to how generous people will be.
If you want to bring in people who are going to have interesting ideas and who are going to pursue those ideas, they have to have freedom to do so, he said. They can’t be so drowned with proposal writing or doing operational stuff or having to do some bullshit thing for somebody else. If you want to keep the smart people and creative people, you have to give them autonomy.
Donald Trump said on the campaign trail ahead of his election that he intended to be the crypto president. But his vision and reality have collided in a way that could ultimately do more harm than good to cryptos broader adoption in the years ahead.
Last week, the U.S. Senate dealt the cryptocurrency industry a significant setback, voting to block further advancement of the GENIUS Act, a bill aimed at establishing regulatory guardrails for dollar-pegged stablecoins by classifying them as securities under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The surprise collapse of the actwhich had passed through the Senate Banking Committee with Democratic supportstems from several factors, says Timothy Massad, a former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. One major issue, according to Massad, is the bills quality. It didnt address some key concerns, he tells Fast Company. Bipartisan negotiations to refine the bills language were ongoing, he adds, but a larger obstacle loomed: the president of the United States.
Trump is a vocal supporter of crypto, so much so that some view him as too deeply involved in the industry and too likely to benefit financially from any policy decisions he makes to be a neutral actor in shaping crypto adoption. First, World Liberty Financiala crypto firm run by Trumps sonsannounced that its new USD1 stablecoin would serve as the conduit for a $2 billion investment from Abu Dhabis MGX fund into Binance, the worlds largest exchange. At the same time, the presidents $TRUMP meme coin, launched in January and already responsible for $320 million in trading fees, stands to gain from favorable crypto regulation. In March, Trump also named five tokens that the U.S. would begin stockpiling as part of a new crypto strategic reserve.
Critics argue that these ventures blur the line between policymaker and market participant. Trump has been so brazenly self-dealing and corrupt that it has given some Democrats pause, says Corey Frayer, a former Senate Banking Committee aide. Massad agrees. Both the activities of the president that many people feel are corrupt and entirely inappropriate, coupled with the weaknesses in the bill, led Democrats to say, We cant support this, he says.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has stated that the president is abiding by all conflict of interest laws. But the perception of personal benefit has already derailed what many saw as cryptos best chance at mainstream legitimacy. Its a source of incredible conflict and potential bribery, Massad says.
Trumps involvementand the potential for him to profit from crypto-related policy decisionshas forced lawmakers to scrutinize their choices more carefully, including whether to legitimize stablecoins. Stablecoins dont do anything that we dont already do more efficiently in the financial system, Frayer says.
That doesnt necessarily mean the bill is dead, or that Trump will get a pass for what critics see as self-serving actions. Theres been this basic agreement that it is bad when politicians use their position to benefit themselves, Frayer says, referencing support for legislation to ban lawmakers from trading stocks based on insider knowledge.
This is the exact same type of issue, he continues. It crosses party lines. At least up until now, there has been a bright line at corruption. But the key phrase, as Trump knows all too well, is up until now.
As automakers look to get more people in electric vehicles, they continue to make advancements in EV batteriesdevelopments that add range, speed up charging times, or lower costs, all of which entice customer adoption. Now, General Motors says it has developed a new kind of EV battery that provides a higher range at a more affordable price, and that it aims to become the first carmaker to deploy the technology.
Called lithium manganese-rich (LMR) prismatic battery cells, these batteries use a higher amount of less-expensive minerals, like magnesium, rather than more of the most expensive minerals like cobalt and nickel. Most EVs in the U.S. use lithium-ion batteries, which contain cobalt and nickel, minerals that have seen price increases as EV battery demand soars. GM and LG Energy Solution plan to start commercial production of these batteries in the U.S. by 2028.
[Photo: Steve Fecht/General Motors]
In addition to cutting costs, LMR batteries also offer more power. Engineers at GM and LG Energy Solution say their LMR prismatic battery cell has a 33% higher energy density than lithium iron phosphate based cells.
