Tag: Business

• As an experienced chef, I've got great tips for how to cook turkey well and properly serve it.
• Give yourself plenty of time to defrost your turkey and, while cooking, baste it every 30 minutes.
• Despite what you may see in the movies, carving a turkey tableside at Thanksgiving isn't realistic.

Whether it's brined, fried, basted, or roasted, turkey is a staple on any holiday table. The best way to prepare it, however, is a never-ending debate.

As a chef with over 15 years of experience under my belt, I have my own opinions.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when purchasing, defrosting, and preparing a turkey, plus my favorite tips for cooking a truly delicious bird.

Be mindful when choosing the size of your bird and the cooking method

Although many households prepare a turkey every year, it's easy to forget how much you'll need for a generous serving.

Of course, you should also consider how many leftovers you want to enjoy without having so much turkey that it goes to waste.

Plan for 1 pound of meat per person for a bone-in turkey. If you're going for just the breast portion or anything without bones, plan for ½ pound per person.

Then, decide on how you'll be cooking it because the best method may vary depending on the bird.

Roasting at a lower temperature for longer will always result in a more tender turkey — especially if you spring for heritage birds, which typically have leaner, darker meat that retains moisture when cooked low and slow.

If you're looking to cook a turkey quickly, consider trying the spatchcocking method, which involves removing the bird's backbone and roasting it flat. This can significantly reduce the cook time.

And don't forget, kosher turkeys already have some salt introduced to them in the butchering process. Be careful not to over-brine them, which can make the meat too salty. 

Always plan ahead

The larger the bird, the longer it takes to defrost. Some bigger frozen turkeys can take up to three or four days to thaw.

Though you can expedite the defrosting period by rinsing the turkey with cold water, I think that's pretty wasteful.

If you don't have room in the fridge to store and process your bird, grab a cooler and let the turkey defrost there. Be sure to brine or season your turkey at least a day in advance so all those delicious seasonings penetrate the meat.

Make sure to take your turkey out of the fridge or cooler one hour before cooking to let it come to room temperature. This helps the bird cook more evenly, resulting in juicy meat and crispy skin.

Invest in a good thermometer

A good thermometer allows you to easily monitor your bird from start to finish.

I recommend using an updated digital model with a probe that's inserted into the turkey and a thermometer that stays outside the oven so you don't have to repeatedly open the appliance as the bird cooks. 

Baste your bird minimally

Basting is a wise idea when making a whole roast turkey.

Judicious basting will help keep the meat juicy, but a few too many flavoring sessions could prevent the skin from crisping.

After all, this process requires you to open your oven door and lose some heat from the oven each time you bathe the skin in pan juices.

Limit yourself to no more than one basting every 30 minutes for the best results. 

Let the turkey rest

Plan to have your turkey done before the meal so that it (and you) can take a break.

Allowing the turkey to rest for anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours will make a significant difference, as it'll allow the juices to redistribute.

Carve and plate your turkey in sections

Many Thanksgiving movies and TV episodes depict turkeys being carved at the table, but I don't recommend it.

It can be challenging to serve meat and keep it all warm while trying not to make a mess at an already crowded dinner table.

Instead, once the turkey is cool enough to handle, break it down into sections by breasts, thighs, wings, and other parts in your kitchen.

Pop the pieces onto an oven-safe platter, cover the plate, and warm the turkey in the oven at a low temperature before serving. To make things extra tasty, add some of those pan juices you used for basting.

This story was originally published on November 22, 2022, and most recently updated on November 21, 2025.

• This post originally appeared in the Business Insider Today newsletter.
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You have a better chance of getting accepted at Harvard than finding a job these days.

That's the brutal reality of the current labor market. The no-hiring-no-firing environment, dubbed the Great Freeze, is driving job seekers up a wall. And the numbers paint an even darker picture, writes BI's Aki Ito.

The average job opening last quarter received 242 applications, according to exclusive data from hiring-software provider Greenhouse. That means you have a 0.4% chance of getting the average job you apply for. Meanwhile, the acceptance rate for that school near Boston: 3.6%.

