It could have
been worse.
year after the first case of COVID-19 was detected in the U.S., more than 400,000 people have died and thousands of businesses have shuttered. On the political front, our democracy endured a months long campaign to subvert the presidential election, culminating in a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. But at Fast Company, we're also looking to the future.
Amid the horrors of 2020, we saw the world awaken to the power of new
CHARITABLE GIVING GOT CREATIVE.
The United States is rejoining
the Paris climate agreement.
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e’re not out of the woods, not yet. One
2021
Before COVID-19, the record for the fastest time to bring a new vaccine to market was four years. That changed in 2020. On Jan. 10, a team of researchers published the genome of the novel coronavirus. Only three days later, scientists at Moderna and the NIH had finalized a new messenger RNA vaccine based on that genetic data. By March it was in trials, and by December it was approved for emergency use. New vaccines from Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and others also moved at a record-breaking pace, far exceeding predictions. They’re critical to ending the pandemic—and give new hope for curing other diseases. —Adele Peters
We hoped for a vaccine
in 18 months. We got
two in less than a year.
Donald Trump left the White House.
silicon valley is
(finally) getting a wake up call.
Coronavirus supercharged Silicon Valley's market dominance over Main Street, but it also accelerated a reckoning in Washington. Scott Galloway explains why, despite everything, he's hopeful that 2021 will be the year Big Tech is finally brought to heel.
One of Joe Biden’s first acts as president is rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, following an all-out assault on environmental protections by the Trump administration. Just 30 days after sending a letter to the U.N., America will once again be part of the international effort to stem global warming. It’s perfect timing, too: In 2021, countries set new goals, giving the U.S. a chance to become a leader in the fight against climate change. —Kristin Toussaint
the office as we know it is over—and that's a good thing.
We’re finally beginning to understand how radically the world of business has been transformed. For years we’ve had the tools and case studies to evolve beyond a cubicle culture. What we lacked was the willpower to leave our desks behind. Jared Lindzon explores the revolutionary implications of our post-office future.
50 years after Nixon launched the war on drugs, imprisoning tens of millions for nonviolent offenses, America is finally winding down its racist experiment in mass incarceration. On November 3, five more states moved toward legalization of marijuana, while Oregon became the first state to decriminalize drug use entirely.
The war on drugs is
beginning to end.
outdoor dining
is revitalizing
america’s cities.
America's cities were designed for honking cars, not Parisian cafes. Then came 2020. With little support from the government and new health restrictions preventing indoor dining, restaurants across the country moved their dining rooms outdoors. Streets were blocked off, parking spaces became dinner spots, sidewalks became sidewalk cafes. Recentered as inspired places for dining, American downtowns suddenly felt distinctly Old World. The pandemic, for all its devastation, gave American urban design a palette cleanser. And it gave us a taste of what our cities could be. —Lilly Smith
a.i. actually did
something good.
Alphabet’s DeepMind is close to solving one of the oldest and thorniest puzzles in biochemistry. Its artificial intelligence can now predict how a protein will fold in three dimensions with impressive accuracy—an essential task for designing new drugs, and for making the development process faster, cheaper, and more effective. Within a few years, the AlphaFold technology could revolutionize the entire field of medicine. In the wrong contexts, A.I. can do a lot of damage—just look at its concerning use in law enforcement. But DeepMind’s breakthrough also shows it can be a powerful force for good. —Ruth Reader
While the Trump administration did its damnedest to resuscitate Big Coal, something miraculous happened: the fossil fuel industry kept dying anyway. Solar and wind energy costs plunged to new lows, beating even natural gas on an unsubsidized basis. It's too simple to say that science will save us—we need strong government regulation to fight climate change too. But rapid advances in renewable energy technologies prove that a cleaner future is more than just possible. It's inevitable. —Benjamin Landy
SOLAR AND WIND ENERGY ARE NOW CHEAPER THAN FOSSIL FUELS.
DR. FAUCI, THE
MOST TRUSTED COVID EXPERT IN AMERICA.
Rare bipartisanship in a time of digital misinformation.
CITIES ARE DISCUSSING NEW MODELS FOR POLICING.
