The Update with Brandon Julien

In this edition of The Update Journal, we begin with a man who quietly built a media empire while the rest of us were still trying to figure out how to program the VCR. Byron Allen has more channels, production credits, and executive producer tags than a CVS receipt, and if you blink during the credits you might miss the part where he basically owns the entire network. Then we move to one of those...

Somewhere between a 1940s household manual telling wives to always smile and never contradict their husbands, a completely unnecessary on-air confession about childhood cartoon crushes, and the simple fact that we somehow survived weather that felt like living inside a freezer, today’s Update Journal went in… several directions. We examine the baffling rules of post-war marriage advice (spoiler: i...

In today’s Update Journal, we begin with a Weakest Link moment that raises serious questions about the state of breakfast knowledge in America—because apparently not everyone knows where to get a Rootie Tootie Fresh ’N Fruity. (Hint: it’s not an ice cream shop.) From there, we travel back to 2008 to investigate Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue, a show so strange that many of us are still unsure...

In today’s Update Journal, a contestant on The Weakest Link proves that sometimes confidence and knowledge are two very different things after naming Big Bird as the U.S. Secretary of State. Somewhere on Sesame Street, Big Bird is now preparing a foreign policy briefing with Cookie Monster handling snacks and Oscar the Grouch in charge of negotiations. Meanwhile, I've discovered a new snack th...

In today’s episode of “Who Approved This?” — we begin at 8AM, when apparently the only people awake are journalists, my parents flipping through every news channel, and someone standing at a podium choosing absolute violence before breakfast. Because nothing says “good morning” like a press conference before your coffee has even been processed. Meanwhile, in the culinary crime division… Applebee’s...

On this edition of The Update Journal, we explore what happens when one major news story eats the entire broadcast like it skipped lunch — and the rest of the world just quietly waits its turn. Weather? Sports? Local chaos? Never heard of her. Then we pivot to TNT’s Rich & Shameless, featuring the “Joe Francis Was A Walking Red Flag” episode — because nothing says cultural reflection quite lik...

In this episode of The Update Journal, we begin in a place that proudly calls itself “New York’s Very Own”… while quietly shipping out actual New Yorkers like it’s a clearance sale at a Midtown Duane Reade. Nothing says hometown pride quite like looking around and going, “Wait… who are you people?” Then we pivot to The Weakest Link, where $1 million is technically on the line… in the same way that...

In today’s episode of “How Did We Get Here?” we discover that extra crispy chicken outranks an entire starship, thanks to a trivia question on The Weakest Link that sent my producers into a full-blown fact-checking spiral. Apparently, Captain Jean-Luc Picard may command the Enterprise, but Colonel Harland Sanders technically outranks him. Yes. Fried chicken beat Starfleet. Meanwhile, over at Targe...

In this edition of The Update Journal, we begin with a simple Sunday night question: What exactly is “Roar,” and why does it sound like a network invented by someone who lost a bet? From there, we stumble into The Weakest Link, where trivia dreams go to die and former mayors are apparently rebranded as billionaires. Then comes the Diamond Deck from Wildcard Kitchen—a collection of cards so diaboli...

As we continue to dig out from the blizzard, we're remote for one more day. So we have some more laughs inside The Update Journal.

In our first episode after the blizzard, we know what the big story is. So instead, laugh with some episodes in The Update Journal.

In this week’s completely unhinged yet somehow heartfelt edition of The Update Journal, we begin where all responsible adults do in February: convincing ourselves that this is the year. Spring Training is back, Mets and Yankees fans are stretching like it’s emotional yoga, and I am once again refilling my Optimism Cup like it’s bottomless brunch in Port St. Lucie. Will there be a parade? Probably...

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 4 of The Update. It was a weird year- starting off in the WKRB studios and then going out on the road (in the middle of a pandemic no less!), but somehow, we found a way to make it work. Oh, and one last thing about this...

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 4 of The Update. It was a weird year- starting off in the WKRB studios and then going out on the road (in the middle of a pandemic no less!), but somehow, we found a way to make it work. Oh, and one last thing about this...

A week where the universe briefly chose kindness—payday landed just before Valentine’s Day, which immediately raised suspicion—and then promptly reminded us not to get comfortable. The boiler at home base tapped out like it had hit its retirement age, forcing everyone to layer up indoors and question why heat is apparently a seasonal luxury. Macy’s, meanwhile, stayed committed to its brand: chargi...

The Olympics are back for the again-est time, somehow louder than before, and demanding our full attention while we pretend we definitely remember the rules to curling. Meanwhile, Miraculous Season 6, Episode 7 decides it’s the perfect moment to casually drop emotional landmines, secret letters, and “if this information were shared the show would immediately end” logic—so naturally, it isn’t. And...

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 4 of The Update. It was a weird year- starting off in the WKRB studios and then going out on the road (in the middle of a pandemic no less!), but somehow, we found a way to make it work. Oh, and one last thing about this...

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 4 of The Update. It was a weird year- starting off in the WKRB studios and then going out on the road (in the middle of a pandemic no less!), but somehow, we found a way to make it work. Oh, and one last thing about this...

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 4 of The Update. It was a weird year- starting off in the WKRB studios and then going out on the road (in the middle of a pandemic no less!), but somehow, we found a way to make it work. Oh, and one last thing about this...

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 4 of The Update. It was a weird year- starting off in the WKRB studios and then going out on the road (in the middle of a pandemic no less!), but somehow, we found a way to make it work. Oh, and one last thing about this...

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 4 of The Update. It was a weird year- starting off in the WKRB studios and then going out on the road (in the middle of a pandemic no less!), but somehow, we found a way to make it work. Oh, and one last thing about this...

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 4 of The Update. It was a weird year- starting off in the WKRB studios and then going out on the road (in the middle of a pandemic no less!), but somehow, we found a way to make it work. Oh, and one last thing about this...

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 4 of The Update. It was a weird year- starting off in the WKRB studios and then going out on the road (in the middle of a pandemic no less!), but somehow, we found a way to make it work. Oh, and one last thing about this...

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 4 of The Update. It was a weird year- starting off in the WKRB studios and then going out on the road (in the middle of a pandemic no less!), but somehow, we found a way to make it work. Oh, and one last thing about this...

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 4 of The Update. It was a weird year- starting off in the WKRB studios and then going out on the road (in the middle of a pandemic no less!), but somehow, we found a way to make it work. Oh, and one last thing about this...