The Frame

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals have reunited for their first album in nine years. The singer talks about taking on police brutality in the title track, and he reveals how his family’s music shop in Claremont shaped his life, his passion for social justice and his music career.

Country music icon Merle Haggard died today on his 79th birthday. Filmmaker Gandulf Hennig talks about the Haggard documentary he made for PBS' “American Masters"; Jesse Eisenberg is a true multi-tasker. The actor plays Lex Luthor in “Batman v. Superman” and he’s also a playwright whose “The Revisionist” is currently at The Wallis in Beverly Hills.

Kulap Vilaysack is the creator of the Seeso original show "Bajillion Dollar Propertie$." Her husband, Scott Aukerman (host of IFC's "Comedy Bang! Bang!"), serves as executive producer on the series. The pair talk about collaborating on the show and their other projects.

The singer and guitarist's latest album, "Dig In Deep," is a collection of original songs plus covers of tunes by INXS and Los Lobos; Jessie Kahnweiler wasn’t sure anyone would want to watch “The Skinny” — her web series about her eating disorder. But then the Sundance Film Festival came calling.

The filmmaker describes his new movie as a “spiritual sequel” to “Dazed and Confused," this time with college baseball players sowing their wild oats.

The young actress got a huge break when she was cast on the HBO series, but fans often give her grief about her unlikeable character.

The veteran actor talks about playing the attorney who was both loved and loathed as he turned Simpson’s murder trial into a debate on race in America.

Actor Cliff Curtis is familiar to TV audiences from “Fear the Walking Dead,” but in the new film “The Dark Horse" he transforms himself to play a toothless, bipolar chess genius. Miles Davis’ son and nephew recount how Don Cheadle’s biopic of the late trumpeter, "Miles Ahead" came to be. Virtual Reality is now a reality for consumers, we test drive some content made by Wevr.

Irish actress Lisa Dwan goes solo for a trilogy of works by her homeland's great playwright, Samuel Beckett; the band Songhoy Blues perseveres after extremists took over Mali; bad reviews didn't deter moviegoers who came out in droves for the superhero action film.

Garry Shandling's death has resulted in an outpouring of fond memories, including from former "Larry Sanders" writer Maya Forbes and filmmaker Mark Duplass; Daniel Clowes' new book, "Patience," is described as a "time-travel love story."

From The Frame's vaults: actress and writer Zoe Kazan was speaking about rampant sexual harassment in Hollywood months before the Harvey Weinstein floodgates broke; singer and performer Lizzo on her wild year that started with a fateful appearance on Samantha Bee's show.

“The Post" screenwriters Elizabeth Hannah and Josh Singer talk about writing a movie with a woman— Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham — as the hero; Los Angeles Times pop music critic Mikael Wood shares some of his picks for the best music of 2017.

The film “Hostiles,” written and directed by Scott Cooper, both indulges in and overturns some of the familiar tropes of the Western genre; Rotten Tomatoes senior editor Grae Drake looks back on the year in film reviews and addresses some of the controversy surrounding the movie review aggregation site.

Writer/director Dee Rees on her film "Mudbound," about the harsh reality of life in the Jim Crow South, and its new resonance in 2017; Pasadena Playhouse brings the 1947 'Miracle on 34th Street' radio play to the stage; Facebook makes a play for YouTube's hold on music videos.

Questlove, drummer and leader of "The Tonight Show's" house band The Roots, talks about the emotional ballad he wrote for the movie "Detroit"; Actor/tax attorney Sandra Karas explains Actors' Equity Association's opposition to the tax overhaul that Congress passed today.

For his role in "The Florida Project" Willem Dafoe immersed himself into the world of the "hidden homeless;" A new website called Rotten Apples allows users to search TV shows and movies to see if anyone on the projects was accused of sexual misconduct; Italian filmmaker Marta Savina revisits a landmark rape case from 1965 in her short film “Viola, Franca."

Meet Hong Chau, the actress from Alexander Payne's movie "Downsizing," who's grabbing attention even before the film opens; how the radio drama version of "Star Wars" helped put NPR on the map; and three film critics (who happen to be under the age of 10) weigh in on "The Last Jedi."

DeLappe's play about high school girl soccer players was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for drama; what effect will the Net Neutrality vote have on content creators and distributors?; an old fashioned marquee gives a theater company a new identity.

Director Steven Spielberg, producer Amy Pascal and Tom Hanks discuss the present-day resonance of their new film 'The Post'; with Disney buying much of 21st Century Fox we look at what that means for Hulu; and Canadian singer Elise LeGrow taps Chicago roots in her debut album.

SAG announced its nominees for their awards and that all the presenters plus the host of the telecast will be women. How else will Hollywood awards shows amplify women's voices in this #metoo era?; Trans actress Daniela Vega from the Chilean film "A Fantastic Woman" hopes it teaches audiences empathy; watching Pixar's "Coco" in Mexico is a singular experience.

TV and film writer and producer Judd Apatow returns to his stand-up comedy roots in a special for Netflix; The Black List is an annual compilation of highly regarded, but unproduced scripts that are floating around town.

Actress Margot Robbie says she has empathy for the misunderstood skater Tonya Harding, who suffered from abuse; Disney is reportedly close to a deal to purchase Fox's movie studio and some TV assets; the art world came to Miami for Art Basel and related showcases.