For years, email, texting, and messaging apps have ruled how we communicate. But one timeless human skilloften neglectedis quickly becoming a true difference-maker in the digital age.
Active listening.
Its both an art and a discipline, and its what separates average leaders from exceptional ones (while making them instantly likable in the process).
The truth is, active listening is the foundation of effective communication and the heartbeat of strong relationships. Yet as technology consumes more of our attention, were losing touch with this skilland with it, a powerful competitive advantage in business.
When you focus on your peopletheir growth, their needs, their challengesnone of it works without listening deeply first.
Listen more than you talk
After 25 years of coaching leaders, Ive learned that the most effective ones know when to stop talking and start listening. Few things elevate a conversation more than genuine attentiveness. When you truly listen, you show respect for people at every level, demonstrate curiosity, and practice humilitythree traits every great leader needs.
I call this authentic listening. Its the ability to understand whats really happening on the other side of the conversationto sense the will of a group, help clarify it, and create alignment around it.
Management thinker Peter Drucker said it best: The most important thing in communication is hearing what isnt said.
Authentic listeners do exactly that. They listen intuitivelynot just for facts or responses, but for meaning. They lean into conversations with empathy, seeking to understand what matters most to the other person.
This kind of listening is selfless, not self-centered. It always circles back to one powerful question: How can I help this person right now?
The hard part of listening
Good listening always requires humility. In my coaching sessions with executives, I make one thing clear from the start: If you want to grow as a leader, you have to embrace the humble responsibility of inviting feedbackand then have the courage and openness to truly listen to it. Thats a tall order for many leaders, especially the higher you climb up the corporate ranks.
There are several approaches to successfully listening for feedback. For example:
Be open. Listen without interruption, objections, or defensiveness.
Be responsive. Listen without turning the tables. Ask questions for clarification.
Be accountable. Seek to understand the effects and consequences of your behavior.
Be self-aware. Be aware of your own emotional reactions, body language, and how youre coming across in the listening.
Be quiet. Refrain from making or preparing to make a response, or trying to explain, defend, or fix.
The last part of listening
A lot of people think listening just means sitting quietly and absorbing what someone else is saying. But according to the authors of Radical Listening, the best listeners dont just nod alongthey ask great follow-up questions. For example:
Questions that connect to the speaker. This shows youre paying attention to what was just said and engaged in the conversation.
Open-ended questions. Instead of a simple yes or no, open-ended questions invite deeper insights.
Questions to encourage more sharing. Great follow-up questions help people open up about their plans, emotions, and perspectives.
At first, asking questions might feel like the opposite of listening. But research tells a different story. In fact, studies show that employees consistently link good listening with strong leadership, a connection that holds true across cultures and organizations worldwide.
As you move forward, embrace listening by relating to others with more curiosity and intent. Treat it like a human experiment in your professional development journey, with listening as a key tool in your toolbox.
Speaking of toolbox, heres a roadmap to develop your listening skills and master your interpersonal communication, with steps straight from my coaching sessions with top global clients.
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Marcel Schwantes
This article originally appeared on Fast Companys sister publication, Inc.
Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
The most obvious use case for generative AI in editorial operations is to write copy. When ChatGPT lit the fuse on the current AI boom, it was its ability to crank out hundreds of comprehensible words almost instantly, on virtually any topic, that captured our imaginations. Hundreds of “ChatGPT wrote this article” think pieces resulted, and college essays haven’t been the same since.
Neither has the media. In October, a report from AI analytics firm Graphite revealed that AI is now producing more articles than humans. And it’s not all content farms cranking out AI slop: A recent study from the University of Maryland examined over 1,500 newspapers in the U.S. and found that AI-generated copy constitutes about 9% of their output, on average. Even major publications like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal appear to be publishing a minimal number of words that originated from a machine.
I’ll come back to that, but the big takeaway from the study is that local newspapersoften thought to be the crucial foundation of free press, and still the most trusted arm of the mediaare the largest producers of AI writing. Boone Newsmedia, which operates newspapers and other publications in 91 communities in the southeast, is a heavy user of synthetic content, with 20.9% of its articles detected as being partially or entirely written with AI.
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Why local papers rely on AI
Putting aside any default revulsion at AI content, this actually makes a lot of sense. Local news has been stripped down to the bone in recent years as reader attention has fragmented and advertising dollars have shrunk. A great deal of local papers have folded (more than 3,500 since 2005, according to Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University), and those that remain have adopted other means to survive. In smaller markets, like my New Jersey town, it’s not uncommon for the community paper to republish press releases from local businesses.
The fact is, writers cost money, and writing takes time. AI, of course, radically alters that reality: for a $20 a month ChatGPT subscription, you now have a lightning-fast robot writer, ready to tackle any subject. Many unscrupulous people treat this ability as their own room full of monkeys with typewriters, cranking out articles just to attract eyeballsthe definition of AI slop.
But there’s a difference between slop and AI-generated copy written to inform, with the proper context, and edited by a journalist with the proper expertise. In a local news context, the use case for AI writing that’s most often cited is the lengthy school board meeting that, if covered, would take a reporter several hours of listening to transcripts, synthesizing, and contextualizing just to cover what happened. With AI, those hours compress to minutes, freeing up the reporter to write more unique and valuable stories.
More likely, of course, is that the reporter no longer exists, and an editor or even a sole proprietor simply publishes as many pieces as they can that serve the community. And while it’s not the ideal, I don’t see what’s wrong with that from a utilitarian perspective. If the copy informs, a human has done a quality check, and the audience is engaging with it, what does it matter whether or not it came from a machine?
