Kristof on Biden, MLB’s Bidding War, The Kornfeld Stimulus

Happy Labor Day and welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon roundup of Puck’s best new reporting.

First up today, John Ourand chats with ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro on a new episode of The Varsity about the sports giant’s streaming future, Stephen A.’s forthcoming deal, Venu, and much more. Then Dylan Byers captures the latest Toscana crowd chatter about Dana Walden and Josh D’Amaro's shadow campaigns to succeed Bob Iger.

Plus, below the fold: Bill Cohan chews over Warren Buffett’s $1 trillion milestone, Wall Street’s A.I. hysteria, and the leadership kerfuffle at Two Sigma. John Heilemann trades notes with Nicholas Kristof on the Democrats’ year of magical thinking. Marion Maneker assesses whether the highly anticipated Kornfeld sale could defibrillate the art market. And on The Powers That Be, Jon Kelly joins Peter Hamby to determine the real impact of Kamala Harris’s sit-down with Dana Bash, before digging into the feeding frenzy surrounding MLB’s local rights.

JOHN OURAND

ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro sits down with John in Bristol for an incredibly candid and detailed conversation about the state of his business and the industry. The duo delve into ESPN’s various broadcast negotiations with the top leagues, its streaming strategy, an evolving view on talent, and so much more.

DYLAN BYERS

News and notes on the intensifying shadow campaign to succeed Bob Iger at Disney as the fall closes in.

WILLIAM D. COHAN

News and notes from the Wall Street hype machine as Berkshire Hathaway hits $1 trillion, Sam Altman’s OpenAI trades at 33x (!) revenue, and Two Sigma continues to flirt with disaster.

JOHN HEILEMANN

In a candid conversation, the Times’ Nicholas Kristof diagnoses the Democrats’ Thanksgiving challenge, looks back at the year of magical thinking about Joe Biden, assesses Tim Walz’s talent, and much, much more.