The Frame

Rankine, whose poetry has examined everyday racism in America, and Wolfe, whose music addresses issues of the American worker, were both named MacArthur Foundation fellows; as the Fall TV season launches, we visit with producer Betsy Beers at Shondaland, one of the most successful companies in the industry.

Diavolo Dance Theatre is reinventing modern dance by combing architecture and wildly physical choreography; media critics have been piling on NBC for going soft on the GOP nominee, and now late night host Samantha Bee has joined the fray; Richard Nelson keeps his election-themed plays current by writing until the last minute.

The new documentary, “The Lovers and the Despot,” tells the true story of what happened in 1978 when Kim Jong-il ordered the kidnapping of a filmmaking couple from South Korea to jumpstart North Korea's movie industry; William Bell has revived the classic Stax sound; a new report shows that the music business is actually making money in the streaming age.

Playwright and performer Lucy Alibar draws on her Southern childhood for “Throw Me on the Burnpile and Light Me Up"; Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, who won a writing Emmy for "Master of None," talk about their approach to diversity; the Toronto International Film Festival kicked off a lot of Academy Award talk.

Kent McCord of the 1960-70s TV cop show, "Adam-12," which was produced in partnership with the LAPD. McCord says a show about cops who aren't "edgy" wouldn't sell in today's TV business; In advance of TV's big awards night, we discuss what goes into an Emmy campaign, and how valuable is a nomination or a win in this era of "too much TV"?

Cheo Hodari Coker, creator and showrunner of the Netflix series "Luke Cage," unpacks the idea of building a show around a superhero who also happens to be a "bullet-proof black man" in a hoodie; Can Pandora and Amazon be the next disruptors in the streaming music space? They hope so.

The documentary "Audrie & Daisy" examines the sexual assault and cyber-shaming of two teen girls; with its third album, the band Local Natives remains entrenched in Silver Lake's indie rock scene; a group of songwriters is challenging the Dept. of Justice's control over royalty rates.

How do unconscious biases affect hiring practices in Hollywood? To dig deeper into this issue, Cathy Schulman (Oscar-winning producer/Women In Film) and Judith Williams (Global Head of Diversity at Dropbox) put Frame host John Horn to the test as if he's a studio executive; In 2005 Jackie Lopez co-founded the hip hop troupe "Versa Style" to teach kids not only how to dance but the cultural history behind hip hop.

"Kicks" filmmakers discuss how being outsiders who didn't fit society's views of manhood fueled the making of their lyrical coming-of-age drama; A new documentary explores why Brad Bird's 1999 animated film "The Iron Giant" was a critical darling, but a box office bomb; Inside Nate Parker's "The Birth of a Nation" press conference at TIFF; Can you scream like Nicholas Cage?

Every August, cultural festivals take over the Scottish city of Edinburgh with thousands of performances taking place day and night. This year The Frame host John Horn immersed himself in shows and brings an audio postcard of his creative excursion; TV reporter Whitney Friedlander joins us to preview some new and returning television shows that are worthy of our time and DVR space this fall.

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.