AI mistakes hit different
That said, when mistakes happen with AI content, they can undermine a publication’s integrity like nothing else. This past summer, when the Chicago Sun-Times published a list of hallucinated book titles as a summer reading list, it caused a national backlash. That’s because AI errors are in a different categorysince AI lacks human judgment and experience, it makes mistakes a human never would.
That’s the main reason using AI in copy is a risky business, but safeguards are possible. For starters, you can train editors to catch the mistakes that are unique to AI. Robust fact-checking is obvious, and using grounded tools like Google’s NotebookLM can greatly reduce the chance of hallucinations. Besides factual errors, though, AI writing has many telltale quirks (repeated sentence structures, dashes, “let’s delve . . .,” etc.). I call these “slop indicators,” and, while they’re not disastrous, their continued presence in copy is a subtle signal to readers that they should question what they’re reading. Editors should stamp them out.
Which is not to say publications shouldn’t be transparent about the use of AI in their content. They absolutely should. In fact, I’d argue being as detailed as possible about the AI’s role at both the article level and in overall strategy is crucial in maintaining trust with an audience. Most editorial “scandals” over AI articles blew up because the copy was presented as human-written (think about Sports Illustrated‘s fake writers from two years ago). When the publication is upfront about the use of AI, such as ESPN’s write-ups of certain sports games, it’s increasingly a non-event.
Which is why it’s confusing that some major publications seem to be publishing AI copy without disclosing its presence. The study claims that AI copy is showing up in some national outlets, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. This appears to be a similar, if smaller scale, issue as the Sun-Times incident: Almost all of the instances were in opinion pieces from third parties, though it appears to be happening around 45% of the time.
That suggests third parties are using AI in their writing process without telling the publication. In all likelihood, they’re not aware of the outlet’s AI policy, and their writing contracts may be ambiguous. owever, it’s not like the rest of the content was totally immune from AI writing; the study revealed it to be present 0.71% of the time.
Getting ahead of AI problems
All of this speaks to the point about transparency: be straight with your audience and your staff about what’s allowed, and you’ll save yourself headaches later. Of course, policies are only effective with enforcement. With AI text becoming more common and more sophisticated, having effective ways of detecting and dealing with it is a key pillar of maintaining integrity.
And dealing with it doesn’t necessarily mean forbidding it. The reality is AI text is here, growing, and not going away. The truism about AI that’s often citedthat today is the worst it will ever begoes double for its writing ability, as that is at the core of what large language models do. Of course, you can bet there will be train wrecks over AI writing in the future, but they won’t be about who’s using AI to write. They’ll be about who’s doing it irresponsibly.
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Being asked to apply for a promotion is often framed as an unqualified win: validation that your work is seen and your potential recognized. Yet for many high-achieving professionals, that invitation can spark as much ambivalence as excitement.
Because the question isnt only Can I do this? Its also Do I want to live this way?
Promotions can be career accelerators, but they also reconfigure your days, your priorities, and your sense of balance. The challenge is learning to evaluate the opportunity without being swept away by itto discern whether its truly aligned with this season of your life.
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The recognition feels gooduntil the logistics set in
Theres an undeniable thrill in being seen. Someone has connected the dots between your competence and your potential. A promotion can expand your reach and amplify your impact.
But recognition isnt the same as readiness. The women I coach rarely question whether they can do the job; they question whether they can do it well while maintaining the life theyve intentionally built.
Before saying yes, imagine your typical Tuesday six months from now. What fills your calendar? Whats energizingand whats draining? If the answer feels expansive, thats information. If it feels heavy, thats information, too.
Beware the just for practice mindset
Many people apply with low expectations, telling themselves theyre just interviewing for practice. But interview processes are designed to entice youthey make you picture yourself in the role and attach to the possibility.
Thats not a reason to opt out, but its a reason to stay clear-headed. Know what success looks like before you begin, so youre deciding from intention, not momentum.
Ask two grounding questions
When youre stuck between ambition and hesitation, two questions can clarify your thinking:
Can I live with the outcome if I dont apply and dislike who gets the job?If that thought bothers you, it may signal that you care deeply about the work or the direction of your organization. What looks like ambivalence might actually be conviction.
Can I live with the outcome if I do apply and dont get it?If rejection would shake your sense of worth, pause and make sure you have the support to weather it. If you can answer yes to both, youre operating from clarity rather than fear.
Readiness vs. willingness
When someone says, Youd be great for this, theyre recognizing your readiness. But willingnessthe energy and capacity to take it onis a separate question.
You may have every credential yet still feel an internal no. Maybe your kids need you differently right now, or youve finally found equilibrium after years of intensity. Thats not a lack of driveits discernment. Sustainable growth depends on timing.
The real cost of up
Leadership often brings influencebut also more meetings, politics, and distance from the work you love most. One client put it bluntly: I thought a promotion would mean more freedom. It meant more meetings about other peoples freedom.
If the day-to-day realities of the new role sound energizing, thats your green light. If they sound exhausting, its okay to hit pause. Ambition doesnt have to mean saying yes to everything.
Build the infrastructure for success
If you move forward, do it deliberately. A bigger job requires a sturdier foundationat work and at home. Clarify what support youll need, what boundaries will sustain you, and what you can delegate. Thriving in a higher role isnt about doing more alone; its about designing systems that help you hold more together.
Decideand own it
If you say yes, treat the process as a two-way interview. Ask about resources, expectations, and what success actually looks like. Enter the role with curiosity and flexibility, not perfectionism.
If you say no, do it with confidence. Try something like: Im honored to be considered. Right now, Im focused on deepening my impact where I am and want to be intentional about my next step. Thats not avoidanceits leadership.
The paradox of promotion
Promotions are both validating and destabilizing. They can expand your influenceor stretch you too thin. The goal isnt to make the right choice, but an honest one.
