NPR's Scott Simon speaks to author and film critic Kenneth Turan about his new book, "Louis B. Mayer & Irving Thalberg: The ...

TURAN: (Laughter). SIMON: But "Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ," a silent film, 1925, Ramon Novarro as Ben-Hur. Crowd scenes are amazing, aren't they? TURAN: They are. They're quite spectacular.

Scott Simon is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. He has reported from ...