Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon compilation of Puck’s best new reporting.

First up today, Matt Belloni crowns his fifth annual Hollywood Heroes of the Year: Warner Bros. film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, who returned from the brink of defenestration to deliver an impressive run of profitable theatrical hits. In an era when I.P. has taken over Hollywood and their studio is in the process of being sold to Netflix (or Paramount?), they managed to champion new franchises and emergent filmmakers. But was ’25 a validation of their strategy—or a fluke that will be exposed next year?

Plus, below the fold: Julia Alexander offers three sports media predictions for 2026. Abby Livingston and political analyst Jacob Rubashkin preview the looming midterm primary season. John Heilemann and Ezra Klein review the year in politics on Impolitic. And Dylan Byers and Common Sense Media C.E.O. Jim Steyer rank the tech platforms most committed to child safety on The Grill Room.

But wait, there’s more! On The Town, Matt and Lucas Shaw dig into Marty Supreme’s box office performance and parse Bloomberg’s recent industry executive survey. Lauren Sherman welcomes Jacob Gallagher and Becky Malinsky to Fashion People to dish on 2025’s biggest industry shake-ups, trends, and farewells. And on The Powers That Be, Peter Hamby and Leigh Ann Caldwell evaluate the G.O.P.’s gloomy midterm outlook.

In 2025, Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy went from dead executives walking to a six-month stretch of blockbusters and Oscar contenders that silenced the town and offered a middle finger to their boss, David Zaslav. In an era when I.P. has taken over Hollywood, and their studio has been sold to Netflix (or Paramount?), they decided to go out swinging…

Why Prime Video should win a major NFL package on top of Thursday Night Football, the real endgame for podcasts on Netflix, the future of the UFC-Paramount partnership, and other sports media predictions for 2026.

We’re working to prevent disease before it starts.

Too often, patients face barriers in getting the care they need. UnitedHealth Group is helping to remove these barriers while prioritizing new preventive care approaches that help keep patients healthy.

Ready or not, the midterm primary season is just days away. And, as analyst Jacob Rubashkin explains, just about anything can happen… including a congressional surprise in Texas and a Senate upset in Michigan.

John welcomes New York Times columnist and podcasting dynamo Ezra Klein back to the show for the second installment of a two-part, year-end review of the national political scene in 2025.

Jim Steyer, the founder and C.E.O. of Common Sense Media, joins Dylan for a fascinating end-of-year conversation about which tech companies and social media platforms are getting it right (and wrong) when it comes to child safety. They also chat about his legendary class at Stanford and forthcoming podcast, his brother Tom’s gubernatorial bid in California, and much more.

At UnitedHealth Group, we’re reshaping care with a new approach: Helping physicians focus on patients and prevention, instead of paperwork.

See how we’re helping patients live healthier lives with a new model for health care.

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss the big Christmas weekend at the box office, including the big Marty Supreme win and Sydney Sweeney’s box office bounce. Then they dive into Lucas’s recent Bloomberg survey polling 700 industry experts to answer the biggest burning questions around town, including who will end up owning Warner Bros., who will be the CEO of Disney in 2027, where you should sell your movie, and who is the worst CEO in media.

Lauren is joined by listener favorites Jacob Gallagher (The New York Times) and Becky Malinsky (5 Things You Should Buy) for a supersized episode covering the biggest stories of 2025, from all the designer changes (Dior, Chanel, Gucci, Celine, and more) to the trends (resale, potato shoes), to the shake-ups (Versace) and goodbyes (Giorgio Armani).

Leigh Ann Caldwell joins Peter to chart the headwinds facing Republican members in next year’s midterm elections. As Leigh Ann notes, the G.O.P. has struggled with economic messaging, Trump has said he’s “done” working with Congress for the rest of his term, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will be more than a year old when members start campaigning next fall. Is a blue wave inevitable?

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