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And then beyond that, we're going to be talking about the impending writer strike in Hollywood. I don't know if y'all have been tracking this, but if you live in LA, every brunch begins with, what do you think about the strike? What do you think about the strike? So today we're going to break that down. I mean, I get it. It's huge. And my only answer is, I stand with labor, baby. I stand with labor. There's some things that we'll be able to break down on why the studios are taking their stance, why the writers are taking their stance, and what a compromise may look like and how it impacts you.

Next year, probably. Yeah, because it is. It's like, obviously, you know, you don't have to be in Hollywood or even, you know, care about movies and TV. It's going to impact all of us. It's a huge labor story. Totally. Yeah. Well, with that, though, how are we laboring this week? Saeed, you seem a bit tired. You've been doing the labor in the streets. I'm

Wait, what? Labor in the streets? What are we talking about here? I am tired. It has been a busy week. But you know what it really is? I was thinking as I was making my coffee this morning, I feel like personally this is one of those weeks where I am reminded pointedly why our group tech started and why we created VibeCheck, which is to say the vibes are...

gutted, rancid. This is one of those news cycles where I sincerely believe there's nowhere to turn. Even if you're like, oh, I'm not focused on politics and da-da-da-da. Okay, even something light like Coachella, like Rochelle,

reading and learning about like Frank Ocean and that, like that hasn't been really fun. I think it's been pretty disappointing. Okay, fine. Don't do music. Let's go to TV. Oh, what's the big show everyone's talking about? Beef. And then you hear about David Cho and you're like, wait, he's a rapist? Quote unquote, to use one of his own interviews, a successful rapist. It's like, huh?

And then you're like, okay, well, maybe I will go to politics. And then you're like, Clarence Thomas, Diane Feinstein. It's just one of those weeks where I just feel like you're in the worst kind of fun house of mirrors and everything's more distorted and disturbing. And so, yeah, I'm tired. I'm stressed out. But I really did. I woke up this morning with a deep...

a deep need to talk to you both to make sense of at least some of what's going on. Yeah, it's wild. Like even the things that I like usually go to for a fun break from all the news, I'm worried about them now. Like I was watching SNL on Sunday morning this past weekend. And then I realized, oh,

That could go away if the strike happens. I could not have my weekly SNL. I'm like, what can I hold on to in these perilous times? Yeah, I mean, that's probably why you guys have dogs. You can hold on to those dogs. I'm over here holding on to my man and that's it. It is, I mean, I would say that our group chat has been very active over the past few days. And it has those similar beats of,

another young person was shot. Right. You know, another white man's going to get away. An actor has been accused of sexual violence at a high profile show. And we're debating art or person, art or person. And it is like the cycle that we all go through. But you're right side that we have each other. And we created, you know, the show and the group text to kind of be that anchor in these moments of the like, what the fuck? Why are we going through this again? Why is this happening again? And, you know, that's why we are here. And hopefully we can

help each other today and also help people listening kind of deal with this rollercoaster of a world. Yeah. Well, how about you, Zach? How are you? I am annoyed with everything going on in the world, but also grateful that I listened to my gut. And my gut told me on Saturday, it said, Zach Stafford, do not scalp a ticket to Coachella, drive three hours to go see Frank Ocean. Do not go to the desert. Yeah.

Don't do it. Let me tell you, two people in this world I don't trust right now. Beyonce and Frank Ocean. Oh, I was going to say Lauryn Hill and Frank Ocean, but yeah. Beyonce will never give us the visuals, and Frank Ocean never does live. Beyonce, if she doesn't say she's not going to do it, she's not going to do it. So like visuals, has she said anything? Nope. Exactly. But I...

best believe that she would not show up at what an hour late like Frank Ocean oh my god and then do like a mediocre set and then like he had a mediocre set and it also changes the stage almost didn't get on stage according to many allegations around so Coachella is happening in the desert one of those two weekends two weekends one of the most high profile music festivals in the world it's live streamed as a YouTube partnership which is really key to this that's why we saw Beyonce do Homecoming which then became a Netflix film

First weekend is always the hottest weekend. All the celebs go, all the influencers go, they make their content, and that's where these artists debut their sets. Because next weekend, you kind of know what they're doing. Like Blackpink's a headliner, Frank Ocean's a headliner, and Bad Bunny are headliners. Rosalia should have been a headliner, but that's for another day. She does a good show. She does a great show. She really does a great show. Bjork does a great show. She's there. Frank Ocean, first time performing in years. I saw him in 2017. Yeah, years. Years.

He has not released new music. He has lost a brother. He has been going through a lot. We understand. We are there for you. We love you, our queer brother. However, we have had many years to prepare for this Coachella, and he didn't.

did not show up in the ways that people wanted. He was an hour late. There's a curfew, so he only performed 30 minutes. People had been waiting. He only performed 30 minutes? 30 minutes. People had been out there since 8 a.m. waiting to see him. Had driven to the desert, had flown to the desert, and he didn't show up. And people are devastated, and rightfully so. I didn't understand this. I've been learning a lot via TikToks.

that I didn't understand that it's like, it's not just that you go to Coachella and you've been there. It's like also like, you know, he's the headliner and I would have done the same thing if I'd gone out there for Beyonce. You also, there are situations where people sit down and wait specifically by a specific stage.

To see a specific performance. To be close. So it's also like people, it's not like they were seeing other things all day long. A lot of people, they spent their entire day- They were just there for Frank. In the desert. Yeah. I saw clips. It already sounded bad, but I have to say when I saw some clips of his, and I can't even call it a performance. I'll say clips of what he did on that stage. I was really disappointed because-

We're not kids anymore. I understand that his brother died in 2020 and they had a close relationship to Coachella. So this was a difficult time.

