The Sunday Subject – July 16, 2023

Actors join writers in Hollywood strike

The Screen Actors Guild, the union that represents nearly every actor in Hollywood, joined the Writers Guild of America, who have been striking for 75 days, objecting to the low share of streaming revenue the studios are giving screenwriters. The actors had their own objections, including an attempt by the studios to get actors agree to be body-scanned, paid for one day of work, and have their likeness be reproduced with CGI indefinitey. As a result, nearly 98% of SAG’s 65,0000 members voted to strike. A studio executive callously told Deadline, “the endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.”

Heat wave hits US, Europe

Thanks to climate change, seeminly every summer is the hottest on record, and roughly 113 million Americans are currently under heat advisory, with record high temperatures across the country, including 118º in Phoenix, and 129º in Death Valley — one of the hottest temperatures ever recorded on Earth. In Italy, Sicily and Sardinia are bracing for temperatures as high as 118ºF, among the hottest ever recorded in Europe. France, Grermany, Poland, and Spain are also expected to see extreme temperatures this week, and Greece shut down the Acropolis to avoid exposing tourists to the heat.

WNBA leading scorer Jewell Loyd leads All-Star Game

Jewell Loyd leads the WNBA with 25.7 points per game, and the Seattle Storm guard set a record by scoring 31 points in the All Star Game on Saturday, leading Team Stewart to a 143-126 win over Team Wilson (the WNBA has adopted the schoolyard pickup game method of picking All-Star teams, with New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart and Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson leading the two teams. Wilson’s Aces have dominated this season at 19-2, a full five games ahead of the second-place Liberty. Despite having the league’s leading scorer, the Storm in are last place at 4-16.