This means GM could offer an electric truck with more than 400 miles of range at a more affordable price. In 2024, GM said lithium iron phosphate batteries could cut $6,000 from the cost of battery packs in its electric trucks and full-size SUVs. With this new LMR battery technology, the company expects to achieve even more savings. Its not exactly clear yet what that will translate to for a vehicles sticker price. (GMs Chevrolet Silverado electric truck, with a max range of 492 miles, currently starts around $73,000 but can go above $87,000.)
GMs work to develop LMR prismatic battery cells began in 2015, but researchers were studying LMR technology long before that. Though they promised high range for a lower price, historically LMR batteries have been marred by shorter life spans. GM says it has solved this issue, and that its new LMR battery cells match the life span of current high-nickel batteries.
The LMR batteries contain virtually no cobalt, per GM, but do still contain nickel, just at a lower percentage than typical battery cells. GM prototyped these LMR batteries at its Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center in Warren, Michigan.
The batteries are called LMR prismatic cells because theyre rectangular, whereas most EV lithium-ion batteries are cylindrical or, increasingly, pouch-shaped. (GM has been using pouch cells for years in the U.S., while using cylindric cells in China.) With a rectangular design, GM says the cells can be more efficiently packaged into trucks and SUVs.
These battery cells also use fewer components; with LMR batteries, GM says it can reduce the number of parts in its battery packs by 50%, which can cut weight from notoriously heavy EVs. GM expects to save hundreds of pounds in battery mass with LMR batteries.
GMs announcement comes weeks after Ford announced its own LMR battery breakthrough. Charles Poon, Fords director of electrified propulsion engineering, announced at the end of April that the automaker is currently producing LMR cells at its pilot production line, and is working to scale LMR battery cell development and include these batteries in future vehicles within this decade.
A new art exhibition in Chicago uses more than 300 works of art to trace the historical origins of the word homosexual, mapping how its shaped our modern perception of queer identity. According to its lead curator, museums around the world have refused to show the exhibition due to the current political climateeven when its offered to them for free.
The exhibition, titled The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity, 1869-1939, is currently on view at the Wrightwood 659 museum in Chicago through July 26. Its the first time that the exhibitiona passion project of over eight years for lead curator Jonathan D. Katzhas been shown in its entirety.
Installation view of The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity, 1869-1939, at Wrightwood 659, 2025. [Photo:Daniel Eggert/@DesigningDan]
Through sculptures, paintings, prints, and other media from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it explores early, oft-overlooked expressions of queer culture. Further, it examines how the coining of the term homosexual created a binary understanding of sexuality that were still grappling with today.
The First Homosexuals sold more advance tickets than any other show since the Wrightwood 659 opened in 2018. But Katz says that after pitching the exhibition to many other museums, hes been faced with one rejection after another.
Marie Laurencin, Le bal élégant or La danse la campagne (The Elegant Ball, or The Country Dance), 1913, Oil on canvas, 112 x 144 cm, Musée Marie Laurencin, Tokyo. [Image: courtesy Wrightwood 659]
A career in queer studies
Katz, who is a professor of queer art history at the University of Pennsylvania, began his career in queer studies during the Reagan administration.
When I started, my field was just being born, Katz wrote in a biography for Northwestern University, where he received his PhD. Reagan was in office, AIDS was being instrumentalized by the Right to justify the most odious forms of discrimination, and I had been kicked out of the University of Chicago (among other universities) for pursuing the relationship between art and sexuality.
In the decades since, Katz has gone on to teach queer studies at several different universities, including Yale, and cocurated a queer exhibition called Hide/Seek Difference and Desire in American Portraiture at Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. Katzs new exhibition is inspired by a question thats followed him throughout his years of research.