I imagine space to return to, but it's also like, well, no one put a gun to your, you, you didn't, you're absolutely welcome to say, I don't want to do this and very expensive for fans. It's just really disappointing. And this is kind of an example of if you're not ready to do something, don't do it. Take care of yourself. Don't show up because what has now happened is he could have canceled and we would have all the fans. I'm a part of the fandom, but I've been like, yeah, it's probably triggering going to the festival that your little brother used to take you to. But,

But you still showed up. You still took the millions of dollars. People paid so much money. And now look what we're dealing with. So anyway, I hope he does better next weekend. But yeah, I'm really, I'm happy about my gut this week. It really told me not to show up. Sam, what are you happy about this week? I'm going to tell you something that happened to me the last few days that has really changed the flow of my day in a great way. I was like, wait a minute. In a great way. I was having dinner with a friend maybe two weeks ago and

And for whatever reason, he let me know that in general, for most of his days and nights and all the time, his phone is on do not disturb. And then I was in a taping from my other show at Vulture into it. And my guests were talking about how they kind of always have their phone in do not disturb mode. So I've had my phone on do not disturb mode for probably five or six days now. It's life changing. It's freeing.

I don't look at my phone until I want to look at my phone. And people who really want to get a hold of me know how to do it. But my vibe right now is just peace. My phone has quieted. I don't think I can ever not have a smartphone given my line of work, but ain't nobody bothering me. Do not disturb. I mean, do not disturb is essential.

You didn't know about it until just now? I knew it existed, but I thought people just didn't do it like that. But now I'm like, oh, I could just do it all the time. I like allowed myself to do it and I love it. I have it from like, I think it's 10 p.m. Well, I've changed it, but it's often, it depends like if I'm working on a book, but like often I might have it from like

10 p.m. until 7 a.m., if that makes sense. Yeah. It's a really useful feature. I just assume, girl, because you'd be really good at like, girl, I ain't looking at that right now. Yeah, Sam does not respond to text. True disclosure. Full disclosure. Our group chat, which is my favorite group chat, has been muted since it started. Yeah.

Because we're just too busy in these chats. Look at your friends, everyone listening. This is what your friends do to you. They silence you. Sometimes, I say it all the time, sometimes you have to mute to keep loving people. You know what I mean? Because we'll have days where it's like 110.

And I love y'all. You know this. In those 100 texts, Zach and I get going. Yes, in those 100 texts are the scaffolding for this show that people know and love. So you know what? We are doing labor. It's definitely like the Zach and Saeed wire service where we're like, this happened, this happened, this happened, this happened, this happened. And I do read it. I do read it all. Anywho, we got to wrap this. Vibes are good. Vibes are good. But before we get to the show, I want to make a little clarification from a conversation that we had on last week's episode about

We were closing a segment and I was touching on some new laws and new court rulings that would affect people's access to abortion medication. And I messed up and used the phrase over-the-counter abortion. That is not the best way to refer to abortion meds and amifepristone access. You know, over-the-counter implies that this medication can be obtained without a prescription. You still need a prescription.

So I'm sorry for the error. These medications used for abortions require prescriptions from a medical provider and they're not considered over the counter. There are no OTC abortion medications. They all need prescriptions to maintain. There

There are emergency contraceptions like Plan B pills. They are available over the counter, but these are distinctly not abortion medications. This error was not on purpose, but I don't ever want to use words that support right-wing talking points. Yeah, the clarity there is really important. So I'm sorry about the error. So thank you, listeners, for pointing it out.

we stand on the side of access to abortion. One more small error that we made last week talking about MASH. This one I just think is interesting. This is far less high stakes, I'll be honest. We said that MASH, I think Zach said that MASH was about the Vietnam War. It's about the Korean War. Which I gotta tell you, I'm fully shook.

Because I'm telling you, I would have tested. I am, what, 37 years old. And I have every year of my life. Because I remember it would come on TV when I was little. And I didn't like the theme song. I'd be like, where's Mama's family? I hate the theme song. But I always...

I always just assumed it was the Vietnam War. I really did. I did too. Anywho, we thank our listeners for clarifying stuff with us. This show is a relationship with our audience. So all the feedback we appreciate. We want to grow and learn and get better. And we're doing just that. Thank you, listeners. Amen. And as we always mention, we love hearing from you. We love hearing your fact checks. We love it all. So remember, you can reach out to us on social media and you can email us at vibecheckatstitcher.com.

Okay, ladies, are we ready to jump in? Let's go. Let's do it. So to kick things off, we want to talk about the shooting of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl in Kansas City, Missouri. But we want to have a bigger conversation about the emergence of these really, really, really broad gun laws that are just rolling around America and are having a direct impact on all of our lives.

Very, very materially. So to start, let's get some facts straight. Ralph Yarl is a six-year-old boy who was shot by a white man in his 80s on Thursday evening of last week after his parents asked him to pick up his 11-year-old twin brothers and he went to the wrong house in Kansas City, Missouri, specifically northern Kansas City, Missouri, if you are obsessed with the geography of Missouri because Kansas City is actually in two states.

He immediately was taken to the hospital after he searched for help on the street where the shooting occurred. And he somehow survived the shooting, which was really just stunning because so many times when we see faces like his go viral on Instagram, Twitter, et cetera, like it did this weekend, they have passed away, but he has...

