Harris’s Hard Truths, Hollywood Course Correction, Engelbert’s Tabula Rasa

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

First up today, John Ourand gets on the horn with WNBA commish Cathy Engelbert to unpack the league’s stunning renaissance: the gangbusters $200 million media rights deal, capitalizing on Caitlinsanity, the fine art of fomenting rivalries, and much more.

Plus, below the fold: Lauren Sherman digs through an overflowing reader mailbag of pressing NYFW questions. Ken Basin charts Hollywood’s path back to sanity after the Peak TV era. On Somebody’s Gotta Win, Tara Palmeri and former G.O.P. lobbyist Juleanna Glover scrutinize the endemic grift in Trumpworld. On Impolitic, John Heilemann and former ABC News anchor Dan Harris reveal the key to navigating the anxiety-ridden ’24 race with aplomb. And on The Powers That Be, Tara and Peter Hamby contrast the gushing punditry surrounding Harris’s debate performance with voters’ actual impressions.

P.S., in celebration of Puck’s third anniversary, we’re pleased to offer 20% off an annual subscription. Click here to claim this very limited-time deal!

JOHN OURAND

A candid conversation with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert on the league’s renaissance season and once-unthinkable $200 million per year media rights deal.

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LAUREN SHERMAN

In which I try my best to answer all your questions about Beyoncé’s weird whiskey-a-go-go GQ cover, Ozempic’s impact on the fashion industry, Cathy Horyn’s future, JCPenney’s long goodbye, and much more.

KEN BASIN

“Cost plus” is the licensing model on which the Peak TV era was built. It has also become one of the drivers of the business’s decline. How can better dealmaking help set the industry back on a path toward sustainability?

TARA PALMERI

Tara is joined by former Republican lobbyist Juleanna Glover to discuss a recent article she wrote for The New York Times about how Donald Trump’s campaign funds are being distributed. They examine the drama within the Trump team’s upper management, follow the organization’s money into dark tunnels, and compare and contrast Trump’s campaign with Harris’s.