Peter Attia's departure from CBS News was the latest in a series of self-inflicted wounds under Bari Weiss's leadership. The crisis communications failures keep compounding — and the playbook isn't complicated.

A baby macaque at a zoo near Tokyo gets abandoned, bullied, and handed a stuffed orangutan for comfort. The internet falls in love. What IKEA did next — across the globe, in near real time — is a masterclass in cultural fluency. They didn't just read the brand moment. They read the emotional need underneath it.

The Milan Cortina Olympics have done something rare: every major technology choice has brought us closer to the athletes, the speed, the danger, the emotion. From half-pound drones racing alongside skiers at 75 mph to the first camera operator ever on Olympic figure skating ice, the technology works because the people behind it understand the experience they're trying to convey.

The administration pressured CBS to pull a candidate from The Late Show. Colbert put the interview on YouTube instead. 1.3 million people watched — and counting. A look at the asymmetry of broadcast regulation in the streaming era, and why preemptive corporate compliance keeps backfiring.

The journalism industry is ruthless. But The Washington Post’s decline feels like a choice. A 30% workforce reduction, executed with weeks of uncertainty and poor internal communications, is a leadership story as much as an industry one.

In the past year, CEOs backed off corporate activism as the White House made examples of vocal critics. With Alex Pretti’s killing in Minneapolis, we have reached a tipping point: staying on the sidelines is no longer neutral. Consumers and employees are watching—and brands that don’t step up do so at their own peril. But stepping up isn’t just speaking out. There are rules to how leaders do it credibly.

As AI outpaces regulation, celebrities are drawing new lines. Matthew McConaughey’s trademarks aim to establish clear consent boundaries around voice and likeness—hinting at where NIL protections may go next. “Alright, alright, alright.”

After trying to steer clear of the White House for a year, Jerome Powell took it public. In two minutes, he dragged a legal pressure campaign into daylight—before rumor could do the work for him.

Hiring is one of your most powerful brand moments. It’s how you attract great people, build loyalty, and earn a reputation as an employer of choice. Don’t trade connection for the sake of efficiency.

Enticing moviegoers with a surprise showing.

AI is increasingly where people turn to find information and solutions. But as AI learns from trusted sources, broadcast news is largely invisible to it. It’s a massive blind spot with major implications for how brands show up—or don’t—in AI-powered discovery.

For the first time, more Americans are getting their news from social platforms and video than from TV or news websites. This shift has major implications for how brands build trust, reach audiences, and show up in a fragmented, personality-driven media landscape.

AI models are rewriting the rules of brand visibility. In the GEO era, your brand lives or dies by what the model remembers. This series unpacks what that means for communications leaders—and how to build reputation inside the machine.

When there is too much news, journalists get overwhelmed, and stories get flattened. Two momentous stories no one should lose sight of—no matter how busy the news cycle.

Two iconic brands. Two branding missteps. One got it right.

“As cuts threaten institutions, programs, success lies in strength in numbers—and in storytelling. To protect their work, foundations and nonprofits must act together and communicate boldly, showing Americans not just what they do, but why it matters.”

“While journalism contracts, The Baltimore Banner is expanding what’s possible — exposing a deadly crisis and winning a Pulitzer in just three years. This may be the model to watch.”

With a simple social post with the iconic Severance set design, haunting soundtrack, and office products, IKEA captures the cultural zeitgeist.