Plus: The European Union plans to launch a formal bidding process for AI gigafactories early next year. And Democratic lawmakers press tech companies about White House ballroom donations. Julie Chang hosts.
These days, Americans are drinking less alcohol. While that may be a positive from a health perspective, it’s not great news for California grape growers. Industry groups predict that 2025 will be the smallest harvest since the mid-’90s. These changing consumption habits are changing the landscape of California vineyards. Also, the Trump administration is reducing fuel efficiency standards, and layoffs are running high ahead of the next Federal Reserve meeting.
Fanatics will launch a real-money prediction market across 24 U.S. states in phases over the coming days. Built in partnership with Crypto.com, Fanatics Markets now live in 10 states and coming soon to major markets like California, Texas, Florida and Washington. CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie hosts "CoinDesk Daily."
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This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie. “CoinDesk Daily” is produced by Jennifer Sanasie and edited by Victor Chen.
Nine out of ten people seeking jobs say they have a side hustle — a second or even third job. An Express Employment Professionals-Harris Poll from October 2025 also says a higher percentage of younger job-seekers — Gen Z and Millennials —expect to be able to overlap their side jobs on company time. Money is a major factor – and the Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported this year that more employers are cutting hours. We’ll talk with some of those who are working multiple jobs about the ups and downs of juggling a side hustle.
GUESTS
Mikailah Thompson (Nimiipuu), owner of Beadwork by Mikailah and owner of Indigenous Creatives, LLC
Nine out of ten people seeking jobs say they have a side hustle — a second or even third job. An Express Employment Professionals-Harris Poll from October 2025 also says a higher percentage of younger job-seekers — Gen Z and Millennials —expect to be able to overlap their side jobs on company time. Money is a major factor – and the Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported this year that more employers are cutting hours. We’ll talk with some of those who are working multiple jobs about the ups and downs of juggling a side hustle.
GUESTS
Mikailah Thompson (Nimiipuu), owner of Beadwork by Mikailah and owner of Indigenous Creatives, LLC
Growing pressure on Defense Secretary Hegseth. New look at Jeffrey Epstein's island. Immigration sweeps in New Orleans. CBS News Correspondent Steve Kathan has these stories and more on the World News Roundup.
The Transportation Security Administration announced earlier this week that passengers without a REAL ID or other acceptable documents (like a passport or tribal ID) will have to pay a $45 fee for the extra screening required to get through security. We'll hear more. Plus, as part of our continued lunar economy series, we'll learn about what developing infrastructure or communications systems on the moon might look like.
From the BBC World Service: European antitrust regulators have just launched an investigation into Meta over its rollout of artificial intelligence features on WhatsApp for European users. This move marks the latest action by European regulators against large technology firms, as the trade bloc seeks to balance support for the sector with efforts to curb its expanding influence. Then, air travelers in India face continued disruptions, and Japan tries to regain a stronghold in semiconductor chip manufacturing.
The Cato Institute's Jeff Singer and Michael Fox mark Repeal Day by examining how alcohol prohibition and the modern drug war share the same destructive logic: criminalizing peaceful people, fueling black markets, corrupting law enforcement incentives, and empowering violent traffickers. Drawing on real-world examples of overdose deaths, civil forfeiture, and policing excesses, they argue for a consistent, liberty-based framework that treats drug users with the same legal respect afforded to alcohol consumers.
President Trump leans into a familiar political strategy of attacking immigrant communities as he intensifies racist comments about Minnesota’s Somali population and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. A Pentagon watchdog report finds Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth endangered U.S. troops by sharing classified strike plans over Signal, directly undercutting the White House’s claim that no harm was done. And a CDC advisory panel appointed by the Trump administration prepares to revisit long-standing vaccine recommendations, including whether to scale back protections for newborns and young children.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Rebekah Metzler, Andrew Sussman, Scott Hensley, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from David Greenburg. And our technical director is Stacey Abbott.