Puck Presents: The Powers That Be

Dylan Byers joins Peter to untangle the game of executive musical chairs at Condé Nast and Paramount–WBD as David Ellison taps outgoing Mattel chief Ynon Kreiz as his co-C.E.O., and Condé C.E.O. Roger Lynch in turn announces he's leaving the media company to take Kreiz's old job running Mattel.

Marianna Sotomayor joins Peter for a midterm vibe check as Democratic optimism runs high and some in the party are lobbying for eleventh-hour investments in Senate races like South Carolina, stretch Mississippi, and Florida. But Marianna sounds a note of caution, explaining why there's reason to think Republicans could notch a few surprise wins too.

Marion Maneker joins Peter to debrief on Puck's second annual Art of Influence conference, where he gathered the art world's esteemed players for a wide-ranging set of conversations. They discuss museums' evolution into civic spaces, Christie's move into pop culture, the challenges facing younger buyers, and more.

Jon Kelly and Peter break down why California Attorney General Rob Bonta's antitrust effort against the WarnerMount deal collapsed into a series of meager concessions, and ponder whether the two studios will eventually merge. Then they pivot to Vertical Leap, film financier John Sloss's new venture recruiting mid-tier athletes to invest in new sports documentaries.

Lakshya Jain, elections analyst and co-founder of Split Ticket, joins Peter to dig into polling reliability, election models, and how voters are responding to economic conditions ahead of the midterms and 2028 primaries. While Lakshya says that Democrats have never been in a better position electorally, he explains why campaign insiders remain skeptical because of past polling misses.Progress doesn't just arrive. It's built - one question, one discovery, and one solution at a time. Explore more at ScienceDelivers.com.

Leigh Ann Caldwell joins Peter for a close look at the rising Republican panic over the midterms, as a spate of polls points to a possible blue wave election with voters completely turning on Trump. Then she digs into the scrutiny surrounding the Democratic super PAC End Citizens United, which raised nearly $23 million but has spent only about $1 million directly on candidates.

Ian Krietzberg joins Peter to preview the high-stakes meeting between Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping, breaking down the hopes, expectations, and realities in play as industry leaders press both sides to make A.I. safety a priority. Ian explains why a true breakthrough is unlikely—and why some are quietly wondering whether Trump will use the summit as a bid for the Nobel Peace Prize he desperately craves.

John Ourand joins Peter to discuss the political ad money pouring into NFL and college football broadcasts this fall, and how it's overwhelming local TV markets across the biggest battleground states. Then John assesses the Paramount–WBD merger and what it means for sports fans, as two companies loaded with major sports rights combine and some of those deals potentially face the axe under David Ellison.

Dylan Byers joins Peter to parse the WBD–Paramount settlement announced Monday by California Attorney General Rob Bonta—who's now taking heat from Democrats for caving and letting David Ellison walk away with most of what he wanted. The duo dissect what's actually in the agreement, how Bonta miscalculated politically, the mass layoffs looming on the horizon, the future of CNN, and more.

Jon Kelly and Peter reunite to debate 60 Minutes' season premiere and whether Bari Weiss and Nick Bilton's overhaul—or a weak NFL lead-in and shifting Nielsen math—explains its middling ratings. Then they dig into the record $12 billion pouring into midterm ads, and why tiny towns like Presque Isle, Maine, are getting hit with ad blitzes costing over $400 per head.

Trump social media guru Alex Bruesewitz joins Peter to discuss how Joe Rogan and TikTok memes helped Republicans win the White House, which Democrats actually understand the internet, and who the MAGA base is likely to support in 2028.Progress doesn't just arrive. It's built - one question, one discovery, and one solution at a time. Explore more at ScienceDelivers.com.

Leigh Ann Caldwell joins Peter for a midterms vibe check, breaking down Democrats' creeping lead and the nearly $140 million in ad spending Republican groups are rushing into Senate and House races. Then they dig into Speaker Mike Johnson's unshakable optimism, and why his faith may be the only thing standing between Republicans and a very difficult November.

Julia Ioffe joins Peter to explain how Umar Kremlev, a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, quietly bankrolled part of Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding weekend—and what he might want in return. Then they turn to the diplomatic standoff between France and the State Department…over a single tweet.

Matt Belloni joins Peter to dig into Ari Emanuel's blistering new memoir—a score-settling account that revisits the chair he nearly hurled at Michael Ovitz and his decades-long grudge against Jeffrey Katzenberg. Then they turn to Monday's Emmy awards, unpacking Apple's sweep and the politics of Stephen Colbert's win over John Oliver.

