Happy New Year’s Eve, and welcome back to The Daily Courant. To celebrate the occasion, we’re counting down some of Puck’s most popular podcast episodes from 2025—conversations about the biggest stories, with top newsmakers and analysts, that resonated throughout the year.

In today’s issue, take a step back in time with Matt Belloni in dialogue with Andrew Ross Sorkin on The Town about how Silicon Valley and the Saudis invaded Hollywood. From The Grill Room, we’ve got Dylan Byers and former NBC News and MSNBC chairman Andy Lack debating the future of TV news. On Fashion People, don’t miss Lauren Sherman and author Amy Odell discussing Gwyneth Paltrow’s second life as a wellness executive. On Impolitic, John Heilemann and Ezra Klein break down why Trump’s constitutional trespasses reflect more political weakness than strength.

Meanwhile, on The Varsity, revisit John Ourand and Sara Fischer’s prescient exchange about ESPN’s new app and Paramount’s $7.7 billion deal with the UFC. And from The Powers That Be, Peter Hamby and Julia Alexander’s deep dive into how YouTube ate the media business.

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Matt is joined by Andrew Ross Sorkin to discuss how the tech boom has affected Hollywood and what new power players like David Ellison really want with the media industry. They also discuss the potential impact of the A.I. bubble bursting, whether the Middle East will ever make a big splash in Hollywood, and whether there is a case for consolidation in media.

Andy Lack, former chairman of NBC News and MSNBC, joins Dylan to pore over the myriad existential crises rattling television news, from CBS’s messy Trump settlement to the Versant spin that leaves MSNBC in the wilderness—and more. He also discusses his new act as a purveyor of local news startups across the Deep South, and his bid to build sustainable outlets at a time when local journalism is facing significant headwinds.

Lauren’s guest is Amy Odell, author of Gwyneth: The Biography. They discuss actress Gwyneth Paltrow’s second life as a wellness influencer, editor, fashion designer, and C.E.O. and founder of Goop, the lifestyle business that has attracted plenty of attention but struggled to turn a profit. They also discuss G.P.’s relationship with Anna Wintour, who was the subject of Amy’s first book.

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John is joined by New York Times columnist, podcaster, and idea merchant extraordinaire Ezra Klein to chop up his latest conversation-sparking Times essay, “Don’t Believe Him,” about Donald Trump's initial blizzard of executive actions, grifts, and power grabs. Ezra argues that, although Trump’s flurry of legal and constitutional trespasses has thrust us into dangerous new territory and poses risks to the country great and small, his behavior is more a reflection of political weakness than strength. Ezra also weighs in on whether Elon Musk is in fact more dangerous than Trump, the courts will continue to hold the line for the rule of law, and Chuck Schumer is really the best possible face of the Democratic opposition.

Axios’s Sara Fischer returns to the pod to help make sense of the biggest sports media plot lines from the past few weeks: Paramount’s $7.7 billion deal with UFC, ESPN’s respective bombshell pacts with the NFL and WWE, the network’s forthcoming D.T.C. product, and much, much more.

Streaming guru Julia Alexander joins Peter for a rollicking conversation about the wild state of the industry war in 2025: Netflix’s enduring dominance, Apple TV’s strategic nod to the HBO playbook, and why the Peacocks of the world exist merely as consolidation bait. Then Julia dives deep into how YouTube is flying under the radar as potentially the most dominant streamer in the game… and why Hollywood ignores it at its peril.

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