Michael Schulman on the Writers’ Strike, and Samantha Irby with Doreen St. Félix

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

News, David, Books, Arts, Storytelling, Wnyc, New, Remnick, News Commentary, Yorker, Politics

4.2 • 5.5K Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2023

⏱️ 34 minutes

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Summary

The last time the Writers Guild of America hit the picket line was fifteen years ago, with a strike that lasted a hundred days and cost the city of Los Angeles hundreds of millions of dollars. This year’s strike has the potential to drag on even longer. At the core of the dispute is the question of who deserves to profit from the revenue generated by streaming services. “[Studios] tell us that they can’t afford the cost of us,” Laura Jacqmin, a veteran TV writer and a W.G.A. strike captain tells the staff writer Michael Schulman. “And simultaneously they’re on their public earnings calls, trumpeting bright financial futures to their shareholders.”

Plus, the comedian and essayist Samantha Irby talks with the staff writer and critic Doreen St. Félix. Irby is beloved by fans for her particularly unvarnished truth-telling. She recently started writing for television on shows like Hulu‘s “Shrill” and HBO’s “And Just Like That . . .,” the “Sex and the City” reboot, which returns for a second season in June. But she has also maintained her memoir-writing practice, and is out with a new essay collection, “Quietly Hostile,” in May.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNWC Studios and the New Yorker.
0:11.4	This is the New Yorker Radio Hour, I'm David Rapp.
0:16.9	When the writers' Guild of America went on strike earlier this month, we saw the effect
0:21.1	immediately on the late-night comedy institutions, which went dark right away.
0:26.7	The show will be interrupted and we won't be here to spend time with you.
0:31.5	But as the strike goes on, the future of many scripted shows will also become uncertain.
0:37.1	An issue is the revenue generated by streaming services.
0:41.4	On the one end of the bargaining table, the big studios don't seem inclined at all to
0:45.0	capitulate to the WGA's demands.
0:48.2	The last time the writers' Guild hit the picket line, he was 2007, and that strike carried
0:53.5	over into the following year and lasted 100 days.
0:57.3	It reportedly cost the city of Los Angeles hundreds of millions of dollars.
1:02.4	And this year's strike has the potential to last even longer.
1:07.5	Once the studios broke our business, we've been left with crumbs and we have to say no
1:12.2	to that.
1:13.2	We have to stand up together and we are united.
1:22.5	Staff writer Michael Schultman has been covering the strike for the New Yorker and he recently
1:26.6	spoke to Laura Jackman, a veteran TV writer and a strike captain about the stakes.
1:33.9	Well tell me about what the scene is like on the picket line, where were you picketing?
1:37.7	I was mostly at Amazon slash Culver Studios this week.
1:41.9	So you're passing both studio people and you're passing just people on their way to lunch.
1:47.5	And it's electric.
	...

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