As this year’s Oscar nominations rolled out this morning, I told my boyfriend that Sinners, with 16 noms in total, had made history. These works weren’t just popular among leftists or critics, they were bona fide cultural phenomena. Discovery, Amazon, Paramount Global, and Disney all reportedly scaling back on their diversity efforts. Meanwhile, shows that offered red meat in the form of farmers, grumpy MAGA adherents, cowboys, and Christian values were greenlit and promoted. Even before Trump’s second term, trying to get out-of-the-box stories made in Hollywood has been a slog.