(If it makes you feel better, it could be worse. NASA took only 10 people for its 2025 Astronaut Candidate Class from more than 8,000 applicants, giving it a 0.125% acceptance rate.)

On paper, that might seem like a dream scenario for employers. Instead, they're feeling just as overwhelmed as they need to sort through the influx of résumés.

As Greenhouse CEO Daniel Chait put it to Aki: "Nobody's happy with the current situation."

So what's to blame?

Everyone's favorite scapegoat, artificial intelligence, is high on the list. The tech has supercharged job seekers' ability to blast themselves out to any job opportunity, essentially muddying the process for everyone.

The job market has led some workers to feel that staying put is their only option.

"Job hugging" has become the phrase of the day, as people fear joining the beleaguered job seekers fighting for scraps. (Oh, how far we've come from The Great Resignation.)

What if you just can't see yourself sticking things out, though?

Business Insider has a five-part series of personal essays from people who have quit their jobs and have no regrets.

First up is Jenny Wood, who quit her job as a Google executive after she felt her life was no longer sustainable.

I understand a Big Tech exec is probably in a lot better position financially and professionally to walk away from their gig compared to the average American. But Wood offers real, actionable advice for people regardless of income level or seniority.

It doesn't always go well initially. In the coming days, we'll have a story from a former Apple worker who quit only to find themselves homeless. (They are in better shape now, and have no regrets.)

Got a story of your own? Reach out to my colleague Jane Zhang.

• As a young politician, Wasserman Schultz said she was urged to "do something" about her curly hair.
• A Fox News host called her "Frizzilla" in 2012, while Adweek described her hair as "ramen noodle-like."
• Studies show women with curly hair are often seen as less professional.

When Debbie Wasserman Schultz was in her mid-20s and preparing to run for the Florida State House, every older woman she sought advice from urged her to "do something" about her curly hair.

"They would say, you're going to have to get a haircut and you've got to just have more manageable hair — a more professional look," Wasserman Schultz, now 59, recalled during Monday's episode of "We Are Spiraling," a new podcast about curly hair by former journalist Priya Anand, who has curly locks herself.

Although Wasserman Schultz decided to go with a new, more manageable hairstyle, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee said she refused to succumb to a straight iron. That sense of pride in her natural ringlets, however, did lead to backlash. For example, in 2012, a Fox News host called her "Frizzilla," while that same year, the publication Adweek described her hair as "ramen noodle-like" and "usually out of control."

Wasserman Schultz's experience reflects a broader bias against women with hair like hers in professional settings, research shows.

A 2023 study from Lindenwood University in Missouri found that straight-haired women were rated significantly higher than curly-haired women on job characteristics that are important to professional positions.

Black women are especially likely to face bias when they don't straighten their hair. A 2021 paper from researchers at Duke University and Michigan State University concluded that Black women with natural hairstyles were perceived to be less professional, less competent, and less likely to be recommended for a job interview than Black women with straightened hairstyles and white women with either curly or straight hairstyles.

Lawmakers have sought to address the problem through legislation, such as the 2019 CROWN Act, which bans race-based hair discrimination. But Anand said on her podcast that people with curly hair — regardless of their race or gender — continue to face prejudice. She said many curly-haired professionals go out of their way to hide their curls, pointing to how former first lady Michelle Obama said in 2022 that she straightened her hair so the US could adjust to a Black family in the White House.

"This idea comes up all the time, that curly hair is for some reason not professional," Anand said.

During the interview, Wasserman Schultz said that in the early 2000s, she let a hairdresser convince her to temporarily straighten her hair while she was serving in Congress. She said she quickly regretted the move.

"I went to the House floor because we had votes that day, and people went berserk," she said. "They thought I looked completely different, but also they said, 'Wow, you should wear your hair like that all the time. You look amazing.' "

The implication, Wasserman Shultz continued, was that they thought she didn't look as attractive as when she wore her hair naturally. "It was kind of an insult. They didn't realize it," she said.

Making matters worse, Wasserman Schultz said that around this time, she was named to a list of the 50 most beautiful people in Congress by The Hill newspaper. It made her feel "cruddy," she said, because it implied that she wouldn't have been selected had she not straightened her locks.

