Inside Late Night

Nell Scovell was a writer on the earlier David Letterman show -- NBC's Late Night… A rare woman in a sea of men:

At this moment, there are more females serving on the United States Supreme Court than there are writing for Late Show with David Letterman, The Jay Leno Show, and The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien combined. Out of the 50 or so comedy writers working on these programs, exactly zero are women. It would be funny if it weren’t true.

Scovell writes about the work environment on the staff, especially for women like her who were not sleeping with him, which while not a "get a court order right now" situation, creates sexual favoritism that, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, can create a hostile, demeaning work environment.

Scovell's article is in the October 2009 edition of Vanity Fair.

Audio: BBC, PRI & WBUR's Here & Now. Host: Robin Young.