Today, we'll start with an update on the meeting between Rep. Paul Ryan and Black Caucus. Then, teens tackle tough topics at a Tuscon poetry slam. Plus, touring the San Gabriel Mission, how an Afghan 'torturer in chief' ended up in an L.A. suburb, farmers forcast less rice and higher prices because of drought, plus much more.
Listen
• 6:49
Instead of writing him off entirely, the Congressional Black Caucus invited Ryan to meet with them face to face yesterday.
Listen
• 4:04
There's a trend catching on with teens in Tucson. This one is making their English teachers happy. Spoken word poetry has a growing following in high schools there.
Listen
• 2:30
When 23-year-old Elisa Perez thinks about her neighborhood of San Gabriel, California, there's one thing that comes to mind: the heritage and the history of the San Gabriel Mission.
Listen
• 7:06
Greg Chung was a nice guy. He had a family, a nice house, he was generous to those around him, and he was a hard worker. But he also worked as a spy for the Chinese government.
Listen
• 7:13
Haji Gulalai was once one of the most feared men in Afghanistan. As the intelligence chief in Kandahar and later as the head of the intelligence service's detention and interrogation branch, he earned a reputation for brutality.
Listen
• 4:47
For the fourth day in a row, immigration activists are marching to the White House. They're trying to pressure President Obama into stopping deportations. It might be their only option.
Listen
• 5:08
You might call it the Coachella of capitalism. Titans of industry from around the world have gathered the past couple days in Beverly Hills at The Milken Global Conference. KPCC's Ben Bergman, managed to sneak in too.
Listen
• 5:14
A couple of years ago, in the midst of the state's severe budget issues, many parks were closed and allegations of mismanagement and sluggish fundraising just made things worse. But a blue-ribbon commission has just issued some recommendations to fix the problems.
Listen
• 14:18
It's Thursday and that means it's time for State of Affairs, our weekly roundup of politics and government news in the golden state. To give us a rundown of the latest, we're joined by KPCC's political reporter Alice Walton and politics editor Oscar Garza.
Listen
• 4:58
The latest species to make headlines is one native to California: the albino kingsnake. Somehow it slithered into Spain's Canary Islands and is now decimating native lizards and geckos.
Listen
• 5:19
Today, the Education Department released a list of 55 colleges and universities being investigated under Title IX for issues related to the handling of sexual abuse cases.
Listen
• 4:31
California supplies nearly all of the nation's sushi rice, and economists say the drought is likely to affect rice more than any other food grown here.
Listen
• 7:44
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike D'Antoni has resigned. He joined the team in 2012, after coach Mike Brown was fired just five games into that season. This year, the Lakers finished 27-55 under D'Antoni, the worst record in franchise history.