Wasserman Schultz, who is Jewish, has since stuck with her curls and come to appreciate them even more. She said she has given talks at Jewish organizations such as Hillel and B'nai B'rith, and had girls in the audience pull her aside to thank her for wearing her hair curly in public.

"I would never, ever, ever change my hair now," she said. "It's not the most consequential issue, but how you look — and especially growing up and being teased about it — it certainly matters."

• My partner and I took an overnight train ride from London to Scotland on the Caledonian Sleeper.
• We splurged on the Caledonian double en-suite, which came with a shower, a toilet, and a bed.
• I didn't get much sleep, but this beat a flight. I'd do it again, but only under a few conditions.

In my opinion, there's something alluring about the idea of an overnight train ride — watching picturesque scenery while winding down with a dram of whisky, then being rocked to sleep by the motion of the carriage, resting until you wake up at your destination.

At least, that's what I envisioned when my partner and I booked our tickets on the Caledonian Sleeper, a famous train that links London with several destinations in Scotland.

We took the eight-hour route from London Euston to Glasgow and booked the most expensive suite option. Here's what our overnight train journey was like.

Although we decided to splurge on a suite, several tiers are available for booking.

We booked the priciest room, a Caledonian double en-suite for £445, about $587, one way.

Our room tier includes station lounge access, priority boarding, priority access to the club car, and breakfast on board (served to our room or in the club car).

When we booked, the second most expensive option was the club en-suite room with twin bunk beds and similar perks, priced at about £420 for two travelers.

There's also a classic room with twin bunk beds and a washbasin that would've been about £330 for two. There's no breakfast included in this tier, but travelers can pay extra for it and have it delivered via the included room service.

Lastly, we could've gone with the cheapest option — two seats in the coach car for £168. Though they offer adjustable headrests and footrests, these seats only recline 10 degrees … and I doubted our ability to sleep in a sitting position.

At the start of our trip, we made the most of the free snacks and drinks in the station lounge.

We arrived at Euston at 21:30 — well ahead of our departure at 23:30 — to check in, get our cabin keycard, and explore the station lounge.

It felt a bit busy at times, but there were enough seats for everyone. The two roomy showers and bathrooms off the lounge seemed to be in near-constant use.

We appreciated the help-yourself bar with tea, coffee, and soft drinks, including Irn-Bru — a bright-orange soda that's considered one of Scotland's national drinks. Plus, there were complimentary cookies, cakes, and chips.

We could've also purchased alcoholic drinks and other hot meals and snacks while in the lounge.

Once we boarded, we quickly located our compact double room.

Luckily, getting to our room was pretty easy.

However, the corridors on the train felt really narrow — probably to maximize the space in the rooms — so I was glad we'd only brought backpacks with us.

This might be a tight squeeze for anyone trying to wheel bigger suitcases. On the bright side, though, they won't have far to go as all rooms seem to be fairly close to a carriage door.

Our first impression of the room was quite positive.

As soon as we opened the door to our room, we saw a neatly made double bed with pristine-looking white sheets.

Arranged on top of it were Scottish treats — including an Arran Sense of Scotland toiletries set and honeycomb chocolate — plus sleep kits containing earplugs and fetching tartan eye masks.

The room didn't have much decor beyond a framed graphic and a bit of wallpaper, but I'd probably describe it as "modern business hotel with accents of tweed."

It was nice to control the lights and have plenty of outlets.

The rooms felt well equipped with free WiFi, several USB ports and power sockets, control panels to adjust the room's temperature and dim the lights, coat hooks, and under-bed storage for stowing bags.

The space felt compact yet cleverly designed.

We found our sink located by the bed (beneath the window) and our private en-suite bathroom (stocked with hand and bath towels) behind a small door.

I wish our window had been bigger, but my visions of gazing at rolling landscapes from my bed in the morning didn't work out anyway because it was too dark out during our trip.

We traveled in early November and didn't see daylight until we hit the outskirts of Glasgow.

We began our journey with a nightcap in the club car.

