The Red Scare, Shifty Swifties, Putin’s Machinations

Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon dose of the latest reporting from Puck.

Today, we kick things off with Tara Palmeri and Tina Nguyen’s penetrating conversation on the Faustian bargain facing Kevin McCarthy as he attempts to whip up votes and call in favors to secure the Speakership.

Then, below the fold, Eriq Gardner considers the T-Swift narrative shift following the “Eras Tour” Ticketmaster imbroglio. Matt Belloni hosts a special episode of The Town on the inside story of Bob Iger’s return to Disney. Julia Ioffe and Peter Hamby discuss the latest developments in Ukraine. And Tara explains the financial calculus behind Trump’s return to Twitter.

TARA PALMERI & TINA NGUYEN

News and notes on McCarthy’s Speakership vote whipping, the power of M.T.G. in the new Congress, and the MAGA’s unchecked nuclear options on Biden’s cabinet members and family.

ERIQ GARDNER

The “Eras Tour” imbroglio doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know about the notorious ticketing company, but it’s cause to revisit the idea of suits versus artists. Ticketmaster, after all, functions as an agent for artists. Shouldn’t they shoulder some of the responsibility?

MATTHEW BELLONI

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to break down the return of Bob Iger as C.E.O. of Disney. They discuss whether Disney needed to make this substitution or if it was a knee-jerk reaction after a disappointing earnings report, if this is a risky move for Iger and his legacy, and more.

PETER HAMBY, JULIA IOFFE, BEN LANDY, and BILL COHAN

Julia Ioffe joins Peter to discuss Putin’s latest machinations, and then Bill Cohan and Ben Landy game out Bob Iger’s next moves.