He has survived and he's recovering at home. I mean, and it was like he was shot in the head. Then shot again. And then I believe, and then shot again. Twice. It's really something. And you just, you know, when I saw his face, I just assumed he had died. And then he was surviving and we saw pictures from the hospital. Ralph is currently at home recovering and...

and will hopefully be good soon. But this really just has us thinking about just how many times this happens and how he is special, but these incidents aren't special at all. They're happening constantly. So first of all, how are you guys feeling about this news? What were your first reactions to seeing the shooting happen? It's pretty triggering. I saw the photo of him dressed up with his bass clarinet

a concert of his. He's a musician, a young musician. And I saw this young black boy playing his instrument. And it reminded me of my days in band in high school. And my first negative encounter with the police happened, I want to say, my sophomore year of high school. My dad dropped me off for band practice, but I realized that I had forgot my saxophone.

So I go in the band hall to call my dad and have him bring my saxophone back. And I wait outside the band hall for him to bring it. While I'm waiting outside my own band hall for my saxophone, some cops drive by and question me. Oh, wow. Who are you? Why are you here? Loitering. What are you doing? Loitering. And I said, I'm in the band. I'm waiting for my saxophone. They said, well, there have been some guys around here who look like you doing some stuff. Total lie. Right.

But it was just this reminder that every young black person in this country has an experience where the authorities or neighbors or citizens will see you and assume the worst. And, you know, I was lucky. You know, nothing happened to me. The cops left. But we're in this climate now where more and more people feel justified to shoot the young black person they think is threatening to them.

And I don't know, just watching that and seeing that photo, it really just took me back and made me feel really, really bad.

And the reason I hit on the word loitering, Sadia Hartman's excellent book, Wayward Lives, she writes about cities like New York and Philadelphia, particularly in the 1920s and 30s. And I didn't know until I read her book that the loitering laws, you see those signs, no loitering. Those laws were literally created to give police in cities like Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago an excuse for loitering.

to harass and arrest black people. So there's a direct connection actually to this situation with this child, with Ralph Yarl, where a stand your ground law, right? A law that was being signed and I checked like Ohio where I live, Texas,

Florida, there are many, many stand your ground states that say if a homeowner, you know, the homeowner believes their house is being broken into, if they're scared, if they think they're being attacked and they have a gun, they are justified in shooting to defend themselves. Well, this is what happens, right? Where these laws, and this is why, I mean, this is literally what critical race theory is actually about. The way in which the legal system, right, gives white supremacy, um,

It allows it to have a justified, you know, act of violence. And I think you're right. That's part of what's so scary. I mean, you know, every time I, let's say, take an Uber to a friend's house for the first time and I haven't been there and the Uber is like, okay, this is your address. And I just, I always have that moment of getting out. I'm like, let me check the address again because I'm scared. Right.

I'm scared as an adult, as a black man to go up to the wrong door and have a miscommunication precisely because of incidents like this. And so I think,

It's an inherent tragedy that a child was shot in the head and then shot again. No one should experience this kind of violence. But also when it is such a pointed example of like, like Sam saying, like, gosh, this is exactly the kind of stuff I worried about that my parents, you know, warned us about, oh, you know, I know you're a teenager, but when white people see you, they're, they're going to think you're a grown man. Well, and it's like the pervasive nature of existing while black in America is

It's so embedded in us. I remember for years, and I think I just stopped doing this, whenever I would go to any store, a convenience store, a grocery store, I always asked for a bag and a receipt so they don't think I'm stealing. But little things like that, it's embedded in us. And you kind of think, well, maybe things are getting better. I don't need to be this vigilant. But then you see...

In the same environment in which this young man is shot, more and more states are passing stand-your-ground laws that then allow more white people to shoot more black kids like him. It's not getting better. No. And we've seen this happen kind of, or blossom really, since Trayvon Martin was shot in 2012 with George Zimmerman, who got off for shooting him for stand-your-ground laws. And in the wake of that, we've seen 30-plus states pass them. So it's gotten, you know, like a more normal thing, less than normal.

And I just think about, Sam and Saeed, you're both talking about how it just shapes you every day as you move through the world. And I really connect to that too. I remember after Trayvon Martin, that's when I became a reporter focusing on these types of incidents. And I remember calling my mom from states like North Carolina because I wouldn't knock on a door for a source because I was like, they have ties to the KKK. I could get shot here. Or having people have guns in their houses when I'm interviewing people.

them. And it's just this constant thing of, you know, yeah, afterwards there may be protests when I die, but I'm going to die. And that's kind of the way in which we all move through the world now. It's like just waiting for that other shoe to drop. And that just is not a world in which we should live in because our white friends and counterparts don't move through the world in that same way at all. And they're not even thinking about it at

And that's kind of the devastating kind of reality and the differences between us and other people in America right now. And I know we want to get to the broader implications of these laws like stand your ground, open carry. But another detail in this incident that I learned about this morning, because it's like I want to follow these news stories. I need to follow these news stories, but it's painful and it's at times painful.

even just as a black person to read about. Like, for example, I can't watch videos anymore of like these kinds of incidents. But I was struck to learn. So again, this kid, you know, he's going to pick up his younger siblings after school and goes to the wrong address. It seems like a very reasonable, you can see it's like, oh, you went to the, you know, avenue instead of street or vice versa. Rings the doorbell. This man shot him through a closed door.

Shot him. Oh, my God. Shot him through like the glass door. It's not, I mean, obviously, Ralph Yarr was not trying to break into this man's home. But it's not even as if, and this would still be ludicrous, right? But it's not even as if they like opened the door and had some disagreement and couldn't understand. No, shot him through the glass door. Ralph Yarr, I'm sure, didn't even understand what was going on. You know, it's just so horrific. Yeah.

Well, and you know, when we talk about things like stand your ground laws, when we talk about things like open carry and permitless carry, I think a lot of lawmakers that push this stuff are...

want to act as if it's not about race, but it's always about race. America's relationship to guns is directly informed by its relationship to race. There's some really interesting studies that were written about late last year by the Center for Public Integrity, and they found a correlation between slavery and modern-day gun ownership.