We left our bags in the room and headed to the club car in the next carriage for a drink.

The club car features cozy booths and swivel seats, functioning as a lounge with table service for dining, drinking, and unwinding. It's not available to those travelling in coach seats, and priority access is given to those staying in our cabin class or a club room.

Fortunately, the car wasn't busy at all when we visited, and we had our pick of seats to choose from.

We didn't want to eat that late at night, but our drinks went down well.

The onboard menu has a decent selection of mains, desserts, drinks, and light bites for an additional cost. It was especially nice to see Scottish-style fare like haggis, neeps and tatties, and a venison stew on offer.

Neither of us could stomach food that late, so we opted to check out the wine list instead. We paid extra for small bottles of wine and prosecco, which were lovely.

We also placed our breakfast order for the next morning.

Before bed, we filled out cards to choose which breakfast we wanted the next morning and handed them in to the staff.

A full Scottish cooked breakfast was available alongside options such as pancakes with fruit and yogurt, bacon and sausage sandwiches, and porridge pots.

Eventually, we headed to bed for the night.

We'd chosen the double room over bunks because we're both tall—6'0" and 6'3" —and my partner has broad shoulders.

However, walls surround the bed on three sides, and with my partner on the fourth, I felt uncomfortably boxed in.

On the bright side, the double bed was complete with a Glencraft mattress, literally fit for royalty. (The Scottish company has supplied mattresses to the British Royal family's Balmoral Castle for years.)

I did get some sleep, but it was broken and fitful. I woke up at least a dozen times throughout the eight-hour train ride. The complimentary earplugs and eye mask were a godsend.

In the morning, I showered in our en-suite bathroom.

I tried taking a photo of our shower area, but it seemed impossible due to the room's angle and how the door opened inward, obscuring the view of what was inside.

Even so, the bathroom felt cleverly designed to switch from a toilet to a shower wet room with the closing of a lid that creates a shelf on which you can sit while showering. I chose to stand, and I still had plenty of space.

The water was hot, the pressure felt surprisingly decent, and the Arran toiletries smelled heavenly.

Then, we enjoyed hot coffee and a tasty breakfast.

Though we could've had our breakfast delivered to our room, we opted to eat in the club car, hoping we might enjoy some nice views through its large windows.

Unfortunately, it was still quite dark out, and rain obscured the little we could see even more.

Still, we enjoyed drinking our hot coffee and tucking into deliciously crispy bacon and sausage sandwiches with ketchup and brown sauce.

We were grateful for the extra half hour we got to disembark.

Our train arrived at Glasgow Central on time at 07:30, but we were given until 08:00 to get off.

We took advantage of this buffer because, frankly, we both felt wiped out after a night of broken sleep.

After this ride, I really see the appeal of this train.

I understand why the Caledonian Sleeper is a popular and sensible option for business travelers.

After all, it's extremely efficient to travel while you sleep (provided you can sleep). The late departure and early arrival mean your workday, or time at home before you travel, is maximized.

Some people also prefer to book the sleeper because it can be cheaper than booking a standard train ticket and a hotel room. However, this isn't always the case.

For example, the night after our ride, we booked a room at Novotel in central Glasgow, 15 minutes' walk from the train station, for £123 — and our stay included breakfast. The next morning, we could've taken the standard off-peak train from Glasgow to London for around £166.

All in all, that's over £150 less than we'd pay for a suite on the sleeper train.

However, this may not be the case if you're taking the overnight train in the other direction from Glasgow to London, where central hotel rooms are typically far more expensive.

Ultimately, I'm glad I tried this train ride.

Though flying might've taken me under two hours and cost less than £200 a ticket, I prefer the ease and simplicity of the sleeper train.

It was nice to stretch my legs and avoid the stress of navigating airport security and packing for budget-friendly flights.

This route has also long been on my wish list, and I had quite the adventure. However, because the ticket is priced so high, I'm not exactly in any hurry to re-book.

If I decide to splurge on this suite on the Caledonian Sleeper again, I'll travel alone so I can sleep diagonally across the double bed and be more comfortable.

