We continue our coverage of the San Bernardino shootings by remembering the victims, talking to police who were on the scene and reviewing Calif gun laws.
Remembering the victims in the San Bernardino shooting
Residents of San Bernardino, California are still trying to come to terms with a horrific attack this week that left 14 dead.
The youngest victim was only 26 years old, the oldest 60. All but two were county employees.
Here are some people who knew some of the victims, Benetta Betbuhdahl, Robert Adams, Shannon Johnson, Sierra Clayborn and Michael Wetzel.
We hear from Victoria Naranjo, Jenni Kosse, Deirdre Butchko, Timothy Lee and Pastor Rod Akins.
Law enforcement expert calls Wednesday response 'textbook'
The first police officer to respond to the scene of the massacre was San Bernardino Officer Mike Madden.
A 24-year veteran, Officer Madden has an administrative job with the department and oversees dispatch.
He and was on his way to lunch Wednesday, and less than a mile from the scene, when he first heard the calls come out and headed to the Inland Regional Center. He rushed immediately to the scene.
At a press conference last night, he described what he saw when he got there.
https://soundcloud.com/taketwoshow/mikemadden
The San Bernardino Police Department was one of seven law enforcement agencies deployed during the mass shooting.
For a deeper look at how the agencies performed, Take Two spoke with Brian Levin, director for the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino.
Press the blue play button above to hear the interview.
Amy Berg explores the life of Janis Joplin in new documentary
In her new documentary, "Janis: Little Girl Blue," Oscar nominated director Amy Berg explores the life of Janis Joplin who died 45 years ago last month.
Berg had anything but an easy time making the documentary. She went into detail in a recent interview with Alex Cohen, "There were so many complications with her estate and the rights. And there were years where I could not listen to Janis Joplin because we had been going and then everything fell apart for about two years. And so I think that there's this endurance test that she put me through or something."
But Berg said that it was worth it, "She set a different path for feminists to take. She broke through doors that were untenable for women at the time. And she said things and did things that were so outrageous back then... I think that we're so fortunate to have Janis at the first lady of rock and roll."
To hear the entire audio between Berg and Cohen, click on the audio embedded at the top of this post.
Legal assault rifles in CA can be made illegal
The two assault rifles used in the San Bernardino shooting were purchased legally. But with small tweaks, they were altered in a way that made them illegal and more deadly.
It's a problem that faces California which has some of the strongest regulations on guns in the country, including laws on assault rifles.
"The gun makers found easy ways around the law," says UCLA law professor Adam Winkler, who adds that California may move to close those loopholes. "It could be that it will make efforts to get around the assault weapons ban harder."
The way it works is that the rifles themselves are not necessarily banned, but specific features they can be sold with.
For example, it's illegal to buy one with higher-capacity magazines or a mechanism to swap out magazines faster.
"You can easily produce a firearm that didn't have characteristics," says Winkler. "It does slow down the reloading process, but it doesn't make it impossible"
But it's easy to modify that mechanism, and high-capacity magazines can be purchased across state lines in states like Nevada.
Then that same rifle can shoot off more rounds in a shorter amount of time, making it more deadly if used in a mass shooting.
Despite that, Winkler says it's difficult to outlaw assault rifles altogether.
"It makes sense to ban firearms if they're unusually dangerous," he says, "but the problem with the assault weapons ban is that many of the rifles that were banned aren't really unusually dangerous. They're just like any other rifle."
He adds that restricting the amount of ammunition people can purchase is also problematic.
"Law abiding shooters use a lot of ammunition," he says.
Click on blue player Above to hear the entire interview
San Bernardino's congressman reacts to shooting
Hours after Wednesday's mass shooting in San Bernardino, Pete Aguilar rushed back from Washington DC to a place he calls home.
The U.S. Congressman grew up in the city and returned to console the family of victims, connect with law enforcement officials, and also walk away with a mission when he heads back to DC: push for laws that would stop the next attack.
He's interested by the calls to revive a national ban on assault rifles, for example.
"The assault weapons ban has lapsed 11 years ago," says Aguilar. "The fact that we can't address that is something that is very difficult for community members and myself to understand."
He was also swayed by a coalition of doctors who, hours before the shooting, were lobbying Congress to end the ban on federal funds used for gun violence research.
"The federal government for decades has not allowed any type of research on gun crime and gun violence," he says. "I want to make the very decisions for my community, and I can't do that without evidence-based information."
Hear more of what Rep. Aguilar has heard from the community and his plans for the future by clicking the above player.
Exploring communal trauma in the wake of a tragedy
The ripple effect of a mass shooting, like the one in San Bernardino, can be felt far and wide.
In the days and weeks to follow, many will struggle to come to terms with what happened and accept a new "normal."
How do you make sense of senseless killing?
Take Two put that question to James Hawdon, director of the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention at Virginia Tech. He began studying communal trauma after a grizzly shooting left 32 dead on the Virginia Tech campus in 2007.
Press the blue play button above to hear the interview.
Talking to kids about deadly events
As the events in San Bernardino unfolded on Wednesday, the school district placed all school sites on lockdown.
No doubt this was a frightening event for the students at those schools. So how do you keep students calm in that situation?
We talk to Amanda Nickerson, a professor of school psychology at the University of Buffalo, State University of New York.
Dee Dee Bridgewater on believing in the world of The Wiz
Dee Dee Bridgewater played Glinda the good witch in the original 1974 production of 'The Wiz'.
The play had a special connection with black audiences at the time and still enjoys a strong following.
Now with the play being revised for an upcoming NBC broadcast, she spoke with Take Two's Alex Cohen about what how much the play means to hear after all these years.
To hear the full interview click on the blue player above.
'The Book with No Pictures' gives the kids control (for once)
BJ Novak is the author of The Book With No Pictures. Its has been praised for its innovative writing and design and has become favored by parents looking to make they're children laugh.
When he spoke with Take Two's Alex Cohen, he said that the secret to the book's success is the fact that it puts kids in a position of power to make adults do whatever the book tells them to do.
He'll tell us more about his experiences with the book, what his next writing project is and why he hasn't released a sequel to his his best-seller just yet.
Novak will be at a book signing at Children's Book World in Los Angeles on Saturday, Dec. 5.
Click on the blue player above to hear the whole interview.
Correction: The audio on this story includes the wrong date for this event; it's actually on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015. KPCC regrets the error.