As Featured In:
Webby
AdAge
HBR
WSJ
Based on this combination of quantitative and qualitative data, here is a partial list of some of the most popular stories of the year, based on what my readers shared.
Update – Two weeks after this post was originally published, Trader Joe’s issued a new statement sharing that they do not consider these brand names to be racist and instead will be keeping them intact. I believe brands should act in human ways and have a personality. In fact, I wrote a book on it … Read more
“Futurists labor over questions about the nature of Android consciousness and empathy. Afrofuturists ask how race might be wired into Android consciousness and whether the android world might be as divided as ours is.” I admit, before reading this article on Afrofuturism from WIRED, I hadn’t considered some of these questions related to the future — … Read more
For the past ten years I have gone through an annual ritual of publishing a book about trends that describe our shifting culture and business environment. Over the past decade, my team and I have identified and written about well over 100 trends covering everything from the rise of the #metoo movement (a trend we … Read more
India has some baggage when it comes to women with curly hair: “The Indian ideal for beauty prizes long, straight hair. For the most part, curly hair is considered ugly, unnatural and indicative of women likely to cause trouble and break rules.” An entrepreneur named Asha Barrack is trying to change these stereotypes and inviting … Read more
In this data visualization, the shift in diversity of both race and gender in newsroom staff and leadership across the country is analyzed with some interesting results. The newsrooms overall, as you probably expect, are overwhelmingly white and skewed toward men. More interesting is the fact that over the past 15 years the Washington Post and NY Times have … Read more
Recently Google engineers tested a Maps feature that equated the distance you walk to a number of mini-cupcakes you would burn off in equivalent calories. The only problem is, their fun little cupcake idea was a trigger for some people with eating disorders and others were just annoyed at the unsolicited suggestion. The feature and … Read more
Five years ago, Devon Akmon, director of the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan was inspired by a food tour experience to create something similar to help outsiders understand the Arab culture through food. His program called Yalla Eats! has been running since then and offers a chance to get something anyone who has ever shopped … Read more
As we head into a time when both America and Canada celebrate their national birthdays – this week’s newsletter takes an inside look at some of the most significant ways that Canada is celebrating it’s 150th anniversary as a country. In contrast to the “melting pot” of America which has often been criticized for how … Read more
The stories this week are wide ranging – as I share one about an admirable new effort from Grey Advertising to promote diversity and offer more transparency into the diversity of their team supported by a few other programs that will help drive more inclusion in an industry that often lacks it. Other stories include … Read more
The Future Normal is my latest award-winning exploration of 30 trends that are shaping humanity's future.
Rohit Bhargava is a trend curator, founder of the Non-Obvious Company and the 3-time Wall Street Journal bestselling author of nine books.
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Rohit is the author of 9 books on trends, the future of business, building a more human brand with storytelling and how to create a more diverse and inclusive world.