I'll also try to travel in the summer when the days are longer — hopefully then I could enjoy some of the panoramic views I was sad to miss.

• Donald Glover told fans at a show on Saturday that he had a stroke last year.
• Glover said he experienced a bad headache, similar to the actor Jamie Foxx, who had a stroke in 2023.
• Research suggests more people under 50 are having strokes.

Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, said that he unknowingly had a stroke while performing in Louisiana in 2024 — highlighting a worrying trend of younger people experiencing the condition.

"The first thing I thought was, 'Here I am still copying Jamie Foxx," he told fans at a music festival in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Strokes are more likely to happen in people aged 65 and over, but Glover was 41, while Foxx was 55 when he had one in 2023.

For both, the stroke started with a bad headache.

Glover told the crowd that he experienced a "really bad pain" in his head and vision difficulties.

"I couldn't really see well," the actor and musician said.

Glover said that at a hospital in Houston, the next stop on his 2024 The New World tour, doctors told him he'd had a stroke.

Glover postponed the tour and later canceled the remaining dates, telling fans that he had to focus on his "physical health," in a since-deleted X post.

More young people are having strokes

A stroke happens when the blood supply to part of the brain is blocked or cut off, killing cells. It can cause lasting brain damage, long-term disability, or even death.

Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of long-term disability, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although the risk of having a stroke increases with age, anyone can have one. The number of people under 50 who had a stroke for the first time increased by 36% between 1990 and 2021, according to a study published in May 2025 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

High blood pressure, BMI, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels, as well as pollution, could explain the rise, the authors said.

F.A.S.T is an easy way to remember stroke symptoms

When someone having a stroke receives medical attention early, they are likely to experience less long-term damage. That's why it's crucial to know the warning signs.

• Face numbness or drooping.
• Arm weakness or the inability to raise both arms.
• Speech difficulty or slurring.
• Time to call 911 as soon as any of these symptoms appear.

Other stroke symptoms can include:

• Confusion, trouble speaking, or understanding speech.
• Trouble seeing in one or both eyes,
• Trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance, or coordination.
• Severe, sudden headache.

• Thanksgiving 2025 is on Thursday, November 27.
• Many major stores, including Costco, Walmart, and Target, will be closed on Thanksgiving this year.
• However, other major chains will be open under modified hours.

As families across the country gather for Thanksgiving feasts and other celebrations, many major retailers will also be taking the day off.

Big-box stores like Costco, Walmart, and Target all plan to be closed for the holiday, while a few grocery and retail chains will remain open for any last-minute essentials.

Here are 16 major chain stores that will be open on Thanksgiving, as well as 20 that will be closed.

Bass Pro Shops

Number of locations (approximate): 200

Bass Pro Shops will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Big Lots

Number of locations: 219

Big Lots stores will have extended hours from 7 a.m. until midnight.

CVS

Number of locations: 9,000

Most CVS stores will be open on Thanksgiving Day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Dollar General

Number of locations: 20,700

Most Dollar General stores will be open on Thanksgiving, though hours might vary by location.

Dollar Tree

Number of locations: 9,000 (includes Canadian locations)

Most Dollar Tree locations will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

Family Dollar

Number of locations: 8,000

Family Dollar stores will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Giant Eagle

Number of locations: 470

Giant Eagle stores will be open at their normal time on Thanksgiving Day and will close at 3 p.m. Pharmacies will be closed.

Harris Teeter

Number of locations: 260

Stores will open at 6 a.m. and close by 2 p.m. Pharmacies will be closed.

Kroger

Number of locations: 2,700

Pharmacies will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, but stores will be open until 4 p.m.

Ralph's

Number of locations: 182

Ralph's, which is owned by Kroger, will be open on Thanksgiving until 10 p.m., though pharmacies will also be closed.

Safeway

Number of locations: 910

Safeway locations will be open on Thanksgiving, though exact hours vary by location.

Sprouts

Number of locations: 478

Sprouts markets will be open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

Stop & Shop

Number of locations: 365

Stop & Shop stores in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey will be open until 3 p.m. on Thanksgiving, but locations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island will be closed. Pharmacies across the chain will be closed as well.