Some researchers at the University of Madison, Wisconsin found a significant relationship between enslavement rates and modern day gun ownership. Basically, the parts of America that used to have high rates of slavery now have high rates of gun ownership. And their theory is that it's all tied to white Americans need to control and protect themselves from those other folks. Right? And so they also found...

that even now, if you look at places that had high levels of enslavement in 1860, they have higher rates of gun ownership today. And counties outside the South that have high rates of gun ownership and people saying they want gun for protection, they also have links and social ties to counties with higher rates of slavery before the Civil War. A lot of the rhetoric around

And a lot of the emotion that underpins the push for these laws to further open up gun ownership, it is directly linked to the white supremacist idea that white people should have guns to protect themselves from everybody else. That's what it's about. Which is passed down generationally. I mean, you think about like whether you're talking about slavery, the Holocaust, et cetera, all these big violent issues we're seeing around the country right now. You know, those weren't that long ago.

There are grandparents of ours that have died who were raised by people who were enslaved. There are folks living that we are friends with that you can even meet Holocaust survivors today. These big violent moments were not that long ago. So there are people in this country, and we grew up in those places, that still believe that these things are still true and that they should still be here. So it makes perfect sense that there is an overlay with gun ownership in the South, where

with past slave ownership. It's so clear. And it's kind of like, I'd never heard that before, but this is kind of affirming to my own experience as well. And also, I mean, it endangers all of us. I mean, here's a story that broke yesterday from the Times Union. A 65-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder after police say he shot at a car that had mistakenly turned into his driveway. Turned into his driveway, right?

Saturday night, 20-year-old Kaylin A. Gillis from Saratoga County, I believe this is in New York, was killed. And this is a young white woman. So that man was 65 years old. And I wanted to read a tweet about both of these incidents. Brandon Friedman tweeted, this guy in the Saratoga County, 65 years old, the man who shot Ralph Yarl is 85. We live in a country of terrified, heavily armed fighters.

And I think that's significant. And Sam's pointed this out, and I've started to notice in my neighborhoods as well, you know, walking Caesar in the evenings, and I see everyone's little ring lights come on as I'm passing, you know, or thinking about how like next door really can kind of create this panic.

mode for a lot of people where they're just following rumored supposed criminals and shifty figures in their neighborhood and then everybody's armed and 30 different states have stand your ground laws I think we're going to be seeing more and more of these incidents as states continue to pass these kinds of policies yeah

And then what's crazy is there are other studies that find that white Americans associate gun rights with white people and they associate gun control with black people. And white Americans in general are less likely to support gun rights if they believe black people will exercise those gun rights. It is so racialized. And I think what I want to happen is,

Hopefully soon, when we see these flashpoints, these stories of people being shot, being killed, I would hope that the news media and Americans all over the place can have a deeper conversation about how our very ideas of gun ownership are influenced directly and explicitly by race and racism. It's connected, and I want to see more conversations about gun violence that connect those dots.

And I think to extend on that, I would love to see people, and everyone can do this every day in your life, but interrogate your moments of fear. Like when something freaks you out. What are you fearing? And who are you fearing? You find yourself grabbing your purse, your keys, feeling anxious, whatever it is. And take a second and kind of sit in that.

kind of map that, figure out the architecture of that moment and your feelings because what we're seeing in all these cases, whether it's this 80 plus year old man in Kansas City, the police on your block, is when they do pull the trigger, it's because they feared for their life, which is the quote that they all give.

And fear can be so broad and it protects so many of these people who do wrong. And we're not interrogating enough that our fear is based in racism and classism and all these things. And until those things are deconstructed, and that's why critical race theory is so important when you think about it through a legal kind of lens, we're going to only see laws continue to hurt black people. Because black people, we fear for our lives every day, but you don't see us getting away with anything in this world. So it's really unbalanced right now.

If you want to read more on this, it's all out there. Google these things. It's out there. And it'll be in our show notes today. So just scroll down. It's so, I think, emotionally taxing to have to acknowledge that mass shootings are not the only thing we have to worry about.

And it just – it really breaks my heart that you could – and look, between the three of us, I bet we could come up with examples of the last few years of all kinds of no stories. But I know like a black motorist pulls over, asks for help from someone, gets shot. A kid goes to the wrong door wrong.

you know, rings the wrong doorbell, get shot. I mean, there's just so many examples. There's also someone sitting on their couch at their own house and the cops come in because they come in the wrong house. And the wrong place, get shot and killed. Yeah, and so I think, you know, as much as we rightfully draw attention to mass violence, I think these so-called minor skirmishes, you know,

We really need to pay attention to them. And I'm seeing here that it looks like according to one study now, as Zach pointed out, upwards of 30 states have some version of a stand your ground law. And recent research indicates that they've led to at least as many of 700 additional firearm killings each year. So just based on these laws, 700 more people each year are dying worldwide.

Wow. And that's documented. That's just the documented killings. There could be even more. It's really bad. Well, we're going to leave it there for now. But reach out to us if you have things you want to share with us, things you want to talk about. We're here, especially on the social media. So with that, we'll be right back. Stay tuned for more on Vibe Check. Vibe Check.

This message is brought to you by McDonald's. Did you know only 7.3% of American fashion designers are Black? Well, McDonald's 2024 Change Leaders Program is ready to change the face of fashion. The innovative program awards a monetary grant to five emerging Black American designers and pairs each with an industry professional to help them elevate their brands. I

I know specifically and distinctly how McDonald's can support and empower not just black Gen Z but black people. My first job was McDonald's. I learned a lot there about customer service and how to relate to people. I still love that place and go there very often. Look out for the change of fashion designers and mentors

at events like the BET Awards and the Essence Festival of Culture. And follow the journey of the 2024 McDonald's Change Leaders on their Instagram page, We Are Golden.

