‘Awards Chatter’ Pod: Legendary Critic Kenneth Turan on New Mayer/Thalberg Book, Sean Baker’s Rise and LA Times Owner Patrick Soon-Shiong (2025)

Kenneth Turan worked at the Los Angeles Times for nearly 30 years, from 1991 through 2020, as the most widely read film critic in the town most associated with the movies. He was also an on-air film critic for NPR’s Morning Edition and a lecturer in USC’s Master of Professional Writing Program. He was recognized with the Press Award at the ICG Publicists Awards in 2000; a Special Citation from the National Society of Film Critics in 2006; and the Luminary Award for Career Achievement from the Los Angeles Press Club in 2013. And he is the author of 10 books, seven of which relate to film, the most recent being a terrific dual biography, Louis B. Mayer & Irving Thalberg: The Whole Equation, which was published by Yale University Press, as part of its Jewish Lives series, back on Feb. 4.

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.