The Frame

The singer/songwriter wrote his Grammy-nominated album, "American Utopia," prior to our recent political discord, but he remains determined to find the silver lining in society; studio executives are talking the talk but not walking the walk when it comes to hiring women directors.

Kit Steinkellner talks about creating the Facebook Watch series about a widow dealing with her husband's unexpected death; the 2019 Coachella headliners include Childish Gambino(!) and Ariana Grande(?); Janelle Monáe breaks down a song from her Grammy-nominated album, "Dirty Computer"

The stage director made history with "The Lifespan of a Fact" by assembling the first all-female design team for a Broadway show; Netflix has pulled an episode of Hasan Minhaj's "Patriot Act" from its service in Saudi Arabia after a protest from the Saudi government; Mary Gauthier's "Rifles and Rosary Beads" has a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album.

The former Monty Python member revisits his life and career in the memoir, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography"; Luciana Souza puts Leonard Cohen poems to music.

José James pays tribute to singer/songwriter Bill Withers with his new album "Lean on Me."

Alfonso Cuarón reveals the intense process of mining his own memory, and those of his siblings and childhood nanny, to recreate their shared story for the screen in "Roma."

Rosamund Pike reveals how she channeled the late war reporter Marie Colvin in the film "A Private War."

Afghan-American artist Ariana Delawari documents the process of recording an album of music in her family's homeland; Max Baca of the band Texmaniacs on covering the Woody Guthrie song "Deportee"; Boz Scaggs still sings the blues.

We bring you some of our favorite interviews from the year — covering television, movies, music and the arts. Guests include Tessa Thompson, Riz Ahmed, Lena Waithe and Hannah Gadsby.

John C. Reilly joins "Stan & Ollie" director Jon S. Baird to talk about making a movie about the legendary comedic duo Laurel and Hardy. Then, Joanna Kulig stars in "Cold War," Poland's official submission for Oscar which is also the story of filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski's parents.

Writer/director John Ridley (far right, with actor Timothy Hutton) talks about his edgy new TV series, “American Crime"; We crash a viewing party for the breakout TV hit, “Empire"; Musician and attorney Joe Escalante on the fallout from the “Blurred Lines” verdict.

A jury ruled that Robin Thicke (pictured) and Pharrell Williams violated the copyright to Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up"; an assistant director on the film "Midnight Rider" was found guilty of charges relating to the death of a camera assistant; producer David Shore revived a TV project created a dozen years ago by Vince Gilligan, before his "Breaking Bad" success.

"Midnight Rider" director Randall Miller was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to charges resulting from the death of a crew member on the set; Clint Eastwood talks about "American Sniper" (pictured) becoming the biggest-grossing film released in 2014; actress Gillian Jacobs has added director to her resumé with a documentary about computer pioneer Grace Hopper.

A fan laments that legendary radio DJ Art Laboe (pictured) can't be heard in L.A., at least for now; Robert Christgau, the Dean of American Rock Critics, has a memoir covering his 40-plus years on the music beat; Claire Keane is a third-generation artist who left a cushy job to write and illustrate children's books.

The trial for the lawsuit brought by Marvin Gaye's children against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams is nearing an end; how "Dead Man Walking" was transformed from a movie to an opera (pictured); comedian Wayne Federman rounds up his hilarious friends to host a film festival where they chose the lineup; comic book writer Scott Snyder put his anxieties into his version of "Batman."

Ed Piskor’s "Hip Hop Family Tree” (pictured) takes a look at the music's history in a comic book series; young comedians test their chops in roast battles; the Writer's Guild examines the lack of racial and gender diversity among TV writers.

Late night host Conan O'Brien tells us about his trip to Cuba and his thoughts on the late night TV shuffle; Vulture.com's Margaret Lyons recommends some TV shows that have an air of optimism; comic book writer Ed Brubaker goes from Captain America and Batman to a Hollywood noir graphic novel.

Will Smith's "Focus" (pictured) did middling business in its opening weekend, so where does this leave his career?; filmmaker Ed Burns on the highs and lows of his career since bursting on the scene with "The Brothers McMullen" in 1995; Valiant Entertainment has a simple goal: make comic books like they used to be made.

Leonard Nimoy (pictured) died today. We discuss his artistic journey as an actor, writer and photographer; the copyright trial pitting Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and T.I. against Marvin Gaye's children is underway; Will Forte is "The Last Man on Earth," a new Fox comedy.

Singer-songwriter Gabriel Kahane (pictured) wrote "The Ambassador," a song cycle inspired by architectural landmarks around L.A.; Yann Demange's new film is set amidst the violent Northern Ireland conflict known as The Troubles; a new study concludes that watching even just one film can change minds about a topic as charged as politics.

A new report by the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA says movies and TV shows with diverse casts (such as "Empire," pictured) make good financial sense; Song Exploder breaks down the theme song for "House of Cards"; a new stage production at CalTech takes "Alice Through the Wormhole."

How did Amy Poehler's sitcom (pictured) survive seven seasons of average ratings?; Sam Beam, aka Iron & Wine, returns to his musical roots with "Archive Series Volume Number One"; Wes Anderson's Oscar-winning film is the subject of a new book; the L.A. Philharmonic stages a multimedia production of "Alice in Wonderland."