Earlier this week, Karen Horne — DEI pioneer and former Senior VP of North America Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Warner Bros. Discovery — joined me for some 5AM StoryTalk. You can listen to that here if you haven’t already. Today, Karen returns for a bonus episode exclusive to my superstar paid subscribers whose support keeps the lights on here. Instead of discussing a seminal piece of art from her life (which is what I usually do with such bonus content), we’ll instead take a look at the cultural and economic impact of three seminal pieces of diverse art in Hollywood’s history that she selected — “A Different World”, Barbie, and Sinners. Of course, we’ll touch on many more, from “The Cosby Show” to “Fresh Off the Boat” and Black Panther.
How did/does centering non-cishet white characters and themes impact the success of these films and TV series? But beyond this question we’re also going to explore how storytelling — especially film/TV storytelling — can challenge and reshape the cultural conversation around so many subjects.
If you’d like to hear more from Karen, but aren’t yet a paid subscriber yourself, you can upgrade now for $6 US a month or $60 a year. For that, you get full access to hundreds of articles and educational resources for screenwriters, arts seminars where you can seek direct help from me, and all of my podcast episodes — including bonus episodes — weeks, sometimes months earlier than you would if you subscribed to me at, say, Apple or Spotify. Most importantly, you help keep this independent media source alive with your support - thank you!
And don’t forget to listen to the first part of my conversation with Karen!
Q&A: DEI Pioneer Karen Horne Wants You to Do It For the Money
This week on the 5AM StoryTalk Podcast, I'm joined by Karen Horne — DEI pioneer and former Senior VP of North America Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Warner Bros. Discovery. Those three little letters — DEI — have done so much to transform the lives of women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, and even disabled people in the Unite…
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