When someone taps you on the shoulder and says, You should apply, take the compliment. Then take a breath. Listen to both voices inside youthe one that craves growth and the one that craves peace. True wisdom lives in the space between them.
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Matt outworked his peers and risen a rung too high on the career ladderat least, too high for the good of anything but his insecure ego. Constantly fearing his bluff would be blown, he overcompensated by striving to impress upward while leading from fear. His anxiety seeped through his management team, then filtered into the ranks beneath, chipping away at everyone’s courage. He micromanaged, filtered feedback, and pushed out anyone who challenged himthe best, brightest, and boldest. When crisis hit, his “play not to lose” mentality magnified while competitors gained ground
Chances are youve met someone like Matt.
They’re crushing every deadline, exceeding every target, climbing every ladder. But look closer, and you may also see fractured relationships, disenchanted colleagues, and toxic team dynamics in their wake.Meet the “insecure overachiever”exceptionally capable people whose deep-seated insecurities override their nobler aspirations. These aren’t garden-variety workaholics. They’re high performers driven by a gnawing fear of not being enough: not smart enough, valued enough, worthy enough.
The distinction between healthy ambition and insecure overachievement is deceptively subtle. Both deliver results. But healthy ambition stems from wanting to contribute value and build connection, while insecure overachievement is fueled by the need to prove worth and alleviate anxiety.
Why The Best Workers Can Destroy The Most Value
What makes this pattern problematic is that organizations often reward the dysfunction. Insecure overachievers stay later, work harder, say yes faster, and consistently over-deliver. Those in power generally love themuntil the hidden costs surface: toxic cultures, talent loss, and teams that become competitive battlegrounds rather than collaborative ecosystems.
The warning signs can be subtle. Wins bring only fleeting relief before anxiety about the next goal kicks in. They sacrifice essentialssleep, health, relationshipsfor work extras. Self-worth becomes dangerously intertwined with output: a bad day at work equals being a bad human.
Here’s where it gets destructive: insecurity rarely stays contained. Insecure overachievers often shore up fragile egos by diminishing others. When your worth feels constantly threatened, making others feel smaller provides temporary relief.
Axios cofounder Jim VandeHei put it bluntly “Nothing destroys more relationships, teams, or companies than insecure people in power, he warned. It’s an insidious form of cancer.”
Breaking Free Without Breaking Down
Recognizing yourself in this pattern? The good news: breaking free doesn’t mean abandoning ambition. It means realigning it from proving something to improving something.
Find Your Summon Bonum. Roman philosopher Cicero coined this phraseLatin for “the highest good”believing everyone should aspire toward it. Until we’re more committed to a positive future outcome, our actions will be governed by fear of a negative one.
Trade proving for improving. When all your energy focuses on impressing others, it’s taken from improving yourself and tapping into your creative faculty to bring smarter solutions. The irony? Shifting from external validation to personal growth and contribution creates more sustainable successand greater respectover time. Instead of “What did others think?” ask “What did I learn?”
Schedule non-negotiable recovery. Treat rest like any other crucial meeting. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant’s research demonstrates that meaningful contributionnot endless outputdrives long-term well-being and sustainable performance.
Practice radical self-compassion. Talk to yourself like you would a trusted friend facing the same struggles. Dr. Kristin Neff’s research shows self-compassion actually improves performance by reducing the fear that fuels over-functioning. Embrace the insecure part of yourself; befriend that younger version who learned that achievement equaled love.
Leading Insecure Overachievers
If you manage these high performers, resist the temptation to simply enjoy their output while ignoring their patterns. Left unchecked, their behaviors can poison entire teams.
Spot the early warnings. Notice team members who rarely delegate, constantly seek reassurance despite competence, take more credit than due, or obsess over managing upward while neglecting their own teams. Like Matt, they create competitive rather than collaborative environments. Have direct conversations about workload and help them see how their drive affects team dynamics, not just individual metrics.
Recognize effort, not just results. Focus on contribution over competition. Acknowledge people for who they are, not only what they produce. Amy Edmondson’s research on psychological safety shows that when people feel safe to be imperfect, teams become more innovative and resilient.
Model healthy boundaries. If you’re sending midnight emails and working weekends, you’re reinforcing the very behaviors you want to change. Demonstrate that rest and boundaries are professional strengths, not weaknesses.
The Path Forward
Organizations need ambitious, competitive, and driven professionals. But the healthiest ambition comes from being committed to outcomes that transcend self-interest and insecurity alleviation. Organizations whose leaders are more committed to purposeful growth over impression management will ultimately outperform others.
The real question isn’t whether you’re achieving enoughit’s whether you’re achieving for the right reasons, and whether your drive lifts others up or tears them down. Sustainable success isn’t about proving your worth at others’ expense. It’s about expressing your potential while helping others do the same.
Don’t be a Matt. The world has enough insecure overachievers already.
The results are in. McDonald’s latest earnings report sheds light on the growing divide among U.S. consumersas the wealthiest Americans continue to spend and eat outwhile lower income families are making less trips to the Golden Arches as they battle the rising cost of living, skyrocketing food prices, grocery inflation, and stagnate wages.
A look at McDonald’s third quarter earnings, released Tuesday after the closing bell, shows the fast food giant’s U.S. same-store sales increasing 2.5%, over the same period last year, (up 3.6% globally,)but missing analyst expectations with adjusted earnings per share (EPS) coming in at $3.22, ten cents under expectations of $3.32, on $7.1 billion in revenue.
Shares in McDonald’s (MCD) were up nearly 3% in afternoon trading on Wednesday, at the time of this writing.
