S4.E2: Entertaining AI: Disrupting the Creative World
Release Date: 10/11/2023
S6.E7 | Beyond Play: The Business of Belonging
What Does It Profit Podcast
In this episode of What Does It Profit?, explores what happens when a business begins with a simple question. Where do people go to belong? More women are starting businesses than ever before. Yet ownership does not always mean access. Women still face barriers to capital, growth, and recognition. In spaces like game store ownership, those gaps are even more visible. Whitney Wolfe did not set out to become an entrepreneur. She set out to create a place where people could gather, connect, and feel at ease. That idea became , a Brooklyn game store that opened just as the world...
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S6.E6 | Game Changer: Rewriting the Rules
What Does It Profit Podcast
A board game may look simple. A set of pieces. A set of rules. A way to win. But every game is a system. It teaches us what to value, how to compete, and what success looks like. In this episode of , we follow the unexpected journey of Elizabeth Hargrave, a health policy consultant turned award-winning game designer, whose hit board game Wingspan reshaped an entire industry. What began as a simple idea, a game about birds, became one of the most successful and celebrated board games of all time, selling over two million copies and opening the door for more women in game design. But this story...
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S6.E5 | Bridge Builder: Engineering Confidence
What Does It Profit Podcast
In Season 6 of What Does It Profit?, explores dignity at work by stepping inside industries where women are still underestimated and often unwelcome. In this episode, we meet Aine O’Dwyer, a civil engineer and the CEO of Enovate Engineering. Raised on a dairy farm in Ireland, Aine learned early the value of discipline, perseverance, and hard work. Those lessons carried her across the Atlantic to the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where she pursued civil engineering while playing college basketball. Engineering classrooms were still overwhelmingly male, but Aine was undeterred. She...
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S6. E4 | Tools & Tiaras: Jobs Don't Have Genders
What Does It Profit Podcast
In Season 6 of What Does It Profit?, goes inside industries where women are still underestimated and often unwelcome to explore how they are reshaping the meaning and structure of work. In this episode, we meet Judaline Cassidy, a master plumber, union leader, and founder of Tools & Tiaras, a nonprofit that introduces girls to welding, carpentry, plumbing, and the power of the skilled trades. Judaline was one of the only women in her plumbing program in Trinidad. She later broke barriers within New York’s unions. Along the way, she developed a simple conviction that guides her work...
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S6.E3 | Long Haul: Driving Toward Freedom
What Does It Profit Podcast
Less than 10% of truck drivers are women. The open road has long been seen as a man’s world. But that is changing. In 2012, Jess Graham left an abusive relationship and enrolled in CDL training within days. Weeks later, she was licensed and on the road with her ten-year-old daughter, living together in the cab of a truck. For Jess, trucking was not just a job. It was a path to stability, speed, and self-determination. Every mile out there is different from your last mile. That’s a new opportunity. In 2019, she bought her own truck, a 1995 Freightliner known as the Black Widow....
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S6.E2 | Sparking Change: Women Fighting Fire with Fire
What Does It Profit Podcast
What happens when women enter one of the most dangerous, male-dominated professions... and change it from the inside? In this episode of What Does It Profit, goes from D.C. firehouses to wildfire lines to meet the women fighting fire with fire. At , Lieutenant Roshawnda Drake is building a pipeline for the next generation of women firefighters. Out West, Lou Bean, Heidi Leib, and Ashley Nalley are reshaping wildfire response and prescribed burning, often in systems never designed with them in mind. Together, they show how women are reshaping the fire service and why a more inclusive culture...
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S6.E1 | Women in Labor: Essential Work, Unequal Pay
What Does It Profit Podcast
Women have always worked. But when women entered the U.S. labor force in large numbers during the 1970s, equal pay did not follow. In this episode of What Does It Profit?, explores the history of women’s labor rights—from the rise of the Nine to Five movement to the equal pay fight led by Lilly Ledbetter. Through organizing, unions, and the law, women challenged workplaces that relied on their labor while undervaluing their work. Featuring labor historian and the cultural legacy behind 9 to 5, this episode examines why wage gaps persist, why voice still matters, and what economic justice...
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Season 6 Trailer | Women Redefining The Workforce
What Does It Profit Podcast
This season on What Does It Profit, host Dr. Dawn Carpenter steps into the worlds where women are least expected—and often least welcomed. From firehouses to funeral homes, construction sites to game design studios, meet the women breaking barriers and reshaping the meaning of work itself. Their stories reveal courage, solidarity, and the power to build a more inclusive future of work. Subscribe now to hear how these women are redefining what’s possible—and what’s profitable—for us all. Connect with us on to join the What Does It Profit community and keep the conversation...
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S5.E.5: Turbulent Thoughts | Flight Crew Safety
What Does It Profit Podcast
In this episode, we delve into the challenges faced by airline pilots and flight attendants, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a national pilot shortage and increased workloads, safety is at risk as pilots and cabin crew work longer hours without adequate rest. Former airline captain Mike Simkins shares his experiences with fatigue and the pressures of the industry, highlighting the misconception that safety is the top priority for airlines. Flight attendant Sybil Bryant discusses the struggles of being underpaid and overworked, emphasizing the need for fair compensation for all...
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S5.E4.: Health vs. Hustle | The Cost of Convenience at Amazon
What Does It Profit Podcast
In this episode, we delve into the harrowing experiences of Amazon warehouse worker Wendy Taylor, who suffered a serious injury while under immense pressure to meet unrealistic productivity quotas. Despite her injuries, Taylor was denied proper medical care and forced to return to work, highlighting the grueling conditions faced by Amazon employees. The episode also discusses the , aimed at improving workplace safety and workers' rights. As workers advocate for dignity and respect, the episode underscores the human cost of fast shipping and the urgent need for better protections in the...
info_outlineIn this episode, Dr. Dawn heads straight into the scene of the action, Paramount Studios in Hollywood, where writers and actors are fighting an existential battle that stems in large part from AI. We look beyond the glitzy Hollywood sets to learn more about how AI threatens the livelihoods of creatives in an industry where most struggle to even make ends meet.
We set the stage for what feels like a David and Goliath story as we spotlight the battles writers and actors have been fighting against studio executives and producers in conjunction with the rise of disruptive technologies, like AI. We spotlight what those battles are as we delve into the fears various members of the entertainment industry have about AI, and why those fears helped catalyze a historic Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) double strike.
We begin this episode with the WGA. After nearly 150 days of striking, some writers have returned to work. In late September, the WGA reached a tentative deal with studio executives, a deal which imposes guardrails on AI’s ability to create written content and be used as source material.
Actors, though, haven’t had the same success yet. We speak to Towanda Underdue, an actor, writer, and producer, as well as a lead negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, to learn why. Underdue details the myriad of ways AI can further disrupt the art of acting in light of the role streaming services have had undervaluing actors. We also hear from set designer Blair Barnet who shares her concerns about how AI will alter the fabric of what entertainment is built on: the creative human experience.
While we outline these various battles, these battles are inextricably intertwined. This episode brings to light how creatives are fighting to protect the humans who work in entertainment, and the humanity of the entertainment industry itself.
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