TRYING TIMES

With US trade policy playing out more and more like a soap opera by the day, it seems like a good time to take a closer look at how it stands to affect film and TV production — especially the fluctuating approach to tariffs. TL;DR, the timing couldn't be worse for an industry already scrambling to ramp up new productions while keeping costs in check.

Meanwhile, the American president has entered into mediation with Paramount as a lawsuit concerning a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris trudges forward. Here to help us make sense of it all are Kim Masters and Matt Belloni with this week's edition of The Banter. Right this way, please, for all of your analytic needs. 

Hearing Marsai Martin speak will help you find your own equilibrium

You know that feeling when you realize you've found yourself in conversation with someone who seems to have it all figured out? Now imagine that person is a 20-year-old who essentially grew up on the set of one of the most impactful sitcoms of the past decade(ish). Prepare for that feeling to wash over you as you dip into this chat between Black-ish Marsai Martin and Sam Sanders. Martin fills us in on her latest role in the thriller G20 (opposite living legend "Miss Viola" Davis), how she stayed sane through the throes of child stardom, and starting the HBCU-centric Sai Summer Cookout Festival. Plus, Sam drops an LA BBQ rec (!!!). 

Eric LaRue filmmaker Michael Shannon on directing his first (and maybe last) movie

Actor Michael Shannon is a natural storyteller, so it's a bit surprising that his directorial debut for feature film hadn't happened before this year. And yet, here we are. Based on a play of the same name, Eric LaRue tells the story of the aftermath of a school shooting from the perspective of the shooter's mother. Shannon joins us for a freewheeling chat about what drew him to the material, moving production at the last minute due to a draconian abortion law which was triggered in Arkansas by the Dobbs decision, and his rich experience as a musician — including his R.E.M. covers project with lifelong indie rocker Jason Narducy.

P.S. For some heavy insight into the life and times of R.E.M., fire up the KCRW podcast Bent By Nature. Frontman Michael Stipe was one of former KCRW DJ Deirdre O'Donoghue's closest friends and hearing him remember his times with her is all kinds of lovely and illuminating.

PAPER Magazine Co-founder Kim Hastreiter talks about STUFF

You know, sometimes it's nice to just sit back and listen to a very cool person talk about their very cool life. On releasing the book STUFF: a New York Life of Cultural Chaos, PAPER Magazine editor and co-founder Kim Hastreiter joins KCRW to talk about, well, stuff. From buying early Keith Haring drawings, to understanding that the presence of Andy Warhol meant your scene was climbing too far above ground — Hastreiter's got anecdotes for days. Dig in.

Weekend film reviews: The Amateur, Drop, Warfare

Pssst, if you're reading this in Los Angeles... half the city is at Coachella. It's the perfect time to take in a film or two, knowing that the theaters will be at least 10 percent less crowded. Fesh on tap: James Hawes' C.I.A. revenge thriller The Amateur — starring Rami Malek, Christopher Landon's tech-nightmare-date mystery Drop, Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza's harrowing war-is-hell story Warfare, and Kevin MacDonald and Sam Rice-Edwards' documentary One to One: John & Yoko. Here to review are film critics Whitney Seibold and Monica Castillo.