Here's an HIV pill dilemma for you. Picture the scene. There's a rooftop sunset with fairy lights and you're vibing with friends. You remember you've got to take your HIV pill. Important, yes, but the fun moment is gone. Did you know there's a long-acting treatment option available? So catch the sunset and keep the party going. Visit pillfreehiv.com today to learn more. Brought to you by Veve Healthcare.

All right, we are back. You're listening to Vibe Check, and we're going to switch gears now and talk about this impending, impended, pending writer's strike. Obviously, I'm not a TV writer because I don't know words.

This story is big. You might have seen the headlines for weeks if not months now. Hollywood writers have been very, very close to striking. And a few days ago, they voted with an overwhelming majority to approve a strike. That means if their negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers don't end in a new three-year contract, these writers will stop writing.

The Writers Guild of America is demanding an increase in minimum pay, more residual payments from streaming, and increased contributions to health and pension plans. And the current contract they have expires just before midnight on May 1st. So if a deal is not reached in the next two weeks or so...

TV and movies could change drastically. I'm going to talk more about what this means for TV and how the landscape has changed for writers. But first, Zach, Saeed, how do we feel about this pending strike in Hollywood? It feels like everyone's organizing and striking, even Hollywood. And I'm like, hooray, good for y'all? Yeah, I think I'm like, one, I'm really excited that writers that I know and love...

on Twitter, et cetera, are fighting for their rights. They deserve to be economically treated better. Streaming has allowed for more people to have careers and more shows to exist. But at the same time, it's really cut people's legs out from under them. They don't have enough stability in their jobs. Netflix, as you see, or HBO will green light something and take it down and it cuts into people's real dollars in their pockets. So I'm feeling good about that, but I'm also nervous that

at large isn't as, you know, tuned into the strike and this labor issue, like so many labor issues and all this fighting that writers are doing to be treated more equitably could be kind of missed. And the streamers may win at the end, which I can get into why I think they could win at the end, but I'm worried that the studios and the streamers will leverage this moment and make more money than ever and be able to look better at the end of the year. So that's my worry. It's like capitalism has me shook. Yeah. Said? It feels, uh,

like a long time coming, both because of, you know, the last, I would say like the last decade, the so-called, I guess it feels like television has shifted from like the golden age of TV, which was, you know, all that, that kind of streaming kind of brought in to like these last few years, right? Where we're just seeing like, kind of like shows get disappeared and not just canceled, but like erased and, you know, the confusion over cancellations. And it's just, it's clearly been like,

Big corporations are making a lot of money, but also being totally opaque about their decisions. And so I've wondered what that would manifest as. And then not just in Hollywood, but across industries, we've seen people organizing. And so I think maybe for me, a parallel is kind of like...

As someone who used to teach in academia, I think in our heads, particularly because of things like Hollywood, the image of a professor, if you're a professor, if you have a PhD, if you're a graduate student, I think we still have the idea that these people are well-to-do because, oh, you're a professor and everything. But an adjunct college professor ain't making no money. It's basically a working class job at this point, right? And I think as I've been learning, just like Zach, kind of seeing...

TV writers share their experiences. And I mean, these are people who are working on shows we love, like Abbott Elementary being like, yeah, I'm on this very successful show. We're winning all these awards and I am struggling to pay my rent, you know? Well, there are some writers who have said,

I've written on several projects that you've watched and I still end up literally on welfare, on food assistance. And there are reasons why. So I want to take a second to talk about how the compensation for TV and film writers has drastically shifted in the last 15 years or so. So back in the day, let's say you write for a big sitcom like the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or Friends, you are writing a season that has more than 20 episodes and

And if that show goes into syndication, you get a little check for as long as reruns of that show air on any channel. And I remember, because it used to be a thing where they would do the birthday cake. So it was like, I think it was like 100 episodes you would see. Like, I remember, like, I don't know, Will and Grace, you know, they get to their 100th episode and-

You know, the cast and crew would come out and celebrate because it meant they were going into syndication. And that brings a certain type of financial stability for years and years to come. Well, because, you know, in the era before streaming, you would have a sitcom like The Cosby Show.

for 15, 20 years in reruns on multiple channels. And so the writers were kind of guaranteed a pretty good income from that for a very long time. But you fast forward to now, shows pay by the episode and most shows have shorter seasons with eight or maybe 10 episodes, if not less. I think there's going to be a new season soon

of one Amazon Prime video show, I think A League of Their Own. Four episodes. It's just going to have four episodes. So that means less money from that level. And then on top of that, in the landscape of streaming, the very concept of residuals disappears. If Netflix buys your show or makes your show, they will not pay you every time someone watches it forever and ever. They'll usually just pay you a flat fee once and then you're on your own.

And on top of that, productions are trying to make shows with fewer writers and fewer weeks to write so they can pay less. And with this, I think a way, if you're not able to keep up with this kind of writer economics talk, a way to maybe think of this, and I don't want to be too far reaching, but I think it ties into the one and only Saeed Jones' representation as a trap.

kind of logic. And it's that as we've seen TV and film, specifically TV, go global. Netflix is going after audiences all around the world. We're seeing shows everywhere. We all can have opportunities to write on TV more than ever before because there aren't just five channels. So now there's more opportunity than ever before. Similar to representation. We have more representation than ever before. But if you have all that representation and not the structural changes to protect those folks who are being represented, then it means nothing.

because it can be taken away and they cannot be taken care of because there is a reason that, you know, right now we have more black queer people on TV than ever before, but barely any of them are getting residuals on anything. But those girls that wrote Friends are rich as shit. I mean, people talk about like a seat at the table and it's like, yeah, you finally got a seat at the table, but the house is on fire. Yeah, because you're right. I mean, it's like every time...