Walgreens

Number of locations: 8,500

For the third year in a row, Walgreens will close most of its stores on Thanksgiving, but it says 24-hour locations will remain open for essential pharmacy services.

Wegmans

Number of locations: 100

Most Wegmans locations will be open on Thanksgiving day, but stores will close early at 4 p.m. A spokesperson said the company's five Boston-area stores will be closed for the day.

Whole Foods

Number of locations: 530

Whole Foods Markets will open early in the morning on Thanksgiving at 7 a.m., but will close up shop at 1 p.m.

Most major retail chains will be closed on Thanksgiving.

The major chain stores that will be closed on Thanksgiving 2025 are:

1. Aldi
2. Belk
3. Best Buy
4. BJ's Wholesale Club
5. Costco
6. Dick's Sporting Goods
7. Home Depot
8. Ikea
9. Kohl's
10. Lowe's
11. Macy's
12. Nordstrom
13. Publix
14. Sam's Club
15. Sephora
16. Target
17. T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, and Sierra
18. Trader Joe's
19. Ulta
20. Walmart

• AI is changing the type of work that consultancies offer — and the expertise they need to do it.
• Mohamed Kande, PwC's global chairman, told the BBC his firm wants to hire more technologists.
• The Big Four firm is struggling to find the talent it wants to hire.

PwC wants to hire more tech talent. There's just one problem — it can't find them.

"Across the PwC network, we are looking for hundreds and hundreds of engineers. We just cannot find them," Mohamed Kande, global chairman of PwC, told the BBC in an interview.

Traditionally, professional services firms have prioritized generalist, critical thinkers, and strong communicators. Now, technologists are in high demand, and top firms have been racing to bolster their ranks with tech talent through a mix of hiring and upskilling.

Accenture's latest annual report shows it added nearly 40,000 AI and data professionals in the last two years. They now account for roughly 10% of its global head count. EY has made an even bigger push, adding 61,000 technologists since 2023.

The new demand for tech capabilities is tied to the changing nature of the work that top consulting firms offer their clients.

McKinsey recently told Business Insider that delivering straight strategy advice — the type of work typically associated with consultants — now only accounts for around 20% of the company's work. Instead, McKinsey is offering more "deep implementation expertise" and multi-year transformation projects.

Kande told the BBC that advising clients on how to implement AI will be at the heart of PwC's future business strategy.

PwC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Kande said he didn't know if PwC would continue hiring graduates at the same rate. "It will be a different set of people. But we are going to make sure we have the right skillset for the right jobs," he told the BBC.

In August, Business Insider obtained part of an internal presentation showing that PwC US planned to cut graduate hiring by a third over the next three years.

A bullet point on the presentation slide said leadership's decision to slow down associate-level hiring related to "transformation efforts, the impact of AI, and further AC integration" — with AC integration referring to PwC's acceleration centers, its name for its offshoring hubs.

The firm told Business Insider at the time that the "rapid pace of technological change" was reshaping its operations, and that it was being "prudent" in response to "historically low levels of attrition."

PwC UK has also reduced its entry-level recruitment in the UK this year, lowering the intake by 200 compared to last year. Marco Amitrano, the UK head, credited the decline in junior hiring to the impact of AI and a sluggish economy.

In 2021, then under the leadership of Bob Mortiz, PwC announced a plan to recruit 100,000 people by the middle of 2026. The firm is roughly 40,000 employees away from hitting that target, according to its latest head count released in October.

"The world looked very different" when those plans were made, Kande told the BBC, adding that meeting the goal was no longer possible

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at pthompson@businessinsider.com or Signal at Polly_Thompson.89. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• THC beverage CEOs said new hemp product rules could kill their industry.
• Jack Sherrie, CEO of Delta Beverages, said he's working with others in the industry to save THC-infused drinks.
• Industry leaders are trying to get legislation passed that would legitimize and regulate THC drinks.

CEOs are scrambling to save the THC beverage industry after a newly passed hemp crackdown threatens to wipe out a billion-dollar drink category.

