Creative Control

In 2022, The Bored Ape Yacht Club was kind of inescapable on some parts of the internet. People—including a range of celebrities from Gwyneth Paltrow to Eminem—were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to acquire some monkey jpegs store on the blockchain as NFTs. The conglomerate overseeing the collection along with other NFT series, such as CryptoPunks, is called Yuga Labs. VCs including A16z flocked to invest in it, valuing the company at $4 billion. Yuga’s stated ambition at the time was to create an interoperable gaming metaverse, where NFT holders could game on a browser.

Lately, though, it seems that things haven’t been going so well for the company. ‘Fast Company’ tech editor Max Ufberg joined us to interview Yaz and ‘Fast Company’ staff editor, Connie Lin, about what happened and whether NFTs are even still . . . a thing.

Then, Bubble Goods founder and CEO Jessica Young wanted to create an online marketplace where you could find the best—and best-for-you—foods right at your fingertips. Bubble Goods carries only packaged goods that are free of preservatives, artificial dyes, and fillers, plus no refined or cane sugar. And everything it sells comes from small, indie makers that Bubble Goods taste-tests first to make sure its worthy of its consumers. We spoke to Jessica about what led her to create this space for food products, the vetting process for items to be on the site, and what are some of her favorites on the platform.

As if her career doesn’t already speak for itself, Janet Mock is ready to show you what she can really do. From her early days as an editor for People magazine, Mock has used her skills as a storyteller to springboard into becoming a New York Times bestselling author of two memoirs and, in her most recent pivot, a budding force in TV and film. With mega producer Ryan Murphy as her mentor, Mock has written for, directed, and produced a variety of projects including Pose, The Politician, and Hollywood. But now she's stepping out on her own.In this episode, Mock explains the importance of building those stepping stones toward your ultimate passion projects, how she learned to listen to other voices in the room, and why she chose the story of another, more infamous Janet to be her debut project through Netflix.

Next week, we’ll be back with a special series of episodes about fandom—covering fanfic, fan art, cosplay, and all the passion that goes into building these communities. We’ll also be unpacking the hurdles fan creators face, from harassment to legal issues, and how these challenges affect the wider creator economy.

A number of recent court cases are using a new tactic to take on tech platforms, including Snap, Meta, and TikTok. ‘Fast Company’ contributing writer Issie Lapowsky walked us through the complicated legalese behind these cases. Basically, they’re using a novel legal workaround to Section 230 called a ‘product liability claim.’

Rather than faulting these platforms for other people’s posts—the kind of claims Section 230 protects them from—these cases accuse the companies of essentially building faulty products, which is an area of law that Section 230 doesn’t cover.

Also, we sat down with a group of fitness-industry innovators in a fun roundtable discussion about staying fit and nimble during the peak of the pandemic. As a pioneer in the industry, Tracy Anderson created the Tracy Anderson Method more than 20 years ago, as well as offering DVDs, online videos, and exercise studios. Barry's CEO Joey Gonzalez went from client to instructor to eventually become the company’s top executive, and Y7 Studio founder and CEO Sarah Larson Levey created a unique way to practice yoga by candlelight to the beat of a customized soundtrack. We also asked what the trick is to get motivated to work out. Answer: you need to find your own motivation.

For more MIC behind the scenes, check out Yaz at @yazzyg on Instagram and Josh @joshuagchris on TikTok!

Noah Baumbach has been making films for 25 years, but none has caught fire quite like his latest. Marriage Story has been racking up awards nominations in advance of the big ones—the Oscars, where, at the very least, costars Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver are likely to be nominated. In this episode of Creative Conversation, Baumbach dives into the creative choices he made to frame Marriage Story as a film about love, how he barrels through writer's block, why he never yells "Action!" on set, cowriting the upcoming Barbie film—and, of course, Adam Driver's singing.

Listen to the latest episode of Fast Company's podcast Creative Conversation on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Google Play, or Stitcher.