Dig deeper and the numbers show the growing economic disparity among Americans customers.
We continue to see a bifurcated consumer base with [quick-service restaurant] traffic from lower-income consumers declining nearly double digits in the third quarter, a trend thats persisted for nearly two years, Kempczinski said during Wednesday’s earnings call. In contrast, QSR traffic growth among higher-income consumers remains strong, increasing nearly double digits in the quarter.
In an effort to deliver sustainable growth in this “challenging environment, Kempczinski said “the company would be delivering everyday value and affordability, menu innovation, and compelling marketing that continue to bring customers through [the] doors.
To that end, Kempczinski said on the earnings call McDonald’s has been bringing back extra value meals; with a $5 Sausage, Egg & Cheese McGriddles meal, and an $8 10-piece Chicken McNuggets meal, in November. Last month, McDonald reintroduced Monopoly in the U.S., for the first time in nearly a decade, with a focus on digital engagement.
Key Supreme Court conservatives seemed skeptical Wednesday that President Donald Trump has the power to unilaterally impose far-reaching tariffs, potentially putting at risk a key part of his agenda in the biggest legal test yet of his unprecedented presidency.
The Republican administration is trying to defend the tariffs central to Trump’s economic agenda after lower courts ruled the emergency law he invoked doesnt give him near-limitless power to set and change duties on imports.
The Constitution says Congress has the power to levy tariffs. But the Trump administration argues that in emergency situations the president can regulate importation and that includes tariffs.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett grilled the government on that point. Has there ever been another instance in which a statute has used that language to confer the power? she asked.
Justice Neil Gorsuch also questioned whether Trumps position would hand too much congressional power to the president. Is the constitutional assignment of the taxing power to Congress, the power to reach into the pockets of the American people, just different? he asked. And its been different since the founding?”
Questions from Chief Justice John Roberts also suggested he might not be convinced. With the court’s three liberal-leaning justices seeming deeply dubious, the tariffs challengers could win by swaying two conservatives.
A decision in the case could take weeks or months.
Trump has called the case one of the most important in the countrys history and said a ruling against him would be catastrophic for the economy.
The challengers argue the 1977 emergency powers law Trump used doesnt even mention tariffs, and no president before has used it to impose them. A collection of small businesses say the uncertainty is driving them to the brink of bankruptcy.
The case centers on two sets of tariffs. The first came in February on imports from Canada, China, and Mexico after Trump declared a national emergency over drug trafficking. The second involves the sweeping reciprocal tariffs on most countries that Trump announced in April.
Multiple lawsuits have been filed over the tariffs, and the court will hear suits filed by Democratic-leaning states and small businesses focused on everything from plumbing supplies to women’s cycling apparel.
Lower courts have struck down the bulk of Trump’s tariffs as an illegal use of emergency power, but the nations highest court may see it differently.
Trump helped shape the conservative majority court, naming three of the nine justices in his first term. The justices have so far been reluctant to check his extraordinary flex of executive power, handing him a series of wins on the court’s emergency docket.
Still, those have been short-term orders little of Trumps wide-ranging conservative agenda has been fully argued before the nations highest court. That means the outcome could set the tone for wider legal pushback against his policies.
The justices have been skeptical of executive power claims before, such as when then-President Joe Biden tried to forgive $400 billion in student loans under a different law dealing with national emergencies. The Supreme Court found the law didnt clearly give him the power to enact a program with such a big economic impact, a legal principle known as the major questions doctrine.
The challengers say Trumps tariffs should get the same treatment, since theyll have a much greater economic effect, raising some $3 trillion over the next decade. The government, on the other hand, says the tariffs are different because theyre a major part of his approach to foreign affairs, an area where the courts should not be second-guessing the president.
The challengers are also trying to channel the conservative justices skepticism about whether the Constitution allows other parts of the government to use powers reserved for Congress, a concept known as the nondelegation doctrine. Trumps interpretation of the law could mean anyone who can regulate can also impose taxes, they say.
The Justice Department counters that legal principle is for governmental agencies, not for the president.
If he eventually loses at the high court, Trump could impose tariffs under other laws, but those have more limitations on the speed and severity with which he could act. The aftermath of a ruling against him also could be complicated, if the government must issue refunds for the tariffs that had collected $195 billion in revenue as of September.
The Trump administration did win over four appeals court judges who found the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, gives the president authority to regulate importation during emergencies without explicit limitations. In recent decades, Congress has ceded some tariff authority to the president, and Trump has made the most of the power vacuum.
Lindsay Whitehurst, Associated Press
On November 3, Vogue announced that it is folding its sister publication Teen Vogue into Vogue.com. Now, the internet is mourning the loss of a rare publication that took young people seriously.
The news came in the form of an article posted to Vogues business vertical. Per the post, the transition is part of a broader push to expand the Vogue ecosystem.
The article goes on to explain that Teen Vogue will remain a distinct editorial property, with its own identity and mission, and that the publication will focus its content on career development, cultural leadership, and other issues that matter most to young people.
Further, it notes that Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Versha Sharma will be leaving the company, while Vogues head of editorial content, Chloe Malle, will step in to oversee the sister publication.
In the wake of Vogues announcement, Condé Nast laid off several of Teen Vogue‘s staffers, reportedly including a majority of its BIPOC and trans employees. Now, Teen Vogues former editors and writers, and many of its current fans, are taking to the internet to mourn the loss and criticize the magazine giant that owns it.
Heres what to know.
What happened to Teen Vogue?
While Vogue is framing the absorption of Teen Vogue as a way to provide “a more unified reader experience,” members of Condé United, a union that represents workers across Condé Nast’s magazine brands, call the move clearly designed to blunt the award-winning magazines insightful journalism at a time when it is needed the most.
