Incomia

The podcast boom is in full swing. Once considered a niche medium, podcasting has evolved into a widely embraced platform that spans several media genres—including news, entertainment, film, comedy, true crime, conspiracy theories and juicy gossip. Even with approximately 4.5 million podcasts in existence, everyone is eager to start their own podcast. So, where do you begin?  Jemma Rose Brown, podcast veteran and general manager of the Signal Awards, an award show recognizing impactful, extraordinary audio projects, says the heart of storytelling hasn’t changed. “I think a common thread [in storytelling] is an independent spirit and an understanding that you can take a mic and say your piece.”  The appeal of podcasts often lies in the relatability of individual perspectives, which is what attracts organic listeners and fosters loyal audiences. The majority of podcasters aren’t journalism majors; they’re ordinary people offering commentary on current affairs and pop culture...

There can be incredible power in intergenerational friendships. If you’ve ever had the privilege of hanging out with those from older generations, you can appreciate the wisdom, humor and life perspectives that enrich our lives in unexpected ways. Whether it’s a shared story from decades past or a simple life lesson passed down over coffee, these intergenerational connections foster growth, understanding and joy for everyone involved. Age gaps in friendships can offer so many benefits. Doing life with older friends can enhance emotional well-being and cognitive function. Spending quality time with older adults can also boost empathy, patience and communication skills—traits that are valuable across all areas of life. Age-difference friendships help break down generational barriers, encouraging mutual respect and understanding. And—the benefits can go both ways. When older adults spend time with younger friends, some studies suggest that these diverse friendship groups can improve phy...

While I love the convenience of smartphones, I don’t love how accurate my phone’s data collection is because I can’t unknow my dire screen time stats. I check emails incessantly, I’m always trawling socials for ideas, cat videos never lose their entertainment value and I’ve usually got around 20 WhatsApp chats on the go. When a press trip opportunity arose to go on a safari in South Luangwa, Zambia, I was tempted, but I froze while reading the remote bush camp description. No Wi-Fi. No cellphone signal. A return to the Stone Age, albeit in luxury tents. “Is this like a ‘we encourage you to get offline’ vibe?” I asked the public relations rep, the recent season of The White Lotus coming to mind.  “No, there’s no way to get online,” she explained, brightly informing me that at least some of the fully offline days would fall over a weekend. Great.  The lure of South Luangwa, a park I’d never been to, was stronger than my concerns over disconnection, so I agreed. My Outlook ha...

Change is an inevitable part of every company’s journey. Whether it’s a shift in culture, direction or organization, every team eventually needs renewal: fresh ideas, new strategies and a refocused mission to keep progress alive. But with renewal often comes one of the most difficult steps in business: layoffs . Sometimes, to grow stronger, a company must streamline by trimming teams, sharpening its core ambitions, focusing on its strengths and retaining those most committed to its vision. When handled well, restructuring can be transformative; but when mishandled, it can derail even the most promising enterprise.  It’s one of the most delicate balancing acts in corporate leadership, and learning from those who navigate restructuring effectively, like Amazon in its latest overhaul, can help ease the pain and reveal a blueprint for how to approach the process. Cutting layers to move faster: The new blueprint for corporate agility This week, Amazon made one of its boldest stateme...

Stephanie Macleod didn’t grow up sipping Scotch or dreaming of distilleries. In fact, she didn’t even like whisky when she first encountered it. A food science student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, she envisioned a very different future for herself. But a final-year project on sensory analysis and how minute chemical changes alter taste gave her a new fascination and love for the complexity of flavor. When her university supervisor invited her to work with him on researching whisky, it opened up a whole new world for her.  “I started working with different distilleries, looking at the sensory analysis and realizing that from three ingredients—water, malted barley and yeast—each distillery, even though the processes are roughly the same, produces completely different flavor profiles,” Macleod says, recalling her wonder at the process. “How was whisky sitting on my doorstep and I didn’t know these things?” From the lab to the blending room In 1998, Macleod joined D...

The roadmap to your next breakthrough could be lurking in your bad ideas. These ideas often feel like failures, but they’re actually the starting point for inversion thinking: a practical method for approaching problems backwards.  Atomic Habits author James Clear calls inversion “the crucial thinking skill nobody ever taught you.” It’s free, proven and available to everyone. Yet despite its power, it remains an untapped resource for many professionals. With this one easy technique, you can pivot dead-end ideas into actionable ones in just three steps.  The power of inversion   When normal thinking fails, inverted thinking is a welcome form of mental intervention because it uncovers insights you already have, removes internal censorship and breaks habitual thinking patterns.  Uncovering insights  While good ideas can feel elusive, the brain has an endless supply of bad ideas. This is tied to our hard-wired disposition toward negativity, known as negativit...