Dave Blanchard

Across Hollywood right now, writers and actors are picketing in front of studio lots. They're walking back and forth, holding up signs demanding concessions on things like pay, how many writers work on projects, and the use of AI in TV and movies.But, on some of these lots, there are these strange alternate entrances where there are no picketers. Here drivers can come and go as they please without ever encountering any sign of a strike.Behold the neutral gate. An entrance intended for people who work at these lots but don't work for production companies that are involved with these particular strikes. (Usually that means things like game shows or TV commercials.)But, as one group of picketers recently experienced, it's hard to know if these entrances are, in fact, only being used by neutral parties or if the entrances might be being abused.On today's episode, the question of whether one Hollywood production was taking advantage of the neutral gate, and what the fight over a driveway can teach us about the bro

Local libraries are paying a lot more for e-books than they would for physical books. Librarians worry this hike in pricing might affect people’s ability to borrow the books they want to read.

In 2019, a group of librarians (quietly) stormed the offices of a major publisher, Macmillan, to protest a controversial policy on e-books. On this show, how a tiny change - a book on a screen - threw an industry into war with itself.<br><br>Subscribe to Planet Money+ in <a href=“https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/290783428”>Apple Podcasts</a> or at <a href=“http://plus.npr.org/planetmoney”>plus.npr.org/planetmoney</a>a

The U.S. mint is beginning to roll out a new set of quarters honoring American women. The mint is also trying to allow the artists a little more creativity with the design.

For a brief, strange period after the U.S.S.R. collapsed, “real” money was less valuable than tradeable objects like bricks or towels. We look back at the Russian barter economy and we see the nature of money and value underneath all currency. | Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.

Pete Van Vleet is a devoted Houston Astros fan. His daughter loves the Detroit Tigers. To help his infant son pick a team, he asked all 30 of them, "Why should my son choose you to be a fan?"

Stephanie Williams discovered comics young, drawn early to X-Men, which she saw as an allegory for the persecution of black Americans. An adult now, she co-hosts a podcast about black superheroines.

Elon Musk is warning that artificial intelligence is a “fundamental existential risk for human civilization.” Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is looking into how states can respond.