truly what could a satirist make up that would be dumber and funnier than the White House East Wing sponsored by Roblox and defense contractors

Sometimes Donald Trump actively meddles with media companies - a reality we've already gotten numb to in the last year. Sometimes the *idea* of Trump is enough to mess with media companies. Which bring us to Bari Weiss and the Ellisons. From me: www.businessinsider.com/bari-weiss-6...

In a single day, three of old media's most treasured assets have been acquired by digital usurpers — internet services that used to be dismissed by media giants, and are now giants themselves. New from me: www.businessinsider.com/oscars-youtu...

The Ellisons were using $24 billion from Saudi, Qatar and Abu Dhabi in their WBD bid. That was an issue - but not the main one. New from me: www.businessinsider.com/paramount-wb...

Lachlan Cartwright worked for the National Enquirer when it was functionally an arm of the Trump campaign in 2015/2016 - he was part of the catch-and-kill activities. Now he dishes super insidery NYC media gossip. Our chat here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Last week Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi were going to put (at least) $24 billion into WBD - the company that owns HBO, CNN and a big movie studio. The petrostates are part of the new hostile bid Larry Ellison and his son are making, too. www.businessinsider.com/paramount-wb...

What is the point of being the world's second richest man if you can't get the President of the United States to kill a deal?https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-wbd-warner-paramount-larry-david-ellison-trump-doj-antitrust-2025-12

A scenario we couldn't imagine a few years ago, now quite plausible: Larry Ellison, backed by $ from Saudi and other petrostates, controlling a huge American media conglomerate. www.businessinsider.com/paramount-wa...

Wrote about the very plausible scenario where Saudis (or another petrostate) end up owning a chunk of major American film studios, streaming services and news outlets. www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia...

Bubble popped! SoftBank just sold all of its Nvidia shares. Bubble still bubbling! SoftBank is putting another $22 billion into OpenAI. A real @edzitron.com special. Let's discuss. www.businessinsider.com/softbank-nvi...

"I don't want to be reliant on any of the platforms. I don't want people to say, oh, you're a Substack company or oh, you're a YouTube company. Nope. We're The Bulwark." @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social talks media strategy with @pkafka.bsky.social on Channels:

Catch @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social talking the Bulwark's big success on Channels with @pkafka.bsky.social: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Talked to former Republican strategist Sarah Longwell about supercharging The Bulwark by turning on the laptop cameras. + why Gavin Newsom's fake Trump is less effective than JD Vance's fake Trump. Exceprts; www.businessinsider.com/bulwark-sara... Full chat: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

100 percent agree with Will. I use AI more and more each day. Never going back.

The thing about the "Larry and David Ellison are tilting Paramount to please Trump" theory is that it's true. But it's not always true. www.businessinsider.com/jon-stewart-...

Well, this is one hell of a pop-up:

Mark Thompson used to be Bari Weiss' boss's boss at the NYT. Now he runs CNN. www.businessinsider.com/cnn-ceo-mark...

This is a reverse job interview. www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

Up until the last year I was really skeptical that left-leaning folks would vote with their credit cards. But first Wapo, now Disney are changing my mind. www.businessinsider.com/disney-hulu-...

Enjoyed talking to @edzitron.com, who has been spending a lot of time banging the drum about the AI bubble (and about the problems with tech in general. Also discussed here: How Ed runs a PR company while he also savages some of the biggest companies in tech. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

What happens when you're in a bubble but it doesn't feel like a bubble. Or at least like other bubbles. www.businessinsider.com/ai-bubble-cu...

This is an excellent interview with Jimmy Kimmel. youtu.be/pSvFLrrSu94?...

David Ellison says he wants Paramount to stay out of politics. David Ellison just put Bari Weiss in (nominal?) charge of his news operation. Discuss! www.businessinsider.com/paramount-da...

We are used to Apple and other big tech companies taking down apps when Moscow, Beijing or Riyadh commands. Now we see it happening in the US: The Trump White House wanted an anti-ICE app gone, and Apple complied. Pretty sure this is a start, not a one-off. www.businessinsider.com/apple-iceblo...

Just to be clear, we wrote that paragraph long before the App Store removed ICEBlock. www.theverge.com/policy/79051...

