Grubhub. Uber Eats. DoorDash. These third-party food delivery services bring us everything from mom-and-pop pad thai to Big Macs. Third-party restaurant delivery is an estimated $13 billion business today, and some believe online food delivery in general could blossom into a $365 billion industry globally by 2030 when you roll in all aspects of the market, like groceries and pre-made meal kits.

But in some ways, it’s an industry that’s still in its infancy. Forget the tricky business of the “last mile” of delivering a meal–many companies are still figuring out the first few feet. Most restaurants aren’t optimized to have their food picked up; they’re designed for in-person service. Go into any restaurant today, and you’re likely to see a pile of takeout bags, cluttering the counter. Couriers clog the line beside customers. It’s an organizational mess.

“There’s congestion and chaos created by this new operating model that can’t necessarily fit into the space,” says Tim Young, cofounder and CEO of food technology company Eatsa.

The solution, however, could be simpler than we’d think. It may just be shelves–albeit very high-tech ones that Eatsa dubs “Spots.”

So far, the same problem affects small and large restaurants alike. The core challenge is that restaurants are all designed and operated so differently. As a result, Grubhub and Uber Eats both consult with their restaurants one-on-one, offering best practices and advice to incorporate pickups into each unique space. McDonald’s, following its delivery deal with Uber Eats, has to figure out a unique spot for courier food pickups in every single location (14,000+ in the U.S.!), because there’s isn’t just a single footprint for every McDonald’s location. The company tells Fast Company there’s “no system-wide approach” to food pickup, though couriers are free to use the drive-throughs if they prefer. Such ad hoc improvisation is typical across the industry.

In June of last year, Chipotle began testing a new pickup model, for both customers who ordered ahead online and couriers, too. While you used to have to go up to the counter to pick up a remote order, Chipotle installed a plain, wooden shelving unit, placed near the front door of one NYC location, as a test. Food is bagged up, labeled by name, and placed on the shelf. To grab your order, all you have to do is walk in and, well, grab it.

The test was an immediate hit with a measurable impact on Chipotle’s delivery times–which Chipotle claims are “industry leading.”

“The couriers really like the pickup shelves because it allows them to quickly pick up the order without waiting in lines,” a spokesperson explains. Only half a year later, Chipotle has shelves installed in 1,000 of its restaurants, and plans to retrofit all of its stores with shelves within the next six months.

Eatsa hopes to do one better. The company is known for its automated, self-serve quinoa bowl restaurants in San Francisco, and it now licenses much of its ordering and expediting technology to others in the food industry.

Its new product is a small, modular shelf dubbed the Spotlight Pickup System. It’s a minimal U-shaped shelf, powered by a digital back end that can plug into services including Grubhub or Uber Eats.

“You see the orders stacking up on the counter in your average restaurant,” says Young. “For operators, now there’s a very clear place to put them.”

As orders are completed, the shelves light up in front with the customer’s name. (This name doesn’t pop up on a traditional LCD screen, but, rather, a proprietary display technology that creates a more subtle glow that is less distracting in a restaurant atmosphere.) The shelf senses when a bag of food has been placed on it or taken off, and can even alert the manager to an order that has sat there too long, and should maybe be remade.

“A lot of remote ordered food, operators are very worried about quality,” says Young. “Now, they have the ability to notice something has been sitting too long and do something about it.”

Spotlight’s cleverness, however, is not just its connectivity: It’s in its flexibility.

“Each Spot is an individual piece of hardware mounted and tethered together. That means the brand that doesn’t have a lot of space and doesn’t need many can take three. The brand that is doing much higher volume and embracing these delivery services can take 10,” says Young. “And because it’s a modular, very-small-footprint unit, it can be deployed in different ways.”

As Young explains, the average service counter has about four linear feet, which is perfect for storing five or six Spot units. But Spots can also be built into a stacked cubby system. Or they can be mounted on a wall as floating shelves. Or they can be built into a full bookcase shelving unit.

Spotlight is launching with three restaurants in San Francisco, Seattle, and Chicago in the coming weeks, and the technology is now open for any restaurant to license. There’s an upfront cost for the hardware, which runs “maybe a couple thousand” depending on the size of install, according to Young. Then there’s a smaller, ongoing licensing fee.

Eatsa’s platform may be too high tech or expensive for the tight margins of the independently owned restaurant industry (my favorite taqueria still only takes cash and has tables from 1970s), but it’s easy to imagine it scaling to fast-food or fast-casual chains with their copy-and-pasted business models.

“We’re having conversations up and down the spectrum and getting, honestly, a lot of traction across the board,” Young maintains, “because everyone is trying to solve this problem.”

If we’re really going to eat 10 times the delivery tomorrow that we do today, then restaurants may soon need to think about delivery first and dine-in second.

The iPad Pro 2018 is a beautiful device–a thin, perfectly flat slab. Except it’s not perfectly flat in some cases due to a defect in the manufacturing process.

iPad “bendgate” started in the forums of popular Apple fanboy site MacRumors and on social media. A number of users claimed that their new iPad Pros came bent right out of the box. Here is a photo of how this looks by MacRumors forum user MacDonaldTrump, one of the people who posted about the problem:

MacDonaldTrump wondered if “there is a bad batch, or some slipped through quality checks.” Other users speculated if it could be related to the flimsy structure of the new iPad, demonstrated by the bending test below, in which the pressure of two thumbs splits the device in two:

One person wrote to Apple CEO Tim Cook about the problem, and Cook reportedly forwarded the email to Apple’s vice president of hardware engineering Dan Riccio. In his reply to the user, Riccio tacitly admitted that iPads could be bent from the factory but claimed that this was not a problem, as it was well within Apple’s standards:

“Relative to the issue you referenced regarding the new iPad Pro, its unibody design meets or exceeds all of Apple’s high quality standards of design and precision manufacturing.”

But since the price tag for the iPad Pro runs from $900 to $1,900 for the top-of-the-line 12.9-inch LTE-connected model, consumers didn’t buy the argument. Riccio’s reply caused a huge wave of indignation on the internet, with users and journalists accusing Apple of not addressing the issue at all.

So this week Apple released an official response in the form of a technical support document, the publicly available notes that Apple issues to help users or warn them about problems with its products. In it, Apple says that the bending issue affects the iPad Pro equipped with LTE:

“To provide optimal cellular performance, small vertical bands or ‘splits’ in the sides of the iPad allow parts of the enclosure to function as cellular antennas. For the first time ever on an iPad, these bands are manufactured using a process called co-molding. In this high-temperature process, plastic is injected into precisely milled channels in the aluminum enclosure where it bonds to micro-pores in the aluminum surface. After the plastic cools, the entire enclosure is finished with a precision CNC machining operation, yielding a seamless integration of plastic and aluminum into a single, strong enclosure.”

It is during this cooling phase that the iPad bends. Apple claims that the bending can’t exceed more than 400 micron–“the width of fewer than four sheets of paper at most,” which is a “tighter specification for flatness than previous generations,” the note says. The tech note further states that the antenna splits “may make subtle deviations in flatness more visible only from certain viewing angles that are imperceptible during normal use.”