I'm traveling for work and I'm in a hotel. Martin is all... Or the Wayans brothers, you know, friends. These shows are always on somewhere. And I know that there are people getting paid for that. But shows that, you know, newer shows, Abbott Elementary or any of the Disney Plus shows or Succession or whatever, those writers are making... I mean, the contrast in payment is incredible. It's wild. Well, and the contrast exists in this environment in which...

Most of the streaming platforms on their own don't make profit, but they're part of these larger companies that do. So an Amazon Prime Video is not making money, but Amazon Web Services makes enough money to cover that. Same with Apple. Sales of the iPhone keep Apple TV Plus going. So you have these environments in which

The platforms themselves don't make money. They're not paying the writers enough, but the executives at these companies are making millions and millions of dollars. So on top of seeing writers have to go on welfare, you're seeing their bosses, bosses, bosses get record bonuses. It is...

Really disturbing to me. It is. And I think this is a good moment, now that we've talked about the money and who's making money, who's not, to talk about how it impacts you, listener, and you're watching TV. So currently, when we go on the strike, which will probably happen, you're not going to see anything tangible happen this year. It won't be until next year because these streamers- Because shows are made well in events. They have banked this all up,

But what we do know from the last big strikes is that it does change the type of content you're going to see in a big, big way. And what we saw with the last big strike is reality TV became king of the world. This is wild. And The Apprentice became what it is. And in particular, I remember, so the last writer's strike, this is 2000. And I remember it was like- Yeah, middle school going into high school. That's when Survivor came along. Yeah. Right? Right.

Yes. So the last time there was a really big strike, it was in 2007. It went on for about three months. The local economy here in Los Angeles lost about $2.1 billion and it made a big shift. So before this strike, most TV was scripted. But

But during that strike, a lot of TV creators started to make content that didn't need writers, like reality TV. And right around the time of that last big strike, shows like Project Runway and The Biggest Loser and Keeping Up with the Kardashians came to prominence. And we still see the effect of that strike today.

because of all the reality stuff we see now. So my question is, if this strike happens, what's going to be the next big shift that we see come out of it in TV and movies? And some people are saying this strike might be the start of a big shift to TV and film being written by AI. Yeah.

Woo boy. How do you feel about that? I see and I think kind of the proof is in the putting around the changes we've seen in writers' rooms. Historically, there have been these things called writers' rooms. Each show has them. A bunch of people work on it. It's great. It's fantastic. It allows for lots of voices to be in the room.

But what we've seen over the past few years and what the WGA or the union supporting our writers is fighting against are mini rooms, which are these rooms where you pull some writers together, they break the story down, and then the showrunners go on and write the whole thing.

What I'm worried about, to Sam's point, is we're going to see many rooms potentially keep going, and those many rooms are AI, where they're just going to have AI break story, and then the showrunner translates it. You will have the showrunner or the head writer feed in some key details, and then the AI writes the rest. And it can generate really different versions of one story idea. And I'm just thinking of, let's say, sitcom plots, for example, are pretty good.

Yeah.

The CEO of Insider, they do things like Business Insider and other news outlets. Their CEO said, we're going to start testing out AI to write articles. BuzzFeed's doing it. It's happening, y'all. I guess with this whole strike business, it's like, do we think that a strike...

will ultimately make things better for this industry? Or do we think that this strike will lead to a few concessions for current writers, but a shift towards a system that just takes them out of the picture entirely? That's my fear. I think that's my fear. But I also, you know, someone living in LA and

I know a lot of people on both sides. I do think the streamers, they don't want to strike. They need content, they need to keep building subscription bases. They need business to keep growing and being something that people care about. What we've seen with Netflix over the past few years is quantity does not outweigh quality. They keep doing this quantity play and they continue to be some of the most watched platform. They continue to be the most watched platform, according to Nielsen. But people have a lot of issues with the content they're putting out.

So there's a demand on the viewer side to have better shows to support these folks. So I do have hope for art that some way it will persevere, but I don't know. We will see. I truly don't know. I think it will turn out great, but it will take a lot more fighting because these unions and the studios are not in a place where they're anywhere close to making a deal, and that's why the strike is definitely going to happen.

I also just want to underscore, you know, I've mentioned Kim Kelly's book on the history of American labor, Fight Like Hell. It's just really useful because, again, it's manifesting, you know, we're seeing these labor disputes, trained workers, graduate students, healthcare workers, teachers, writers in Hollywood, right? So it's just, I think, really helpful to understand the broader thing. But I also wanted to say just

strikes are painful they're really difficult because remember it's like when you agree to a strike you are not working and it's also not like you can go get another job in the meantime what usually happens is right you need to dedicate all of that time you would be working

To the strike, getting out and picketing, getting the information out, doing interviews. It's a full-time job. And I thought it was really interesting reading Kim Kelly's work about how it often will take an entire community. Let's say like coal miners strike and it's like, okay, so who's going to put food on the table? They have to do collection funds so that people can pay their bills. Who's going to bring these people food? It's a really intense thing.

and painful experience to strike. No one, I think, does it casually. But I think it's like when someone decides to do something so severe, we have to consider the circumstances that would make them want to do that. You know what I mean? And so, yeah, I think this is going to be really challenging. And, you know, obviously I love scripted television. I don't really like reality TV. I don't want everything to be love is blind. But I really...

Trust the people who are saying, you know, something has to change. I hope it does for the better. And also, this is a reminder that every industry, regardless of what you think about it, has high wage workers and lower wage workers. Every industry has people who are at the margins.

