Michael Schulman on the Writers Strike, and Samantha Irby with Doreen St. Felix
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\u2019s 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. \u201c[Studios] tell us that they can\u2019t afford the cost of us,\u201d Laura Jacqmin, a veteran TV writer and a W.G.A. strike captain tells the staff writer Michael Schulman. \u201cAnd simultaneously they\u2019re on their public earnings calls, trumpeting bright financial futures to their shareholders.\u201d\xa0\nPlus, the comedian and essayist Samantha Irby talks with the staff writer and critic Doreen St. F\xe9lix. Irby is beloved by fans for her particularly unvarnished truth-telling. She recently started writing for television on shows like Hulu\u2018s \u201cShrill\u201d and HBO\u2019s \u201cAnd Just Like That . . .,\u201d the \u201cSex and the City\u201d 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, \u201cQuietly Hostile,\u201d in May.