Author: Editor

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Alex Stephany, founder of Beam. It has been edited for length and clarity.I was always a good student, but when I graduated from Oxford and entered the workforce, I immediately felt like a fish out of water. One of my first weekends working as a lawyer, I went on a corporate retreat. I remember feeling that everyone else in the room was much better suited to the work of being a lawyer than I was.Two years later, when my contract was up, I wasn’t surprised that my employer didn’t renew it.…

Noella Sudbury is the founder of Rasa Legal, a startup that is using artificial intelligence to help tens of thousands of people seal or expunge their criminal records. Meredith Rizzo for NPR hide caption toggle caption Meredith Rizzo for NPR Stay up to date with our Up First newsletter sent every weekday morning. Since her days as a public defender in Utah, Noella Sudbury has been obsessed with solving a problem: How do you help someone with a criminal record get a job? Bottom line: It’s really hard. Sudbury had grown frustrated seeing so many people dedicate themselves to changing…

AI may mean fewer consultants and accountants — at least at PwC.Paul Griggs, the Big Four firm’s US senior partner and CEO, said PwC hired fewer consultants and accountants this year than it did two years ago. He expects that trend to continue as the firm hires more data scientists, engineers, and machine learning experts.That doesn’t mean Griggs feels pessimistic about the future of consultants in the AI era.The Big Four executive said he has three kids, one who has been in the workforce for about a year and two who are still in college. Two of them may go…

Edgar Tang, 50, lives in Singapore and was laid off from his job as a video editor at Netflix in March. Rather than immediately looking for another corporate role, he began creating content about rebuilding life after 50. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.When I was laid off at 50, I realized I had been preparing for that moment for nearly two decades.The thing that helped me respond to the situation started years earlier, when I was diagnosed with cancer.At 32, I was working abroad, and suddenly I was diagnosed with stage three Hodgkin’s lymphoma. That reset…

Sam’s Club wants to become the place where premium local brands go national.The wholesale clubs are primarily a place to load up on big-brand stuff at bargain prices, but they also pepper a few local surprises throughout the aisles. Now, the Walmart-owned chain is taking those smaller offerings online for everyone to buy.”We don’t want to be the everything store to everyone. We want to be the curated store that you trust, and that’s what keeps you coming back,” Sam’s Club’s head of e-commerce Greg Pulsifer told Business Insider in an interview on July 30.Now the Walmart owned warehouse chain…

When Ayush Raj Jha moved from India to Illinois in 2018 to pursue a master’s degree in computer science, he was optimistic about the future of software engineering.Now, after years of layoffs and the rapid rise of AI, he’s worried about the future of his industry — and his long-term future in the US.Jha is one of hundreds of thousands of workers in the US on an H-1B visa, for whom losing a job can mean more than losing a paycheck. They generally have 60 days to find a new employer or risk losing their legal status in the US.Major…

Treasure Thoreson, one of a group of protesters charged with conspiracy recently, poses for a portrait at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis on Aug. 2, 2026. Jaida Grey Eagle for NPR hide caption toggle caption Jaida Grey Eagle for NPR Early one morning this June, Treasure Thoreson was drinking coffee on her couch in Minneapolis when she heard a knock at the front door. “I go and I see a woman standing there in office clothes, but with a Homeland Security vest over the top. And I see six more agents standing in my front yard,” Thoreson told NPR. “She said,…

Pamela Anderson said she is making the most of her second act in Hollywood.In an interview for Vogue Australia’s August cover, the actor said she feels “really fortunate” that “incredible directors” with indie backgrounds want to work with her.”I just feel so lucky, because it has been an interesting trajectory from Broadway and ‘The Last Showgirl.’ I don’t take for granted that I get to do this again,” Anderson, 59, said.After making her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in “Chicago” in 2022, which earned her a Playbill Award, Anderson received a Golden Globe nomination in 2025 for her performance in…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Eeman Farooqui, a 24-year-old clinical coordinator based in Buffalo. It has been edited for length and clarity.I was a pre-med student specializing in neuroscience and psychology at university, planning to pursue a research career.My path changed abruptly last year when my grandmother, whom I was very close to, died from a stroke. She had traveled from Pakistan to visit me in the US and come to my wedding.I stayed with her in the hospital. I thought that if I’d been a doctor, I could’ve known better or done something to help…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Graeme Kennedy, a Canadian photographer based in Shanghai. His words have been edited for length and clarity.I grew up in a small town in the Canadian Rockies in the kind of place where you help your neighbor shovel snow off their sidewalk just because. My childhood was spent climbing trees, biking, and skiing.Sadly, the nature that drew in tourists year-round was lost on me. I wanted to get out of that 4,000-person town. Have you relocated abroad — especially to Asia — for career opportunities, retirement, or lower living costs? We…