There is somebody who is fetching the coffee in Hollywood. There is somebody who is doing the grunt work and not getting what they should. So I think sometimes we believe that in some industries, no one's poor. There are poor people everywhere. There are working class people everywhere and they all need support. Yeah, and that's helpful because I do think, I think it's kind of one of capitalism's many spells that it casts on us.

is that those of us who aren't in Hollywood lose empathy because we go, oh, you're fine. Y'all are all doing well. And it's like, no, what, you watch the Oscars? You think everyone is like walking down the red carpet? No, there are people who, there are set designers, there are carpenters, there are- There's someone who built the red carpet. Exactly, exactly. There are janitors, there are food services people, you know? So yeah, it's important to think about that.

And beyond that, Hollywood has expanded. Netflix has studios in New Mexico, Georgia. That's where Marvel's being made. So when the strike happens, it's impacting families in red states too. So this is a big global thing. Everyone's going to feel it and we all should be paying attention. Stay tuned. We'll talk more about this, I'm sure, at some point on the show again. But right now, time for another quick break. Don't go anywhere. Vibe check. We'll be right back. We'll be right back.

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Yeah, it's another day, but what kind of day is it really? A day of doom scrolling? Laundry day? Nah, it's a White Claw day. Light and refreshing tasting. Uniquely cold-weight filtered. There's an iconic flavor for everyone. So grab a pack, grab your friends. Make the most of each day with those who matter most. When you're together with White Claw, every day is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You just gotta grab it. White Claw. Grab life by the claw. Please drink responsibly. Parts also with flavors. White Claw's also works Chicago, Illinois.

All right, my loves, we are back. And before we end the show, each of us likes to share something that's helping us keep our vibes right. This is certainly one of those weeks where we need all the help we can get. Zach, do you want to get us started? I'd love to. I'm in such a good mood.

I'd love to. I'd love to. Because we did see a winner of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 15, and it was the great Sasha Colby, who is from Chicago originally. Not Hawaii originally, but I got to know her in Chicago as a queen. But she's from Hawaii. She lives in Chicago. That's where a lot of the pageant girls live. But anyway, she is an out trans woman of color who won and deserved it. And it was nice to see that every contestant...

in that season just understood that that was going to happen. The analogy, because Sasha Colby was someone I kind of heard of before, but the two things that I'd heard is that Sasha Colby is your favorite drag queen's favorite drag queen.

And then someone else was like, you got to understand, this would be like Beyonce going to compete on American Idol, which, whoa. So I was kind of like, well, how would that work? Because I don't think I want to see Beyonce on American Idol. At some point it can feel so off kilter or just like weird, but I've got to say-

Episode by episode this season, she won me over. I mean, the performances, impeccable. The costumes, beautiful. But also truly like a transcendently joyful, compassionate spirit just really pulled me in. Yeah.

Well, and it's wild the extent to which everyone knew and wanted Sasha Colby to win. I interviewed Sasha Velour on my other podcast, Into It, because Sasha has a new memoir out. And at the end, I was like, girl, I got to ask you, who's going to win this season? Before I could even finish the question. Sasha Colby. She's the one. All the queens know. It's just math. Because she walked out.

It's just like a fact of nature. You know, like, is the sun going to rise tomorrow? It should. Why wouldn't it? Yes. And I would say the reason why it's my vibe break for everyone is I think this is a perfect season for you to watch. And it doesn't ruin it knowing that Sasha Colby wins because it's pretty obvious when she walks in the room in the beginning. Because every queen is like, oh, shit, she's here. Okay, well, I'm going for two, three, and four. But it does lift everyone. Everyone performed at a higher caliber than you.

The stakes were really interesting. Also, Rue has changed the rules to where people have to be nice. So when the critiques are given, they're not so mean and people are giving really wonderful feedback to make these girls better. So there are a few girls that make it to the end that I was surprised to, specifically one, which I won't ruin. So it does make it a good journey. So definitely watch it. If you're interested in Drag Race and haven't seen every season like Sam Sanders, watch this one. Sir. Sir.

Let's not. And as the other host of this podcast that regularly watches Vibe Check, yeah, no, it's truly a joy. And also I loved seeing,

Sasha's last performance costume, there's several reveals and everything, basically comes down to her in kind of a rhinestone bikini and she looks gorgeous. And that's what she accepts her crown and her scepter. And then later in interview, she said, no, I wanted to make it very clear.

this is what people are trying to eradicate and you're not going to get rid of us. So look at me. Look at me. You know what I mean? And I just, I love her. I think she's brilliant. And if the onus of being like the winner of Drag Race is like you're helping advance

our understanding of drag, of its possibilities. It's not just about winning, it's about liberating. And I think Sasha really is a great example of that. And if you find yourself, the reason I bring up Chicago is that if you find yourself in Chicago, there's a place called the Baton Lounge.

It's one of the oldest bars. It does female impersonations. There are drag queens, trans women, et cetera, performing there. Sasha really found herself there. And it's still a club that you can go to. So go there if you want something off the beaten path, not in Boys Town, but you want to see kind of like the origins of really big pageantry that are really amazing.

Okay, tea, tea. Sam, what about you? What's your recommendation? I want to recommend a series of books from an author I love and who my co-hosts know. Samantha Irby is out with a new book of essays in a few weeks called Quietly Hostile. I'm reading that now because I've been talking with her for my other show. I love how books have the best titles. Yeah.

But listeners, you can't get her new book yet. When it comes out, get quietly hostile. But in the meantime, I want to recommend her other books. Pre-order it now. It helps a lot. So you can speak to that. It does. But in the meantime, I want to recommend her other books.

