The man behind Landman, Lioness and 1883 recently appeared on The Bill Simmons Podcast, where he opened up about Kevin’s involvement in his critically-acclaimed western TV show.

Kevin appeared on Yellowstone as ranch owner John Dutton from its 2018 premiere until he quit in 2023.

His character was shockingly killed off in the last ever episode, which aired in 2024.

During his interview with Bill Simmons, Taylor claimed that Kevin was actually “only supposed to be in the first three seasons” of Yellowstone.

“That was in his contract,” he explained. “In my mind, that’s when his youngest son takes over [on the show].”

He then suggested that the “network was so scared of not having Kevin be a part” of Yellowstone, “even though Kevin was ready” to leave, that his character ended up staying around a lot longer than intended.

The TV showrunner added that Kevin had wanted to go and work on other projects, but continued for another two seasons because Yellowstone ended up becoming “such a behemoth”.

“It was such a huge hit,” he added. “The notion of giving up a hit before it had run out of juice to squeeze is very foreign to a network.”

But, Taylor told the podcast, eventually the Oscar-winning star decided he needed to “go do [his] own thing”.

His exit from the drama prompted Taylor to end Yellowstone prematurely, and continue the story as the recently-released spin-off Dutton Ranch, revolving around Kevin’s character’s daughter, Beth.

Taylor had previously shot down rumours of a backstage falling out between him and Kevin at the time.

“[Kevin leaving] truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it,” he told the Hollywood Reporter in May 2023.

“My last conversation with Kevin was that he had this passion project he wanted to direct. He and the network were arguing about when he could be done with Yellowstone. I said, ‘We can certainly work a schedule toward [his preferred exit date],’ which we did.”

Despite this speculation about behind-the-scenes tension, the Oscar-nominated Hell Or High Water writer praised Kevin’s work on the show.

“His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful [and] I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone,” he insisted.

Kevin shed light on his decision to leave Yellowstone during his September 2023 divorce hearing.

While on the stand, the Waterworld actor shared that a “long, hard-fought negotiation” about splitting season five into two parts was behind his decision to leave.

He explained that he needed to focus on his own Western epic, the four-part movie series Horizon: An American Saga, which would have been impossible to do alongside Yellowstone’s filming schedule.

Kevin testified during the divorce court hearing that he wanted to return for the sixth season of Yellowstone, but negotiations fell apart.

“They offered me less money than previous seasons, there were issues with the creative,” he alleged.

Yellowstone and Dutton Ranch are both available to stream on Paramount+.

Olivia’s been knocked off the top spot as the most popular baby name for girls in 2026, according to BabyCentre, with Eliana claiming the top spot.

Considered a modern alternative to the name Eleanor, Eliana has two meanings. In Hebrew, it translates to “my God has answered” while the name is also thought to derive from the Greek word for “sun” (ílios).

According to The Bump, Eliana ranks 29th in popularity in the US (according to birth data). Common nicknames derived from it include: Ellie, Elle, Liana and Ana.

BabyCentre’s naming expert SJ Strum said: “It’s no surprise to see Eliana reach the top of the charts. Parents are increasingly looking for names that feel special and memorable, that will also grow effortlessly with their child.”

She added that Eliana is “elegant, meaningful and timeless”.

The name made a big jump in popularity, up four places this year. Isabella also climbed into the top 10, rising eight places to rank fifth.

Muhammad is the most popular boy’s name on BabyCentre, closely followed by Noah.

Muhammad is derived from Arabic and means “the praised one” or “worthy of praise” – some Muslim families will give their boys this name as a way to honor the Prophet Muhammad.

The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data on popular baby names in England and Wales (from 2024) suggested Olivia, Amelia and Lily were the most popular girls’ names, and Muhammad, Noah and Oliver were the most popular boy’s names.

Interestingly, Eliana didn’t feature in the top 100 names at all.

When asked how they determined Eliana was now the most popular girls’ name, BabyCentre told me the rankings are compiled using data provided directly by users when they join the site – as part of this process, parents share what they called their baby.

Without further ado, here are their top girls’ and boys’ names for this year so far (as per BabyCentre’s user data)…

There comes a point in every parent’s life when their sprogs discover the art of whining – and boy, can it grate.

While the odd whine is fine (who doesn’t need a good moan now and then?), when whining becomes the default, or children seem to constantly complain, it can be exhausting – especially when you’re trying to work, look after them, juggle endless amounts of life admin (yours and theirs), and everything else in between.

Such is the case for one parent of two young girls aged six and nine, who shared that their children’s complaints are “constant” – and it’s starting to really get to them.

“I reached the point that when I am working alone from home and I hear the main door opening (meaning they are back) I pre-stress and I start to have palpitations,” said the parent on Reddit’s r/Parenting forum. “It should not be like this.”