However, as multiple user photos show, the problem is clearly visible regardless of the antenna splits.

Apple finishes the note claiming that the iPad will not further bend during its lifetime due to its manufacturing process, and, as a message to those who are not happy with their bent iPad Pro units, it includes a reminder of the company’s 14-day, no-questions-asked return policy.

Okay. But the fact is that, regardless of Apple’s technical explanations, the LTE iPad’s manufacturing process can result in a defective product. Tablets like Microsoft’s Surface don’t seem to have any of these structural problems. Perhaps Apple doesn’t want to go through the process of having to repair or replace iPads down the line, like it had to do with the bending iPhone 6. Whatever the reasoning, it seems that Apple needs to add another quality assurance problem to its 2019 to-do list.

The start of a new calendar year is a good time to reflect on the previous 12 months and devise a plan to improve things going forward. Whether you experienced a few career mishaps last year or progressed as expected, it never hurts to strive to do better. With that in mind, here are a few critical mistakes you should avoid this year at all costs.

1. Avoiding risks

It’s not easy to step outside your comfort zone and put yourself in a position where you might fail. On the other hand, if you don’t take any risks on the job, you might quickly end up stuck in a rut. The next time a great idea pops into your head, don’t ignore it. Rather, run with it and see where it leads. Even if it doesn’t work out, your boss will likely appreciate your ingenuity.

2. Not continuing to learn

It’s easy enough to coast at work when things are going smoothly. After all, why shake things up when your boss seems pleased with your performance?

But if you don’t push yourself to keep learning and growing professionally, you’re likely to stunt your career growth and miss out on key opportunities to get promoted. So figure out which areas you’re lacking knowledge in and take steps to bridge those gaps, whether it means signing up for courses, attending conferences and seminars, or enlisting the help of a mentor.

3. Getting easily flustered

It’s hard to keep your cool at work when deadlines loom and projects are dumped on you at the last minute. But if you don’t figure out a way to cope with job-related stress, you’re less likely to move forward at your company. As you ease your way into the new year, practice different stress-relief techniques until you find the one that’s most effective for you. At the same time, train your brain to better handle heated situations so that you come off as competent and collected.

4. Neglecting your business relationships

When it comes to furthering your career, the people you know are often just as important, if not more so, than the things you know. That’s why you can’t afford to neglect your business contacts, even if making time for them is challenging in its own right. Though you may not manage to sit down for lunch with your various associates on a monthly basis, you should, at the very least, reach out to each person in your network every few months to check in–especially since you never know when those folks might have a solid job opportunity that’s perfect for you.

5. Allowing yourself to be unhappy at work

It’s an unfortunate fact that a large chunk of workers today are unhappy at their jobs. If you’ve taken steps to make your role better and nothing seems to be doing the trick, don’t resign yourself to another 12 months (or more) of misery. Instead, dust off your resume, reach out to your contacts, and seek out a job that you’ll find more fulfilling. The longer you allow yourself to stay at a job that makes you miserable, the more your performance is likely to suffer, and that’s a good way to hurt your reputation and get yourself fired.

6. Not asking for a raise

Many people shy away from negotiating their salaries at work because they don’t want to come off as greedy or anger their managers. But you know what they say: If you don’t ask, you (often) don’t get.

Furthermore, if you approach that conversation the right way, you can pull it off in a manner that doesn’t damage your relationship with your boss. That means researching salary data so you’re able to present a reasonable number to your manager and going in prepared with a list of reasons why you deserve a boost. Either way, don’t avoid that discussion just because it makes you uncomfortable. In doing so, you’ll not only potentially lose out on money that could’ve been yours, but also create a situation where you might start to resent coming to work.

Now’s the time to evaluate your on-the-job habits and strive to do better. Steer clear of these blunders and with any luck, 2019 will be your most successful one yet.

A version of this article originally appeared on The Motley Fool and is adapted with permission. 

More from The Motley Fool:

• 7 ways to maximize your income 
• Forget Mars: The city of tomorrow will be in Arizona
• 3 in-demand jobs that let you work remotely

Ikea is finally introducing low-cost, motorized smart blinds. Called Fyrtur, the blinds will be available in all of Ikea’s United States stores starting April 1, an Ikea spokeswoman tells Fast Company via email.

The smart blind is made of a “block-out” fabric, an opaque finish that will completely stop sunlight, similar to the fabric used on the existing company’s Tretur manual blinds. (There will also be a translucent version called Kadrilj, but it won’t be available in the U.S.). Ikea started launching smart-home products back in 2017, when it debuted a full line of connected lighting products. The blinds are the next step in its ongoing home automation strategy.

The blinds require no electrical installation whatsoever: They use a lithium-ion battery pack that can be recharged with an USB power brick, which is included in the box. You can also buy additional battery packs if you’re not patient enough to wait for the packs to recharge while they run out of juice. (The company hasn’t provided any figures on expected blind cycles per full charge.)

According to Ikea, you’ll be able to control the blinds independently or as a group, so you can raise or lower all the shades in the living room or bedroom at the same time. To do so, you’ll need the included wireless remote or–when paired to Tradfi, Ikea’s own smart home Wi-Fi hub–any phone or tablet that supports Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Ikea’s own Tradfri app.

There’s no official price yet, but in Europe they’ll go for between $113 and $181, with sizes ranging from the width of an average window up to 76.8 inches wide.

This morning, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos tweeted a screenshot of a written statement from him and his wife, MacKenzie. “[A]fter a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends,” the message said.

pic.twitter.com/Gb10BDb0x0

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) January 9, 2019

The two had been married for 25 years. Last year, the couple announced their first joint philanthropic effort–which pledged $2 billion to build preschools and help homeless families. According to the statement, the two will remain “partners in ventures and projects.”

We’ll see how long it takes until either begin making public appearances with new partners.

The recent backlash against Victoria’s Secret’s annual fashion show reveals that women want more from brands that market to them. For years, women’s underwear, tights, and shapewear was designed for the male gaze, rather than women’s comfort. These pieces were marketed as a way to make women appear sexier and skinnier to their partners.

But times are changing. Underwear brands like Thirdlove and Lively are rejecting that approach to marketing and product design, and now a British tights brand called Heist joins them.

Beyond product, Heist markets itself as a brand that puts women first. Heist ads feature women of all body shapes and ethnicities in movement to show that the garments are comfortable and stay put, even in the midst of an active lifestyle.

The brand recently launched a bodysuit called The Outer Body designed to take 5 centimeters off your waist. It’s tricky to sell shapewear in a female-empowering way, given that the point of it is to make women look skinnier. Heist makes the case that this is a product that women themselves are asking for. After surveying 1,025 women, the brand came to the conclusion that there is still strong demand for shapewear, but women are looking for pieces that are more comfortable. This is what Fairhurst has tried to create: “We wanted to give women . . . bodywear that’s designed to move with the body, not against it,” she says.

