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

First up today, Kim Masters digs into the challenges facing John Landgraf, the longtime FX chairman, whose meticulous, hands-on, old-school approach to developing hit shows like Atlanta, The Bear, and Shogun is occasionally at odds with an industry that rewards scale, speed, and volume. As FX becomes more deeply integrated into Hulu (and, soon, Disney+), will there be room for the boutique, auteur-driven brand? And what’s next for Landgraf, himself?

Plus, below the fold: Lauren Sherman reads the tea leaves surrounding Saks Global’s seemingly inevitable bankruptcy filing. John Ourand chronicles a Fox–FIFA showdown after the soccer league named TikTok its “preferred platform” for this summer’s World Cup. And Abby Livingston runs down three high-stakes California congressional races with major implications for the 2026 midterms.

Meanwhile, on the pods: Matt Belloni reunites with Lucas Shaw on The Town to dissect Sunday’s Golden Globes, while Lauren and Who What Wear’s Hillary Kerr assess the best red carpet looks on Fashion People. On The Grill Room, Dylan Byers and Axios’s Jim VandeHei debate the media industry’s doom-and-gloom narrative. And on The Powers That Be, Peter Hamby and Julia Ioffe discuss the protests enveloping Iran and whether Trump might press for regime change.

The oracle of Peak TV is at an inflection point as Disney+ absorbs Hulu and the chase for prestige gives way to the tonnage model.

"The Movie We Need Right Now" and featuring "the Best Performance of Kate Hudson’s Career”, SONG SUNG BLUE is now in theaters nationwide.

For your consideration in all categories including Best Actress, Kate Hudson is a Golden Globe® and Actor Award® nominee for Best Actress. 

This traumatic leg of the Saks Global journey is ending with a bankruptcy filing in Houston and the almost-guaranteed departure of Richard Baker. But accountability should be spread far and wide as whispers emerge about the next management team.

News and notes on the topics keeping the industry’s hearts aflutter in advance of the CFP, the World Cup, and more.

Nancy Pelosi’s retirement in San Francisco, an Obama alum’s generational challenge in L.A., and a redrawn Orange County could end careers and launch new California stars.

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to react to Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, including the cringiest corporate moments and the studios and streamers that overperformed. Then they discuss the latest move in the ongoing Warner Bros. Discovery saga, with Paramount filing a lawsuit seeking to force Warners to release more information about its merger agreement with Netflix, and their plan to launch a proxy fight.

"The Movie We Need Right Now" and featuring "the Best Performance of Kate Hudson’s Career”, SONG SUNG BLUE is now in theaters nationwide.

For your consideration in all categories including Best Actress, Kate Hudson is a Golden Globe® and Actor Award® nominee for Best Actress. 

Lauren’s guest is Who What Wear co-founder, Future Publishing S.V.P., and Substacker Hillary Kerr. They discuss the best and worst of the Golden Globes red carpet, and what the lineup portends for the rest of the awards season and the fashion industry at large. They also get into the Guccissance and the future of Saks Global. Mentioned in this episode: Dior, Chanel, Rose Byrne, Matthieu Blazy, Jessie Buckley, Valentino, Colman Domingo, Teyana Taylor, Schiaparelli, Jonathan Anderson, Kate Young, Jamie Mizrahi, Mia Goth, Jennifer Lawrence, Ryan Hastings, Justine Lupe, Rebecca Ramsey, and plenty of other fashion people.

Jim VandeHei, the co-founder and C.E.O. of Axios, is back with hot takes on the industry’s biggest challenges: the media’s trust deficit, the imperative to serve hyper-targeted audiences, and how A.I. is writing journalism’s next chapter. Jim predicts a potential golden age for quality reporting—provided publishers actually embrace A.I.—and delivers a characteristically blunt assessment of The Washington Post and CBS News.

Julia Ioffe joins Peter for a close examination of mass demonstrations and state killings in Iran—and whether Donald Trump, newly emboldened on the world stage after the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, might press for regime change in the Islamic Republic. Then they turn to the latest Washington intrigue, and discuss the meme-worthy meltdown of Trump-appointed Foggy Bottom H.R. director Lew Olowski at his farewell party after learning he’d been passed over for a coveted assignment.

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