The minute you go outside of Europe and its colonies, questions of sexual difference assume a completely different meaningwhich is to say that, very often, there’s absolutely no issue associated with same-sex sexuality, and it’s often understood as part of a continuum of sexualities, Katz says. I was interested, therefore, in trying to decenter the assumptions that we have about sexuality by reference to other cultural norms. That’s what motivated this exhibition, as well as a careful investigation of what, literally, the earliest representations look like.
The first use of the word homosexual
Katzs curiosity led him back to whats believed to be the first-ever use of the word homosexual, found in a letter exchange between two queer activists, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs and Karl-Maria Kertbeny, in 1868.
1868 Letter. National Szechenyi Library, Manuscript Collection. [Image: courtesy Wrightwood 659]
In the letters, Kertbeny takes issue with Ulrichss relegation of queer individuals to its own class of people (or a third sex.). Instead, Kertbeny argued, everyone has the capacity for both homosexual and heterosexual desire.
What’s striking is that we use Kertbenys language [today], but we have unfortunately held fast to Ulrichs deeply minoritizing identity category, Katz says.
Andreas Andersen, Interior with Hendrik Andersen and John Briggs Potter in Florence,, 1894, Oil on canvas, 128.5 x 160 cm. Under licence from MiC – Direzione Musei Statali della Citt di Roma – Photographic Archive; by kind permission of the National Museums Directorate of the City of Rome ̵ Hendrik Christian Andersen Museum. [Image: courtesy Wrightwood 659]
Both before and after Kertbeny and Ulrichss debate, queer sexuality existed on a spectrumand it was captured by countless artists. The First Homosexuals includes works by 125 of them, from well-known artists like Jean Cocteau and the Lumire Brothers to lesser-known creatives like Jacques-Émile Blanche. They were pulled from an extensive list of sources, including both private collectors and institutions like MOMA.
Works include an 1820s depiction of men dressed as women on the streets of Lima, Peru; a series of scrolls from Japan in 1850 exploring the sexual education of a young man, whos shown sleeping with both men and women in a variety of positions; and an 1891 photograph showing four women in a romantic embrace. The exhibition is divided into eight sections, each dedicated to peeling back a layer of a story thats largely gone untold in the mainstream.
Alice Austen, The Darned Club, 1891, Original glass plate negative, 4 x 5 in, Collection of Historic Richmond Town. [Image: courtesy Wrightwood 659]
The final portion of the exhibition is an archway wallpapered with photos of Nazis burning books at the Institute for Sexual Research, the worlds first queer rights organization. Its a dark closing note that reminds viewers of the many archives of queer history that have been purposefully and violently hidden.
The idea that everything that flowers over the course of the exhibition can so quickly be destroyed, is, of course, a metaphor for where we are now, Katz says.
Since the exhibition opened on May 2, audience reactions have been striking.
Its been profound, Katz says. Lots of emotion, tears, real delight, and a sense of a robbed history that’s being restored.
Elisr von Kupffer, La danza, 1918, Oil on canvas with painted frame, 197 x 99 cm (framed). [Image: Municipality of Minusio/Centro Elisarion, Claudio Berger (photo)/courtesy Wrightwood 659]
A terrible sign for museums
For now, though, that history might only be available to a select few.
When Katz first began outreach for collecting the art to be included in The First Homosexuals six years ago, he says 80 to 90% of his requests to museums and collectors were rejectedthe highest rate of rejection he’s ever encountered.
There were a number of pieces that didn’t come because when you mount an exhibition about the first homosexuals, you know right going in that there are going to be places that just will not want to play with you, Katz says. And that was indeed the case.
Ida Matton, La Confidence (The Secret), 1902, Plaster, 65 x 56 cm, Photo: Joel Bergroth/Hälsinglands Museum. [Image: courtesy Wrightwood 659]
Since then, rejections have continued to plague the exhibition. Katz has been pitching the finished show to museums around the world for nearly four years, in some cases even offering the exhibition for free despite its multimillion-dollar valuation, he told the Chicago Sun-Times. So far, hes received near-universal rejections, with the exception of the Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland, which is currently in talks with Katz to display part of the exhibition at Art Basel 2026. Time and time again, Katz has received the same standard rejection notices from over 100 museums, including the Tate Britain. (The Tate did not respond to a request for comment by publication)
Saturnino Herrán, Nuestros dioses antiguos, 1916, Oil on canvas, 101 x 112 cm, Colección Andrés Blaisten, México. [Image: courtesy Wrightwood 659]
I wish I knew moreI just get the rejection letters, Katz says. What I hear is, generally, It doesn’t fit our programming, or Were fully scheduled, or some typical excuse. But one director of a major museum, whose name Katz declined to share, did choose to elaborate further. They said to me, It’s exactly the kind of exhibition I want to show, and therefore its the exhibition I can’t show.” In several cases, Katz adds, the initial reception of the proposal was very promising, but it was ultimately turned down, leading him to wonder whether the museums’ boards were issuing the final “no.”
In part, Katz attributes this reaction to ahangover from photographer Robert Mapplethorpes 1988 exhibition The Perfect Moment, which was cancelled by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., after conservative leaders heavily criticized the exhibition for containing homoerotic content. In the midst of the Reagan presidency, federal funding for the arts had become a hot-button issue, especially as it pertained to work that right-wing pundits labeled indecent.
Its a period in history that feels like an uneasy echo of the arts scene today, as the Trump administration has moved to dismantle funding for local museums and libraries, canceled National Endowment for the Humanities grants, and blocked federal arts funding from going to artists who promote so-called gender ideology, a vague term that the government appears to be using as a dog whistle for any kind of gender expression outside of the binary.
While Katz sent out most of his art loan requests and exhibition pitches before Trump’s election, he says this pattern of rejection is a familiar narrative that’s plagued the museum world for years.
Tomioka Eisen, kuchi-e (frontispiece) with artist’s seal Shisen, c. 1906, Woodblock print, 23.2 x 31.6 cm, Tirey-van Lohuizen Collection. [Image: courtesy Wrightwood 659]
“It may not be Trump’s horrific politics, but it is still horrific politics,” Katz says. “It’s the age old prejudicial politics that animates the museum world.”
More generally, as a queer studies expert who faced repeated instances of institutional homophobia during the Reagan years, Katz feels that the current political attitude toward the queer community is worse than a regression.
Tamara de Lempicka, Nu assis de profil, 1923, Oil on canvas, 81.2 x 54 cm, Döpfner Collection, Germany. [Image: Sothebys/courtesy Wrightwood 659]
Homophobia was actually bizarrely less naked under Reagan than it is under Trump, Katz says. They still hated us, but they talked about the idea of an inclusive culture. There’s no discourse of an inclusive culture now. There are clearly drawn borders and boundary lines in every sense of the word, and a profound sense of us against them.
For museums that are brave enough to speak out, Katz believes there could be an opportunity to build trust with new audiences by choosing to platform queer stories instead of silencing them.
I think that museums actually have a remarkable opportunity to build their audience and relevance if they seize it, Katz says. There is a large population that is not a veteran museum-going population that can become a veteran museum-going population by speaking to the social and political issues that haunt this country. That many museums try to avoid that desperately is a terrible sign. What museums need to do is frankly engage with it.
Natural disastersfrom tornadoes across the South and Midwest, to the fires in Los Angeles to Hurricane Helenes devastation in North Carolinahave upended communities, with small businesses among the hardest hit. As extreme weather events become more frequent, these businesses have emerged as vital anchors of community recovery. While urban enterprises navigate complex rebuilding amid dense infrastructure, rural businesses face distinct challenges in disaster response. Yet across geographies, small businesses play a critical role in stabilizing and revitalizing their communities after catastrophe.