Last year, we saw a number of cultural changes propelled by the #MeToo movement. In the year since the sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein surfaced, more than 200 men accused of sexual misconduct have lost their jobs; many of their replacements were women. Hollywood heavyweights launched Time’s Up at the start of 2018, to draw attention to women who face sexual misconduct in blue-collar workplaces and offer them financial support through a legal defense fund; the initiative has already raised $22 million and pledged to fund 51 cases. The advocacy group RAINN has seen a 30% jump in calls to its sexual assault hotline since late 2017—and the day after Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee was its busiest in more than two decades.

As Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey—the New York Times reporters behind the Weinstein investigation—noted recently, the reckoning continues to unfold and gather nuance. “Now, even after a year of painful memories, cascades of firings, widespread outrage, criticism from the president, and a fight over a Supreme Court seat,” they wrote, “we have only one firm prediction: This discussion over harassment and assault has no end in sight.” Here are some of the ways that discussion may bring about change in 2019.

The tech industry will protect more vulnerable workers

The tech industry had a major #MeToo moment in fall 2018, when more than 20,000 Google employees around the world staged a walkout to protest the company’s payouts to executives accused of sexual harassment. The walkout organizers assembled a list of demands that stretched beyond issues of sexual misconduct and included a request to end Google’s policy of forced private arbitration in cases of sexual harassment. The week after the walkout, Google decided to scrap its forced arbitration policy for sexual harassment claims. Prominent tech companies like Facebook and Airbnb followed suit, while the likes of Apple and Uber had previously taken action.

Vaya Consulting CEO Nicole Sanchez, who helps tech companies diversify their workforces, says that the change will encourage other smaller tech outfits to do the same. “Once some of the bigger companies change their policies like that, it does take a while for it to trickle out to the rest of Silicon Valley, in part because the Googles and Facebooks of the world can take the financial risk,” she says. “It will take a while for it to hit startups and mid-sized companies. But I still think it means good things to come for people at all companies.”

While ending forced arbitration is a big step in the right direction, it still largely protects a more privileged class of tech workers. “The concern I have is that it’s still very much about a class of workers that is vulnerable but isn’t the most vulnerable in tech,” she says. Contract workers, who are a key part of the tech workforce, and the workers who support the industry—the janitorial staff at their offices, for example—have not necessarily been a part of the conversation. “Even when we talk about pay equity for women, generally the movement has not adequately talked about and pushed forward an agenda around the lowest-paid women in the workforce,” she says.

In 2019, Sanchez hopes there will be more solidarity between the different classes of tech employees and more of “an alliance of women from all backgrounds” to push for protections for women who are most susceptible to workplace abuses. The organizers of the Google walkout have already called for changes to contractors’ pay and extending them the same benefits and protections. (Though Google dropped its forced arbitration policy, it did not extend to contractors and only applied to sexual harassment claims.) Sanchez also believes that until non-disclosure agreements stop conflating the personal—the “how I was treated at the company” portion—with the part that fairly protects a company’s intellectual property, many workers will remain vulnerable. “Until it goes, there is not a lot of incentive for companies to change their culture,” she says. “As long as you know you can pay for it to go away, it will persist.”

Service industries may move beyond shifting culture

One thing gives Sanchez hope. As the tech industry (slowly) diversifies, she sees more people shifting their focus to those more vulnerable workers. “If you take my background for example, I’m Latina and my parents were service workers,” Sanchez says. “I now am able to bring the conversation about humanizing the janitorial staff into an executive boardroom.” She hopes 2019 will bring more open communication with service workers and, as such, tangible protections for them. 

While the last year or so has seen a handful of improvements in working culture for women across the restaurant and hospitality industries, progress has been slow—or tamped down by a resistance to more sweeping changes or consequences for abusers. The One Fair Wage campaign, which seeks to eliminate the sub-minimum wage for restaurant workers, claimed a victory in New York in 2017 but met with pushback in Washington, D.C. and Michigan despite being voted into law. (One Fair Wage had previously been adopted by eight states.) Many restaurant owners have shifted their stance on restaurant culture, rather than accepting sexual misconduct in the workplace as routine or par for the course; some women restaurateurs have made a concerted effort to offer more flexibility in scheduling for working moms and hire inclusively. At the same time, however, male restaurateurs accused of sexual misconduct are angling for a comeback—and some restaurant workers are forced to work for a sullied restaurateur so they can stay employed. 

In the hotel industry, the most popular preventive measure for the sexual harassment of workers and housekeepers is a panic button, which have slowly been adopted by hotels across the U.S. through company policies and legislation. Unlike in other industries, however, hotels have refused to penalize guests accused of misconduct, in the interest of safeguarding their guests’ right to “due process.”

This is, of course, some form of the debate countless people have had over the last year, over sexual misconduct and the court of public opinion. But as more hotels standardize the panic button—in late 2018, the Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and 14 other chains pledged to roll out the device in all their hotels by 2020—they may find that empowering hotel workers isn’t enough to change workplace culture or the power dynamic embedded in their interactions with hotel guests. 

California workplaces could become friendlier for women

As the epicenter of both Hollywood and the tech industry, California is indeed making moves to better shield employees from workplace abuses. California governor Jerry Brown has signed into law multiple bills that go into effect in 2019, many of which should curb the power of nondisclosure agreements. One of those bills outlaws nondisclosure clauses in settlements that involve sexual misconduct or discrimination; in other words, anyone who settles cannot be forced to remain silent about the abuses they faced. That includes barring any fines that might prevent women from testifying, as was the case for McKayla Maroney, one of the gymnasts who was sexually abused by Larry Nassar. Another bill will prevent companies from forcing employees to sign away their legal right to disclose sexual harassment in the workplace as a term of employment or in exchange for a raise or promotion.

But some people worry that the new laws could make it more difficult for victims of sexual misconduct to procure settlements. Without the promise of confidentiality, some abusers may be less willing to settle or negotiate. “Yeah, the law passed and the public has a right to know, but some of this is not going to be positive for victims,” famed attorney Gloria Allred told the Los Angeles Times recently. A confidential settlement can benefit both parties, if a victim wants to avoid a drawn-out, expensive lawsuit and retain anonymity during the settlement proceedings.

Another bill passed in California attempts to address the paltry number of women on corporate boards, by requiring that all publicly traded companies instate at least one woman on their board by the end of 2019 (and three by 2021). Though well-intentioned, this bill could also prove complicated in practice: Since the bill more or less sets a quota, it could be challenged on a legal basis. It also may not apply to many companies if they are not entirely based in California, which means it may not amount to meaningful change. When it comes to high-profile companies that might be affected, for example, only Apple would be required to change its board makeup by 2021.

The changes to California law make for some of the most sweeping policies in the U.S. around sexual harassment. But they also illustrate how complex it can be to offer legal support to victims of sexual discrimination and harassment, or even to address the root of the problem—a dearth of female leadership in the higher ranks and overall gender equity.

