‘Awards Chatter’ Pod: Legendary Critic Kenneth Turan on New Mayer/Thalberg Book, Sean Baker’s Rise and LA Times Owner Patrick Soon-Shiong

On this episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, which was recorded at THR’s LA offices, the 78-year-old reflected on his path from Brooklyn to Hollywood; the biggest challenges and rewards of reviewing books and films, and writing books; what he makes of the current state of film criticism, the film industry and the Los Angeles Times, the current owner of which, Patrick Soon-Shiong, has proven to be highly controversial; why he was drawn to writing about Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg, who worked together — first at Louis B. Mayer Productions and then, famously, at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer — from 1923 until 1936, and what the most interesting things were that he learned about them during his four years of work on the book; plus much more.