President Obama expressed skepticism last year that a “snappy slogan” like “defund the police” could lead to real change, yet alternative approaches to policing are gaining steam. Here's one simple proposal: 911 calls involving substance abuse, homelessness, and mental health are fielded by a paramedic or social worker, not an officer with a gun. Major cities including Oakland and Albuquerque are racing to embrace the idea, with San Francisco planning the largest such operation in the country. That “snappy slogan” is about to get meaningful results. —Talib Visram
TELEMEDICINE IS BECOMING MAIN- STREAM
Being able to to consult a doctor remotely became critical during the pandemic—and supercharged a trend that was already underway. The result is a boon for patients, doctors, and the whole health care system: with telemedicine, yearly checkups and mental health care is cheaper, faster, and only ever a click away. —Ruth Reader
KAMALA HARRIS, BREAKER OF GLASS CEILINGS.
Madame Vice President is the first woman, or woman of color, to ever hold that title. Another glass ceiling broken (and one more to go).
“Free money” was still a fringe idea when Andrew Yang launched his campaign for a universal basic income. A year later, it’s a cornerstone of America’s coronavirus response—and transforming the world of charitable giving. In the nonprofit sector, direct cash transfers have become the modus operandi for organizations like GiveDirectly, which aim to alleviate extreme poverty by providing “unconditional” cash relief—giving recipients more dignity and autonomy. As it turns out, it’s more successful too. In 2021, GiveDirectly will distribute $200 million to the poorest Americans with minimal overhead and contactless technology. Tools built by Google and Berkeley engineers are helping to identify the neediest recipients, with plans to spread the "free money" gospel around the world. —Talib Visram
the space economy is blasting off.
2021 is set to be a banner year for the global space economy, with declining launch costs fueling massive investment in the aerospace sector. NASA is landing a helicopter on Mars. Boeing is testing its Starliner spacecraft. And Elon Musk's SpaceX is building a satellite constellation to bring internet connectivity to every corner of Earth. His goal? To generate enough cash flow to fund manned missions to Mars. —Benjamin Landy
Elon Musk's Starlink plans
to complete its initial
constellation of 1,440 internet-beaming satellites in 2021.
In 2020, as COVID-19 closed meat packing plants, things weren’t so dire. Because a new wave of plant-based meat was just beginning to crest. Over the course of the year, Impossible and Beyond Meat seized the moment for expansion. The Impossible Burger spread from 150 grocery stores in America to more than 17,000—while lowering its price by 15% at restaurants. Meanwhile, Beyond Meat doubled its reach, expanding to 122,000 retailers across 80 countries. You can now buy plant-based meats at Dunkin’, Starbucks, and Burger King. Even McDonald’s plans to launch its own McPlant in 2021, and Taco Bell will soon debut its own plant-based tacos. —Mark Wilson
AMERICA IS GOING MEATLESS.
THE SKYSCRAPER OF THE FUTURE MAY BE MADE OUT OF WOOD.
Cement is the source of 8% of global CO2 emissions. Switching to timber construction could store as much as 700 million tons of carbon each year.
The building industry is responsible for an estimated 40% of greenhouse gas emissions. Constructing buildings out of wood is a simple way to minimize that footprint: Wood is cheap, renewable, and it can naturally absorb carbon. But until recently, it was difficult to make tall or complex buildings out of wood. That changed with the advent of new materials like cross-laminated timber, which is engineered to be stronger and more fire-resistant. As of this writing, six wood buildings that are five stories or taller are under construction around the world, and more are planned, including a 70-story skyscraper in Tokyo that would be taller than the Eiffel Tower. —Suzanne LaBarre
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT.
Amid worrying trends in youth mental health, it's worth stepping back to take in the good news: today's teens are by far the healthiest, the safest, and the most risk-averse of any generation in modern history. Paging Tipper Gore: Pop culture got raunchier and teenage pregancy and drug use dropped. Go figure.
For decades, fast fashion brands have encouraged us to think of clothes as disposable—with terrible consequences for the planet. Every year, the industry churns out more than 150 billion garments, generates 10% of global carbon emissions, and fills the oceans with microplastics. But the pandemic has changed our relationship with clothes. Stuck at home, we're buying fewer garments, ditching trends for essentials. With a financial crisis looming, we're increasingly turning to secondhand marketplaces when we do shop, reorienting business models to prioritize more durable goods. The fast fashion era is finally waning; a more sustainable future is in sight. —Liz Segran
The pandemic is killing fast fashion.