Rural small businesses, in particular, serve a dual role: Theyre not just economic drivers but also informal safety nets, stepping in to rebuild communities long before larger relief efforts arrive and continuing their work well after national attention fades. The resilience of these businessesand the communities they supportis being tested like never before. Systemic barriers, most notably access to capital, exacerbate their struggles, threatening their survival and the economic stability of their regions.
The first responders of local economies
When Hurricane Helene swept across the Southeast, it left behind destroyed homes and displaced families, in many cases causing severe damage to already distressed and underfunded communities. Small businesses were among the first to join the front lines, providing critical supplies and services. Across impacted zones, local service providers pivoted quickly, transforming their operations into vital relief centers. Neighborhood establishments became distribution hubs while entrepreneurs converted storefronts into community aid stations. This grassroots network of support reached residents in critical early days, delivering essential resources before larger relief efforts could fully mobilize.
While these actions highlight the essential role of small businesses in post-disaster recovery, they also reveal a stark reality: These businesses cannot, and should not, shoulder the burden of recovery alone. As they pour resources into helping their communities, they face significant hurdles in rebuilding their own operationsa challenge compounded by systemic imbalances in capital access.
Rural businesses face a persistent capital deficit, leaving them uniquely vulnerable to the compounding effects of natural disasters. In Appalachia, where 99% of businesses are classified as small, the unmet capital needs amount to an estimated $70 billion annuallya gap the Appalachian Regional Commission defines as aggregate capital demand significantly outweighing aggregate capital supply.
While rural small businesses rely heavily on local financial institutions61% obtain financing from small banks compared to 39% of urban enterprisesthese lenders often lack sufficient capital to meet emergency needs. Meanwhile, larger financial institutions hesitate to extend loans to rural businesses due to perceived risks, unfamiliarity with their business models, and concerns about profitability in less densely populated markets. This structural financing gap creates a dangerous cycle: Chronic underinvestment limits both disaster recovery capabilities and long-term resilience building. As a result, the very businesses that anchor rural communitiesproviding essential services, employment, and community gathering spacesremain the most financially vulnerable when disasters strike.
A call for collaboration
Philanthropy has made strides in addressing these challenges, but lasting solutions require collaboration across sectors. Natural disasters expose deep gaps in how we support small businesses in Americas heartland. Public, private, and philanthropic partners like those below are working together to create financing models that attract new capital for growth and resilience.
Public-sector innovation
Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) play a critical role in bridging the capital gap by offering tailored financing solutions focused on quality job creation, housing affordability, and economic mobility. For example, the governments Community Development Financial Institutions Fund created a Rapid Response Program that deployed $1.25 billion to crisis-impacted communities post-Helene. This model of emergency support, combined with streamlined disaster recovery systems, shows how federal resources can effectively reach businesses when they need it most.
However, shifting federal priorities and budget considerations could significantly impact these programs in coming years. With potential changes in funding allocations and regulatory frameworks on the horizon, rural communities may need to develop more diversified support systems that blend public resources with private and philanthropic capital. Strengthening these alternative funding mechanisms will be critical to ensure consistent disaster response capabilities regardless of policy fluctuations.
Private-sector leadership
Wells Fargos Open for Business Fund exemplifies how private enterprise can drive recovery. Launched in 2020 initially as a pandemic response, this $420 million initiative didnt just provide capitalit created a sustainable network of support through CDFIs and nonprofit organizations, helping thousands of business owners recover, rebuild, and grow.
This strategic approach has helped small businesses maintain approximately 255,000 jobs nationwide while building longer-term resilience. The fund’s focus on both immediate financial needs and capacity building offers valuable lessons for disaster recovery efforts in vulnerable regions like Appalachia, where similar public-private partnerships could help bridge persistent capital gaps while strengthening business continuity planning.
Philanthropic impact
Collaborative funding models are proving effective in addressing capital gaps in underserved regions. By bringing together numerous stakeholders, these partnerships help build sustainable support systems that can better withstand economic and environmental challenges. One example is the Emerging Appalachian Investors Fund, a $5 million initiative that empowers students at Marshall University, West Virginia University, and Ohio University to help manage real investments in local businesses and community development projects.