In a post to X, the union said: Management plans to lay off six of our members, most of whom are BIPOC or trans, including Teen Vogues Politics Editor. The statement added: Teen Vogue now has no writers or editors explicitly covering politics.
In a statement to Fast Company, a Condé Nast spokesperson said: “Teen Vogue has faced ongoing challenges around scale and audience reach for some time. Rather than continuing to operate independently with limited reach, bringing Teen Vogue under the Vogue umbrella allows it to tap into a larger audience, stronger distribution, and more resources.”
Neither Vogue nor Condé Nast directly responded to questions about whether the layoffs primarily impacted BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) and trans staffers and how many employees were let go in total.
Teen Vogues robust political reporting previously earned the publication several major awards, including the April Sidney Award for social justice coverage in 2018 and the Roosevelt Institute’s Freedom of Speech Medal in 2025.
In a statement published on November 3, the Roosevelt Institute called Vogues decision to incorporate Teen Vogue evidence that corporate concentration eliminates innovative ideas and silences voices with less power.
Fans react to the news
Fans of Teen Voguewhich was first published in 2003are taking to the internet in droves to express their sadness that one of the only major publications geared toward teens (and primarily teen girls) will no longer maintain an independent presence.
Teen Vogue took young people seriously. It’s impossible to overstate how important, how rare, and how profoundly needed that is, one tweet from writer Rainesford Stauffer reads.
[Depressed] at the Teen Vogue news, wrote another X user. There’s going to be nothing left for youth/teens to reach for when they are curious about news and issues, whether it’s about fashion or politics or pop culture.
Readers are most concerned by the apparent gutting of Teen Vogue staffers who focused on identity and politics coverage, especially during a moment when conservative messaging has become more common in media and concepts like diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are under attack.
In one TikTok explainer with more than 12,000 likes, creator @nya.etienne describes the overhaul as an intentional silencing of underrepresented voices.
[They] laid off the majority of their BIPOC and trans staff, and this should be a huge concern for everybody that cares about free press in media, she says in the video. Teen Vogue is a magazine that taught a generation of us how to think critically.”
Former staffers take to social media
Teen Vogues former writers, editors, and staffers are also taking to social media to express alarm at the sudden change.
Aiyana Ishmael, the publications former style editor, shared on Bluesky that she has been laid offadding that, in the wake of the layoffs, there are no Black staffers remaining at the publication.
At [the Teen Vogue Summit], I was asked how it felt to be 1 of 2 Black women left and what that meant for representation, she wrote. Now, there are no Black women at Teen Vogue, and that is incredibly painful to think about.
Teen Vogues most recent politics editor, Lex McMenamin, was also laid off this week: “Certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue, they wrote on Bluesky on November 3.
In a lengthy blog written for the publication Talking Points Memo (TPM), Allegra Kirkland, who served as Teen Vogues politics director for six years until June 2025, condemned Condé Nasts decision.
She told Fast Company that the publication served as a place for young peopleespecially young women and LGBTQ+ peopleto put themselves on the front lines of the fight against Trumpism, advocating for issues from the atrocious war on Gaza to book bans and gun violence in schools.
Now, she says, that platform is gone.
The mainstream media too often disregards young peoples opinions, or condescends to them in their coverage, Kirkland says. Theyre smeared as woke scolds, checked-out TikTok
Democrats dominated the first major Election Day since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
And while a debate about the future of the Democratic Party may have only just begun, there are signs that the economy specifically, Trumps inability to deliver the economic turnaround he promised last fall may be a real problem for Trumps GOP heading into next years higher-stakes midterm elections.
Happy Anniversary! On this day, November 5th, one year ago, we had one of the Greatest Presidential Victories in History Such an Honor to represent our Country. Our Economy is BOOMING, and Costs are coming way down. Affordability is our goal. Love to the American People! Trump posted to social media Wednesday.
Democratic candidates who won Tuesday in the New Jersey and Virginia governors races, and the New York City mayors contest, focused their campaigns on the publics cost-of-living concerns.
The Latest:
Conservative Supreme Court justices appear skeptical of Trumps sweeping unilateral tariffs
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Trumps sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
Conservative justices seemed skeptical of Trumps tariffs, potentially putting at risk a key part of his agenda in the biggest legal test yet of his unprecedented presidency.
Challengers say Trump is illegally using an emergency law to claim nearly limitless tariff power and American small businesses are paying the price. Trumps administration says the law gives the president the power to regulate importation, including tariffs.
The Republican president has said a ruling against him in the case before the court Wednesday would be catastrophic for the economy.
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla takes a pass on 2026 race for California governor
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla is staying put.
The California Democrat who flirted with running for governor in 2026 announced Tuesday he plans to remain in the Senate.
I choose to stay in this fight, Padilla told reporters on Capitol Hill in disclosing his decision. The Constitution is worth fighting for, our fundamental rights are worth fighting for.
Fellow Democrats had been urging Padilla, first appointed to the Senate by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, to consider entering a race that lacks a clear leader or star and was left wide open after former Vice President Kamala Harris announced her decision not to run.
Newsoms final term runs through January 2027. His party is favored to hold the seat in the heavily Democratic state.
Did Sliwa spoil the race for Cuomo in NYC? Not so fast.
Many have declared Republican Curtis Sliwa the spoiler in the three-way race between him, Democrat Zohran Mamdani and former governor Andrew Cuomo.
But AP Voter Poll data suggests that its unlikely that Sliwas presence in the race changed the outcome.
When asked how they would vote if only Mamdani and Cuomo were in the race, about half of Sliwas supporters said they would have voted for Cuomo. In the hypothetical question, about 4 in 10 Sliwa supporters said they wouldnt have voted. The remainder either would have moved to Mamdani, or didnt know what they would do.
