The Powers That Be: Daily

With New Mexico joining the early Democratic presidential primary calendar, Peter sits down with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for a dissertation on everything candidates need to know about an often misunderstood state: how to talk about the border and gun rights, why Hispanic identity is different from in Nevada, the truth about tribal sovereignty and land acknowledgements, the trouble with “Woke 1.0,” and so much more.

Progress doesn’t just arrive. It’s built - one question, one discovery, and one solution at a time. Explore more at ScienceDelivers.com.

In this special episode, Leigh Ann Caldwell sits down with Maryland Sen. Angela Alsobrooks to discuss why the Clarity Act couldn’t get across the finish line, whether a deal can still happen in the lame duck, and why the crypto industry is making a huge mistake by going to war with Democrats again. She also sheds light on her party’s enduring identity crisis and how Democrats are faring with the midterms inching closer.

Julia Alexander joins Peter to dig into a new wave of A.I. agents, from Meta’s Muse to OpenAI’s Dots, and whether these tools can actually reach mass adoption or are simply products of an “optimization culture” bubble. They also get into Disney’s streaming ambitions, following the studio poaching filmmaker Shawn Levy to help lure young male viewers from Netflix to Disney+.

Dylan Byers joins Peter to untangle the game of executive musical chairs at Condé Nast and Paramount–WBD as David Ellison taps outgoing Mattel chief Ynon Kreiz as his co-C.E.O., and Condé C.E.O. Roger Lynch in turn announces he’s leaving the media company to take Kreiz’s old job running Mattel.

Marianna Sotomayor joins Peter for a midterm vibe check as Democratic optimism runs high and some in the party are lobbying for eleventh-hour investments in Senate races like South Carolina, stretch Mississippi, and Florida. But Marianna sounds a note of caution, explaining why there’s reason to think Republicans could notch a few surprise wins too.

Marion Maneker joins Peter to debrief on Puck’s second annual Art of Influence conference, where he gathered the art world’s esteemed players for a wide-ranging set of conversations. They discuss museums’ evolution into civic spaces, Christie’s move into pop culture, the challenges facing younger buyers, and more.

Jon Kelly and Peter break down why California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s antitrust effort against the WarnerMount deal collapsed into a series of meager concessions, and ponder whether the two studios will eventually merge. Then they pivot to Vertical Leap, film financier John Sloss’s new venture recruiting mid-tier athletes to invest in new sports documentaries.

Lakshya Jain, elections analyst and co-founder of Split Ticket, joins Peter to dig into polling reliability, election models, and how voters are responding to economic conditions ahead of the midterms and 2028 primaries. While Lakshya says that Democrats have never been in a better position electorally, he explains why campaign insiders remain skeptical because of past polling misses.

Progress doesn’t just arrive. It’s built - one question, one discovery, and one solution at a time. Explore more at ScienceDelivers.com.

Leigh Ann Caldwell joins Peter for a close look at the rising Republican panic over the midterms, as a spate of polls points to a possible blue wave election with voters completely turning on Trump. Then she digs into the scrutiny surrounding the Democratic super PAC End Citizens United, which raised nearly $23 million but has spent only about $1 million directly on candidates.

Ian Krietzberg joins Peter to preview the high-stakes meeting between Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping, breaking down the hopes, expectations, and realities in play as industry leaders press both sides to make A.I. safety a priority. Ian explains why a true breakthrough is unlikely—and why some are quietly wondering whether Trump will use the summit as a bid for the Nobel Peace Prize he desperately craves.