The Update Journal- May 27th
from The Update with Brandon Julien Hosted by Brandon Julien
From the unaired January 29, 2026 episode of The Update, Brandon takes a look back at two very different moments that somehow both ask the same question: what happens when the past shows up in the present? First, in “The Same Song, New Verse — Now Featuring Tony Dokoupil’s Mom,” Brandon unpacks the ongoing identity crisis at CBS Evening News after Tony Dokoupil ended a broadcast by interviewing his own mother. It’s not about his mom — she seems lovely — it’s about what happens when a flagship evening newscast starts feeling less like Cronkite’s house and more like someone accidentally opened FaceTime during the kicker. With plenty of side-eye, Brandon asks the big media question: what exactly is CBS Evening News trying to be now? Then, in “Sometimes the Past Walks In Through the Door,” a surprise visit from Brandon’s former boss Shateka at UD Team sends him down memory lane — back to PAL, camp politics, second chances, blue shirts, Brooklyn summer chaos, and the people who believed in him before the story fully made sense. It’s funny, reflective, and a little emotional, because sometimes the past doesn’t text first. Sometimes it just walks into work and reminds you how far you’ve come.
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