Abigail Finnegan, a psychotherapist and member of Counselling Directory, said: “For many of us who have worked in the field of child development we know only too well that if a child feels that they can’t get the attention they need through being delightful, they will instead resort to less ‘delightful’ ways to be noticed – because, after all, any attention is better than no attention at all!”

Plenty of parents are increasingly stretched to capacity (a survey from this year found nine in 10 mums have experienced burnout) and unless you’ve got a village nearby, or have a lot of money to throw at childcare, you’re very much on your own.

Add this to the fact we’re increasingly living in fast-paced environments where, as Finnegan says, parents have to meet the competing demands of employers, schools, other children, ageing parents and then kids are coming home from school “past the point of exhaustion”.

Mix it all up and you’ve got a recipe for whiny behaviour.

When we’re stressed and bustling about like headless chickens (which I’ll be the first to admit is my default setting) it’s easy to forget that underneath all that whining and complaining is a need to communicate something.

Psychotherapist Pei-I Yang, also a Counselling Directory member, said: “Children often don’t have the words to say ‘I feel overwhelmed’ or ‘nobody’s really listening to me’, so it can leak out as moaning instead.

“The whining isn’t the problem. It’s a communication for parents from their children telling them that something underneath needs attention.”

When your kid whines, your instinct is probably to say something along the lines of: “stop complaining”, “try to be more positive” or “some kids would love what you’ve got”.

However Yang highlights that more often than not, this can leave children feeling “brushed off”. And a child who feels brushed off “tends to complain more, not less”. Eek.

If whining is your child’s way of communicating something, therapists suggest the best way to nip it in the bud is to get to the bottom of why they’re whining. Or at least try to.

“It’s important to verbally acknowledge to both yourself and your child that there is obviously something making them unhappy – otherwise they wouldn’t be whining!” said Finnegan. “The questions is: what to do about it?”

Her advice for parents is to slow down and check no one is hungry or thirsty. (“Healthy snacks in a bag can make a huge difference to mood at the end of a long day,” she added.)

“As hard as it can be when you’re tired as a parent, maybe ask yourself when the last time was that you were able to slow down enough to play or talk with your child without distractions?” added the therapist. “Is it possible to create some time, on a regular basis, just to be with your child?”

If they get plenty of time with you but still complain a lot, sometimes it can help to simply validate their emotions. Yang noted that even a simple “that does sound annoying” can take the heat out of the moment, because they feel heard.

If your teenager has taken to complaining a lot of late, instead of trying to fix or lecture, Yang encourages parents to be curious. You could ask something along the lines of: “You’ve seemed really fed up lately, what’s going on?”

“Often the small complaints are hiding something bigger, and it’s the space to talk, without you rushing to solve it, that helps them open up,” she explained.

“Whatever their age, it comes down to the same thing: connection and being curious before correction. A child who feels genuinely heard rarely needs to complain to be noticed.”

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett gave an eyebrow-raising explanation for the ongoing issues with the Strait of Hormuz while speaking Wednesday with Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo.

The conversation kicked off after Bartiromo asked Hassett for an update on the strait after oil prices recently dropped since the conflict with Iran began in February. The war caused the closure of the strait, a crucial shipping chokepoint for global oil.

“Today’s national average gasoline [is] now at $3.84 a gallon, that’s down from $4.32 a month ago, Kevin. Is there anything you could tell us in terms of the update in the strait this morning?” Bartiromo questioned in a clip obtained by Mediaite.

“Right. Well, the president gets an update on the movement every day and a lot of that update is classified so one has to speak carefully and gently about it. The bottom line is the traffic went way up basically after the deal was made ― way, way up, heading up close to what you would expect,” Hassett began.

Noting “there were a couple of hiccup days,” he then blamed “guys living in caves” for the debacle.

“One of the ways to think about the straits is that there are a bunch of guys living in caves that live in the straits that may or may not be in steady communication with the people that we’re negotiating with who have stuff, you know, like, little better than a rubber band that they can shoot at a boat.”

Hassett continued, “Whether there will be a few more of those or not is something that nobody knows, but the bottom line is, there are very good faith negotiations going on with leaders. … We expect very much that this is going to be something that cruises to normalcy sometime really, really soon.”

Hassett’s remarks came after mixed messaging over the last few weeks from the Trump administration and Iran about the state of the Strait of Hormuz, including nuclear inspections and shipping.

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

Hillary Clinton thinks it’s obvious why President Donald Trump and the Republican Party are so eager to make it harder for Americans to vote.

In an interview with Democracy Docket released on Wednesday, the former presidential candidate applauded the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a Mississippi law granting a grace period for late arriving mail-in ballots, and told host Marc Elias that the Republican Party knows curbing ballot access is “the only way they can win.”

