The Waves: Gender, Relationships, Feminism · Slate Podcasts

Hollywood is On Strike. Let’s Burn it Down.

·39 min·3 clips

Mo Ryan reveals why Hollywood isn't about bad apples but a machine built to protect powerful abusers.

This episode of The Waves features host Daisy Rosario and guest Maureen Ryan, a veteran entertainment journalist and author of "Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood." Ryan's book investigates systemic abuses and exploitation within the Hollywood entertainment industry. The conversation centers on how structural problems, rather than isolated "bad apples," perpetuate harm and inequality. Ryan spent over two years writing the book, synthesizing stories of racism, sexual harassment, and psychological abuse collected in the wake of the Me Too and Black Lives Matter movements. She cites specific examples, including toxic environments on sets like the TV show *Lost*. The discussion references data from USC's Annenberg Center, noting that women of color directed only 21 of the top 1,600 grossing films over a 16-year period. Ryan connects current Hollywood labor strikes to this history of exploitation, where workers face low pay, precarious jobs, and brutal hours akin to Amazon warehouse conditions. A striking insight is Ryan's observation that even successful creators from underrepresented groups, like *Orange Is the New Black*'s Jenji Kohan, often receive fewer subsequent high-profile opportunities compared to male peers like the *Game of Thrones* showrunners. She argues the industry often settles for tokenism rather than redistributing real power. Ryan highlights that 87% of SAG-AFTRA actors earn less than $26,000 annually, failing to qualify for union health care, while studio executives earn tens of millions. The guest warns that the push for AI in creative roles threatens to erase recent, fragile gains in diversity by removing entry-level jobs. Ryan expresses concern that the current backlash and "backsliding" are reversing minimal progress on inclusion. She notes that gatekeepers at the top of major studios and franchises remain predominantly white men, a dynamic unchanged in her 30-year career. The tone is analytical and direct, blending journalistic investigation with personal critique from a place of caring about the industry. The style is a conversational interview, but one grounded in specific data, historical context, and reported anecdotes. This episode would appeal to listeners interested in labor politics, media industry analysis, and the mechanics of systemic discrimination. It might disappoint those seeking a light discussion of pop culture or optimistic narratives about Hollywood reform.

As heard by us

A Hollywood labor conversation that treats pay, security, and union power as the story.

The Waves takes Hollywood labor talk and widens it into something sturdier: power, pay, and how easily creative work gets treated as replaceable.

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Why you'd press play

For when you want Hollywood labor talk that reaches beyond Hollywood.

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