The COVID-19 pandemic put Hollywood in a bind: audiences stuck at home are streaming than ever, but fewer projects are going into production due to costly safety protocols. Yet amid the crisis, creatives are getting, well, creative. Streamers are investing in new talents and formats, like mid-size movies and miniseries that had fallen out of favor. In a pandemic, Netflix proved that concent quantity is as important as quality. KC Ifeanyi reviews the impact on both creatives and consumers.
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HOLLYWOOD IS REDEFINING PEAK TV—FOR BETTER AND FOR WORSE.
PREPARE TO PARTY LIKE IT’S 2019.
Travel may take a while to rebound, but when it does, expect a boom as cabin fever gives way to a surge in bookings. Yes, corona remains a concern, and business trips may be a thing of the past. But new vaccines plus a glut of personal savings is a recipe for a blockbuster recovery in hospitality. Factor in Airbnb, and you have all the ingredients for an explosion of remote-work nomadism. —Benjamin Landy
Credits: photo illustrations by daniel salo; illustrations by jonas mosesson; 02: Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images; 07: Source Photo: wdstock/iStock; 10: Photo: Al Drago/Getty Images; 13: Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP/Shutterstock; 15: Source Photo: Britta Pedersen/Getty Images; 17: Photos: James MacDonald/Bloomberg/Getty Images, Alexey Brin/iStock
Source: Marijuana Policy Project
legalized
medicinal &
decriminalized
partially
decriminalized
medicinal only
cbd oil only
illegal
D.C.
Oregon has legalized marijuana and decriminalized all other drugs, including heroin, cocaine, and meth.
Average unsubsidized cost
of energy by source (in
average net present dollars per megawatt-hour)
solar
wind
gas
nuclear
coal
Source: Lazard (2020)
Percentage engaged in risky behavior in the past 30 days
drank alcohol
used marijuana
smoked cigarettes
carried a weapon
ever had sex
Source: Youth Risk Behavior Survey, Centers for Disease Control
Oregon has legalized marijuana and decriminalized all other drugs, including heroin, cocaine, and meth.
D.C.
TO HOPE IN
REASONS
the woods, not yet. One year after the first case of COVID-19 was detected in the U.S., more than 400,000 people have died and thousands of businesses have shuttered. On the political front, our democracy endured a months long campaign to subvert the presidential election, culminating in a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. But at Fast Company, we're also looking to the future. Amid the horrors of 2020, we saw the world awaken to the power of new technology and radical ideas, from mRNA and BLM to satellite internet and sustainable fashion. So as a new president takes office with a mandate to build back better, we’re pausing to reflect on these lights in the darkness. Here are 21 reasons to hope in 2021.
Hover
technology and radical ideas, from mRNA and BLM to satellite internet and sustainable fashion. So as a new president takes office with a mandate to build back better, we’re pausing to reflect on these lights in the darkness. Here are 21 reasons to hope in 2021.
the office as we know it is over—and that's a good thing.
READ MORE
We’re finally beginning to understand how radically the world of business has been transformed. For years we’ve had the tools and case studies to evolve beyond a cubicle culture. What we lacked was the willpower to leave our desks behind. Jared Lindzon explores the revolutionary implications of our post-office future.
The building industry is responsible for an estimated 40% of greenhouse gas emissions. Constructing buildings out of wood is a simple way to minimize that footprint: Wood is cheap, renewable, and it can naturally absorb carbon. But until recently, it was difficult to make tall or complex buildings out of wood. That changed with the advent of new materials like cross-laminated timber, which is engineered to be stronger and more fire-resistant. As of this writing, six wood buildings that are five stories or taller are under construction around the world, and more are planned, including a 70-story skyscraper in Tokyo that would be taller than the Eiffel Tower. —Suzanne LaBarre
THE SKYSCRAPER OF THE FUTURE MAY BE MADE OUT OF WOOD.
Cement is the source of 8% of global CO2 emissions. Switching to timber construction could store as much as 700 million tons of carbon each year.
The war on drugs is beginning to end.
click
READ MORE