Productivity is always a hot topic, and you can find a plethora of tips and tools to help you get more done. If your workspace is running interference with your intentions, however, you could be derailing yourself without even knowing it. While certain elements seem like they’re fixed, almost anything can be changed in a space to help improve your productivity, says Anja Jamrozik, PhD, behavioral scientist and consultant for the flexible workspace provider Breather.

“The workspace is an underappreciated factor,” she says. “Everyone notices a loud coworker in the moment, for example, but on a broader scale, we often don’t pay enough attention to how it might impact us over the whole workday, week, or year.”

Jamrozik says your workspace can impact your productivity, performance, satisfaction, and mood. To maximize it requires two steps.

Match the space to the task

First, pay attention to the type of task you’re doing, and make sure your workspace supports it instead of making it more difficult. Different workspaces are good for different tasks, says Jamrozik.

“It’s easier to understand this when you think of the home environment,” she says. “You wouldn’t entertain in your laundry room, for example. In the office, it’s the same. The two most common types of tasks are focused work and collaborative work, and they need spaces that prioritize and optimize the setting for each.”

Open floor plans can be a challenge, so do what you can to mitigate the damage. For example, to take phone calls, you need space away from your desk so you won’t distract colleagues. You also need to define areas for collaboration.

At project management software platform Basecamp, for example, the company has library rules in its open-space corporate offices as well as rooms where collaboration happens.

“Libraries are really open-plan offices. Everybody knows how to behave in a library. They’re reading, studying, and thinking. We treat the office like a library, making quiet the norm,” CEO Jason Fried told Fast Company in 2018.

Having different spaces for different kinds of work can increase satisfaction and performance, says Jamrozik. “Take advantage of what you have, and move to an area that fits your task,” she says.

Then strive for comfort

The second step for improving productivity is paying attention to how the environment affects your comfort level. People perform a lot better when they’re comfortable, and several elements have an impact.

One factor is temperature. “When you’re cold, you could be distracted thinking about it,” says Jamrozik. “It can impact how you physically work if you’re typing and your fingers are cold or stiff.”

If you can’t control the temperature in your office, create your own environment. “You could bring in a heating element for chair, or if you run hot, bring a small personal desk fan,” she says. “The change in temperature will impact how you’re feeling.”

Lighting also plays a role. “If you have to deal with glare, for example, you can get a headache and not be able to focus,” says Jamrozik. “Task lighting can optimize your workspace, and even certain light bulbs give you a more alert feeling.”

Simply swapping out a warm white light bulb can significantly increase alertness levels, while using a cool white or artificial daylight bulb are most beneficial for computer-based tasks, according to a study published in Procedia Social and Behavioural Sciences.

Another option is moving around the office to improve lighting, adds Jamrozik. “Working closer to a window will give you the benefits of natural lighting,” she says. “Focus on doing what you can within a large environment.”

Another way to boost your productivity is to add plants to your workspace. A study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology found that plants can increase employee productivity by 15%.

“If you don’t have a green thumb, bringing elements that remind you of nature have the same affect,” says Jamrozik. “Display a print that has natural texture or photo of nature.”

Personalizing your space also increases your comfort, but the degree to which your desk decor matters depends on the work you do, says Jamrozik.

“If you are externally mobile and out meeting clients, you likely spend less time at your desk, and surroundings can be more neutral,” she says.

The “hot-desking” shared workspace trend can affect your ability to personalize your work area, but it’s still possible, says Jamrozik.

“Initial research on hot desking may be that an employee’s feeling of territory or ownership of the space takes a hit, but having furniture that can be changed can help,” she says. “For example, if I have a desk or chair I can raise and lower, it helps me feel like I have my own space rather than just a seat at a table.”

Finally, decide how (or if) you attack clutter. Stacks of papers or an abundance of stuff on a work surface can impact productivity, but in different ways for different personalities.

“Extroverted people prefer more visual information in their space,” says Jamrozik. “An introverted person, however, would want a more sparse environment. It depends on the person.”

Remember how California was ravaged with the most devastating wildfires in state history last year? The fires captured headlines for weeks as firefighters battled blazes on both ends of the state, people ran for their lives, thousands lost their homes and belongings, and the state lost tens of thousands of acres of forest land. In the wake of that tragedy and loss, millions of people across the country opened their hearts and wallets to help the communities recover from the devastation.

Now comes noted forestry management professional and president of the United States Donald Trump, who has decided that the best response to help the state rebuild and recover is to threaten it by withholding FEMA funds. The president claims that the state is not properly managing their land, unlike Finland, where they rake the forest floor–at least according to Trump.

“Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money,” Trump tweeted.

In his initial tweet, Trump spelled the word “forest” with two Rs, apparently not in reference to Forrest Gump.

Trump’s tweet is already receiving blowback from some California officials, including Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), who tweeted, “We should work together to mitigate these fires by combating climate change, not play politics by threatening to withhold money from survivors of a deadly natural disaster.”

Californians endured the deadliest wildfire in our state’s history last year. We should work together to mitigate these fires by combating climate change, not play politics by threatening to withhold money from survivors of a deadly natural disaster. pic.twitter.com/uMopf0Z05i

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 9, 2019

Bayard Winthrop, founder of apparel brand American Giant, sometimes grows nostalgic when he thinks about his father’s blue jeans.

Growing up in the 1970s and ’80s, he remembers how his dad owned just a few pairs of denim pants. To Winthrop, they represented an iconic American artifact, a trouser hardy enough to survive life on the frontier. Back then, the jeans–made by brands like Levi’s, Lee, and Wrangler–were also largely manufactured in the United States as well.

By the time Winthrop was himself a father, most brands were no longer making their jeans in the country. In the 1990s, when free trade agreements set in, much of the U.S.’s apparel manufacturing industry was shipped overseas, where labor was cheaper. Winthrop was familiar with this reality: He spent the early part of his career working for sporting goods companies, where he frequently went to Shenzhen, China, to see how snowshoes and ski jackets were made.

In 2011, Winthrop struck out on his own to launch American Giant. His goal was to create a company that made durable, long-lasting products that stood in stark contrast to the cheap products that were being pumped out by the fast fashion industry, epitomized by brands like H&M, Zara, and Forever21. Winthrop wanted customers to have better alternatives for their casual everyday clothes, like T-shirts, hoodies, and pants. At the heart of his dream was a desire to make a great pair of American-made jeans, like the kind he recalled from his childhood.

The long, winding road toward finishing the jeans illuminates how difficult it can be to design and manufacture durable clothes in an industry that has been largely driven by the enormous fast-fashion conglomerates for the last two decades.

“This wasn’t really an act of patriotism”

When he launched his startup, Winthrop’s goal was to create sturdy, carefully designed pieces of clothing that would withstand years of wear and tear. He brought on a creative director, Philipe Manoux, who had previously worked at Apple to help build a design team, and a design process, that involved the level of prototyping and iterating more common in technology than in clothing design. (Manoux has since left the company.) Winthrop made a decision early on to make the products in the United States, which would come with challenges, since there were very few apparel manufacturing factories left stateside.

“This wasn’t really an act of patriotism,” Winthrop says. “I care about American workers, but workers in China also have families. This was more about being able to have the supply chain close by, so I could make sure we were never cutting corners with quality.”

The last few years have involved locating production facilities that had the expertise to make the brand’s product line. American Giant now works with seven facilities throughout the United States, in cities like Oakland, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. American Giant now owns three of these factories, including one in Middlesex, North Carolina, which now employs between 150 to 250 sewers at any given time.

“To be frank, you need the butt to look good,” he says. “That takes a lot of careful design.”

Winthrop decided to shelve the denim project to focus on products that would be easier to nail, like T-shirts, jackets, and button-downs. American Giant became famous for its hoodie, which has been described as “the greatest hoodie ever made” by tech writer Farhad Manjoo.

But by 2016, Winthrop was ready put blue jeans back on the agenda.

Building the perfect blue jean

Winthrop wanted to design jeans that were classic and not too trendy–so they could be worn for a long time–but he also wanted them to fit well and flatter the body.

American Giant created its own custom denim by working with Mount Vernon Mills, a company with 13 production facilities throughout the south. Partnering with its specialized denim plants based in the tiny Georgia towns of Trion and Alto, Winthrop created two separate materials, one for the men’s jeans and the other for women’s. Both blend cotton with polyester and spandex, but the women’s jeans also include some tencel, a sustainable fabric made from wood that makes the jeans a little softer and more malleable, for a closer fit. (This also means the women’s jeans are $10 more than the men’s.)

Over the last few years, more apparel brands have chosen to make their products in L.A. There are many reasons for this shift, including that it allows brands to place smaller orders than at most overseas factories, allowing them to better respond to customer demand. It also enables them to keep a closer eye on quality, and turn around new designs faster.

But the fast growth of this sector has also come with problems. An expose in the Los Angeles Timesrevealed that fast fashion brands like Forever 21, Ross Dress for Less, Marshalls, and TJ Maxx were relying on factories that paid workers $6 an hour, well under the minimum wage. Workers also complained of poor working conditions and impossible targets that often involved making 700 shirts a day. In other words, making products in the United States doesn’t always guarantee that workers are treated well, and that the quality of the manufacturing remains high.

Winthrop is not under any illusion that U.S. factories are a kind of utopia for workers. In his experience, there is a lot of variation in the quality of factories not just in the United States, but also in China. “I visited many factories in Shenzhen where workers were treated well, and the quality of the production was very good,” he says.

The benefit, then, of working with U.S. factories, is simply that it is easier to visit them, and keep a close eye on both the treatment of workers and how carefully the products are made. Winthrop says he spends a lot of his time traversing the country to see what is happening on the ground in American Giant’s partner factories. And ultimately, he points out that the quality of the final product is often directly tied to worker happiness and safety. At factories that American Giant owns, the company offers above-market wages and benefit packages, and offer opportunities to grow their skill sets through training programs, if they’re interested.

Before sending the jeans into production, American Giant’s design team found dozens of testers around the country, in keeping with the company’s product development process. Over the years, the team has put together a list of these testers: Some are loyal customers, others are friends of the people who work at the company. They receive early prototypes made in different cuts, or from different materials. Wearers provide minute feedback. For instance, early versions of the men’s jeans were slightly wider than the final pair, giving them a baggier fit. But in the end, American Giant’s base seemed to want jeans that were rugged, but also well-fitting; roomy, but also flattering.

The jeans are the culmination of Winthrop’s work over the last decade, but he’s now setting his sights on making other classic, durable American garments, like yarn-dyed flannel, which hasn’t been made in the United States in 40 years, and belts sourced from local leather.

“I really believe the days of fast fashion are numbered,” Winthrop says. “Our business proves that there are lots of people who don’t want to fill their closets with disposable garbage, but want clothes that will last years, decades even. They’re just searching for garments that will actually last that long. “

Last night, U.S. President Donald Trump took to the national airwaves in an attempt to defend his decision to shut down the government in order to get funding for a Mexican border wall. All the major news outlets aired his speech, as well as a rebuttal directly afterward from Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.

Early ratings data gave a pretty clear message about which portion people were more interested in: It seems a higher concentration of Americans were interested in the Democrats’ response than Trump’s speech. Fox Sports executive vice president Michael Mulvihill tweeted out the audience numbers:

Combined overnight ratings of seven national networks:

9-9:15, including President Trump’s address to the nation: 28.1 rating / 45 share

9:15-9:30, including Pelosi/Schumer response: 29.3 rating / 47 share

— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) January 9, 2019

Last night’s Democratic response (9:15-9:30) outrated the POTUS address (9-9:15) by +26% on CNN, +15% on MSNBC, +3% on ABC.

POTUS speech outrated Dem response by +3% on CBS.

The two rated equally on NBC, FOX, FNC.

— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) January 9, 2019

Essentially, this data shows that, on CNN, MSNBC, and ABC, the time periods when Pelosi and Schumer were on screen rated higher than during Trump’s time slot. For NBC, Fox, and Fox News, the two time-slots’ ratings were the same. The only channel that had higher ratings for Trump was CBS.

This could be a blow to Trump, whose strategy has been to catch the eyes of Americans with his media theatrics. The numbers indicate that people may be growing tired of his antics, and instead are more interested in what the opposition has to say.

We’ll have to see if Trump responds directly to these ratings. If he does, it won’t make for a pretty tweet.

As we kick-start the new year, it seems that every conversation we have about the future of business centers around automation, artificial intelligence, chatbots, and the like. All of these innovations streamline our ability to connect with our coworkers, our customers, and our broader communities. However, they move us even further away from real human connection with the people who matter most.

These days, customers are more likely to interact with bots than with humans. Coworkers often work at home as part of distributed teams, and community organizations talk to their members more often on social media than in person. We can’t turn back the clock on progress but we can–and should–counteract the harmful elements of these (mostly positive) innovations with a conscious effort to be more human in every aspect of our day-to-day lives.

This isn’t just about the need for more human contact. The thing is, real engagement is good for business. In fact, it can be your competitive advantage when everyone else is focusing on bots and AI. Here’s how we can all be more human in 2019:

Emphasize human connection with employees

A growing percentage of the global workforce is working remotely. The 2017 State of Telecommuting in the U.S. Employee Workforce Report revealed that 3.9 million U.S. employees (2.9% of the U.S. workforce) spend at least half of their working hours at home. That’s a 115% increase since 2005.

“Technology has created the illusion of connection, but overuse and misuse of it has made us less productive, less engaged, and lonelier,” says Dan Schawbel, author of Back to Human: How Great Leaders Create Connection in the Age of Isolation. While technology is changing how we work, it’s also eroding our connection to coworkers.

“Remote workers are much less likely to say they want a long-term career at their companies,” says Schawbel. To solve that issue, he suggests that companies should let remote workers lead team meetings. He says, “They feel like they belong because they’re empowered.” Schawbel referred to two global companies that have dedicated travel budgets for managers to visit remote employees. If that sounds extravagant, consider that the cost of replacing an employee can be up to $10,000. That makes a few round-trip airfares sound like a bargain.