Bill Cohan joins Peter to discuss his new book, Money to Burn, tracing Apollo's founding after Drexel's 1990 collapse, its meteoric rise built on distressed debt investments, and leadership under co-founder Leon Black. The pair also dig into Black's close ties with Jeffrey Epstein—the $158 million in fees and the affair scandal that ended his CEO reign—and what his fall means for everyone who kept Epstein close.

Jon Kelly joins Peter to unpack Pat McAfee's takeover of ESPN's marquee sports coverage, and why the network would rather license his self-owned production for $60 million per year than keep paying a salaried anchor like Stephen A. Smith. Then they digest MS NOW's new $7.99-a-month subscription play, arguing why winning over cable-free fans of Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell could succeed where CNN+ once failed.

Rahm Emanuel, the longtime Democratic power broker, former White House chief of staff, and perennial subject of campaign intrigue, joins Peter on the debut episode of The Making of a President to discuss the rise of democratic socialism, how wannabe 2028 aspirants can win back the middle, and why the party needs a new pitch.Progress doesn't just arrive. It's built - one question, one discovery, and one solution at a time. Explore more at ScienceDelivers.com.

Lauren Sherman joins Peter to report from New York Fashion Week, where insiders are fretting over a looming luxury slowdown—and the middle-class shoppers propping up the biggest brands. Then they size up new-ish GQ editor Adam Baidawi, whose bid to redefine the title's masculinity has yet to produce a clear vision, seven months in.

Marianna Sotomayor joins Peter from Dallas, where Republicans are gathering for a midterm convention that's fast becoming a Trumpapalooza—even as they privately grapple with new data giving Democrats a strong shot at retaking the House. The pair also unpack her conversation with a characteristically upbeat Speaker Mike Johnson, and size up Ken Paxton's uphill Senate bid in a Texas race Republicans no longer take for granted.

Dylan Byers joins Peter to break down Maria Bartiromo's sudden exit from Fox News after forwarding internal guidance to Peter Navarro, which triggered an angry call from the White House. Then they preview Sunday's high-stakes ‘60 Minutes' debut under Bari Weiss and Nick Bilton, and why the show's real vulnerability isn't sloppy journalism, but the perception of editorial spin.

Ian Krietzberg joins Peter to unpack new revelations from OpenAI's postmortem on this summer's Hugging Face hack, in which the company's agents broke their sandbox to infiltrate the open-source A.I. platform—and, it turns out, OpenAI's infrastructure too. Then the pair dig into Bernie Sanders' bill to ban superintelligence, aimed at a phenomenon that even researchers can't agree on how to define.

Jon Kelly and Peter Hamby reunite to dissect the NBA's punishing verdict against Steve Ballmer and the Los Angeles Clippers, and why ESPN's since-contradicted report clearing Ballmer has become its own cautionary tale about journalistic humility. Then the pair turn to Anna Wintour's stunning Met Gala misfire, unpacking her push to rehabilitate the image of disgraced designer John Galliano—and what it reveals about the twilight of her once-untouchable reign at Condé Nast.

Jessica Lessin, the founder, editor in chief, and C.E.O. of The Information, joins Dylan and Julia to unpack the record growth behind her 13-year-old subscription business. She explains her bet on China coverage as rivals shutter Asia bureaus, the push into finance reporting to track AI's reshaping of Wall Street, and her expansion into video with TITV and a new AI Deep Dive show. Lessin also weighs in on the “information mafia” of alumni going independent and tech's cratering public image.

John Ourand joins Peter to unpack the Clippers scandal shaking the NBA—Steve Ballmer's furious response to penalties for skirting the salary cap with Kawhi Leonard, and the ESPN scoop it undercut. Plus: Tony Romo's future at CBS, and why the NFL sent its best Week 1 game to Melbourne.

Julia Ioffe joins Peter to illuminate the stunning resignation of Dan Driscoll, the Army's top civilian leader: his friendship with JD Vance, media rivalry with Pete Hegseth, his push to modernize the military and inevitable clash with Boeing, Lockheed, and Raytheon. Then they turn to Hegseth's political decapitation of DoD leadership and Driscoll's final, Hail Mary attempt to alert Trump to the true extent of the chaos inside the Pentagon.

Eriq Gardner joins Peter to explain why Meta's settlement with state attorneys general is less about the $18 billion price tag than the precedent it sets: courts writing the rules for social media. Then they dig into the deal's wildest clause—an extra $5 billion if regulators get TikTok, Snap, and YouTube on board—and why litigation may be the only path left for policing Big Tech.