The data indicates that even half of Sliwas voters on Tuesday would not have been enough to make up the significant lead that Mamdani won by.
With slightly more than 90% of the estimated vote counted, the AP Decision Desk found Mamdani won with 50.4% of the vote, while Cuomo gathered 41.6% percent of the vote. Sliwa, for his part, won 7.1% percent of the vote. Those figures could change as late-arriving mail ballots are added.
Fetterman pours cold water on impact of Democrats election wins
Asked about his thoughts on Democrats resounding victories in Tuesdays election, Pennsylvanias Democratic senator said he didnt think they meant much, saying Democrats were heavy favorites in both New Jersey and Virginia, as was a ballot measure in California.
I wasnt surprised by any of these things, said Sen. John Fetterman.
Whether the results will have an impact on the shutdown, Fetterman said he didnt think Democrats should be treating the shutdown like its some kind of a political game.
If people think that we should keep it closed because of the elections that we already knew we were going to win, its like then that seems like its a game, he added.
Democrats expand majorities
Democrats expanded their majorities Tuesday in both the New Jersey Assembly and Virginia House and broke a Republican supermajority in the Mississippi Senate.
Democrats flipped control of two Mississippi Senate districts that had been redrawn under court order to increase Black voter representation. The reshaped districts played a significant role in Democrats victories, said Heather Williams, president of the national Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.
When there are representative maps — and there is a process that actually gives voters a choice of who their elected officials are — we can connect with voters and win, said Williams, adding: Mississippi was a prime example of that.
But the future of such districts could be in doubt. Thats because the U.S. Supreme Court is weighing a legal challenge to the section of the federal Voting Rights Act allowing such court intervention.
Trumps Oval Office redecoration may reach the exterior, too
Reporters waiting near the South Lawn for the president to leave on a trip to Florida noticed what appeared to be a mock-up of a sign that says, The Oval Office.
The flowery, gold lettering appeared to be written on some type of temporary paper that was put up on the wall near the door where reporters enter for Trumps appearances in the Oval with foreign leaders, Cabinet members or other guests.
The White House had no comment on the sign.
Read more about White House redecorations
Administration revokes temporary protected status for South Sudanese living in U.S.
he Department of Homeland Security is revoking protections that shielded some South Sudanese living in the United Status from deportation, saying it is now safe for them to return to their chaotic East African nation.
The order, which will take effect in early January, affects the small number of South Sudanese who have temporary protected status, which allows people already in the U.S. to stay and work legally if their homelands are deemed unsafe.
But the news comes amid fears that the 2018 peace agreement ending that nations civil war is collapsing, with growing hunger, violence and kidnappings, including of aid workers, and weeks after an international ceasefire monitor warned that all sides in the conflict were recruiting new fighters.
The announcement, which was released for public review Wednesday in the Federal Register, will be formally published Thursday. It will take effect 60 days later.
The DHS statement acknowledged South Sudan is dealing with violence linked to border disputes, cross-border violence, cyclical and retaliatory attacks, and ethnic polarization, but notes that return to full-scale civil war, to-date, has been avoided.
Democrat who vanished at sea loses race in NYC suburbs
Petros Krommidas lost to incumbent Nassau County Legislator Patrick Mullaney in his bid for a seat in the Nassau County Legislature on Long Island, according to the countys unofficial election results.
With all precincts reporting, Krommidas captured about 40% of votes cast in the race while Mullaney, a Republican, garnered about 55%.
Krommidas disappeared after a night swim off Long Beach in the spring. A state judge ruled that his name had to remain on the ballot after local Republicans challenged Democrats attempt to field a replacement.
Republicans will sue over California ballot measure
The California Republican Party says Proposition 50 violates the 14th and 15th Amendments.
The ballot measure created a new congressional map with the goal of giving Democrats five more of the states 52 congressional seats. It easily passed.
The party announced plans to file a federal lawsuit on Wednesday. Its being filed by The Dhillon Law Group, the California-based firm started by Harmeet Dhillon, who now works for the U.S. Department of Justice. A state assemblyman and 18 voters are also plaintiffs.
Scientists perform last rites for dearly departed datasets under Trump
While some people last Friday dressed in Halloween costumes or handed out candy to trick-or-treaters, a group of U.S. data scientists published a list of datasets that have been axed, altered or had topics scrubbed since Trump returned to the White House.
The timing of the release of the Dearly Departed Datasets with All Hallows Eve may have been cheeky, but the purpose was serious: to put a spotlight on attacks by the Trump administration on federal datasets that dont align with its priorities, including data dealing with gender identity; diversity, equity and inclusion; and climate change.
Officials at the Federation of American Scientists and other data scientists who compiled the list divided the datasets into those that had been killed off, had variables deleted, had tools removed making public access more difficult and had found a second life outside the federal government.
Read more about efforts to preserve federal data
Mamdani celebrated as one of their own in India and Uganda
Indians lit up social media on Wednesday to celebrate Zohran Mamdanis election win as New York City mayor after he thanked his Indian-born parents, quoted a historic speech by Indias first prime minister and turned the victory rally into a Bollywood-style street party.
We are proud of him. He has done a great job, Mamdanis maternal uncle Vikram Nair told The Associated Press.
Meanwhile in Uganda, where Mamdani was born, the opposition leader in the Ugandan Parliament sees his victory as an inspiring political shift. Its a big encouragement even to us here in Uganda that its possible, said Joel Ssenyonyi, who represents an area of the Ugandan capital of Kampala.