But even companies that don’t have a significant number of remote workers can fall victim to technology overload. That’s why it’s essential for them to create more socialized work environments. That can involve something as simple as celebrating birthdays or as elaborate as scheduling volunteer opportunities for the staff to do together. When employees interact outside of work, they form stronger bonds with each other. That translates into more loyalty and higher retention.

Re-humanize customer service

There’s no stopping the AI freight train. According to a study done by Narrative Science, 61% of businesses implemented AI in 2017, compared to just 38% in 2016.

But chatbots can’t win over customer loyalty. That comes from the happy by-product of the kind of human-to-human interaction where knowledgeable and empowered customer service professionals solve problems for people creatively and quickly. Not only that, but those professionals tailor solutions to individual needs. Think of companies like Zappos, Ritz-Carlton, JetBlue, and Trader Joe’s. None of them became customer-service rock stars by building bots.

In contrast, your mobile carrier is probably pretty low on your customer-service love list. Or maybe not. Last August, T-Mobile CEO John Legere announced that the time he spent listening to both sides of the company’s customer service calls had led to a new initiative called “Team of Experts.” No more bots, he announced. Instead, each customer will be assigned a team of 30-40 agents who live in their region, understand local concerns, and, over time, build relationships with callers. Customers can also schedule a call in advance, or message their team via the T-Mobile app. The change, said T-Mobile COO Mike Sievert, was made to tear down the “massive digital fortress between you and the people who can help you.”

Companies in every industry should take note: This is the kind of concierge-level service that customers long for and that can give brands a competitive edge.

Create emotional connections with your community

Every brand has a community–both online and off–and brands make a strategic error if they only connect with their community’s members when there’s a problem. Brands need to stay engaged and connected consistently by practicing the kind of constant generosity that creates strong emotional connections with their broader communities.

Shortly after I sold my first home, a package from our Realtor arrived at our new home, several states away. She had commissioned an artist to paint a watercolor of our former house, the place where my wife and I had our children. It’s a reminder of where we started, and who helped us through the emotional journey. That Realtor is getting rave reviews from my family.

The online pet retailer, Chewy, sends handwritten holiday cards to customers and sends sympathy gifts when a pet dies. Sure, it’s over-the-top and probably pretty expensive. But in April 2017, Chewy was acquired by PetSmart for $3.35 billion.

The point is, sending a few handwritten notes might not directly lead to an increase in valuation, but you’ll be well on your way to distributing a strong message to your community that your company is filled with living, breathing humans who care about other humans. And in this hyper-digital world that we all now live in, that’s what’s going to set your business apart in the long-term.

Ryan Paugh is the COO of The Community Company, an organization that builds community-driven programs for media companies and global brands. He is also the coauthor of Superconnector: Stop Networking and Start Building Business Relationships That Matter.

Facebook and Google grab headlines for their roles in the massively profitable “personal data economy.” You know, the business of buying and selling your personal browsing habits to advertisers, pollsters, and other deep-pocketed third parties.

But cell phone companies deserve some attention, too.

Last year, news broke that your cellphone service provider is probably selling access to your real-time location. After it came out, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon sent a letter demanding that the FCC investigate why the third-party organization Securus Technologies was able to track any phone “within seconds” by using data obtained from cell phone companies, including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint, through an intermediary called LocationSmart.

In the wake of Wyden’s inquiry, most of the major cell phone companies claimed to have taken action. For instance, AT&T vowed to “protect customer data” and “shut down” Securus’s access to its real-time store of customer location data. T-Mobile chief executive John Legere tweeted at the time that he “personally evaluated the issue” and promised that the company “will not sell customer location data to shady middlemen.”

Sounds like word hasn’t gotten to you, @ronwyden. I’ve personally evaluated this issue & have pledged that @tmobile will not sell customer location data to shady middlemen. Your consumer advocacy is admirable & we remain committed to consumer privacy. https://t.co/UPx3Xjhwog

— John Legere (@JohnLegere) June 19, 2018

Those companies may not be living up to their promises, though.

New reporting by Motherboard shows that while companies may have severed ties with LocationSmart, most of them overlooked the other big player in the location-tracking business, Zumigo. Motherboard paid a bond company $300 to track down one of their reporters using only a phone number. The bounty hunter quickly obtained the reporter’s location using Zumigo’s location data from his T-Mobile phone. Zumigo, in turn, reportedly shares information with Microbilt, a third-party organization akin to Securus. According to Motherboard, “Microbilt shared that data with a customer using its mobile phone tracking product. The bounty hunter then shared this information with a bail industry source, who shared it with Motherboard.”

Sounds like word hasn’t gotten to you, @ronwyden. I’ve personally evaluated this issue & have pledged that @tmobile will not sell customer location data to shady middlemen. Your consumer advocacy is admirable & we remain committed to consumer privacy. https://t.co/UPx3Xjhwog

— John Legere (@JohnLegere) June 19, 2018

While they didn’t test the other companies, Microbilt’s product documentation suggested it would work on AT&T and Verizon as well as T-Mobile. For its part, T-Mobile told Motherboard it “does not have a direct relationship” with Microbilt, but admitted one with Zumigo.

In a tweet, Wyden called T-Mobile and Legere to task for failing to live up to Legere’s pledge not “to sell customer location data to shady middlemen.”

Major carriers pledged to end these practices, but it appears to have been more empty promises to consumers. It’s time for Congress to take action by passing my bill to safeguard consumer data and hold companies accountable. https://t.co/CKQJ04C3XX

— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) January 8, 2019

When reached for comment, T-Mobile directed us to Legere’s Twitter feed, where he wrote that the company has “blocked access to device location data for any request submitted by Zumigo on behalf of Microbilt” and that the company is nearly finished with the process of “terminating the agreements” it has with third-dfparty data aggregators.

I keep my word, @RonWyden. T-Mobile IS completely ending location aggregator work. We’re doing it the right way to avoid impacting consumers who use these types of services for things like emergency assistance. It will end in March, as planned and promised.

— John Legere (@JohnLegere) January 9, 2019

When someone overdoses on heroin or fentanyl, a simple shot of naloxone can save their life. But if they happen to be alone or with friends who can’t tell that something is wrong, they probably won’t survive. Each day, an average of 115 Americans die from opioid overdose.

A new app called Second Chance uses a smartphone to detect the symptoms of an overdose. When someone’s phone sits on a table or sofa up to three feet away, the app can monitor their breathing and movement. The app isn’t yet publicly available, but it will likely alert users when it detects a problem, and if it doesn’t get a response, automatically dial 911.

It uses sound waves to work: The smartphone speaker emits inaudible sound signals, which bounce off someone’s chest as they breathe. The phone’s microphone records the echoes of that sound, and using that data, an algorithm can monitor someone’s breathing and note when it slows or stops. The app can also monitor movement and register when someone becomes motionless.

