NYC outranks SF as best tech city, why Earth may run out of humans, and more top insights

During the week, the Daily Rundown brings you the day’s trending professional news. On the weekend, we try to keep you current on the big ideas that can help you see what’s coming. Read on and join the conversation.

And the best city for tech is… not San Francisco: New York took top honors in a recent ranking of the world’s best cities for tech, with San Francisco and London taking second and third place, respectively. The survey, which was conducted by real estate firm Savills, took into account factors like venture capital funding, the cost of living and access to transit. What helped put The Big Apple on top? Its ability to attract workers. “New York can keep generating its own talent and, I think more importantly, recruiting it from around the world,” report author Paul Tostevin told Bloomberg. • Here’s what people are saying.

Earth may soon begin to run out of humans: The UN has predicted that the global population will reach 9.8 billion people by 2050, which would put significant strain on the world's natural resources. But the UN didn’t take into account improved rates of female education (which can affect how women approach reproduction) and rapid urbanization, particularly in developing nations, according to research from journalist John Ibbitson and political scientist Darrell Bricker. When you do that, it looks like the world population may enter a spiraling decline by 2050, reports Wired. • Here’s what people are saying.

In Finland, free cash boosted well-being, not jobs: Over the past two years, Finland gave 2,000 unemployed people 560 euros ($635) a month, funds that would not be cut off even if they found work. The goal? To determine if a guaranteed income could encourage people to seek employment. On that front, initial results suggest the experiment failed. Stipend recipients only worked half a day more than a control group, Bloomberg reports. But recipients reported greater well-being, better health and more confidence about the future. • Here’s what people are saying.

The North Pole is running away: A person following a compass to the North Pole will increasingly find themselves moving toward Siberia. While the literal North Pole hasn’t moved, the magnetic one has been racing toward Russia at 31 miles a year since 2015. The pole is moving so fast that U.S. government had to update its data nearly a year early. The adjustment is important for people relying on compasses and other navigation tools. • Here’s what people are saying.

Podcasting is poised to become a billion-dollar enterprise, Activate CEO Michael Wolf tells LinkedIn’s Jessi Hempel. While the medium has undergone a creative boomlet, the dollars haven’t followed. Until now. This past week, Spotify paid $230 million for Gimlet Media — which produces “Reply All” and “Crimetown” — and it bought Anchor, which allows people to distribute podcasts from their phones. 86 million people are expected to listen to podcasts in the U.S. in 2019, and that figure is expected to hit 132 million by 2022, Wolf says. • Here’s what people are saying.

One last idea: It’s easy to end up sacrificing our well-being in the present in pursuit of grand ambitions for the future. But authors Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy suggest that we’re better off if we take some time to focus on the here and now.

“Goals are great, and a raise or a promotion will feel amazing in the moment. But promotions are usually not the keys to a happily ever after. It’s time to shed the unhealthy habit of glorifying the future to justify a miserable present.”

Want to get ahead at work? Looking for advice from the pros? Share your burning career questions in the comments with #YouAsked and we’ll get experts to weigh in.

— Scott Olster, Andrew Seaman, Kelli Nguyen