Uganda has had the same president for nearly four decades, Yoweri Museveni, despite attempts by multiple opposition leaders to defeat him in elections.
Read more about how Ugandans and Indians are celebrating Mamdanis victory.
Mamdanis school on southern tip of Africa says congratulations
Mamdani attended St Georges Grammar School in Cape Town for around three years in the mid-1990s, from the age of five. He and his family lived in South Africa after leaving his country of birth, Uganda, and before emigrating to the United States. Mamdanis father, a political theorist, worked as an academic at the University of Cape Town.
We trust that he will continue to uphold the principles embodied in our school motto, Virtute et Valore the courage to do what is right, Mamdanis former school said in a statement sent to the AP.
The grammar school also released a photo of Mamdani at 6 or 7 years old.
Judge in Comey case scolds prosecutors as he orders them to produce records from probe
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered prosecutors in the criminal case of former FBI Director James Comey to produce a trove of materials from the investigation, saying hes concerned the Justice Departments position has to been to indict first and investigate later.
Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick instructed prosecutors to produce by the end of Thursday grand jury materials as well as other vidence that investigators seized. Comeys attorneys said they were at a disadvantage because they had not been able to review materials that were gathered years ago.
Comey is charged with lying to Congress in 2020 in a case filed days after Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies. He has pleaded not guilty.
Grassroots groups urge Democrats to hold firm after election wins
Progressive organizations are using Tuesdays election victories to warn Democrats against cutting a deal with Republicans to end the government shutdown.
Moderate Senate Democrats who are looking for an offramp right now are completely missing the moment, said Katie Bethell, political director of MoveOn. Voters have sent a resounding message: We want leaders who fight for us, and we want solutions that make life more affordable.
Read more about congressional developments involving the government shutdown
Trump now says affordability is GOPs goal
Trump sent the social media post as Air Force One was about to take off for Miami, where hes addressing business leaders in the afternoon.
Wednesday marked one year since his reelection.
Happy Anniversary! On this day, November 5th, one year ago, we had one of the Greatest Presidential Victories in History Such an Honor to represent our Country. Our Economy is BOOMING, and Costs are coming way down. Affordability is our goal. Love to the American People! he wrote.
Democratic candidates who won Tuesday in the New Jersey and Virginia governors races, and the New York City mayors contest, focused their campaigns on the publics cost-of-living concerns.
Democratic leaders demand Trump meet to end shutdown
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said its time for Trump to meet with them as well as GOP congressional leaders to negotiate an end the shutdown and address the health care issue.
Democrats stand ready to meet with you face to face, anytime and anyplace, the Democratic leaders wrote. Trump has so far refused to engage in talks until the Democrats vote to reopen the government.
North Carolinas largest city reelects mayor after fallout over train stabbing
Voters in Charlotte, North Carolina, have given Democrat Vi Lyles a fifth term as mayor.
Lyles won comfortably Tuesday to remain the citys top leader 2 1/2 months after the death of a young Ukrainian woman on a commuter train. The stabbing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska sparked outrage from Trump and other Republicans, who sought to pin blame for violent crime and pretrial release decisions on Democrats in general, and Lyles in particular.
Lyles defeated Republican candidate Terrie Donovan, who had made crime her top issue even before the August stabbing. Charlotte hasnt elected a Republican mayor since 2007.
The suspect in Zarutskas stabbing had been arrested more than a dozen times. The GOP-controlled state legislature tightened suspect release rules in September, and Lycles has promoted additional safety measures on Charlottes light rail.
Trump may become the face of economic discontent
Trump just got a serious warning from voters that hes out of touch with their fears about a deteriorating U.S. economy.
Democrats were able to run up the score in key races across the country on Tuesday by harnessing some of the same populist fervor that helped get Trump reelected a year ago but also by focusing on the kitchen table issues the Republican had vowed to fix. Now, as the incumbent, fears about the economy have made Trump the face of much of the publics discontent.
Voters in the Virginia and New Jersey governor races, the New York City mayoral contest and the California ballot proposition each ranked economic concerns as a top issue. Democrats swept all those, and it was difficult to point to any major race, anywhere, where Republicans had a key victory.
Read more about how Americans have soured on Trumps management of the economy
Mamdani to Trump: You will have to get through all of us
Mamdani wasted little time as New York Citys mayor-elect before making clear that hell be standing up to the president of the United States, who had threatened not only to defund the city if he won, but also to arrest and deport him.
Donald Trump, since I know youre watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up, he said at his victory party. If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.
New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant, said Mamdani, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Uganda. So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.
Trump seemed to be watching: AND SO IT BEGINS! he posted on social media as Mamdani spoke.
Speaker Mike Johnson calls longest shutdown a sad landmark
The Republican speaker insisted hes willing to talk to Democrats about their demands for health care funds, but blames them for the record-breaking shutdown, now in its 36th day.
Johnson was speaking with GOP lawmakers on the steps outside the Capitol, where he has kept the House closed to regular business, sending lawmakers home in September.
Ntanyahu officials criticize New York Citys mayor-elect
Israels hardline National Security Minister Itamir Ben-Gvir said Mamdanis election is an everlasting disgrace how antisemitism triumphed over common sense. He called Mamdani a Hamas supporter, a hater of Israel and an avowed antisemite.
Mamdani has said Israels military campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide, a claim denied by Israel. During the campaign, he also denounced atrocities committed by Hamas in its Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which he called a horrific war crime. While supportive of Palestinian rights, he denies being antisemitic and reached out to Jews during his campaign.
Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli posted on X encouraging Jews of New York to emigrate to Israel, writing that the city would never be the same again. His feed on the social media site Wednesday was a stream of anti-Mamdani graphics, including a photo of the Twin towers being engulfed in flames with the caption New York already forgot, a meme criticized as Islamophobic.
