The business of culture. The culture of business. Policy; media & tech; entrepreneurs and more.
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The Washington Institute for Near East Policy's Holly Dagres on the United States' stop-and-go / stick-and-carrot impasse with Iran. What started 2026 with grand talk of regime change has lately turned into a staredown over the flow of crude oil through Hormuz. Dagres curates The Iranist, a newsletter widely followed by Iranians and the diaspora.
NPR critic-at-large Eric Deggans -- newly announced as professor of journalism and media ethics at Washington and Lee University -- on Paramount's contested, politicized buyout of Warner Bros. (and CNN); NPR's talent flight; how his students consume news vs. noise; and moving to Virginia to join a university that still carries the name of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Impersonation machine Mattie Conaghan -- a lapsed ad writer -- on comedy as business development in the age of social media. Gary Belsky, former editor in chief of ESPN The Magazine, on everything from the network's lean(er) years to sober investing to making an impact in 2026's troubled media world. Plus, surreal stories throughout.
Kristen Kelly and Jen Saarbach, best friends since the second grade, on surviving the investment banking grind and Global Financial Crisis to launch The Wall Street Skinny. The millennial-moms-with-mics are now HUGE on the socials...
Gray Montrose -- attorney, activist, small-batch farmer, social-media phenom -- on Virginia vs. data centers; utility mega-mergers; affordable housing; environmental justice....lots more.
Ankler Media's Janice Min on the frenetic merging and acquiring -- "murders and executions," according to American Psycho -- reshaping a Hollywood that has seen far better days. But so much homogenization is also giving small-batch creatives their first big chance in a long time.
The Bulwark's Bill Kristol -- he's been a Cold War Democrat, a Bush 41 White House Republican, and now a Never-Trumper -- on the Iran morass, Netanyahu's month from hell, Mamdani's New York and building a new-media insurgent during the last stand for legacy outlets.
Sarah Feinberg -- former head of New York City's Transit Authority; she helmed the Federal Railroad Administration and was on Amtrak's board, and is now on Southwest Airlines' board -- on reimagining NYC's massive network of trains, planes and automobiles. All of which is in global focus with the Knicks' title and droves descending on the city for the World Cup.
Alice Fulwood, The Economist's U.S. business editor, on the global A.I. craze, China's stagnation, the Federal Reserve's bind and the success of America's franchising culture.
Investors Ben Carlson and Paul Merriman, a tandem of truth tellers -- together for the first time. Think of it as a raucous WrestleMania...but for sedate students of the market.
