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  • The Atlantic

    I Am a Joke Machine

    This late-night comedy writer just wants to be loved.
    by Natasha Vaynblat Jul 19, 2023 3 minutes
    Source: Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Getty; The Hollywood Archive / Alamy.

    I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her. Specifically, I’m just a girl, waving a picket sign in front of a studio exec, asking him for fair pay. Picture John Cusack holding a boom box that blasts “What do we want? Contracts! When do we want them? Now!”

    I write for late-night comedy but I’ve always seen my life through film tropes. And these past two and a half months since the Hollywood writers’ strike began have made me feel like I’m trapped in the labor-dispute version

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