The Frame

With the State of the Union upon us, Bill Pullman recalls his roles as Commander-in-Chief; trans actress Daniela Vega plays a groundbreaking trans role; Rachel Morrison is the first woman nominated for an Academy Award in cinematography.

The Grammys are slammed for under-representing women; a New York Times essay argues that the Time's Up movement is subverted by award shows; Aimee Mann won the Best Folk Album Grammy — one of the few women to take home a trophy.

How did Pati Jinich, the granddaughter of Eastern European immigrants, end up hosting a popular Mexican food show?; the NAMM show is a dizzying array of instruments and gadgets; The Secret Sisters are nominated for best folk album at the Grammys.

The Irish actor traverses big budget movies like "Star Wars" and indie films like “A Futile and Stupid Gesture”; a new USC study shows how women are underrepresented in pop music; Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are nominated for the Broadway musical, “Dear Evan Hansen.”

Best jazz album nominee Billy Childs talks about how L.A. inspired his hybrid style; as the music industry gathers for the Grammys, what are its challenges?; two filmmakers step out from the shadow of the legendary Hayao Miyazaki.

Kyle Buchanan of Vulture.com and film critic Amy Nicholson maintain that younger and more diverse nominees are a result of the academy broadening its membership; "Baby Driver" director is a Grammy nominee for the film's pop-heavy soundtrack.

John Horn chats with Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal about their ode to Oakland; the SAG Awards put the spotlight on women and the road ahead to gender equality on Hollywood; PJ Morton is nominated for best R&B album (“Gumbo”) and best R&B song (“First Began”).

A report from John Horn at Sundance, where the festival offerings include a film about a certain Supreme Court justice; Pacific Standard Time LA/LA includes a performance festival with Latino/a artists from the U.S., Mexico and South America.

"Small Mouth Sounds" was inspired by the playwright's experience at a three-day silent retreat; the bro-centric Spike TV channel is re-branded as The Paramount Network; composer Gabriel Kahane took a cross-country train trip and the result was a song cycle about Trump-era America.

Matt Ingebretson and Jake Weisman's "Corporate" is a workplace comedy that heads into some very bleak territory; Rachel Morrison was behind the camera for "Mudbound" and "Black Panther"; Harvey and Bob Weinstein are reportedly pushing for their former studio, Miramax, to buy The Weinstein Co.

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.

The new Hulu series unites themes and worlds that will be familiar to King's loyal fans; in a new episode of Song Exploder, singer-songwriter Neko Case dissects her song, "Last Lion of Albion"; why is TV's new "Batwoman" raising such a ruckus?

The Emmy-nominated actor talks about his role as the rapper Paper Boi on Donald Glover's offbeat series; film critic Justin Chang on the "flawed but vital milestone" that is "Crazy Rich Asians"; a look back at a landmark movie with an all-Asian cast: "The Joy Luck Club."

The actress, writer and musician has an Emmy nomination for directing an episode of "Portlandia"; John David Washington and the man he portrays, Ron Stallworth, in "BlacKkKlansman"; singer-songwriter Sam Buck contrasts '90s pop country with personal anecdotes of queer identity.

Desiree Akhavan talks about directing and co-writing the teen coming-of-age film, "The Miseducation of Cameron Post"; Spotify cuts a deal with Samsung, the biggest smartphone maker in the world; a new wave of protest songs by Radney Foster and Gaby Moreno.

The singer revisits work from his 50 years of writing and recording music; the semi-annual TV critics press tour has ended, so what's in store for viewers this Fall?; a new campaign calls for Hollywood to place a priority on telling stories about and by transgender people.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced some surprising changes to the Oscar broadcast today, including a new category for 'popular film'; Sarah Silverman talks about her Emmy-nominated Hulu series, "I Love You, America."