This hands-on model not only enhances financial infrastructure but also fosters long-term resilience in communities that are particularly vulnerable during times of crisis. By combining immediate support with strategic investment, such approaches ensure that local enterprises have the resources they need to recoverand grow.
While some collaborative models focus on long-term investment and resilience, others are designed for rapid response in times of crisis. In response to the Los Angeles fires, philanthropic groups stepped up with unique approaches that could be replicated in rural communities. The LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund, led by the J. Getty Trust and administered by the Center for Cultural Innovation, provides emergency support for artists and art workers in all discipline affected by the fires. A pooled fund of $12 million, launched on January 15, 2025, was made possible through contributions from dozens of foundations and individuals. Complementing these efforts, the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation Emergency Wildfire Fund equips local firefighters with tools and safety equipment to safeguard both lives and businesses.
The stakes extend beyond individual businesses to the heart of community survival. When small businesses have access to capital, they create jobs, strengthen local economies, and build community resilience. The Appalachian regions entrepreneurial spiritreflected in more than 305,000 new business applications in 2021highlights the potential waiting to be unlocked.
By implementing comprehensive financing solutions that bridge these capital gaps today, we can ensure rural businesses not only survive disasters but emerge stronger, ready to serve their communities for generations to come.
After weeks of searching and applying, youve made it to the interview stage, a victory in and of itself. But what happens if you land multiple interviews with different companies at the same time?
While its certainly a good problem to have, its still one that needs to be handled with careespecially if one of the companies asks whether youre interviewing elsewhere.
But does interviewing with multiple companies make you seem like a more desirable candidateor someone less committed? What if you get a job offer from one company, but are midway through the hiring process at another?
These questions are common, and how you handle them can impact not only your chances with each company, but also your reputation in the hiring process. We asked Christian Lovell, founder of Careers by Chris, to weigh in.
The benefits of interviewing at multiple places
In general, it’s fine, and honestly encouraged to let companies know that you are in interviews with other companies, Lovell says. For one, letting them know youre interviewing elsewhere can encourage them to make their decision more quickly.
Heres the thing: Whether youre receiving an offer or not, you want them to make a decision either wayyou don’t want to be in limbo, Lovell says. If they want to hire you, it will push them in that direction. And if you’re not their top candidate, it’s honestly a good thing for them to say, Hey, you know, we’re moving [forward] with another candidate.
How to disclose that youre interviewing elsewhere
When sharing that youre interviewing with more than one company, you dont have to explain too much, such as which company youre interviewing with or all the details about the other job, Lovell explains.
During your interview, you can say something simple like, Im in the final stages of interviews with another company, and I wanted you to know. This might also come up naturally when the company shares the timeline of their hiring process, or when you ask, When can I expect to hear back on next steps?
Following up
When you’re waiting to hear back about a job, especially from more than one company, its natural to feel eager to follow up. But according to Lovell, the key is doing it the right way, and that comes down to timing and professionalism.
Ive seen it happen, and its even happened to me, Lovell says. Someone emails every other day, sometimes every few hours, asking, Do you have a decision? Im super interested. It’s okay to say that you’re interested and that you’re interviewing with other companies. But you dont want to follow up with them so much that you seem desperate.
After giving it a week or two, Lovell suggests saying something like: Just to be transparent, Im currently interviewing with other companies and expect to receive a decision within the next week or two. Are there any updates on your end?
Sending a message like that once is completely fine. Its professional and respectful, and it doesnt make the employer feel rushed. You can also take the opportunity to reiterate your interest by saying, Youre my top choice because of X, Y, and Z. This helps remind them why youre a strong fit while reinforcing your enthusiasm.
If you receive an offer
If you receive an offer from one of the companies that youre interviewing with, the first thing to do is celebrate, Lovell says. That is a huge accomplishment.