Pam Bondi says Apple complied with DOJ order to take down an ICE tracking app. www.businessinsider.com/apple-iceblo...

Apple statement: “We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps. Based on information we’ve received from law enforcement about the safety risks associated with ICEBlock, we have removed it and similar apps from the App Store.”

"It is generally illegal under international law to use force in another country without its consent." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/u...

There's no way TikTok USA is only worth $14 billion, as JD Vance said Thursday. One explanation: This is one of those cases where $14 billion isn't really $14 billion. www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-worth...

One upside of the Kimmel story is that it gives us another chance to remember that Trump is still suing Gannett and Ann Selzer over a poll he didn't like. Unlike Paramount and Disney, Gannett and Selzer are still fighting the suit. www.businessinsider.com/trump-kimmel...

Last year, Mark Zuckerberg told Republicans the Biden administration had pressured him to take content down. Now Google is doing the same thing. It's move designed to give Jim Jordan a win, while keeping Google off the regulatory hook. www.businessinsider.com/google-meta-...

Remember Winnie Greco? The cash-in-the-chip-bag lady? You may recall this longtime Eric Adams adviser is also at the center of fundraisers with the hallmarks of illegal, "straw" donations. These activities were under investigation. One of the big Adams-world mysteries is ... what happened to them?

That was 2019. Never occurred to me I'd be writing this in 2025 www.businessinsider.com/jimmy-kimmel...

FCC head Brendan Carr, who regulates Nexstar and encouraged them to complain about Jimmy Kimmel, applauds Nexstar for complaining about Kimmel which led Disney to suspend him: "I want to thank Nexstar for doing the right thing."

Blockbuster Trump NYT lawsuit definitively proves that Trump was in TV shows and movies before becoming president.

Someone just sent me a bunch of examples of these. Apparently the site is flooded with them. There's gotta be a story behind all of these.

You are all here because the world's richest man bought Twitter. How will you react as the world's second richest man consolidates Hollywood? www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-la...

I spoke with @pkafka.bsky.social about creating @status.news and how we're covering the media industry differently. Please consider giving it a listen! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

During Trump 1.0 there was a lot of talk about reforming Big Tech, and that talk continued under Biden. But all that's over now. www.businessinsider.com/google-antit...

Your long weekend listen could be my chat with my old employer @henryblodget.bsky.social, talking about building a new media company in an AI age - and why the current AI boom rhymes with dotcom one from the late 90s. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/r...

Let's be clear: Trump didn't take 10% of Intel because he was concerned about American dependence on Taiwan. He did it because he could. He'll use the same rationale for the next one. He spells it out here. www.businessinsider.com/intel-donald...

Listening to @pkafka.bsky.social on Channels about new ESPN app + streaming. And it’s just incredible to hear ESPN chief Pitaro be all-in on sports betting.

Great @pkafka.bsky.social invu w Jimmy Pitaro. Moment of interest: Peter asking ‘can you say the word diversity anymore?’ and Jimmy basically saying no (“audience expansion” is apparently the legal way they talk about diversity w/o saying diversity)

Trump: David and Larry Ellison are giving me $20 million in free ads so they can buy Paramount. Ellison lawyer: "Bullshit" David Ellison: ____ www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump...

I wish I'd seen this before I asked Mike to explain the AI arms race, which is leading to things like Mark Zuckerberg paying a single engineer $250 million. Too late now. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Trump: Make your stuff in America or I'll tax you. Also Trump: If you make stuff in America and sell it overseas I'll tax you. (Trump supporters who spent 2024 crying about Biden's regulatory overreach: ---) www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-amd-s...

".. three and a half billion dollars in Presidential profits — even though my accounting is necessarily approximate — is a dizzying sum. .. he treats his public office as personal property, as an asset that is his to exploit as if he owned it."

New Paramount owner David Ellison doesn't want to talk about Donald Trump or politics. But becoming the new owner of Paramount required - at a minimum- Trump's blessing. So people are going to keep asking. www.businessinsider.com/paramount-sk...

Some context for Wednesday'sDonald Trump/Tim Cook photo op: www.businessinsider.com/apple-invest...

Confession time: I've been working on a secret side project at Vox Media for the past 18 months and it launched yesterday