Jack Sherrie, founder and CEO of Delta Beverages, said he's working with competitors and others in the industry to save their companies, many of which are small, founder-led businesses.

"It's funny, we were competing and now we're coming together," Sherrie told Business Insider. "We call it a co-opetition."

"I don't think there's anything wrong with capitalism and competition, but I think that we're definitely going to have to work together as a unit to get something passed," he added. "And we're all very well aware of that."

Delta sells seltzers infused with THC derived from hemp, which was made legal by a provision in the 2018 Farm Bill that allowed for hemp-derived products containing a limited amount of THC.

Under the funding package that reopened the government this month, Congress effectively closed that loophole. The new hemp measure, set to take effect in November 2026, bans products that contain more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container. As a result, it would effectively ban many hemp-derived THC products currently on the market, like Delta.

"This quite literally is going to end up killing the hemp industry," Sherrie said, adding that the measure was quietly and suddenly slipped into the bill last minute, taking many in the industry by surprise.

Jake Bullock, CEO of Cann, another THC beverage company, shared similar concerns with Business Insider after the measure was passed, though he said he did not view it as a ban but instead a "one-year shot clock" for the industry to secure legislation it has long needed.

Sherrie and Bullock both said they were optimistic that new legislation could happen. The goal now is to get Congress to pass rules that will regulate the industry and ensure some hemp-derived products can continue being sold.

The CEOs said the restrictions were aimed at highly potent synthetic products, often candies, that are marketed toward kids and sold in accessible places like gas stations, rather than THC drinks, which are generally far less potent.

They also said they believe Congress is open to passing legislation that would legalize and regulate THC beverages, which have grown in popularity, especially among Gen Z, as Americans have cut back on their alcohol consumption.

Sherrie said the industry is working closely with lawmakers to propose a THC beverage bill, hopefully by the end of December.

Meanwhile, it's been a tough time for founders like Sherrie, who said sleep was nonexistent for him during the week the bill made its way through Congress and to President Donald Trump's desk.

"A lot of us are entrepreneurs. We're small businesses. We're not some giant corporation trying to take over the world," he said. "We're trying to thrive, and we're just trying to do our best."

• My husband and I took our 15 and 17-year-old kids to New York City for the first time in a decade.
• Everything on my kids' to-do lists was super touristy, but they loved every moment.
• Being total tourists was a great way to experience the city with our teens, and we'd do it again.

It'd been a decade since my kids visited New York, but given their love of theater and big cities, it wasn't surprising when they recently started asking my husband and me to take them. My family relocated to Florida from Maryland about nine years ago, so trips to NYC aren't as easy as they were when we lived up north. Still, we began researching flights and hotels, and planning a long weekend with our now 15- and 17-year-old kids in the Big Apple.

On our three-night visit to NYC, we acted like tourists, indulging in shows, carriage rides, and bus tours. Embracing our inner tourists turned out to be the perfect way to see New York with our teens for several reasons.

Staying at a hotel in the middle of Manhattan made it easy to get around.

My husband and I visited New York often before we became parents. On those trips, we'd immerse ourselves in less-touristy parts of NYC by staying in spots like Tribeca or Greenwich Village to experience the city like a local.

On this trip, we splurged on a Hilton hotel, The Quin, located right off Central Park. The hotel was a short walk from Times Square and the Broadway shows we wanted to see, and allowed us to explore the city while passing iconic spots like Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall. We walked more than we took ride shares, which allowed for great chats and memory-making with our kids, not to mention my 15-year-old daughter's delight about grabbing Starbucks and walking through Central Park every morning.

Our bus tour was cheesy, but it got us everywhere we wanted to go.

There are numerous hop-on, hop-off bus tour companies in NYC, but we chose Big Bus Tours because it had a stop in Times Square, just a short walk from our hotel. Our tour included 24-hour access to plenty of stops, as well as an audio recording of information about each landmark we passed.

We spent a day shopping in SoHo, exploring Chinatown, and eating at Chelsea Market before hopping on the tour bus one final time to head back to our hotel. Touristy? Definitely. A great way to get a quick lay of the land and see lots of things in NYC? Absolutely, so we have no regrets.

