Good morning. In this edition:

• 💼 AI job boom?
• 🏆 Oscars moving to YouTube
• 🏖️ Trying a Costco vacation

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.86-minute read (1,028 words).

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“Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.”

–Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

Here’s a M. Night Shyamalan-level plot twist for anyone predicting an AI job apocalypse:

Rather than eliminating positions en masse, AI might actually be boosting both work and wages in roles most exposed to the technology, according to new research from investment giant Vanguard.

Let’s break it down

Vanguard analyzed Labor Department data to identify jobs with tasks that can be augmented or replaced by AI, like data analysis or customer support, as well as roles with low exposure to AI, like construction, cleaning, or trade jobs.

Their analysis found that both wage and job growth increased over the past two years in the occupations most exposed to AI, compared with those with less exposure.

• Real wages in high-AI-exposure jobs rose 3.8% from Q2 2023 to Q2 2025, compared to 0.7% in all other occupations.
• Job growth was up 1.7%, versus a 0.8% gain outside of AI-exposed roles.

Vanguard researchers concluded that AI has been helping workers shift toward higher-value tasks and making them more productive over the two-year period.

Zoom out: The overall US job market has cooled in recent months, with the tech sector and professional occupations—like consulting—seeing job losses and fewer job openings.

Many analysts say the root causes stem mostly from broader macroeconomic pressures, like recent large-scale federal job cuts or tighter immigration rules, and aren’t due to AI.

However…Not everyone is convinced. Tuesday’s jobs report shows hiring in many white-collar industries continues to soften, while unemployment among college-educated workers is drifting higher. This data tracks with numerous recent examples of Fortune 500 CEOs warning that AI could soon replace a large percentage of white-collar workers across the entire US economy.

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Life West combines hands-on clinical training with a leading preceptorship program and early patient exposure. International service trips and real-world experience prepares graduates to take charge of clinical decisions, influence care strategies, and build a practice rooted in leadership.

Careers offer flexible 20-to-30-hour workweeks, $150k+ earning potential, and long-term demand as patients return for ongoing care.

Philadelphia, which represents ground zero for America’s ever-evolving drug crisis, is currently battling a new threat.

Medetomidine is a 30-year-old veterinary sedative that’s quietly taken over Philly’s fentanyl supply, and triggered an unprecedented surge in hospitalizations.

Some facts: Medetomidine was first detected in the city’s drug supply last spring, and recently found in 91% of tested fentanyl samples across Philadelphia. It’s up to 200x more potent than xylazine, the last tranquilizer to sweep through Philly.

• Medetomidine typically causes instant blackouts, followed hours later by intense withdrawal symptoms: heart rates above 170 bpm, vomiting, hallucinations, and even brain damage.
• Doctors say it’s created a new type of drug crisis, where the biggest danger for users comes not by overdosing on medetomidine, but by withdrawing from it.

Usage has spread in recent years

Philadelphia’s hospitals have recently come under strain from patients who come in with life-threatening medetomidine withdrawal symptoms.

• There were 7,252 ER admissions for withdrawal in Philadelphia over the first nine months of 2025, compared with 2,787 for all of 2023.
• One local hospital system is expected to spend $2 million on medetomidine patient transfers alone this year, with limited options for reimbursement.

Big picture: Outside of Pennsylvania, medetomidine has been reported in nearly a dozen other states, including Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, and Ohio, per the NY Times. And with its low cost and extreme addictiveness, experts warn medetomidine could spread even faster than past drug waves.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🏥 Medline saw shares rise 41% yesterday following the largest IPO of 2025, in which the medical supply giant raised $6.3 billion at a ~$39 billion valuation; it’s also the largest majority private equity-backed IPO in history.
• 🎥 Warner Bros. Discovery board officially rejects Paramount’s hostile takeover bid, raising concerns about the credibility of its equity and the structure of the Ellison family’s funding commitment.
• 🛒 Instacart is reportedly the subject of a new FTC investigation into its AI pricing tool; shares of the grocery delivery giant fell 10+% after-hours.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏆 The Oscars are moving to YouTube, signing a new deal giving the streaming platform exclusive airing rights from 2029-2033; it’ll mark the first time in 50+ years that the Academy Awards aren’t televised on ABC.
• 📺 Instagram launches IG for TV, a new app allowing users to watch Reels on televisions, starting with Amazon Fire TVs.
• 🏀 New York Knicks defeat San Antonio Spurs to win third NBA Cup in league history (new midseason tournament); it’s the Knicks’ first NBA trophy since winning the 1973 NBA Championship.

Global demand for gold has surged amid market volatility. For owners, is this a limited-time opportunity? Markets can shift quickly, in either direction.

If you believe what goes up must come down, Worthy is your trusted partner for selling jewelry. They advocate to get you the best possible price from over 1,000 professional buyers. Just set a minimum price, and let them do the rest at auction.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🚀 Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, likely does not have a hidden ocean beneath its frozen surface, as previously thought for the past decade, per new study; instead, Titan likely contains a 6-mile-thick crust of ice and liquid water. | Senate votes 67-30 to confirm billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman as head of NASA.
• ❄️ Annual Arctic report card finds last season was the hottest in the past 125 years, while the Arctic tundra was more green with plant life than ever recorded.
• 🐆🐧 Wildlife conservation efforts for pumas, which were hunted to near-extinction in the Patagonia region of Argentina, have been so successful that the big cats found a brand-new prey: Magellanic penguins.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🇻🇪 President Trump designates Venezuela’s government as a "foreign terrorist organization" and orders a “complete and total” blockade of all US-sanctioned oil tankers moving in and out of the country.
• 🧑‍⚖️ Federal appeals court allows President Trump to continue deploying National Guard units on the streets of Washington, DC, while court case over the move’s legality plays out.
• 🏛️ Four House Republicans join Democrats to reach 218 signatures needed to force a House vote on extending Covid-era enhanced ACA subsidies, set to expire at year’s end; Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) says he won’t hold a vote this week, with the next opportunity likely coming early next year; any measure is all-but-guaranteed to fail in the Senate. | FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announces plans to step down in January.

☝️ You’re looking at some of USA Today’s top photos of 2025, showcasing a range of events from extreme weather to joyful family moments.

🤔 Did you know? Bananas glow blue when placed under black light. Their chlorophyll breaks down into fluorescent compounds as they ripen, meaning the bluer the glow, the riper the banana.

📰 Worth a read: Forget the $1.50 hot dogs. Have you tried a Costco vacation?

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• Should Mom run your dating profile?
• Computers are getting much better at learning to “see”
• 25 style moments that defined 2025

🛏️ Bedding you can set and forget… Sierra Dreams’ Align™ snap system keeps sheets and duvets in place for days, no retucking, no fuss. Save 20% site wide plus 2 free organic bath towels ($125 value) with $300 purchase by using code DONUT.

Yesterday we covered how gas-powered vehicles are proving to have more staying power than many policymakers and executives had anticipated, leading to a global pullback from previous EV commitments.

❓ Our question to you: How likely are you to consider an EV or a hybrid for your next vehicle purchase?

• Very likely: 36%
• Somewhat likely: 26%
• Not at all likely: 34%
• Unsure/other: 4%

Click here to read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 703 votes and 118 longform responses.

Where is the northernmost point of the contiguous US?

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