"Wow, no thank you," "We Are Never Meeting in Real Life," and "Meaty." These are three books of personal essays that is quite possibly the most hilarious comedic writing you'll ever find. She does this thing where she'll write an entire essay about her IBS or an entire essay about why she loves Dave Matthews band songs. And you're like, "Where are you going with this girl?" And by the end, you're crying with laughter.

She is so funny. She is so gifted. And there's no way you leave one of her books not smiling ear to ear. I can't speak highly enough about Samantha Irby, so my rec this week is all of her books.

Go pre-order Quietly Hostile right now. It's out in a few weeks. And in the meantime, read her other books. One is called We Are Never Meeting in Real Life. The other is called Meaty. And there's another called Wow, No Thank You. We love Samantha Irby. Yeah, we do. And we have to point out in recognition of our show talking about writers, she is a television writer as well. She's one of the writers and producers of And Just Like That, the Sex and the City podcast.

Rebid. So there you go. And she writes a lot about writing for that show in her new book. It's hilarious. There's an essay. I believe it's in Wow, No Thank You. That's about, and I think we've all, if you haven't yet, you will, had the experience of going to a club that you used to go to when you were like in your trashy early 20s, you know, which is very different from going into it like in your 30s and like trying to, and it's just like when you just realize you're just like, oh, baby.

This moment is over. It is so funny. I know exactly what club that would be for me. Samantha Irby is the truth. Long may she reign. Long may she reign. Yes, yes. I love it. My recommendation for the week is also a book. It's very different from Samantha Irby's work. It is a... Okay, go with me on it. Always. It's...

A novel. It is fiction by Catherine Lacey. The title, however, is Biography of X. So a fictional queer artist named X.

is married for a long time to a woman journalist. And they have, it seems, a very rich, beautiful, romantic, complicated marriage and relationship. X dies suddenly. And some random man that didn't really know X, that wasn't really a part of their lives or anything, wasn't approved to go into X's life,

Past writes a biography without X or her spouse's permission. And while the spouse is grieving, and as she said, she was like, I was wild with grief, which I think is a great description of how it can feel at times. She decides inadvertently to start researching X's past and perhaps to write a biography on her own terms.

I think that's inherently interesting. Yeah, it is. And the history of the United States is a little different. So it is very familiar. It's like a New York artist. I got like an ex is supposed to be like a kind of polymath artist doing all these different genres. So I was getting kind of like an Eileen Miles meets Susan Sontag. And, you know, like that's the vibe I was kind of getting for real life parallels. But I would also say...

to my dear friends, Sam and Zach. What if, what if in some alternate universe, Lydia Tarr's wife decided to write a book about her?

after Lydia Tore's passing. Girl, I will buy the rights. Look. I will buy the rights and make a movie. Because this is kind of, because it kind of starts with this kind of like, I knew X better than anyone and you da-da-da-da, but very quickly we begin to learn that maybe you, and I think the essential thing, can you ever really know anyone, even the people you know deeply? That part. You know, so it's like, okay, you decide to take this off, but you might bite off more than you can chew.

Pretty good. Speaking of can we ever really know someone, Saeed referencing tar in this manner makes me believe that he might be coming over to the side of the tar nation. Wow. Is Saeed in the tar nation? I don't think that's happening here. I'm Taiwan to the tar nation. I'm out here fighting for my independence, girl. I will be heard and recognized. In support of Saeed, though, this weekend, I did watch Puss in Boots, The Last Wish. Did you enjoy it?

I did enjoy it. It's so good. That Antonio Banderas really does something for me. And Soma Hayek is a very good voice actor too, I thought. She's great. Soma Hayek is having a time. I live for her. But I'm glad you enjoyed Puss in Boots, The Last Wish. Yeah. I might watch it again today, to be honest.

Anyway, that's our recommendations for the week. Friends, what are y'all feeling or not feeling? What's your vibe? Check in with us at vibecheckatstitcher.com. I will say I'm still reading Biography of X. So if you write it with your thoughts, no spoilers, please, because I'm still on this journey and I am really hanging on by a thread with this book.

So that's our show this week. Thank you for tuning in to Vibe Check. If you love the show and want to support us, please make sure to follow the show on your favorite podcast listening platform and tell a friend. Tell another friend. Huge thank you to our producer Chantel Holder, engineer Brendan Burns, and Marcus Holm for our theme music and sound design. And thanks to producer Anita Flores for filling in for Chantel this week.

Special thanks to our executive producers, Nora Ritchie at Stitcher and Brandon Sharp from Agenda Management and Production. And listeners, we say it a lot, but don't forget, we want to hear from you. Email us at any time, vibecheckatstitcher.com, vibecheckatstitcher.com. And of course, find us on Instagram. I am at Sam Sanders. Saeed is at The Ferocity. And Zach is at Zach Staff. If you post about the show, use the hashtag vibecheckpod.

Stay tuned for another episode next Wednesday. Till then, if you see a TV writer, give them a hug. They need it. All right. Bye. Stitcher. What kind of day is it? It's a White Claw Day.

Light and refreshing tasting. Uniquely cold-weight filtered. There's an iconic flavor for everyone. Come on, grab a pack. White Claw. Grab life by the claw. Please drink responsibly. Hearts also with flavor. White Claw also works Chicago, Illinois.

Cheers to a great day and this ice-cold Corona. You know what would make this day even better? My grandma's carne asada. Or your grandma here with us, making carne asada. She does love a cold Corona. Throw in some dancing. We can watch the game. I'll drink to that. So a backyard concert with football, food, dancing, and Corona? And your grandma. Or we could keep it simple. Simple is good. Want a Corona?

Thanks. Salud to the perfect day. Corona, la vida mas fina. Get your Corona at ordercorona.com. Relax responsibly. Corona Extra Beer, imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, Illinois.