Happy Labor Day, and welcome back to The Daily Courant. In the spirit of the holiday, we’ve pulled together a special issue highlighting some of our most popular podcast episodes of the year, for your enjoyment and edification while manning the grill.

But first, some exclusive news: After months of speculation, Lauren Sherman scoops the name of the next editor of American Vogue—a longtime deputy with a Hollywood pedigree whose first order of business will be a bit of high-touch housekeeping: elevating a new generation of talent while sunsetting some of the old guard, all done with the tacit approval of Anna Wintour but without implicating her, of course. (The official announcement will likely be made tomorrow, but Puck subscribers can read it here first.)

Meanwhile, our songs of the summer: On a recent episode of Impolitic, John Heilemann and comms wizard Lis Smith evaluated Trump’s curious approach to the Epstein saga. On The Grill Room, Dylan Byers and former MSNBC exec Andy Lack debated the sweeping changes at his alma mater and the existential crises rattling television news. On The Varsity, John Ourand welcomes Axios’s Sara Fischer back to break down Paramount’s $7.7 billion deal with UFC and ESPN’s bombshell pacts with the NFL and WWE.

But wait, there’s more! On Fashion People, Lauren and author Amy Odell discussed her new Gwyneth Paltrow biography and the Vogue succession race (we now know how that turned out…). And don’t miss Peter Hamby and Julia Alexander on a particularly prescient episode of The Powers That Be, breaking down how YouTube has quietly positioned itself as the most dominant player in streaming.

As expected, Anna Wintour has chosen a longtime supplicant, imbued with a Hollywood pedigree and a can-do disposition, to take over American Vogue—the latest and most natural step in a never-ending succession journey.

This is how bp does offshore production.

bp supports ~300,000 US jobs. Like the engineering and skilled labor jobs that are working to produce more American energy right now. Across our five offshore platforms in the Gulf of America, we’re making major investments in people and infrastructure. It’s just one of the ways bp is investing in America.

John welcomes Democratic communications wizard Lis Smith—whose clients have run the gamut from Pete Buttigieg and Mallory McMorrow to Andrew Cuomo and Eliot Spitzer—to discuss the unprecedented political crisis Donald Trump is facing among his supporters over his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Andy Lack, former chairman of NBC News and MSNBC, joins Dylan to pore over the myriad existential crises rattling television news, from CBS’s messy Trump settlement to the Versant spin that leaves MSNBC in the wilderness—and more. He also discusses his new act as a purveyor of local news startups across the Deep South, and his bid to build sustainable outlets at a time when local journalism is facing significant headwinds.

Axios’s Sara Fischer returns to the pod to help make sense of the biggest sports media plotlines from the past few weeks: Paramount’s $7.7 billion deal with UFC, ESPN’s respective bombshell pacts with the NFL and WWE, the network’s forthcoming D.T.C. product, and much, much more.

This is how bp invests in America.

bp added $190+ billion to the US economy over the last three years. From people working to produce oil and gas in the Gulf of America and Permian Basin, to investments in refining and bioenergy projects nationwide, and so much more, see all the ways bp is investing in America.

Lauren’s guest is Amy Odell, author of Gwyneth: The Biography. They discuss actress Gwyneth Paltrow’s second life as a wellness influencer, editor, fashion designer, and C.E.O. and founder of Goop, the lifestyle business that has attracted plenty of attention but struggled to turn a profit. They also discuss G.P.’s relationship with Anna Wintour, who was the subject of Amy’s previous book.

Streaming guru Julia Alexander joins Peter for a rollicking conversation about the wild state of the industry war in 2025: Netflix’s enduring dominance, Apple TV’s strategic nod to the HBO playbook, and why the Peacocks of the world exist merely as consolidation bait. Then Julia dives deep into how YouTube is flying under the radar as potentially the most dominant streamer in the game… and why Hollywood ignores it at its peril.

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