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.

Los Lobos' Louie Pérez offers insights into the band's new album, "Gates of Gold"; Margaret Cho has become a role model for a new generation of Asian-American comedians; J.A. Micheline is glad Ta-Nehisi Coates will write some Black Panther comic books, but she says the industry has more work to do regarding diversity.

Playwright Rolin Jones reimagines Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing," setting it in London's swingin' 1960s; Prince and the publishing house claiming a copyright to "Happy Birthday to You" both lose in court; Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre moves its soap opera dance-drama around L.A.

Box office hits such as "Bridesmaids" are being cited as part of an effort to push for more movies and TV shows by, for and about women; The Budos Band makes do as a part-time group; The new TV season is chock-full of new shows that were once feature films.

Emily Mortimer, Dolly Wells and their husbands and kids star in HBO's "Dolly & Em," but it's not about them; Diversity and gender equity were top of mind at the Emmy Awards; The Toronto International Film Festival supplied its annual dose of Oscar buzz.

How director Denis Villeneuve created the suspense of 'Sicario' and why he's remaking 'Blade Runner'; The Broad is about to open its doors and art critics are critical; Harry Nilsson fans lobby the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Go inside The Broad museum's galleries, art storage and hidden corners with the Chief Curator as our guide; What we watch when we watch the Emmys; The LA Phil has turned itself and its conductor Gustavo Dudamel into a roving virtual reality experience.

Working in Visitor Services at the new museum means being part-concierge, part-docent, and part-guard; Director Scott Walker and actor Joel Edgerton were challenged in making the Bulger story, "Black Mass"; ABC News partners with the virtual reality company Jaunt to make VR more accessible.

As creator of the TV series "Transparent," Jill Soloway is a rarity, according to a new report from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film; Joe Adalian of Vulture.com handicaps the new TV season; Jay Duplass went from being a reluctant actor to a vey happy one.

Film composer Atticus Ross took Brian Wilson's music and created sound collages for the score to "Love and Mercy"; the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has settled differences with a neighborhood group over the new facility planned for Wilshire and Fairfax; for composer Derrick Spiva, music is all about movement.

Author Emma Donoghue adapted her best-selling novel into a screenplay about a mother and son being held captive; National Geographic Society CEO Gary Knell says it will maintain its mission even though 21st Century Fox now owns a controlling interest; The Toronto International Film Festival is huge, and hugely influential.

The actor plays a homeless man in the new feature film, "Time Out of Mind," which he also produced; Aretha Franklin's objection to the screening of the documentary "Amazing Grace" has now affected the Toronto and Chicago film festivals; In our latest installment of "Song Exploder," Hrishikesh Hirway breaks down "Feeling OK" with the band Best Coast.