“They can’t win a fair fight, which is why Trump is so obsessed with stealing voter rolls and purging voters and making up ridiculous claims about people not eligible as citizens for voting,” she said, calling his claims about rampant election fraud “so vanishingly non-existent, it’s laughable.”

Clinton continued, “But that’s his game because he can’t win a fair fight, and his Republican Party, which has become a cult answering only to him, can’t win a fair fight.”

While the Trump administration’s attack on mail-in voting was snuffed out by the Supreme Court, the president and his party are still working on other ways to upend the election process.

In early 2025, Texas Republican Representative Chip Roy introduced a bill for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, also known as the SAVE Act.

The highly contentious legislation would require people to provide in-person proof of citizenship to register to vote, largely eliminating online and mail-in registration, in addition to imposing photo ID requirements at the polls.

Though the SAVE Act got House approval, it stalled out in the Senate, forcing Trump to get creative about how to pressure lawmakers into voting for his pet project.

Late last month, he announced he was refusing to sign a bipartisan-backed housing affordability bill until the SAVE Act got passed.

What would it mean to have the first Labour and Co-operative prime minister?

It’s a question I have been asked several times over the last few weeks, as General Secretary of a Co-operative Party about to hit one hundred years of electoral agreement with Labour.

My answer is simple: it would be a landmark moment, not just for the Co-operative Party, but for the wider co-operative movement and for British politics.

We are living through a remarkable period of firsts, with co-operative politics on the cusp of unprecedented opportunity.

In just the last two years we have seen the first ever government elected with a clear and ambitious programme to grow the co-operative and mutual economy, the first ever Labour and Co-operative secretary of state for business and trade in Jonathan Reynolds, the first significant programme of support for community-owned energy, the introduction of England’s first Community Right to Buy, and more Labour and Co-operative members sitting around the cabinet table than the Party had across the previous seven decades combined.

For the first time, growing the co-operative economy has become part of the chancellor’s economic narrative, featuring in Budgets and Mansion House speeches.

We have begun the long overdue task of correcting the way government, regulation and public policy have too often overlooked or disadvantaged co-operatives and mutuals.

None of these changes happened by accident.

They represent years of campaigning finally finding political expression.

Each of these milestones matters in its own right, but together they do something even more important.

They give confidence to our movement and demonstrate that co-operative ideas are practical rather than theoretical.

They increase the visibility of our politics and show that ownership, democracy and mutuality are not relics of the past but answers to some of today’s biggest challenges.

Andy Burnham is someone who I believe feels these values deeply.

His association with co-operative values stretches back many years.

Throughout his political career he has consistently engaged with co-operative organisations and championed mutual approaches.

As a minister, he played an important role in supporting the development of Supporters Direct, helping to grow the supporter ownership movement that has transformed football trusts and enabled communities to take a greater stake in their clubs.

As Mayor of Greater Manchester he has continued that commitment.

He established the Greater Manchester Co-operative Commission to examine how co-operative enterprise could play a larger role in the region’s economy.

His administration has worked with credit unions to help people spread the cost of Bee Network travel through affordable finance provided by member-owned institutions rather than high-cost lenders.

He has supported work with Co-operatives UK on initiatives such as the Middleton Regeneration Co-op and consistently argued that community ownership, mutuality and co-operation should play a bigger part in economic development.

None of these examples, taken individually, would define a political career.

Together, however, they reveal a politician who understands that co-operation is not simply another business model but a different way of thinking about power, ownership and community.

That matters because the challenges Britain faces cannot be solved by government acting alone or by markets acting alone.

They require stronger communities, broader ownership of wealth, greater economic democracy and institutions that give people a genuine stake in the places where they live.

Those are ideas the co-operative movement has championed for more than 180 years.

If Britain were to have its first Labour & Co-operative prime minister, it would send a powerful message that co-operative politics is no longer an interesting footnote in Labour’s history but an integral part of its future.

It would tell every co-operative member, every mutual, every community business, every credit union and every supporter-owned football club that their way of organising society belongs at the centre of national life.

As we approach the centenary of the electoral agreement between the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party, we should recognise how far we have come.

But we should be even more excited by how far we can still go.

There is a symbolic connection that I have always enjoyed.

The Manchester Bee has become synonymous with Andy Burnham.

More than once I have found myself in good-natured debate at Party events about whether he was wearing the Manchester Bee or the Co-operative Party Bee.

Whichever badge came first almost becomes beside the point, it’s the shared symbolism matters.

The Bee was carved into the frontage of the Rochdale Pioneers’ first co-operative store in 1844.

It represents industry, collective endeavour and the simple but powerful idea that people achieve more when they work together than when they compete alone.

It’s why Andy was right to reference the Pioneers in his first major intervention this week.

As Andy said, these were people who looked at their lot and decided to fight for something better.

And I believe we can do that again.

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.