Alec Baldwin is doubling down on his defense of Woody Allen in the wake of sexual assault allegations. Zimbio's Areeba Abid joins Cheddar to discuss why Hollywood can't decide whether "time's up" for the Oscar-winning director. Diane Keaton is also sticking by her former collaborator, while other stars are pledging to never work with him again.
The Grammys posted historically low ratings for the 60th annual awards ceremony. Abid explains what she thinks the Recording Academy needs to do to turn things around. We also discuss Grammys President Neil Portnow's comments that women need to "step up" to be better represented next year.
Finally, we hit on news that Tom Hanks will portray Mr. Rogers in an upcoming biopic. Abid says the move should put Hanks in contention for his first Oscar nomination since 2000. Despite being a Hollywood favorite, the actor hasn't had much luck with awards season in recent years.
Frankie Grande of Nickelodeon’s "Danger Force" is taking his villain act to another show on the network, "Side Hustle," for a crossover event dubbed "When Worlds Collide." The actor, dancer, singer, producer, television host, and YouTube personality joined Cheddar News to talk about putting the project together. “What I will tell you is these unbelievable actors from very, very young ages were so inspirational to work with," he said of his castmates. "They showed up, they knew their lines, they hit their marks." Grande also went into detail about his very nerdy engagement with Hale Leon in virtual reality.
Inflation is driving a return to the gig economy, according to a new survey from Branch & Marqeta that found 85 percent of workers have increased or planned to increase their amount of gig work in the past six months, with 58 percent citing inflation as the reason behind this change. Arun Sundararajan, professor at NYU Stern School of Business, breaks down this dynamic and how it's impacting the broader economy. "Inflation is rampant and people need more money. Salaried wages haven't kept up. Plus the labor market is tight. People can't find full time employees, employers can't find full time employees, and so some people are being opportunistic," he said. "And I also think there's a COVID effect because people have gotten used to more flexibility and time and space because people have gotten used to more flexibility and time and space, through the months of the lockdown."
The FDA just approved a first-of-its-kind treatment for individuals with blood cancer that has proven results of 5-year survival rates. Christi Shaw, CEO of Kite, a Gilead company, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how this treatment works and compares to others currently on the market.
Dr. Neta Lavon, CTO and VP of R&D at Aleph Farms, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how the team sent cow cells to space to further research the production of meat in space, and why developing cultivated meat is so critical to the future of space travel.
A new report from DrakeStar Partners, an investment bank that closely tracks the sector, said $98.7 billion in deals were announced or closed in the first three months of the year. T