Happy Monday and welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon guide to Puck’s best new reporting.

First up today, Dylan Byers takes an inside look at the fraught negotiations between New York Times leadership and the NewsGuild as a late February deadline looms. The conversations revolve around all the usual sticking points—health benefits, A.I. profit sharing, salary increases, etcetera—but the real showdown is over a new policy requiring employees to show up in the office four days a week…

Plus, below the fold: Bill Cohan inspects Paramount Skydance’s latest argument for why its Warner Bros. Discovery bid beats Netflix’s. Leigh Ann Caldwell scoops the Republican panic over Trump’s politically risky pressure campaign against blue states. And Marion Maneker swings by Larry Gagosian’s final exhibition on Madison Avenue, before offering a behind-the-scenes look at Christie’s $84 million sale of William Koch’s Western art.

Meanwhile, on the pods: John Ourand is joined by Washington Post contributor Danny Funt on The Varsity to discuss how gambling took over sports media. On Impolitic, John Heilemann and former Obama political director Patrick Gaspard compare Zohran Mamdani’s influence over Democrats with Trump’s hold on the G.O.P. And on The Powers That Be, Peter Hamby and Jon Kelly debate Bari Weiss’s latest 60 Minutes flare-up and Amazon’s audience-of-one Melania documentary.

MEDIA

Each era seems to get the New York Times union the negotiations it deserves. The latest, already contentious round of labor relations at the paper is likely to come down to issues like A.I. and return-to-office. Don’t expect a return to the recent age of conciliation.

WALL STREET

As the Netflix conquest of Warners looks more like a fait accompli, a new Paramount Skydance preliminary proxy statement once again argues for the supremacy of its bid—and with a couple of new persuasive arguments. But is PSKY’s reluctance to raise its bid a sign of an Oedipal test, or the inevitable realization that it’s time to move on?

WASHINGTON

The White House is threatening to throttle federal funding to blue states, escalating Trump’s war of retribution. On Capitol Hill, some Republicans worry it could cost them the House.

ART

In the final show at Larry Gagosian’s premier gallery on the top floor of 980 Madison Avenue, the legendary dealer is closing out with an exhibition of Jasper Johns—the same artist who inaugurated the space more than three decades earlier.

ART

Christie’s $84 million sale of William Koch’s Western art unfolded like a friendly poker night, led by two unnamed, deep-pocketed collectors who helped drive prices well above estimates. But that doesn’t mean all is well in the world of American art. Some segments still have a ways to run back toward their previous highs.

SPORTS

Washington Post contributor Danny Funt joins John to explore the uneasy moment facing the sports betting industry. As FanDuel and DraftKings feel the squeeze, Funt explains the hunt for higher margins, the marketing tactics fueling growth, and the growing demand for consumer protections. They also discuss how gambling has been increasingly woven into sports media—and whether the U.S. is inching toward tighter, European-style regulation.

WASHINGTON

In the second installment of John’s two-part talk with Patrick Gaspard, the former Obama political director, D.N.C. executive director, and U.S. ambassador to South Africa explains how he came to be Zohran Mamdani’s political sherpa, the qualities that fueled the new mayor’s rise, his similarities to Obama (and how they differ), why his advocacy of abolishing ICE makes political sense (for him), and how his impact on the Democratic Party could be as disruptive—and transformative—as Donald Trump’s on the G.O.P.

MEDIA

Amid the snow and the football, Jon Kelly and Peter Hamby reunite for a spirited conversation about the most riveting questions in the media firmament. Can Bari Weiss outflank her proliferating player haters inside CBS following the 60 Minutes scandalette? And will Amazon’s Melania movie reach its audience of one?

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