The Update with Brandon Julien

We've done a lot of episodes throughout our many years of #TheUpdate, but some of them are my personal favorites. Every month, we're going to go into The Update vault and play one episode from my personal list of favorite episodes. I hope you enjoy them as much as i did hosting it.

In today’s edition of The Update Journal, the Mets come out of May looking refreshed, rebranded, and dangerously close to giving fans hope — which, as we know, is usually when the emotional trapdoor opens. May felt like the makeover montage in a sports movie: better pitching, better vibes, fewer moments where you stare at the TV like it owes you money. But now June is here, and June is the group p...

In today’s edition of The Update Journal, the Yankees try to figure out life without Aaron Judge, which is like asking the Avengers to handle the final battle without Captain America, Iron Man, or anyone tall enough to reach the good snacks on top of the fridge. Judge’s rib injury comes with that dreaded “4–6 weeks before re-imaging” timeline, which is not a return date — it’s a medical cliffhange...

In today’s edition of The Update Journal, we begin with what was supposed to be a casual trip into AMC’s Interview With the Vampire, and somehow ended with Anne Rice lore, emotional damage, and me wondering why nobody assigned Claudia a therapist, a curfew, or a probation officer. Because once I found out about Claudia — who she was, what happened to her, and the full weight of her story — that’s...

Hello everyone! We're going into #TheUpdate vault to play one of our many episodes throughout our many years of the show. For today's episode, we go into the world of Year 5 of The Update. When we first started this then-show at WKRB in 2017, the first year had a lot of things going on. Donald Trump's first year in office, mass shootings worldwide, and the Great American Solar Eclipse...

In this unaired edition of The Update Journal , we enter the emotional courtroom of television drama, bad decisions, and people who absolutely knew better. First up: “Not Everyone Deserves Your Sympathy — And Apparently, Not Everyone Gets to Stay on the Case.” Captain Olivia Benson and Sergeant Amanda Rollins get into it on the latest episode of Law & Order: SVU , proving once again that no on...

On this unaired edition of The Update Journal from 2/5/26, we enter a world where everything is “smart,” but somehow nobody is in charge. First up: “If Everything Is Smart, Nothing Is Independent” — a closer look at the 2026 HGTV Dream Home, a beautiful, futuristic house packed with smart lights, smart appliances, smart security, smart thermostats, and apparently one very powerful villain: Spectru...

Hello everyone! We're going into #TheUpdate vault to play one of our many episodes throughout our many years of the show. For today's episode, we go into the world of Year 5 of The Update. When we first started this then-show at WKRB in 2017, the first year had a lot of things going on. Donald Trump's first year in office, mass shootings worldwide, and the Great American Solar Eclipse...

In today’s edition of The Update Journal, we return to the CBS drama because apparently yesterday’s “60 Minutes” story was not finished — it was just buffering. Scott Pelley gets fired, CBS somehow looks at one of the most respected journalists in the building and says, “You know what this newsroom needs? Less alarm system,” and Knicks coverage is partly responsible for why we had to circle back l...

In today’s edition of The Update Journal, we say goodbye to the old Dunkin’ $6 Meal Deal — because apparently breakfast had a working-class era and corporate decided it was time for layoffs. For a brief, beautiful moment, six dollars could get you fed, caffeinated, and emotionally prepared to face society. Now? We gather around the hash browns, lower the flag to half-croissant, and remember when b...

In today’s edition of The Update Journal, the NBA Finals start today, which means New York has officially entered its most dangerous emotional state: confident, confused, and wearing old jerseys from a closet that hasn’t been opened since 1999. We preview Knicks vs. Spurs the only honest way possible — by admitting nobody knows what’s going to happen and calling that journalism. Then, Mayor Mamdan...

In today’s edition of The Update Journal, we are emotionally logging into the internet against our better judgment. First, we’ll take A Closer Look at the end of Euphoria — a show I did not fully watch, but absolutely survived through Twitter clips, timeline arguments, and people acting like HBO had assigned homework. The series is officially over, which means one era of glitter, trauma, dramatic...

