The movie musical “Wicked” collected a blockbuster $114 million in its opening weekend. Over the past year, Universal and its parent company Comcast have launched an all-out marketing blitz to blanket the world in “Wicked.” WSJ’s Erich Schwartzel reports on how it is the new Hollywood playbook. Further Listening:- The Curtain Closes on Phantom of the Opera  - The Rise of the Minions  - Why 'Yellowstone' Is One of TV's Most Expensive Shows  Further Reading: - Inside Hollywood’s Big ‘Wicked’ Gamble  - ‘Wicked’ Flies High on Big Screen, With $114 Million Opening Weekend  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After recognizing his nomination was facing an uphill battle, former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration for U.S. Attorney General. WSJ's Sadie Gurman describes how president-elect Donald Trump's first pick unraveled and why he chose former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi for the role instead. Further Reading: -Trump Picks Pam Bondi for Attorney General After Gaetz Withdraws  -Matt Gaetz Withdraws From Consideration as Trump's Attorney General  -Matt Gaetz Had Sex With 17-Year-Old, Witness Told House Ethics Committee  Further Listening: -The Scramble Is on to Fill Trump’s Cabinet -What a Republican Congress Could Mean for Trump  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When TNT lost the rights to broadcast NBA games this year, fans worried that the network’s long-running popular show “Inside the NBA” would also end. But, as WSJ’s Joe Flint explains, a complicated trade has allowed the show to live on.  Further Listening: - The NBA’s Media Rights Are Up For Grabs. Billions Are At Stake.  - The Media Mogul Taking an Ax To Hollywood  Further Reading: - Warner Bros. Discovery, NBA Settle Legal Battle Over TV Rights  - Warner’s TNT Sues NBA, Alleging Breach of Media-Rights Contract  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For years, Spirit Airlines soared with a low-cost, no-frills business model. This week, it came in for a bumpy landing. WSJ's Alison Sider explains how the big airlines learned to compete with Spirit––and helped put the carrier in bankruptcy. Further Listening: -The Love Triangle Over Spirit Airlines  -Frontier, Spirit and the Future of Low-Cost Airlines  Further Reading: -How Spirit Airlines Went From Industry Maverick to Chapter 11 Bankruptcy  -Discount Airline Spirit Files for Bankruptcy  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this year, Canadian convenience store company Alimentation Couche-Tard put in a bid to acquire 7-Eleven. Then, management from inside 7-Eleven’s parent company, Seven & i, proposed a record-breaking buyout to counter. WSJ’s Jinjoo Lee on the drama around who will own the world’s largest convenience store chain.  Further Listening: -The Fight Over U.S. Steel and the Community Caught in the Middle  -Why the FTC is Challenging a $25 Billion Supermarket Merger  Further Reading: -The Fight for 7-Eleven Isn’t Just About Money  -Talk of a 7-Eleven Takeover Has Japan Worried About the Rice Balls  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grocery bills are going up for a lot of reasons. One has to do with how food gets on grocery store shelves. WSJ’s Jesse Newman explains a hidden layer of fees that are getting passed down to the consumer.  Further Reading: - The Mysterious Fees Inflating Your Grocery Bill  - After Years of Raising Prices, Food Companies Hit Consumers’ Limits  Further Listening: - The Twinkie: From Bankruptcy to Billions  - Food Fight: PepsiCo vs. Carrefour  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Onion, the satirical news outlet, wants to buy Infowars, the platform conspiracy theorist Alex Jones used to defame families of the Sandy Hook massacre. Onion CEO Ben Collins shares why and John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, explains what it means to Sandy Hook families and the fight against disinformation. Further Reading: -The Onion Is Buying Alex Jones’s Infowars Site  -Alex Jones Files for Bankruptcy Following Sandy Hook Trial Losses  Further Listening: -How Much Will Alex Jones Pay for his Sandy Hook Lie?  -What One School District Is Doing About Rising Gun Violence  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leaders from around the world are meeting in Azerbaijan for the U.N.’s COP29 climate conference. With Donald Trump’s recent election victory looming over the event, the U.S.’s role will be diminished. WSJ’s Matthew Dalton explains why this moment might be China’s chance to shine. Further Listening: -The Oil Giant Hosting This Year’s U.N. Climate Summit  -The Fight Over Climate Change's Price Tag  Further Reading: -Trump Victory Leaves China Calling the Shots at COP29 Climate Negotiations  -Welcome to Baku, a City Built on Oil Hosting the World’s Climate Conference  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The famous investor and muti-billionaire CEO of Berkshire Hathaway is doing something unusual: selling stocks and hoarding cash. WSJ’s Spencer Jakab breaks down possible reasons why and what everyday investors can learn from his choices. Further Reading: - Does Warren Buffett Know Something That We Don’t?  - A $150 Billion Question: What Will Warren Buffett Do With All That Cash?  Further Listening: - Charlie Munger: Curmudgeon, Sage and Investing Legend  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After abortion access wins in 2022, Democrats made a bet that voters backing abortion on states’ ballot measures would also back Democratic candidates. WSJ’s Laura Kusisto explains why that bet turned out to be wrong. Further Listening: The Scramble Is on to Fill Trump’s Cabinet  What a Republican Congress Could Mean for Trump  Further Reading: Voters Continued to Back Abortion Rights. It Didn’t Help Democrats.  