The Frame

After the 2016 Presidential election, the singer/songwriter took a cross-country train trip and then wrote a song cycle of character sketches and personal reflections; Taylor Swift's recording contract is about to expire, giving her a world of options; Boots Riley's "Sorry to Bother You" is one of the year's biggest critical hits.

Director Chris Weitz's film 'Operation Finale' tells the amazing story of the capture of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann; fans begin to pay their respects to the Aretha Franklin at the Museum of African American History in Detroit; and Cuban jazz pianist Dayramir Gonzalez is a rising star.

Breaking down the scene between Michelle Yeoh and her would be daughter-in-law, Constance Wu; documentary filmmaker Steve James spent a year inside a Chicago high school for the series, “America to Me”; remembering playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon, who died at the age of 91.

The former "Gilmore Girls" co-star has an Emmy nomination for her role in the dystopian world of "The Handmaid's Tale"; Harvey Weinstein's legal woes seem to be mounting; Aneesh Chaganty, director and co-writer of the film, "Searching," has created a hyper-modern day thriller.

On Today's Show:

The co-star and Emmy nominee says she isn't daunted by challenges being faced by the cast; ever seen James Corden and friends performing a musical on the streets outside CBS on Fairfax? That's the work of Emmy-nominated choreographer Chloe Arnold.

The Emmy-nominated director of "Atlanta" talks about his collaborations with Donald Glover, his love of the Coen brothers and how the show set out to accurately portray life in urban Georgia; in the documentary, "What Haunts Us," Paige Goldberg Tolmach examines multiple suicides at her prep school alma mater; director Jesse Peretz and actor Chris O'Dowd talk about their movie, "Juliet, Naked."

Sarah Paulson has a lead actress Emmy nomination for "American Horror Story: Cult" — the seventh season of the anthology series; Bing Liu's videos of his skateboarding pals turned into the intimate documentary, "Minding the Gap."

Wayne Kramer, guitarist and leader of the Detroit rock band MC5, discusses his new memoir, "The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities"; Amazon is in the running to buy Landmark Theatres.

The iconic singer has died at the age of 76. We hear from her longtime bass player, Chuck Rainey; why has a documentary about her landmark 1972 performance at a Baptist church in Los Angeles never been released?; Daphne Brooks, a professor of African American Studies and Theater Studies at Yale University on the transcendent power of Aretha's voice.

Previewing the most anticipated features and documentaries at the Sundance Film Festival (pictured); Bill Robles has drawn the trials of everyone from Charles Manson to Lindsay Lohan; 'Mommy' is the fifth feature from 25-year-old Xavier Dolan.

Journalist Ben Fritz and former Navy officer-turned-actor Ricky Ryba on the marketing and accuracy of "American Sniper" (pictured); Frances McDormand and Suzzy Roche discuss "Early Shaker Spirituals"; the documentary "Red Army" looks at how the former Soviet Union built a hockey dynasty.

Former Disney exec-turned-producer Nina Jacobson discusses how an actor’s pay is determined in the industry; composer Hans Zimmer (pictured) discusses the making of his Oscar-nominated score for Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar"; Michael Chabon is the most recent novelist trying his hand at writing pop song lyrics.

Classical music legend Neville Marriner (pictured) is in L.A. to conduct the Colburn School student orchestra; Stephanie Allain, an executive producer of "Dear White People" and director of the L.A. Film Festival, on why Hollywood isn't diverse enough; Doug Lussenhop, aka DJ Douggpound, brings his sound-rich act to Riot LA.

Who got left out of the Academy Award nominations, and why; screenwriter Jason Hall on adapting war hero Chris Kyle's raw memoir for the big screen; and L.A. Opera adapts "The Marriage of Figaro" into a story about illegal immigration.

Neil Young (pictured) wants his hi-res audio player to let fans hear music the way it sounds in the studio; TV producers are previewing new shows for the new year; and an L.A. artist has turned his studio apartment into a museum.

Chris Lemmon's one-man stage revives his dad's stories and spirit (pictured); Film L.A. reports that film production is down, but TV production is way up over the past year; In-Q has carved out a place for himself where spoken word, poetry and music intersect.

The British actor talks about his new movie, "Match" (pictured); author Annabelle Gurwitch on the parallel universes surrounding awards season in Hollywood; the stage actors union is considering changes that could turn the theater scene upside down.

Jenni Konner, executive producer and writer of "Girls" (left, with star Lena Dunham), talks about season four; What do the Golden Globe, Writers Guild and Producers Guild nominations mean for the upcoming Oscars?; Disney's "Fantasia" film transforms into a video game with a modern update.

French artist Pierre Huyghe transforms an exhibition space at the L.A. County Museum of Art (pictured) into a quirky biosphere; the winter TV season has arrived; a new public radio show/podcast is about the invisible forces that control human behavior.

Mark Duplass talks about the new HBO series, "Togetherness" (pictured), he created with his brother, Jay; what's the market for the new high-end audio players from Sony and Neil Young?; a landmark mural of Anthony Quinn is being restored in downtown L.A.

The roster for the Coachella festival (pictured) has Drake, AC/DC and Jack White as headliners; Mica Levi conducts a live performance of her award-winning movie score; a look at the latest gadgets debuting at the Consumer Electronics Show; an effort to expand Wikipedia entries for African-American artists.