Then the next step would be to request their offer in writing. That way you have something to review, and it also gives you time to check in with the other company or companies youre interviewing with.
It is honestly not expected of you to accept an offer on the spot, Lovell says. This might look like, “Hey, can I have the offer in writing?” Or “Can I have a couple of days to review this to make sure that it aligns with what I’m expecting?”
Once you’ve done that, it’s a good idea to check in with any other companies you’re waiting to hear back from, especially if one of those other companies is your top choice. You might follow up with a final message that reads: I’m still excited about this opportunity. I did receive another offer, and I wanted to check in and see if there are any updates on your end?
This will give them the chance to respond with an offer or let you go as a candidate. Either way, getting an offer, or even getting asked to do two interviews at once, is something to celebrate.
Consumer intelligence company Morning Consult has publicly launched a new AI platform that can almost instantly provide detailed insights into its survey data in response to questions posed in plain language.
Morning Consult conducts roughly 30,000 interviews daily across dozens of countries, enabling clients to access in-depth information about consumer sentiment toward brands, public figures, political trends, spending behaviors, and other factors critical to their businesses. Historically, extracting and analyzing that data required time and expertise in data analytics and visualizationa challenge for business leaders needing quick answers.
“The feedback I kept hearing from C-suite executives was: I don’t want to wait to send this email off and find out the answer after I had to make the decision,” says Morning Consult CEO Michael Ramlet. “I need the data right now, and I need to be able to ask it questions.”
With the new platform MorningConsult.AI, business leaders and other users can ask questions such as how a brand is performing in a specific country or how its key metrics compare with competitors over the past year. The AI typically generates answers within seconds, complete with data visualizations. Users can drill down further, filtering results by age, race, or other demographics.
Those monitoring fast-changing factors, such as U.S. tariff policies, can revisit the platform over time to track shifts using Morning Consults continually expanding data set. Because the AI internally queries Morning Consults proprietary data, the results shown in graph form are transparent and traceable, avoiding the hallucination issues found in general-purpose AI.
“This can’t hallucinate,” Ramlet says. “If there’s not data on that topic, it’s not going to bring you back any data that isn’t relevant to the specific business question.”
The platform is fast enough for real-time use during meetings or calls, whether viewed on a large screen or quickly accessed on a smartphone.
Michael Stutts, chief brand officer at Dollar Shave Club, says he recently used the AI to generate state-level breakdowns of brand awareness, net positivity, and other metrics, with heat maps produced almost instantly. “Within seconds I had what would have taken untold amounts of time and resources to do,” he says.
On a call with a retail partner, Stutts was able to immediately answer a question using the AI, eliminating the need to follow up later after internal consultation.
According to Ramlet, the platform continues to improve as AI models grow more powerful. Since its initial release to Morning Consult clients in November 2024, the system has gained the ability to analyze and summarize data in text, thanks to advances in commercial AI.
“All of a sudden, in the last four months, we’ve seen just an entirely different level of capability to do that type of comparative analytical analysis,” Ramlet says.
Currently in public beta testing, the platform is available to anyone. Ramlet envisions a free version will always exist, making Morning Consults insights accessible to students, small businesses, and others without extensive data capabilities. At the same time, the company is developing more advanced AI agents to generate tailored outputs, such as marketing reports or executive briefings.
Just as crucial as the AI, Ramlet says, is Morning Consults proprietary data, which competitors can’t easily replicate.
“You can’t go back in time and collect that data,” he says. “And I think that’s the part of this that’s going to be really compellingAI is going to make it easier to use proprietary data sets than in the past.”
Its been less than a year since the worlds largest dam removal project was completed along 420 miles of the Klamath River, near the border of Oregon and California. But if you look at the river now, you might not know that four dams had ever been in place. Instead of concrete walls and artificial reservoirs, the river is now free-flowingand parts of the former infrastructure have been replaced by wildflowers that are in bloom.
