This talk presents recent advances in the study of QCD under extreme conditions, where strong magnetic fields, high temperatures, and high densities drive the system into complex dynamical regimes. Topics include photon production catalyzed by external magnetic fields, the structure of the QCD phase diagram, and the dispersive properties of gauge bosons in dense, hot, and magnetized media, with an initial focus on equilibrium scenarios. The discussion then turns to non-equilibrium conditions, introducing an effective framework developed to describe QED and QCD media in the presence of magnetic and thermal fluctuations. This approach provides insights into the effective masses of fermions and gauge bosons, the deconfinement temperature, and photon production mechanisms that go beyond traditional equilibrium descriptions.