We spent our evenings immersed in Broadway shows.

My teens are both involved in our local community theater scene, so they had a long list of Broadway shows they wanted to see. We planned to spend each night walking from our hotel to dinner, followed by a show, and managed to narrow our selections down to "The Great Gatsby," "Moulin Rouge," and "Chicago."

Getting dressed up for dinner and a show with our teens was incredibly fun, and worth the pricey ticket costs to invest in something that they're both interested in. Seeing shows together gave us something to chat about, and I was delighted that they even obliged me with photos of us all dressed up to go out each evening — a true win for a mom of teenagers.

Letting our kids pick our activities made for some special bonding moments.

Yes, our teens wanted to do touristy things on our trip to New York. While my husband and I prefer to explore more off-the-beaten-path things when we travel, we loved letting them plan our itinerary. Seeing the joy on their faces when they spotted the Statue of Liberty or took photos of the Brooklyn Bridge was pretty special, and it reminded my husband and me not to take these kinds of things, which we've seen many times, for granted.

What's more, following our kids' leads brought special memories to our trip. One in particular? A pricey Central Park carriage ride I took my daughter on one morning during our coffee walk. Yes, it was almost $100 for a 20-minute ride by the time I tipped, but getting that 20 minutes to hear her chatter about how much she loved the city was incredibly special.

We may return to NYC again with our teens next year.

My kids enjoyed our time in New York so much that they asked if we could make it a yearly tradition. Since we visited during the holidays, it was an easy 'yes' for my husband and me, who often prefer to give our kids experiences rather than things at Christmastime.

As we left the city, headed for the airport, I opened the notes app on my phone and asked them what they'd want to do next year in NYC. A ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty and a trip to the top of the Empire State Building were new to their list, and some returning favorites like shows on Broadway and a horse-drawn carriage ride also reappeared. If another touristy NYC trip is in our future next year, I'm OK with that. After all, it was the perfect way to spend a long weekend bonding with our kids.

• Salesforce's CEO says he's ditching ChatGPT for Google's Gemini 3, calling the leap "insane."
• Tech leaders, including Sam Altman and Andrej Karpathy, have praised Gemini 3's early performance.
• Gemini 3's launch cements Google's push to reclaim the AI crown from OpenAI.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says he's ditching OpenAI's ChatGPT for Google's newest AI model, Gemini 3 — calling it an "insane" leap forward in reasoning, speed, and multimodal capabilities.

"Holy shit," Benioff wrote on X on Sunday. "I've used ChatGPT every day for 3 years. Just spent 2 hours on Gemini 3. I'm not going back. The leap is insane — reasoning, speed, images, video… everything is sharper and faster. It feels like the world just changed, again."

Benioff's reaction quickly went viral, racking up more than one million views as of early Monday morning. It adds to a growing chorus of executives praising Google's latest AI release.

Executives are lining up behind Gemini 3

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, Google's biggest rival in the AI race, congratulated the company on Gemini 3's launch, posting on X last week: "Looks like a great model."

Former Tesla AI director Andrej Karpathy said on X he had a "positive early impression" of Gemini 3, calling it "very solid daily driver potential" and "clearly a tier 1 LLM."

Stripe CEO Patrick Collison also weighed in, posting on X that Gemini 3 built an "interactive web page summarizing 10 breakthroughs in genetics," which he called "pretty cool."

Google and its DeepMind division unveiled Gemini 3 last week, describing it in a blog post as their "most powerful agentic and vibe coding model yet," capable of generating and understanding text, images, video, and code with tighter integration across the Google ecosystem.

The AI arms race is heating up

Benioff's endorsement is striking, given Salesforce's deep partnerships across the AI landscape — including those with OpenAI and Anthropic — and underscores how rapidly preferences among top tech leaders are shifting as models get faster and better.

Google's Gemini 3 arrives amid intensifying competition from OpenAI's ChatGPT 4.5 Turbo and 5, as well as Anthropic's Claude 3.5, each pushing boundaries in reasoning and tool use.