OnWriting: A Podcast of the WGA East

Three Daytime Drama writers whose shows were contenders the 2025 Writers Guild Awards join us to discuss their work, how they became daytime drama writers, how the daytime format helps you avoid procrastinating, some favorite plotlines, and much more. Kate Hall is a daytime drama writer whose credits include Days of Our Lives, All My Children, General Hospital, and Young and the Restless. She was nominated for the 2025 Daytime Drama Writers Guild Award for General Hospital. Ron Carlivati is a daytime drama writer who has served as head writer for One Life to Live, General Hospital and Days of Our Lives, and as a staff writer on the new show Beyond the Gates. He was nominated for the 2025 Daytime Drama Writers Guild Award for Days of Our Lives. Charlotte Gibson-Bauer is a daytime drama writer who has worked as a scriptwriter on All My Children and General Hospital, and as a breakdown writer on As the World Turns, Guiding Light and Days of Our Lives. She was nominated for the 2025 Daytime Drama Writers Guild Award for General Hospital. --- Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

The five contenders for Digital News at the 2025 Writers Guild Awards sit down for a roundtable discussion of their nominated pieces, their writing processes, facing challenges and finding silver linings in the media industry, pre-publication nerves, and much more. The Digital News nominees at the 2025 Writers Guild Awards were Henry Grabar for "Mise-en-Seine: A Paris Olympics Diary" (Slate), Akbar Shahid Ahmed for "What Is Hamas Thinking Now?" for (HuffPost), Molly Olmstead for "Sent by God" for (Slate), Jim Newell for "The Unraveling of Nancy Mace" (Slate), and Jaya Saxena for "The Food That Makes You Gay" (Eater). --- Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Screenwriters Peter Straughan (Conclave) and Zack Baylin (The Order) discuss their latest projects and previous work, their process, and much more. Peter Straughan is a writer and playwright. His most recent screenplay is the 2024 film Conclave. Before Conclave, Peter's screenwriting credits have include The Goldfinch, Our Brand is Crisis, Frank and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the latter of which received several accolades including a 2011 Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. In addition, he wrote the 2015 television adaptation of Wolf Hall, which earned him a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special. Zach Baylin is a writer whose 2024 credits include The Order and Bob Marley: One Love. His other credits include Gran Turismo, Creed III and King Richard, the last of which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. --- Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Host Anya Epstein is joined by Laura Eason to discuss gaining confidence as a first-time showrunner, the art of adaptation and collaboration, hiring diverse writers to give life to diverse characters, navigating delicate topics with the nuance that they require and much more. Laura Eason is a screenwriter, showrunner, executive producer and playwright. She began her television writing career as a staff writer for four seasons of House of Cards, for which she received both an Emmy nomination for Drama Series and a Writers Guild Award nomination for Writing in a Drama Series. After House of Cards, she went on to serve as co-Executive Producer and writer for the 2019 miniseries The Loudest Voice in the Room. Laura is currently the showrunner, executive producer and writer of Three Women. The Starz limited series, which is based on Lisa Taddeo's 2019 book of the same name, is intimate and haunting portrayal of female desire that finds three – or really, four – women on a crash course to radically overturn their lives. Three Women premiered in the US in September 2024, and is available to watch on Starz. This episode is hosted by Anya Epstein. Anya is a TV writer and producer, and the co-showrunner of series like The Affair and In Treatment. --- Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Host Zhubin Parang talks to MSNBC Union members Amy Hooker and Andrew Joyce about staying flexible in the challenging newsroom environment, how to handle an election season where unprecedented events happen weekly, and winning a strong union contract that helps them do both of those things as effectively as possible. Amy Hooker has worked as an associate producer on MSNBC's All In with Chris Hayes since 2018. Andrew Joyce is a segment producer with at MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show and Alex Wagner Tonight, with over a decade of experience in journalism. Amy and Andrew both served on the bargaining committee that negotiated MSNBC Union's recent groundbreaking contract wins. Zhubin Parang is a co-executive producer and writer on The Daily Show, as well as a former member of the WGAE Council. --- Before it was a podcast, OnWriting was a print publication. Check out OnWriting: The Print Archives. Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Host Katie Rich sits down with Sophie Summergrad, Christina Cauterucci and Madeline Ducharme — three of the journalists and producers behind Slate's "Slow Burn" and other acclaimed podcasts — to discuss their paths into journalism, the process of turning an idea into a critically acclaimed podcast, how a strong union contract gives you the freedom – and time – to do the things you care about, and much more. Sophie Summergrad is a producer at Slate currently working on season 10 of "Slow Burn". Before that, she worked on "Slow Burn" seasons 3 through 9, as well as the narrative podcast "One Year". Christina Cauterucci is a senior writer at Slate who covers politics and culture. She's also the host of season 9 of "Slow Burn": Gays Against Briggs, the host and co-founder of "Outward", Slate's weekly podcast about LGBTQ life, and previously wrote for and hosted episodes of "One Year". Madeline Ducharme is a producer for Slate's daily news podcast, "What Next". Before that, she produced season 4 of "Slow Burn", and has worked on other narrative shows at Slate including "One Year". Host Katie Rich is a comedy writer known for her six-year tenure writing for "Weekend Update" on Saturday Night Live. --- Before it was a podcast, OnWriting was a print publication. Check out OnWriting: The Print Archives. Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

John Hoffman and Amy Schumer sit down to talk about the joys and challenges of leaning into the personal in your writing, the importance of finding the right collaborators, confronting the hardest parts of life with both vulnerability and confidence, and much more. John Hoffman is the co-creator and showrunner of the critically acclaimed and award-winning comedy-drama mystery series Only Murders in the Building. Amy Schumer is a writer, actor, director and producer known for creating and starring in the sketch comedy series Inside Amy Schumer, writing and starring in the 2015 comedy film Trainwreck and creating and starring in the comedy-drama series Life & Beth. Only Murders in the Building and Life & Beth are both currently available to stream on Hulu. --- Before it was a podcast, OnWriting was a print publication. Check out OnWriting: The Print Archives. Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Host and WGAE Nonfiction Women of Color Caucus Chair Chinisha Scott talks with WGAE members Gautam Singhani and Sarah Katz, who both recently worked at the nonfiction television production company Story Syndicate. Story Syndicate is one of the latest nonfiction television shops to join the Writers Guild of America East and they are currently negotiating their first collective bargaining agreement. This week, we focus on nonfiction television, lovingly described as the Wild West. Chinisha, Gautam and Sarah discuss advocating for the truth, both in nonfiction production and the labor movement, why the time to unionize is now and what it means to be fairly compensated in nonfiction television. --- Before it was a podcast, OnWriting was a print publication. Check out OnWriting: The Print Archives. Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews: www.onwriting.org/ Follow the Guild on social media: Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast