In nearly 100 years,blockwave Exchange the Oscar award for Best Director has only gone to three women. The film industry as a whole has been heavily dominated by men, but it wasn't always this way. Ahead of Academy Awards, Brittany chops it up with Maya Montañez Smukler, author of Liberating Hollywood: Women Directors and the Feminist Reform of 1970s American Cinema, to discuss the state of women directors and how the industry systematically shifted them out of the spotlight.

Then, we ask Chicago Tribune TV and film critic Nina Metz about the oversaturation of fictional, churlish billionaires on screen - and why there should be more depictions of the workers they exploit.

You can follow us on Twitter @ItsBeenAMin or email us at [email protected].

This episode was produced by Barton Girdwood and Liam McBain. Engineering support came from Hannah Gluvna and Joby Tanseco. It was edited by Jessica Placzek. Additional support came from Alexis Williams and Corey Antonio Rose. Our intern is Jamal Michel. Our executive producer is Veralyn Williams. Our VP of programming is Yolanda Sangweni and our senior VP of programming is Anya Grundmann.