Author: wildgreenquest@gmail.com

I hadn’t heard the phrase “taking the waters” until I was invited to the Greenbrier, a National Historic Landmark hotel located in West Virginia’s Allegheny Mountains. Although it’s been said for centuries in European spa towns (i.e., prendre les eux in France, heilwasser trinken in Germany), the phrase didn’t pick up in America until the 18th century, right around the time when the Greenbrier first opened in 1778. For decades, presidents, celebrities, and wellness seekers arrived at this grande dame hotel, eager to relax and socialize while taking in all the healing and therapeutic goodness of the resort’s famously mineral-rich…

Hello again, and welcome back to Fast Company’s Plugged In.When last Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner was disrupted by a would-be assassin, an event intended to celebrate the First Amendment descended into chaos. After President Donald Trump and other administration officials were whisked to safety, it was unclear whether the festivities would resume. More than an hour later, White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang returned to the dais to acknowledge that Trump had posted that the night was over but would be rescheduled.“This is a room full of reporters,” she said. “So I know you’ve all seen the president’s…

Published May 1, 2026 03:56AMWhen I lived on Colorado’s Front Range, I could think of no better way to spend a summer weekend than to rally a group of friends for a camping trip in the mountains. In a state with sprawling public lands, we typically found dispersed sites off dirt roads, but I’ve also camped in bustling KOA-style campgrounds in California and in grassy fields during bike races and festivals in the Northeast. Regardless of the setting, these trips followed a blueprint: we spent all day outdoors, stayed up late talking under the stars, and went home knowing, and…

When Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe crossed the finish line at the London Marathon on April 26, an Adidas attendant was waiting on the sidelines to collect his shoes. The attendant wrote Sawe’s record-breaking time, 1:59.30, on the side of the shoes, waited for him to take some photos with them, and then whisked them off to Adidas’s archives in Herzogenaurach, Germany.In that moment, the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 became the fastest shoe in the world.Sabastian Sawe breaks the two-hour barrier and sets a record time of 1:59.30 at the 2026 London Marathon. [Photo: Adidas]Sawe was the first person to…

Published May 1, 2026 04:00AMThe Kentucky Derby is a big event: months of training, organizing, and fancy-outfit selection lead up to arguably the most important horse race in the United States. And then, in about two minutes, it’s all over. A winner is garlanded with roses, the mint juleps are sucked dry, and many of us are left craving more: more equine athleticism, more drama, more racetrack culture. And because the Preakness and Belmont Stakes are not quite enough to sate that hunger, we’ve put together this list of movies and TV that are intended to be your carrots and bag…

The company that pulled onto the road nearly 16 years ago as UberCab increasingly seems less interested in driving than in what users do before and after summoning a ride through its app.The latest evidence of Uber’s shift toward becoming a broader services platform came at its Go-Get event this week in New York, where the company led with hotel keys instead of car keys.“I believe that Uber truly offers one service: We give you your time back,” CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said at the start of the company’s roughly 40-minute presentation. The features unveiled invited a new comparison for Uber, not…

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Key Takeaways When your business scales, you’ll likely receive exposure before your business processes can catch up. Then you have to choose between variability and consistency. Effective leaders will redesign their businesses as needed during these periods of intentional growth. Scale is neutral by default. In other words, it amplifies what already exists. If a business already has good systems in place, they have the opportunity to grow even stronger. And the reverse is true for bad operating systems — they only spread faster.Clients don’t inherently experience “scale,” they experience service (i.e.…

Published May 1, 2026 03:31AMIt’s been a challenging period for America’s public lands, as the Trump administration moves to strip protections, reopen more acreage to development, and chip away at the very idea of conservation. Still, public land advocates have recorded victories.Across the country, nonprofits, state and local governments, and willing landowners are adding acreage to national parks, forests, and community green spaces, proving that while Washington can make public lands harder to protect, it has not stopped people from expanding them. Outside spoke with David Patton, vice president and managing director of the Center for Community Impact at Trust for…

It’s understandable that following the announcement that John Ternus will succeed Tim Cook as Apple CEO, people will pore over his résumé for signs of how the company might change. Cook was famously an operations and logistics wizard, handpicked by Steve Jobs to manage Apple with his trademark efficiency. But his successor is more of a mystery.  Ternus has been a senior vice president of hardware engineering at Apple for five years, and a VP since 2013, but beyond that he hasn’t been credited with steering the company in a particular direction. All anyone can really say for now is…

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Key Takeaways Customers expect instant, personalized 24/7 responses. Missed calls or slow replies directly cost businesses revenue. Modern AI tools allow you to provide 24/7 availability, faster response times and the personalization customers expect. They also improve lead conversion and consistency. AI enables small teams to operate like much larger ones, improving scalability and reliability. The emerging model is a hybrid: AI handles volume and speed, while humans focus on high-value interactions. I will never forget my client telling me that she lost a $4,000 contract because no one answered the phone…