“The idea here is we are transforming the phone into an active sonar system,” says Rajalakshmi Nandakumar, a PhD candidate at the University of Washington’s school of computer science and engineering and one of the authors of a new study that demonstrated the app’s effectiveness.

The researchers studied participants at a supervised injection facility in Vancouver as they developed and tested the app. When the participants experienced “dangerous breathing”–a rate of seven or fewer breaths a minute, or prolonged periods where breathing stopped–the app correctly identified the emergency 90% of the time.

The real-world testing helped ensure that the app could truly be useful. “Measuring these events is really, really challenging, as you can imagine–when someone’s having an overdose, acute respiratory failure, this is a life-threatening emergency,” says coauthor Jacob Sunshine, an assistant professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. “So it was unique that we were able to access people who were engaging in these high-risk activities in a safe environment.” Since overdoses are relatively rare at the facility, the researchers focused on identifying the changes in breathing that are a precursor for overdose. They also tested the app in an operating room, where anesthesiologists routinely use opioids during operations.

With proof that the idea works, the researchers are now designing the user interface.  The developers note that the app respects privacy–it’s based on inaudible sounds, and doesn’t record conversations or any other private data. The researchers are currently working on FDA approval. “We are hoping that given the importance of the problem and how accessible [the solution] is–all you need is an app–that the FDA can fast-track the process,” says Shyam Gollakota, an associate professor at the University of Washington’s school of computer science and engineering.

WHAT: The trailer for Universal Pictures’ Little

WHO: Marsai Martin, Issa Rae, and Regina Hall

WHY WE CARE: At just 14 years old, Marsai Martin (Black-ish) is executive producing and starring in her first studio feature Little, a film based on her idea that riffs on the 1988 Tom Hanks classic Big. Little stars Regina Hall as Jordan Sanders, a tyrannical, overworked executive who leaves nothing but misery in her wake, especially for her assistant, April (Issa Rae). Jordan gets a second chance to relive her childhood when a curse transforms her into her younger self (Martin).

Martin has become a breakout star of ABC’s hit show Black-ish, earning two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series–and it’s clear she’s ready for the big screen with some big names supporting her. Little is written and directed by Tina Gordon Chism (What Men Want, Drumline, Peeples) and co-produced by Will Packer (Girls Trip, Night School) and Black-ish creator and recent Netflix acquisition Kenya Barris.

As you probably recall, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is part of the U.S. federal government. And as you probably also know, part of the U.S. federal government is shut down. That means the inspectors who work for the FDA have been furloughed, making it much harder for them to inspect the 80% of the nation’s food supply that they oversee.

FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb told the Washington Post the agency “has suspended all routine inspections of domestic food-processing facilities,” but is working on a plan that could let inspections of high-risk facilities (think: soft cheese and seafood) resume as early as next week.

Nonprofit advocacy group the Center for Science in the Public Interest described the reductions as “unacceptable,” and it’s hard to disagree when you consider the recent uptick in recalls, with foods including turkey, Duncan Hines cake mix, ground beef, Ritz crackers, Goldfish crackers, McDonald’s salads, Hy-vee meat products, Swiss rolls, romaine lettuce, blood pressure medication, and Kellogg’s Honey Smacks.

Be careful flashing your dead deer on Bumble.

Cannon Harrison was just looking for a love match, but ended up having to work overtime when his Bumble connection started bragging about poaching.

It all started when Harrison matched on Bumble with a hunter, who decided that the best way to ramp up from awkward small talk to wedding planning was to brag about shooting “a bigo buck,” according to Tulsa World. Harrison was intrigued and asked the woman a few more questions about her hobby. Turns out she shot the deer after using a spotlight to make it freeze and then sent Harrison some more details and images of her holding the very dead, very biggo buck to prove it.

While the woman may have been swooning over finding someone just as interested in killing harmless animals as she was, Harrison was more interested in her professionally. He’s a game warden for Oklahoma’s Department of Wildlife Conservation, after all, and she had just admitted to poaching.

Harrison told the Washington Post that at first he thought the woman was pranking him, since everyone in town knows he is the game warden and teasing could be a great way to spark a romance. Once he realized she wasn’t joking, he tracked down her identity on social media and sent the game wardens to her property the next morning.

The Oklahoma Game Wardens posted the exchange on its Facebook page (along with deer snuff pics): “As Game Wardens our personal lives are often blurred into our professional lives,” the post reads. “This is often the case when it comes to social media, personal cell phones, and now dating apps….”

According to the post, the woman pled guilty and paid multiple fines.

Hopefully Harrison at least got paid overtime.

John Lasseter, the director of Toy Story and Cars and the creative executive who ran Pixar and Walt Disney Animation until #MeToo revelations led to his suspension and then departure, will be the new head of Skydance Animation, a division of David Ellison’s Skydance Media company. 

The news comes less than a year after Lasseter stepped down from Disney following accusations of misconduct with female employees. Since his departure last summer, Lasseter virtually disappeared from Hollywood and Silicon Valley, where Pixar is based, but had resurfaced in recent months, reportedly having a two-hour meeting with Ari Emanuel, the co-head of Endeavor, and making appearances around his Northern California home.

Sources say he feels betrayed by Disney’s decision not to allow him to return after his months-long sabbatical and that he did not feel his behavior merited career exile. 

His contract with Disney ended at the end of December 2018, so there had been speculation that he would resurface. Until Wednesday’s announcement, though, first reported by the Hollywood Reporter, it was unclear if and where he would land. 

The connection with Skydance isn’t entirely surprising. Ellison is the son of Oracle cofounder and billionaire Larry Ellison, and has said that the late Steve Jobs–who cofounded Pixar–was a mentor. In an interview with Slash Film, Ellison said that the philosophy at Skydance “was really derived from Pixar . . . I literally got to see Pixar built from the ground up when I was a kid. And that creative process they have over there . . . Those rooms are unbelievable. They have a group of tremendous filmmakers that are all incredibly honest with one another about exactly what they think, which allows them to really elevate the work.” 

In a letter to employees, Ellison wrote: “I know many of you are aware of John’s admitted mistakes in his prior role helming those studios. John has been forthright in taking ownership of his behavior, apologized for his actions, and has spent the past year on sabbatical analyzing and improving his workplace behavior.”

He also said that Skydance had hired an outside counsel “to thoroughly investigate the allegations, which we considered serious and have warranted our full attention as we made this important decision.” He said that Skydance’s senior leadership team and I had “carefully evaluated the findings of this extensive investigation.

Let me be clear: we have not entered into this decision lightly.

While we would never minimize anyone’s subjective views on behavior, we are confident after many substantive conversations with John, and as the investigation has affirmed, that his mistakes have been recognized. We are certain that John has learned valuable lessons and is ready to prove his capabilities as a leader and a colleague. And he has given his assurance that he will comport himself in a wholly professional manner that is the expectation of every Skydance colleague and partner.

