Good afternoon,

Podcasters will soon be invited to “Hollywood’s Party of the Year.”

The Golden Globes announced plans to present the inaugural Best Podcast award in 2026. There will be 6 nominees chosen from the 25 most popular podcasts series, so look for names like Joe Rogan (The Joe Rogan Experience), Alex Cooper (Call Her Daddy) and Megyn Kelly (The Megyn Kelly Show).

The Globes says they’re adding a podcast category to reflect “today’s audiences and consumption behavior around the world.”

Sadly, while The Mo News Podcast has cracked the top 25 in the past, we need your help to keep us consistently there for eligibility! Mosh and I round up all the day’s news and usually have a few laughs along the way. (We already have Emmys from our previous lives in TV news, and we’d love to add a Golden Globe for the podcast to the mantle!)

Jill
Mo News Podcast Co-host

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🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING

Conclave Voting Begins: What To Expect & What The Next Pope Will Inherit

Catholic cardinals gathered at the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel on Wednesday to elect a new pope following the death of Pope Francis on April 21.

• All 133 voting cardinals, from 70 different countries and territories, must swear an oath of secrecy, placing their hands on the Book of the Gospels before the official start of the conclave. Modern technology is banned throughout the process: no phones, no recordings, and absolutely no leaks.

The secretive voting process - so secretive even the cardinals are watching the movie ‘Conclave’ for pointers - will continue until a candidate receives at least two-thirds of the votes. After each round of voting, ballots are burned — black smoke means no pope yet, white smoke signals a new pontiff. Here’s a livestream of the Vatican which tracks chimney activity — just after 3 pm ET today (9 pm local time) there was black smoke — signaling a pope was not yet chosen (not a surprise).

⏱️ Timing: Voting will take place at approximately 4:30 a.m. ET (10:30 a.m. local), 6:00 a.m. ET (noon local), 11:30 a.m. ET (5:30 p.m. local), and 1:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. local) from Thursday through Saturday.

• After three days, if no pope is chosen, voting will pause for a day of reflection. The most recent conclaves for Pope Francis in 2013 and Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 were completed within two days.

WHO COULD IT BE
While technically any Catholic man can become pope, the cardinals usually select from within their own ranks. He’s not Catholic, so it definitely won’t be President Trump - despite his interest in the job. Here are some names being thrown around:

• Luis Tagle (67, Philippines): Seen as a Francis-like figure for his focus on social justice and openness to LGBTQ+ and divorced Catholics, but he’s been criticized for not being tough enough on clerical sex abuse. If chosen, he would be the first pope from Southeast Asia.

• Pietro Parolin (70, Italy): Vatican Secretary of State since 2013, known as a centrist and skilled diplomat, especially for helping establish ties between the Church and China in a controversial deal which gives Chinese authorities some say in what Chinese priests are made bishops.

• Matteo Zuppi (69, Italy): The close ally of Francis led Italy’s bishops’ conference and served as Francis’ peace envoy to Ukraine.

• Fridolin Ambongo Besungu (65, Democratic Republic of Congo): An advocate for Africa’s growing Catholic population, but more conservative — he opposed blessings for gay people. He would be the first pope from Africa in more than 1,500 years.

WHAT THEY INHERIT
Pope Francis was tasked with combating decades of the Vatican’s financial mismanagement and money laundering. Francis, who made headlines for rejecting some of the more luxurious trappings of the papacy, cut cardinals’ salaries three times, hired an auditor, and moved to end discounted Vatican housing for senior officials. Despite those efforts, the Vatican’s budget deficit tripled under his watch.

• In February, Francis urged parishes to increase donations from the church’s 1.4-billion parishioners as it faces tens of millions in annual budget shortfalls on top of more than a billion in unfunded liability on its pension fund.

• The Vatican — a small independent country within Rome — must also fund civil services, embassies, and the Papal Swiss Guard. The tax-exempt enclave draws around $100 million annually from its seven million annual visitors who flock to see masterpieces by Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Leonardo da Vinci — none of which the Vatican plans to sell to cover costs.

As The Wall Street Journal put it, “A tiny country of unfathomable riches has been unable to sustain the basic functions of a state without running a perilous deficit.” Cardinals from the U.S. and Germany, the Vatican’s largest donor bases, have tried to educate their peers on the financial perils — though some see it as an earthly concern.

Bottom line: Francis was unable to root out the Vatican’s “culture of financial malpractice.” The next pope will face the same steep challenge.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Three former Memphis officers acquitted in fatal beating of Tyre Nichols after he fled a traffic stop(CNN)

📌 Newark air traffic control lost contact with pilots at least twice before, source says (NBC)

📌 House Speaker appears to rule out some of the more controversial proposed Medicaid cuts (POLITICO)

📌 Sinaloa cartel leader among 16 arrested in historic U.S. fentanyl bust, Justice Department says (CBS)

📌 Turkish Tufts University student detained by ICE can be sent to Vermont, appeals court rules (POLITICO)

📌 Biden says "what the hell's going on here?" about Trump's Greenland, Canada comments (CBS)

📌 Second US Navy jet is lost at sea from Truman aircraft carrier (FOX)

📌 U.S. deporting group of migrants to Libya on military plane, officials say, Libya’s provisional government denies it (NBC)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Trump says U.S. will now call “Persian Gulf” the “Arabian Gulf” (MO NEWS)

📌 Pakistan authorizes ‘corresponding’ retaliation after India missile strikes kill 26 (GUARDIAN)

📌 U.S. & China to hold "de-escalation" talks (MO NEWS)

📌 Vance says Russia ‘asking for too much’ to end war with Ukraine (POLITICO)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 Fed holds rates steady, warns of stagflation risks (CNN)

📌 WeightWatchers files for bankruptcy protection to eliminate debt burden (NPR)

📌 Moderna's combo Covid and flu mRNA shot outperforms current vaccines in large trial (NBC)

📌 Mattel CEO says toy manufacturing won't come to America, but price hikes will (CNBC)

📌 Failed Soviet-era spacecraft expected to crash back to Earth within days (ABC)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Netflix overhauls home screen for first time in 12 years with OpenAI-powered search and TikTok-style vertical feeds (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)

📌 K-Pop star Lisa’s did not have Rosa Parks' face embroidered on panties for Met Gala outfit, rep says (PEOPLE)

📌 Smokey Robinson accused of sexual assault by four women (BBC)

📌 Jury in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial may not be finalized until Friday (AP)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲

In case you missed it… Disney is opening a new park, this time in the Middle East. The Abu Dhabi theme park, which is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, will be Walt Disney Company’s first new resort destination in 15 years and the company’s seventh around the 🌍.

The company still relies on the parks to generate most of its income, with 59 percent of its operating income last year coming from the parks. Disney hopes to tap into Abu Dhabi’s tourism market. The city sees 24 million visitors annually (for context, Walt Disney World in Florida gets about 50 million visitors each year).