Marion Maneker joins Peter to remember Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese artist who died last week at 97, and unpack her multifaceted career—from a polka-dot obsession to her LVMH collaborations and museum-conquering studio. Then they dig into a recent Bloomberg article claiming Baby Boomers' art collections may not find younger buyers, and why megadealer Larry Gagosian spies a buying opportunity.

The besties Jon Kelly and Peter dig into Hollywood's embrace of Johnny Depp's comeback, proving real movie stars remain rare enough to forgive almost anything—even among the audiences likeliest to hold a grudge. Then they turn to the backlash emanating from Stanley Druckenmiller's A.I.-assisted ‘WSJ' op-ed, and why the paper is standing by it.

Peter Hamby joins Dylan to decipher new polling on the Democratic Party's perception problem—to wit, Trump may be historically unpopular, but voters still don't love Democrats, either. Then they dig into the A.O.C.-Mamdani favorability gap, why Bernie's brand of populism ages better than the “intersectional” variety, and the Gavin Newsom content-studio model for winning back young men and Latino voters ahead of 2028.

Julia Alexander joins Peter to unpack Meta's landmark $17 billion settlement with U.S. states over claims Instagram and Facebook harmed teens—and why fixes like two-hour limits and midnight curfews might be easy to dodge. Then they get into Kalshi's push into sports media, including a possible tie-up with The Athletic and The New York Times, and what it means for journalism's growing embrace of prediction markets.

Dylan Byers joins Peter to break down 60 Minutes' star-studded, controversy-shadowed relaunch under Bari Weiss and Nick Bilton: its new correspondents, the internal drama, and whether the show's reputation—and Weiss's—survives its September 13th debut. Then they unpack The New York Times's quest for its own AI search tool, betting that readers want to talk to the paper the way they talk to ChatGPT.

Leigh Ann Caldwell joins Peter to break down Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's mounting 2028 presidential calculus, which is colliding with her new single life while she chronicles her egg-freezing journey in real time. The pair walk through her options, her calculated endorsement restraint this primary season, and why encouraging early-state polling numbers still can't erase real doubts about her general-election viability.

Bill Cohan joins Peter to break down the swift, bipartisan grassroots revolt against data centers and the A.I. companies racing to build them—from Josh Shapiro's about-face in Pennsylvania to Kathy Hochul's New York moratorium—and why Wall Street's trillion-dollar financing spree suggests nobody's slowing down yet. Then the pair try to wrap their heads around why Bitcoin is suddenly surging after a brutal year.

The besties Jon Kelly and Peter reunite to examine the New York Times's uneasy relationship with creator-journalists like Pablo Torre, whose bombshell Clippers investigation—now contradicted by ESPN's reporting—may not have survived The Gray Lady's standards desk. Then they turn to MS NOW's $8-a-month streaming offering, and whether a partisan network can build a subscriber business the way The Bulwark has.

ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, who broke last week's big news about the LA Lakers, joins John to walk through how the $12.5 billion deal came together practically overnight. The two dig into the NBA's exploding franchise valuations, what kind of owner Iger is likely to be, why LeBron James really left for Philly, and the murky, slow-moving investigation into the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard.

Malique Morris joins Peter to unpack J.Crew's preppy renaissance—buoyed by buzzy campaigns with Bad Bunny and Jasmine Tookes—and why all that reclaimed cool may not be showing up on the balance sheet. Then they dig into Vette, Condé Nast's ambitious new affiliate-marketing venture, and debate whether shoppers will really flock to influencer-run storefronts over the retailers they already know.

Julia Ioffe joins Peter to discuss how Trump's cascading misadventures in the Middle East are hanging over the midterms—driving up gas prices, scrambling party politics on Iran and Gaza, and fueling more insurgent challengers than ever. Then they turn to the president's renewed tariff threats, and how Israel could become the defining litmus test issue of 2028.

Ian Krietzberg joins Peter to unpack the backlash against Flock, the fast-growing surveillance-camera startup whose automated license plate readers are popping up (and being torn down) across the country. Then the pair examine how Democratic operatives are mining opt-in ChatGPT and Gemini transcripts to craft ads for voters who've tuned politics out.

Marianna Sotomayor joins Peter from her home state of Florida to unpack today's primaries, beginning with Ron DeSantis—still polling above Trump, yet oddly absent from the race to replace him. Then they survey the down-ballot field, from a Senate seat Democrats have all but conceded to House primaries crowded with carpetbaggers.

Jon Kelly and Peter reunite for a California edition of Media Monday, starting with the standoff between AG Rob Bonta and David Ellison, who's threatening to pull Paramount out of the state unless Bonta drops his antitrust suit against the Warner Bros. merger. Then they turn to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner's staggering $12.5 billion deal for the Lakers, and the private equity money reshaping sports.

Jonathan Greenberger, the unconventional editor in chief of Politico, joins Dylan to explain how a business-side executive ended up running the newsroom—and what it means for Politico's future. They discuss the relaunch of Playbook and its early scoop streak, the push to make every franchise multi-platform (podcasts, video, events), and Politico's bet that its global footprint can turn political disruption into a worldwide story. Greenberger also opens up about newsroom AI hackathons, the competitive threat from Punchbowl and Notus, and his pitch to TV talent thinking about jumping ship.

Bill Cohan joins Peter to explain why deep-pocketed investors are muscling into pro sports, from Apollo's $2.6 billion investment in the Yankees to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger's $12.5 billion grab for the Lakers. Then the two weigh whether even blue-chip franchises have a ceiling, and whether buyers shelling out record prices have simply gotten caught up in deal heat.

Marianna Sotomayor joins Peter to unpack the stunning collapse of Francesca Hong's gubernatorial bid in Wisconsin, where a late establishment cash dump and unflattering press erased her double-digit lead against David Crowley. Then they survey the rest of the primary wreckage, from a grassroots Senate upset in Minnesota to a generational shakeup in Connecticut, and what it all says about a Democratic party hungry for new blood.

Lauren Sherman joins Peter to unpack how the Olsen twins built The Row into a nearly $400 million luxury juggernaut, and why the brand sits at a crossroads as quiet luxury falls out of fashion. Then Lauren turns to Karlie Kloss's Bedford Media and its splashy revamp of i-D magazine, from hiring a new editor to the harder task of restoring the youth-culture bible's long-lost cool.

Ian Krietzberg joins Peter to unpack a cascade of security snafus at the major A.I. labs, starting with the OpenAI model that broke loose from its sandbox and hacked Hugging Face—only for Anthropic and Meta to discover their own models had quietly done the same. Then Ian breaks down Congressman Ted Lieu's bipartisan Kill Switch Act and the Trump administration's new, curiously classified framework for reviewing frontier models, and why a real reckoning may await the first truly catastrophic event.

Jon Kelly chats up Dylan Byers, sitting in for Peter Hamby, about the subliminal intentions of David Ellison's NYT op-ed and the headwinds facing new Business Insider C.E.O. Christian Baesler.

Lauren's guest today is French journalist and L'etiquette editor-in-chief Marc Beaugé. They go in-depth on the six-part Le Monde series on Bernard Arnault; Marc even watched the standup comedy special released by Xavier Niel, the billionaire investor and husband of Delphine Arnault, so you don't have to. They also discuss the destruction of Bally with its current owner, Michael Reinstein, in the tabloids, as well as L'etiquette's special issue on 100 icons of French style and whether women should wear ties.

Eriq Gardner joins guest host Dylan Byers to preview the media trial of the century between California and Paramount over the looming merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. Eriq breaks down all of the second- and third-order effects of the case, how it's affecting the Ellisons and Zaslav, and what it all signals about the growing regulatory power of state attorneys general.

Marianna Sotomayor joins guest host Leigh Ann Caldwell to dig into the week's big primaries, with a focus on how Abdul El-Sayed's surprising win over Haley Stevens could help reunite a fractured Democratic Party. They break down El-Sayed's appeal to younger voters and the biggest challenges awaiting him in November's general. They also examine Speaker Mike Johnson's hands-off approach to members with troubled histories like Reps. Max Miller and Cory Mills—and how Johnson's handling of scandals differs from that of past speakers like Paul Ryan and John Boehner.

Julia Ioffe joins guest host Leigh Ann Caldwell to discuss Republican foreign policy in a post–Lindsey Graham world. They dig into the outsized influence Graham held over Trump's approach to Ukraine, Iran, and Israel—and what his absence means going forward. They also revisit Julia's exclusive reporting on Laura Loomer, the MAGA influencer who recently turned from Putin apologist to Zelensky cheerleader.

Bill Cohan joins Peter to discuss how the frozen Paramount-Warner Bros. merger has left David Zaslav in an awkward spot—hamstrung by deal terms that require the Ellisons' sign-off on virtually everything. Bill lays out what Zaz can and can't do while the deal sits in limbo—then considers whether the irrationally exuberant world of Wall Street I.P.O.s can ever actually be reformed.