Ellison formed Skydance in 2010 but has maintained a quiet presence in Hollywood, as has his sister, Megan Ellison, founder of Annapurna Pictures. But unlike his sibling, whose company is struggling after a string of high-budget flops, David Ellison has had a steadier track record. Skydance has been a cofinancing partner with Paramount on such action franchises as Star Trek and Mission: Impossible, and it was a producer on the hit Amazon series Jack Ryan as well as Netflix’s Grace and Frankie. 

Last year, Skydance began beefing up its animation division with new hires. It has said that it wants to develop and produce a slate of high-end feature films and TV series in partnership with Spain’s Ilion Animation Studios. Its first two features are Luck, which will be released in 2021, and Split. 

The big question now is how much talent Lasseter will bring with him from Pixar and Disney. Although he has detractors, he still has a cadre of loyalists. Sources say Disney has been locking down animation folks under long-term contracts ever since Lasseter’s departure. It’s unclear whether that has been happening at Pixar, where the company has traditionally not had most employees on contract.

A nonprofit trade association whose members include some of the largest corporations in the nation increased its political donations by more than 18,000% in 2017, including a $6 million contribution to a dark money organization with ties to former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI).

The contribution by the Business Roundtable occurred as its primary beneficiary, the American Action Network, was spending at least $28 million to push for passage of the most favorable tax legislation for corporations in a generation. The roundtable, which gave $39,500 in grants during the 2016 tax year, contributed more than $7.2 million in 2017, according to tax records obtained by MapLight.

The splurge on the Republican-sponsored bill, which cut taxes by $1.5 trillion, underscores the disparity in benefits for corporate and individual taxpayers. In the year since the overhaul passed, corporations have announced plans to repurchase $1 trillion in stock. Workers, meanwhile, have gained an average of 2¢ per hour from the measure.

The discrepancy didn’t stop Ryan, who announced his retirement from U.S. Congress last year, from hailing the legislation as a windfall for the U.S.’s beleaguered middle class. In a tweet shortly after the bill passed, he cited an anecdote about a public school secretary whose weekly wages increased by $1.50 as a result of the tax cut–enough for an annual membership at a discount bulk goods store. (Ryan later deleted the tweet.)

The American Action Network highlighted the roundtable’s praise for the tax bill when it passed the House. The trade association said the legislation would move the nation “one step closer to a modern system that will help U.S. businesses compete globally, invest and create jobs here in the United States.”

“Grassroots organizing”

The American Action Network ((AAN), created in 2009 by former Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), and GOP operative Fred Malek, is one of the most active dark money organizations in the nation.

The AAN spent roughly $28 million to support the tax overhaul, claiming that it was “carrying out grassroots organizing at town halls to build momentum for a tax system that lowers rates and prioritizes working families and job creators.” More than half of the nonprofit’s $41.9 million in revenue came from a single, anonymous $24.6 million donation, according to AAN’s latest tax return.

Despite the nonprofit’s efforts, the tax changes haven’t been popular. An August poll by Fox News, a reliable supporter of the Republican White House, found that only 40% of registered voters had a favorable view of the law.

The changes, however, were a boon to large corporations, which have dedicated much of their savings to stock repurchases. The buybacks reward company investors by increasing the value of existing shares, as well as boosting the compensation of executives whose salaries often are tied to stock prices. Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase and chairman of the roundtable, received $23 million of his $29.5 million in 2018 salary in stock options, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The tax legislation represented “critical reform that will grow the economy, raise wages for American workers, and boost business investment and hiring in the United States,” Dimon said in a statement released by the roundtable.

The Washington, D.C.-based roundtable consists of more than 200 members who include the chief executive officers of corporate giants such as Apple, AT&T Inc., Bank of America, BP, Chevron, Comcast, ExxonMobil, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, PepsiCo, United Airlines, Walmart, and Wells Fargo.

This story was produced by MapLight, a nonprofit organization that reveals the influence of money in politics.

Around 14 years ago, the photographer Bill Bamberger came across a basketball hoop in Nags Head, North Carolina, while he was driving down the coast in his home state. There wasn’t anything particularly special about it, but he liked how the yellow of the hoop post matched the bright shutters on the rental house next to it, and he liked that he could see the hoop as part of the coastal landscape. As he traveled around the U.S. and abroad for work, he began taking more images of the same type of courts: Free of people, and fully immersed in their local context.

That first photograph became a series of over 22,000 images collected under the title HOOPS, around 70 of which will soon be on display at the National Building Museum in D.C.

Most of Bamberger’s work focuses on people and communities; one of his most well-known series, Closing, documents workers in the final days of a furniture factory in Mebane, North Carolina. Photographing basketball hoops “was a chance to do something different, but still about the world we live in,” Bamberger says. Rather than focusing on displays of athleticism or personality, as most sports-related photography does, Bamberger’s images speak to the places surrounding the hoops. Often, to get the perfect shot of the still court, Bamberger would visit the hoops at odd hours. Or, as he did at a church playground in Naples, Italy, he’d bring his camera over to the players and show them other photographs to explain his project; they’d clear out for water break and give him a couple of minutes to capture the scene.

Bamberger is the first to admit he’s not the only photographer with a fascination with basketball courts, and indeed, not even the only one who photographs them without people. But while artists like Ward Roberts, who captures calming images of pastel playgrounds around the world, are interested more in the design and the aesthetics, Bamberger likes the local cues that support and surround the hoops he finds.

In rural Kentucky, for instance, a hoop rises out of a patch of grass, and two plastic chairs sit on either side of it. Looking at the scene, you can imagine what it feels like to sit in those rickety chairs–a staple of backyard barbecues–and maybe imagine the kids who move them out of the way to practice layups on the small hoop. Bamberger photographs hoops tacked onto barns in rural America, and in church playgrounds in Italy and Rwanda. In Portland, Oregon, he spotted one stuck onto the side of a grain silo. “Everywhere we look, there are basketball hoops,” Bamberger says, “and everywhere they manifest themselves, they’re different.” In Sedona, Arizona, Red Rock State Park peeks out in the distance behind a court. You try to envision what it’s like to focus on hitting free-throws with those cliffs in your line of sight.

To Bamberger, hoops don’t interrupt the landscape of a place, but rather make it easier to see and to situate yourself within. Basketball is one of those universal sports, like soccer, where the rules don’t change too much from place to place, and how to play is commonly understood. For people who love the sport (like Bamberger), or even those who don’t but may have grown up with a hoop stuck up in their driveway or on a nearby post, basketball courts can be a familiar entrance to an unfamiliar place.

It’s that idea, of how basketball courts intersect with the communities and places around them, that brought Bamberger’s work to the NBM, which will be hosting a series of HOOPS images beginning in March. In recent years, NBM has displayed an exhibit on Matthew Desmond’s book Evicted, and developed a show on housing design to address both changing population needs and affordability. If an array of global basketball courts seems like the one thing that’s not like the others, it’s not, Bamberger says. The hoops he captures are planned features of a community or a home, and ones that bring people together in a way that’s understood across contexts. “Hoops are ubiquitous in the world, and you look at one long enough or if it’s placed in an interesting place, it becomes a statement of commentary about a community or a place, and what unites us around this common sport,” he says.