Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon guide to Puck’s best new reporting. Here’s what you need to know…

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Major League Baseball returns this week with the sport riding a wave of momentum following a memorable World Baseball Classic and the most-watched World Series in more than 30 years.  Led by four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani and three-time MVP Aaron Judge, MLB’s biggest stars have led a surge of exciting play on the field.  In 2026, MLB welcomes two new partners in NBC and Netflix, joining FOX, ESPN, TBS, Apple and MLB Network bringing fans all of the action. Fans can find all of the game and broadcast information at MLB.com/Watch. Major League Baseball, there’s no place like home.

Meanwhile, on the pods…

SPORTS

The NFL wants more money from its broadcast and streaming partners and hasn’t been shy about its desire to rip up its current, and still-young, contract to get it. On the media side, there are quiet but growing questions about whether the league’s ask is too high.

WASHINGTON

A tidal wave of outside spending is flooding Democratic races. But as last week’s contest in Illinois suggests, big-money influence has its limits, especially where AIPAC and the A.I. industry are concerned. And while JB Pritzker’s $6 million intervention in the Senate primary won him recognition, it earned him some new enemies, too.

FASHION

After 15 years inside the LVMH machine, Kim Jones exited his fat-check corporate job in time to have a second or even third act—a new trend among a certain class of designers.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

Major League Baseball returns this week with the sport riding a wave of momentum following a memorable World Baseball Classic and the most-watched World Series in more than 30 years.  Led by four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani and three-time MVP Aaron Judge, MLB’s biggest stars have led a surge of exciting play on the field.  In 2026, MLB welcomes two new partners in NBC and Netflix, joining FOX, ESPN, TBS, Apple and MLB Network bringing fans all of the action. Fans can find all of the game and broadcast information at MLB.com/Watch. Major League Baseball, there’s no place like home.

HOLLYWOOD

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss Project Hail Mary’s massive weekend at the box office and use it as an opportunity to revisit the movie-star power ranking. They sourced producers and executives around town and created their ranking of the movie stars they believe are the biggest box office draws in Hollywood.

MEDIA

Julia and Dylan scrutinize CNN’s attempt to loosen the tie—turning Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper into something closer to podcast personalities in the mold of Pat McAfee and Joe Rogan. Naturally, the effort has invited ridicule, and raises a deeper question: Does C.E.O. Mark Thompson’s vision align with what audiences actually want—and more importantly, what they need?

FASHION

Lauren’s guest is Los Angeles–based stylist Karolyn Pho. They discuss the opening of Bar di Bello in Silver Lake, Kim Jones’s lucrative collab with Bosideng, John Galliano’s Zara partnership, celebrity men wearing Chanel, nice underwear, and so much more.

WASHINGTON

Julia Ioffe joins Peter to confront the central question looming over the war in Iran: Is the U.S. actually winning? Despite the on-brand, overconfident rhetoric from Trump and Pete Hegseth, Julia argues the answer is far murkier—pointing to a lack of international support, myriad strategic missteps, and a conflict with no clear endgame.

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