Iron Gate Dam, circa 2023 [Photo: Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images]
Its been an incredible transition, says Ann Willis, California regional director at American Rivers, a nonprofit that supported Native American tribes in a decades-long fight to take out the dams. Its really strange and wonderful to stand on the bridge that goes across the Klamath River and look upstream where Iron Gate Dam used to be. I used to imagine a river above it, and now I see the river.
Construction crews remove the top of the cofferdam that was left of Iron Gate Dam, allowing the Klamath River to run in its original path for the first time in nearly a century near Hornbrook, California, in August 2024. [Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images]
The dams were built between 1918 and 1962 to provide hydropower, and immediately blocked salmon from migrating. Over time, the ecosystem started to collapse. By 1997, coho salmon in the river were listed as endangered. (The river was once the third-largest salmon fishery in the continental U.S.) In 2002, when the federal government diverted water to farms instead of letting it flow downstream in the river, tens of thousands of salmon died. Local tribes like the Yurokwho have lived by the river for at least 10,000 years, and who consider salmon a central and sacred part of their culturestarted the long fight to take out the dams.
Beyond the direct impact on fish, the dams impacted the larger environment as the flow of nutrients down the river stopped. Willis compares dams to a blockage in human arteries that eventually lead to a heart attack. “When you put a dam in a river, there’s an entire living network of things that depends on the flow of the riverthe patterns and relationship of the river and its flow with the land around it,” she says. “When you block it, you start this long process of decline. That’s the bad news. The good news is one of the fastest ways to resuscitate a river and its surrounding ecosystem is to simply remove the dam.”
Copco No. 1 prior to removal [Photo: Daniel Nylen/courtesy American Rivers]
The advocacy was a challenge. But the tribes and environmental groups behind the campaign were helped by the fact that it was ultimately more expensive for the power company to keep the aging dams in place than to get rid of them. The power that the dams provided was also relatively easy to replace, since it made up only 2% of the utility’s power generation. (The utility’s overall plan to meet power needs includes more investment in renewable energy, more energy efficiency, and a small amount of natural gas.)
In 2016, after years of negotiation, the power company transferred the dams to a nonprofit in charge of their removal. In 2022, the federal government greenlit the plan, which had a cost of around $450 million, funded both by California state bond money and by utility customers.
From top: Before the removal of Copco No. 2, and after. [Photos: Shane Anderson/Swiftwater Films/courtesy American Rivers]
The dams were taken out in phases, with the smallest removed in 2023 and the rest last year, all carefully timed to avoid disrupting fish that might try to swim through the area. First, the reservoirs were drained. Then demolition crews blew up larger concrete structures. Dump trucks cleared away rocks, dirt, and sand, returning some of the material to the hillsides it was carved out of decades ago.
The former Copco reservoir site [Photo: Matt Mais/Yurok Tribe]
Plans for restoring plant life started earlier. A crew of primarily Yurok tribe members began collecting seeds from native flowers and trees in 2019. Most of the seeds went to nurseries, where they were grown in fields to produce more flowers and even more seeds. “There were over 2,000 acres that needed revegetation,” says Joshua Chenoweth, an ecologist who worked with the Yurok tribe on the project. “Because it’s so large, you can’t collect enough seed to just throw it back on the landscape.”
[Photo: Matt Mais/Yurok Tribe]
The crew eventually spread billions of seeds using a variety of methods, from hand-planting to using a helicopter in areas where it was too dangerous to walk. Right now, the hills are covered in California poppies and a mix of other plants. “The hand-seeding exceeded my wildest expectations,” Chenoweth says.
[Photo: Matt Mais/Yurok Tribe]
The fish also came back faster than scientists expected. “The dam removal was officially complete on September 30,” says Willis. “The first salmon was detected swimming upstream into that ancestral habitat in three days, which was just shocking. Then, within a month, 6,000 salmon were detected swimming upstream. I don’t think anyone expected this quick of a response at this really large scale.”
