The Ankler Podcast

The world has no shortage of villains, and according to Jonathan Taplin, author of The End of Reality, Hollywood is currently up against four: Silicon Valley billionaires Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Andreessen and Elon Musk. “We have right now a culture of dystopia and nihilism,” says Taplin, who argues that ‘The Four’ are wreaking havoc yes, on politics and economics, but also popular culture by creating their own model of escapism, a role once filled by Hollywood. For more news about the entertainment business, subscribe to our daily newsletters at TheAnkler.com/subscribe. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The podcast discusses the challenges faced by writers in a changing industry post-strike and the higher bar for greenlights. They also explore the sustainability of the entertainment industry, rising costs of streaming services, and various other topics such as social pressure, box office breakdown, and upcoming releases.

For years, CAA agents were promised a pot of gold. Now as the behemoth sells, the 10 percent crew cries foul over its own 10 percent.This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What went on during those last five crucial days of negotiations between the WGA and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers? Showrunner and WGA negotiating committee member Adam Conover (Adam Ruins Everything) takes us behind-the-scenes of the talks.This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Looking for signals and signs that the end is near for the WGA strike. Plus, Peter Kiefer talks about one of the other casualties of the shutdown — Democratic political fundraising — as President Joe Biden faces the fight of his career. To subscribe to The Ankler, go to theankler.com/subscribe This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the last round of talks between the WGA and AMPTP on Aug. 22, the deafening silence that fell over Hollywood kicked the rumor mill into overdrive. “This is a function of this stage of the strike where there's a vacuum of information… coupled with a deep sense of distress and desperation to try and figure this thing out,” says Peter Kiefer, who, together with Elaine Low, unraveled the real story of a proposed meeting between showrunners Kenya Barris, Noah Hawley and WGA leadership — and the agent-led whisper campaign behind it. Also: Richard Rushfield calls both sides to task for squabbling over process and procedure: “The rest of the industry should not be asked… to give up a year of income over a fight over whose turn it is to present something.”To subscribe to The Ankler, go to theankler.com/subscribe This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CNBC's Alex Sherman goes behind the scenes of Disney's succession plan disaster and the 'disintegration' of his inner circle.To subscribe to The Ankler and The Wakeup newsletters, please go to theankler.com/subscribe. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why a next-year end to the strike looks possible, what the Charter-Disney debacle has to do with it, and Richard Rushfield's TIFF report. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After making bold summer box office predictions at Memorial Day, Sean McNulty, Elaine Low and Richard Rushfield return to talk about the titles that took in $4 billion stateside, and crown one winning workhorse studio with the highest return on summer movie investments. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Labor contagion keeps spreading as union actions across the country catch fire. That's no coincidence, says labor journalist and Work Won’t Love You Back author Sarah Jaffe, who joins Elaine Low to discuss what disparate industries, from teaching to health care to Hollywood, have in common, but also what’s unique to creative people in entertainment and the arts. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices