Hollywood’s ’23 Awards, CNN’s Next Chapter, G.O.P. Field Fears

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

Today, we lead with Bill Cohan’s intimate and candid chat with Steve Schwarzman, Blackstone’s billionaire co-founder. They gab about how his business has evolved over the years, the ironies of a Trump-Biden rematch, U.S.-Chinese tensions, and much more.

Plus, below the fold: Tina Nguyen dissects how Vivek Ramaswamy disrupted the Republican primary race. Tara Palmeri wrangles public affairs strategist Matt Mowers to spotlight the super PACs making the biggest impact this cycle. Matt Belloni and Jeff Block hand out awards for the best and worst moments of the ’23 movie season. And on The Powers That Be, Dylan Byers joins Peter Hamby to dig into his scoop about Mark Thompson’s appointment as CNN’s new chief, and how he might reconfigure the ailing network.

WILLIAM D. COHAN

An intimate chat with Steve Schwarzman.

TINA NGUYEN

The Ramaswamy Show is reconfiguring the essential dynamics of the Republican primary, threatening to push DeSantis out of the right-of-Trump culture warrior lane into the moderate-ish territory occupied by MAGA milquetoasts like Nikki Haley and Tim Scott.

TARA PALMERI

Tara is joined by public affairs strategist and former diplomat Matt Mowers to discuss the super-PAC phenomenon, admire the follow-through of Miami mayor Francis Suarez, and examine the major story lines that could emerge post-Labor Day.

MATTHEW BELLONI

Matt is joined by Jeff Bock from Exhibitor Relations to look back on a bizarre summer at the box office and hand out awards for the highs and lows of the 2023 summer movie season.