Peter Kafka

Lachlan Cartwright Started in Tabloids. Now He’s a Must-Read Media Gossip. Podcast Episode · Channels with Peter Kafka · 12/10/2025 · 47m

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...

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Abu Dhabi are backing the Ellisons' hostile bid for Warner Bros. Why? Paramount's Larry and David Ellison are making a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Three of their partners are Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi.

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...

Donald Trump likes Paramount's Larry and David Ellison. Will he try to stop the Netflix-WBD deal for them? Larry and David Ellison have a good relationship with Donald Trump. Is that enough to get him to kill Netflix's deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery?

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

The point is he was always going to have partners

He certainly *could* pay for it by himself but I don't think most people thought he would - just like Elon Musk found investors to help him buy Twitter.

Will Middle Eastern oil nations end up owning part of CBS, HBO, CNN — and Hollywood? Paramount might rely on financing from Middle Eastern petrostates for its offer to buy Warner Bros Discovery. That raises some tricky issues.

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...

Why oil money could end up owning part of a giant American media company A few years ago, it would have been hard to imagine Saudi Arabia — or any Gulf state — owning a piece of a US media giant. Now, it might happen.

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...

SoftBank just sold the world's hottest AI stock — so it can buy more of the world's hottest AI company Nvidia is out. OpenAI is in. Does that make sense?

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:

The Bulwark's Sarah Longwell on Why Republicans Won the Attention War Podcast Episode · Channels with Peter Kafka · 11/05/2025 · 45m

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...

It's worse than you think: I actually believe what I posted.

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

Man I got a lot of shitposting to do if I wanna catch up!

Paramount's Trump alliance is real — and so is Jon Stewart's new deal The men who own Paramount want to please Donald Trump. They also want to please audiences. Discuss.

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-...

Wait there are mass blocklists? And you can see if you're on them? How do you do that? And why would people make those? What a weird platform,

Also thx!

NY Post: Take control of your search Evade the Big Tech censors and get more of the news you trust. Imagine of a computer screen showing Google news results. And a button that reads: "Add New York Post as a preferred source on Google"

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...

Why Biden’s White House Press Secretary Is Leaving the Democratic Party Karine Jean-Pierre feels that Democrats were so mean to Biden that she is becoming an Independent.

This is a reverse job interview.

www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

Smh

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-...

The PR Guy Who Says the AI Boom Is a Bust Podcast Episode · Channels with Peter Kafka · 10/15/2025 · 55m

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...

YouTube video by Bloomberg Television Jimmy Kimmel on His Return to Air and Late Night’s Future in the Trump Era

This is an excellent interview with Jimmy Kimmel.

youtu.be/pSvFLrrSu94?...

What the Bari Weiss deal tells us about Paramount's politics — and what it doesn't Paramount's new owner David Ellison says he's not interested in politics. A lot of his moves, like buying Bari Weiss' The Free Press, lean rightward.

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...

Apple's ICEBlock take-down shows how Big Tech's power can be used by American officials Tech companies are used to foreign governments telling them to take down apps. Now it's happening in the US, as Apple takes down an anti-ICE app.

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...

So antifa could be a kid in a black mask tossing a brick at a CCTV camera at an ICE facility. Antifa could be the grandma on the sidewalk holding a sign reading “DONALD TRUMP IS A FASCIST.” Antifa is ACAB. Antifa is Fuck ICE. Antifa is No Kings. Antifa might be a reading group, a teach-in, an Instagram solicitation for mutual aid. Antifa could be the ICEBlock app, and the App Store could be providing material support for terrorism.

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.”

Top Trump Aides Push for Ousting Maduro From Power in Venezuela

"It is generally illegal under international law to use force in another country without its consent."

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/u...