Mamdani says hes willing to work with Trump but will put New York residents first
When asked Wednesday about their combative relationship during the mayoral campaign, Mamdani said he has repeatedly expressed a willingness to help the president fulfill some of the promises Trump made during his 2024 presidential campaign.
I have said time and again that I will work with the president if he wants to work together to deliver on his campaign promises of cheaper groceries or a lower cost of living. But for too long what New Yorkers have seen is a mayor who has been willing to work with the president at the expense of those New Yorkers, Mamdani said on New Yorks NY1 news channel.
And I want to make it very clear that if the president looks to come after the people of this city, then I will be there standing up for them every step of the way.
Many big companies have cited AI as a reason for recent layoffs. But the new technology transforming the workforce may create some new jobs, too.
AI startups are racing to hire a certain kind of software engineer who works with both customer teams and product engineering teams: Candidates are expected to have tech skills, but also, understand the business model so they can help customize customers’ AI models for their companies’ specific needs.
The emerging role is called a forward-deployed engineer (FDE), and according to the Financial Times, job postings for the position are absolutely skyrocketing, increasing more than 800% from the start of 2025 through September.
The origins of the role come from data software company Palantir, which pioneered the job in the early 2010s. Today, the company says FDEs make up about half of their workforce. Nic Prettejohn, head of AI in the U.K. at Palantir, said, per the Financial Times, described the job as “product discovery from the inside.The specific tasks an FDE is responsible for may vary from company to company, but the job certainly seems to encompass a lot.According to Planitir, FDEs responsibilities look similar to those of a startup CTO: youll work in small teams and own end-to-end execution of high-stakes projects.” Likewise, a job ad for an FDE at the financial tech company Ramp says the role includes working with “sales and go-to-market teams to close exciting deals, activate customers, and expand the value Ramp provides over time.While many worry that AI will take their jobs, some say that AI also has the power to create jobs, too, and maybe even, at a greater rate. And as AI companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, and others, recruit FDEs, perhaps both arguments have weight, especially because it’s not just FDE job postings that are rising.According to the 2025 World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report, while AI could displace around nine million jobs over the next five years, it could also create 11 million new jobs. Some of the roles could be things like AI trainers, AI auditors, AI translators, and more. Aneesh Raman, LinkedIns chief economic opportunity officer, spoke to the undeniable rise in new AI jobs, telling the New York Times, Head of AI. jobs are up, I think, three times in the last five years, he said. AI engineers are the fastest growing role in the U.S., followed by AI consultants.Other experts agree that new jobs can help to bridge the gap between the ever-growing ways that AI technology is being used, and what human beings still need from other humans, working to integrate the technology into real life. Tech innovator Pramod Pallath Vasudevan articulated the point in a post on social media about the surge in FDE hiring, writing, “AI isnt taking engineers away from the real world. Its bringing them closer to it.”
Vasudevan added, “AI isnt replacing us. Its redeploying usto the front lines of progress.”
Fortnite maker Epic Games and Google just agreed on a comprehensive settlement that could be the final chapter in Epics long battle over app store rules.
In a joint filing in a San Francisco federal court, both companies proposed a resolution to Epics antitrust lawsuit against Google, which the game publisher filed in 2020 along with a parallel lawsuit against Apple.
In a post on X, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney called the proposed settlement awesome and expressed hope that the courts would agree.
It genuinely doubles down on Android’s original vision as an open platform to streamline competing store installs globally, reduce service fees for developers on Google Play, and enable third-party in-app and web payments, Sweeney said. This is a comprehensive solution, which stands in contrast to Apples model of blocking all competing stores and leaving payments as the only vector for competition.
In the settlement, Google agrees to cap app store fees at 9% to 20% depending on the transaction. Currently, Google takes a 15% cut of the first $1 million in developer revenue and 30% of anything above that threshold. Beyond lowering fees, Google also said it would allow alternate app stores to be offered officially in the next major Android update. All of the proposed changes would go into effect globally not just in the U.S. and remain in place through 2032.
The surprise settlement follows some resounding losses for Google. Late last year, a judge sided with Epic on many of the game publishers demands and ordered Google to open its app marketplace to competing third-party app stores in the U.S. for three years, a decision that stood to completely remake Androids app ecosystem. Prior to the settlement, it looked like Googles last hope was a hail mary asking the Supreme Court to take on the case a long shot given that the court previously shrugged off Epics parallel case against Apple.
Epics epic battle
In 2020, Epic kicked off a flashy campaign to rally people against mobile softwares gatekeepers by breaking the rules of both Google and Apples app stores intentionally, getting Fortnite kicked off of phones and tablets in the process. In lawsuits against both companies, Epic argued that Google and Apple violated antitrust laws by forcing users to pay for apps and in-app purchases through their app marketplaces while taking a slice of every transaction.
While Epics case against Apple is now mostly resolved without too much disruption to Apples business, the iPhone maker did land itself in hot water earlier this year when a federal judge determined that it violated the terms of a court order forcing it to give developers more freedom to accept payments.
Epics case against Google took a different path. After years of back-and-forth in court, Epic landed a major win over the summer when a federal appeals court upheld a jury verdict that deemed Google Play, Androids app store, to be a monopoly. In other recent cases, courts determined that Google was operating a monopoly in its digital ads and search engine businesses.
Together with Epic Games we have filed a proposed set of changes to Android and Google Play that focus on expanding developer choice and flexibility, lowering fees, and encouraging more competition all while keeping users safe, Android Ecosystem President Sameer Samat wrote on X, adding that the company would discuss the settlement with a judge on Thursday.