A State-by-State Guide to Abortion Access in the U.S.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The incoming Trump administration has just named its White House chief of staff and more appointments will be coming soon. WSJ’s Andrew Restuccia on who is in the running and how this transition could be different from 2016. Further Reading: -The Scramble Is On to Fill Out Trump’s Cabinet   -Lutnick Consults With Musk, Kushner, Wall Street in Rush to Staff Trump White House   -Meet the Wall Street Bigwig Who Has Become Trump’s Headhunter in Chief   Further Listening: -Red, White and Who? Why Trump Won and Where Democrats Go Next  -What a Republican Congress Could Mean for Trump  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The race is over! Molly Ball and Ryan Knutson dive into the election results to understand what the electorate is feeling. Plus, where did it all go wrong for Democrats and what will day one of a Trump presidency look like? Further Listening: - Red, White and Who? Playlist  - Red, White and Who? It’s Trump.  - Red, White and Who? An Electoral College Blowout?  Further Reading: - How Trump Won the Economy-Is-Everything Election  - Trump Win Marks a Blow to Biden’s Legacy  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former president Donald Trump is now president-elect. But that wasn’t the only win this week for the GOP. Republicans have also secured a majority in the Senate, and they’re poised to win the House of Representatives. WSJ’s Siobhan Hughes breaks down what this Republican trifecta could look like. Further Reading: -Republicans Poised to Keep Control of House After Winning Senate  -How Republicans Regained Control of the Senate  Further Listening: -Red, White and Who? It's Trump.  -How Donald Trump Pulled Off a Historic Comeback  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Republican former president Donald Trump defeats Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, reclaiming the White House. WSJ’s Alex Leary reports on Trump’s winning strategy and the campaign that fueled it. Further Listening: -Red, White and Who? Playlist  Further Reading: -Trump Defeats Harris, Marking Historic Comeback  -How Donald Trump Won—by Being Donald Trump  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After flipping Georgia, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, Donald Trump will become the 47th President of the United States. In the early hours of the morning, Molly Ball and Ryan Knutson discuss election night and Trump's victory. Further Listening: - Red, White and Who? Playlist  - Red, White and Who? An Electoral College Blowout?  - Red, White and Who? The Undecided Voters Who Could Decide The Election  Further Reading: - Live Coverage from WSJ  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Election night is here, and the U.S.–and the world–is watching as the votes come in. WSJ's Politics Editor Ben Pershing walks us through what he's keeping a close eye on, and how long it might take before a winner is called. Further Reading: -Election Day 2024 Live: It's Kamala Harris vs. Donald Trump as America Votes  -A (Don’t Hold Us to It) Hour-by-Hour Guide to Election Night  Further Listening:  -Harris, Trump and the Inflation Election  -Red, White and Who? An Electoral College Blowout?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tomorrow is Election Day, and both Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump have campaigned on bringing down inflation. WSJ’s Nick Timiraos breaks down how both candidates’ plans will impact everyday costs. Further Listening: -Why Trump and Harris Aren’t Talking About the $1.8 Trillion Deficit  -Red, White and Who? Playlist  Further Reading: -Economists Warn of New Inflation Hazards After Election  -Inflation Continues Its Bumpy Decline With Mixed September Reading  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades, activists and lawmakers have tried to change the way child care works in the U.S. But they haven’t had much success. More recently, a fight has been brewing at the local level. This Tuesday, several places around the country will vote on whether to subsidize childcare. WSJ’s Harriet Torry explains what that could mean for one county in Texas. Further Reading: -Are American Taxpayers Ready to Foot the Bill for Child Care?  -Child Care, Rent, Insurance: Where Inflation Hits Hardest Now  Further Listening: -How Employer-Funded Child Care Can Work  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rachel Humphreys and Molly Ball share dispatches from two major campaign events with Ryan Knutson. Molly analyzes the closing arguments and outlines what to expect on election day. Plus, we finally answer listeners’ most asked question: What’s up with the electoral college?  Further Listening: - Red, White and Who? Playlist  - Red, White and Who? The Undecided Voters Who Could Decide The Election  - Red, White and Who? The Desperation Stage  Further Reading: - America Is Having a Panic Attack Over the Election  - Pennsylvania Has Already Become Ground Zero for Election-Fraud Claims  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a rocky start, self-driving car company Waymo seems to have won over riders in San Francisco. WSJ’s Meghan Bobrowsky talks about the company’s push to convince the public its robotaxis are safe and the challenges of replicating that progress elsewhere. Further Reading: -How San Francisco Learned to Love Self-Driving Cars  -America’s Most Tech-Forward City Has Doubts About Self-Driving Cars  Further Listening: -The Future of Self-Driving Cars Is Here  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices