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Aug 25, 2025   

The Daily Courant
SNL 50- NBC

MSNBC’s Hangover, The State of Reality TV, Another G.O.P. Casualty

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

First up today, Bill Cohan peers into Trump’s personal financial portfolio, which the president has loaded up with a mysterious array of 690 individual bonds—including debt securities for a number of companies in his crosshairs. Then, Bill connects the dots to Trump’s pressure campaign against Fed chair Jay Powell, whose final speech at Jackson Hole last week could presage the fate of the current bull market—and the president’s fortune.

Plus, below the fold: Dylan Byers solves a CBS News financial mystery. Leigh Ann Caldwell chronicles the unraveling of the House Freedom Caucus. Marion Maneker returns with a timely dispatch on museum politics in the MAGA era. Julie Davich previews Sotheby’s potentially record-breaking $80 million sale of Pauline Karpidas’s legendary London collection. And Sarah Shapiro illuminates how TikTok has disrupted the seasonal retail cycle.

Meanwhile, on the pods: Matt Belloni is joined by TV executive Stephen Lambert on The Town for a live taping about the state of reality television. On The Varsity, John Ourand and Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt assess the sport’s ongoing upheaval. And on The Powers That Be, Peter Hamby reunites with Jon Kelly to chew over ESPN’s multichannel gamble and MSNBC’s dreary MSNOW rebrand.

WALL STREET

William D. Cohan William D. Cohan
Nothing but a Jay Thing

Nothing but a Jay Thing

As hiring slows and inflation picks up, all of Wall Street’s hopes appear fixed on Jerome Powell, the sphinx-like Fed chairman, whose cryptic pronouncements could determine the fate of this bull market—and, increasingly, the president’s bond portfolio, too.

MEDIA

Dylan Byers Dylan Byers
All the CBS News Fit to Print

All the CBS News Fit to Print

News and notes on Paramount-adjusted EBITDA.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

SNL 50- NBC
SNL 50- NBC

31 Emmy Nominations

-- including --

Outstanding Scripted Variety Series

Saturday Night Live

 

Outstanding Variety Special (Live)

SNL50: The Anniversary Special

 

“still nothing else like it on television”

- GQ

 

“...timelessly funny…”

- CNN

 

“…a reunion show for the ages”

- USA Today

_____

(Read) Inside Saturday Night Live’s “Absolutely Unreal” 50th Season

 

(Read) The best moments from ‘SNL’s’ 50th anniversary special

 

(Read) Behind the Magic of ‘Saturday Night Live’s’ Comedy Empire

_____

For more on SNL50, visit NBCUFYC.com

WASHINGTON

Leigh Ann Caldwell Leigh Ann Caldwell
The Incredible Shrinking Freedom Caucus

The Incredible Shrinking Freedom Caucus

The bare-knuckled Republican brawlers who once struck fear and trembling inside the House have become sidelined during the second Trump administration. Now, increasingly, they’re showing themselves out.

ART

Marion Maneker Marion Maneker
Museum Curation in the MAGA Age

Museum Curation in the MAGA Age

In our post-monocultural, attention-deficit age, museums have attempted to curate more shows, often highlighting lesser-known artists. In fact, this isn’t wokeism or tokenism at all, but rather a way for institutions to gel with their local communities.

ART

Julie Brener Davich Julie Brener Davich
Dream Weaver

Dream Weaver

Legendary collector Pauline Karpidas has a genius for bringing together the fantastical and the surreal, and somehow making it work. The eclectic contents of her London flat, on offer at Sotheby’s next month, will feature a wide range of paintings and furniture. But for design collectors, the main draw is a rare, high-volume trove of Lalanne.

HOLLYWOOD

Matthew Belloni Matthew Belloni
The Town with Matt
Belloni

The Traitors and How to Craft Hit Reality TV in 2025

Live from the Edinburgh TV Festival in Scotland, Matt is joined by television producer and executive Stephen Lambert to discuss the state of reality TV; his newest hit, The Traitors; how to cast reality competition; what streamers are looking for in 2025, and how that’s changed; and whether America is falling behind in creating fresh reality formats.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

SNL 50- NBC
SNL 50- NBC

31 Emmy Nominations

-- including --

Outstanding Scripted Variety Series

Saturday Night Live

 

Outstanding Variety Special (Live)

SNL50: The Anniversary Special

 

“still nothing else like it on television”

- GQ

 

“...timelessly funny…”

- CNN

 

“…a reunion show for the ages”

- USA Today

_____

(Read) Inside Saturday Night Live’s “Absolutely Unreal” 50th Season

 

(Read) The best moments from ‘SNL’s’ 50th anniversary special

 

(Read) Behind the Magic of ‘Saturday Night Live’s’ Comedy Empire

_____

For more on SNL50, visit NBCUFYC.com

SPORTS

John Ourand John Ourand
The Varsity with John Ourand

College Football Embraces the Crazy

Fox Sports’s lead college football analyst, Joel Klatt, joins John to make sense of the sport’s ongoing upheaval—from playoff expansion madness and conference realignment to N.I.L. and the huge debates over the transfer portal. They also delve into ESPN’s continued GameDay supremacy over Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff (even after the Portnoy stunt), plus the Bill Belichick of it all.

MEDIA

Peter Hamby Peter Hamby
Jon Kelly Jon Kelly
The Powers that Be Daily, Starring Peter Hamby

Media Monday: MSNBC’s Divorce Settlement & Pitaro’s Multiverse

Jon Kelly and Peter Hamby are reunited for a rapturous dissection of MSNBC’s dreary new acronymic name, and some learned hypotheses about ESPN’s new gaming-first-ish streamer and its multichannel universe.

Puck
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