In today’s edition of The Update Journal, New York is doing what it does best: celebrating, complaining, overheating, and somehow turning all three into a full schedule. We start with A Closer Look at the Knicks vs. Spurs — New York Is Partying Like It’s 1999 Again, because the Knicks are back in the Finals and suddenly the city is remembering a time when MetroCards were young, flip phones were po...

Hello everyone! We're going into #TheUpdate vault to play one of our many episodes throughout our many years of the show. For today's episode, we go into the world of Year 5 of The Update. When we first started this then-show at WKRB in 2017, the first year had a lot of things going on. Donald Trump's first year in office, mass shootings worldwide, and the Great American Solar Eclipse...

From the February 3, 2026 unaired episode of The Update Journal, this week’s edition is a gentle cry for help wrapped in a sleeping bag. We begin with a camping trip that absolutely did not ask to become a relationship stress test, yet somehow clocked in for overtime anyway. What was supposed to be fresh air, bonding, and maybe one peaceful marshmallow turned into Wi-Fi deprivation, charger diplom...

In this unaired edition of The Update with Brandon Julien from January 30, 2026, we remember January the only way it deserves: by letting it end without guilt, closure, or a dramatic goodbye montage. No final speech, no sentimental music, no “what did we learn?” moment. January came in loud, stayed too long, and now we are kindly escorting it to the exit. We start with Super Bowl 60, where the mat...

In today's edition of The Update Journal, we're taking a trip through three very different stages of life: childhood nostalgia, public transit chaos, and the mysterious condition known as "I simply cannot be bothered." First, we go back to a simpler time, when the biggest problem on television was Zack and Cody turning a luxury hotel into a code violation, Raven Baxter seeing the...

In today’s edition of The Update Journal, Disney Channel is dusting off the 2000s like somebody found an old Zack & Cody DVD under the couch cushions. We dive into the June 1st nostalgia lineup and realizes there are apparently entire Disney Channel eras i completely missed. Seriously — at some point Disney quietly switched generations while some of us were still emotionally invested in Wizard...

Hello everyone! We're going into #TheUpdate vault to play one of our many episodes throughout our many years of the show. For today's episode, we go into the world of Year 5 of The Update. When we first started this then-show at WKRB in 2017, the first year had a lot of things going on. Donald Trump's first year in office, mass shootings worldwide, and the Great American Solar Eclipse...

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 hi...

In today’s edition of The Update Journal, the Knicks are one win away from the Finals, Cleveland is still launching three-pointers like they’re trying to pay rent with them, and apparently New York City lost its outside-watch-party privileges because a few people forgot how to behave near Knicks games. We ask the important questions: Why are the Cavs treating every possession like a heat-check? Wh...

Hello everyone! We're going into #TheUpdate vault to play one of our many episodes throughout our many years of the show. For today's episode, we go into the world of Year 5 of The Update. When we first started this then-show at WKRB in 2017, the first year had a lot of things going on. Donald Trump's first year in office, mass shootings worldwide, and the Great American Solar Eclipse...

Hello everyone! We're going into #TheUpdate vault to play one of our many episodes throughout our many years of the show. For today's episode, we go into the world of Year 5 of The Update. When we first started this then-show at WKRB in 2017, the first year had a lot of things going on. Donald Trump's first year in office, mass shootings worldwide, and the Great American Solar Eclipse...

In today’s edition of The Update Journal, after spending way too much time explaining why certain wrestlers are attractive without accidentally sleeping on the couch, i try to process the emotional hangover left behind after the final episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — only for Byron Allen to casually walk into the conversation with comments that somehow made the entire cancellation l...

Hello everyone! We're going into #TheUpdate vault to play one of our many episodes throughout our many years of the show. For today's episode, we go into the world of Year 5 of The Update. When we first started this then-show at WKRB in 2017, the first year had a lot of things going on. Donald Trump's first year in office, mass shootings worldwide, and the Great American Solar Eclipse...