An investigation continues into the students who went missing in Iguala, Mexico, Danielle Guenther's 'Best Case Scenario' photo series captures parental chaos.
Times reporter reveals how he broke the Wells Fargo story
The city of Los Angeles on Monday filed suit against the largest California-based bank, Wells Fargo.
According to the complaint, Wells Fargo encouraged employees to engage "in unfair, unlawful and fraudulent conduct" through high-pressure sales.
The suit was sparked by an investigation in 2013 by the Los Angeles Times.
E. Scott Reckard wrote the story, and he joins the show with more.
New probe into missing students in Mexico offers new details
A new investigation into the 43 students that went missing in southern Mexico last year sheds new light on the events of that night and draws attention to the blurred lines among police, local politicians and drug gangs.
Ryan Devereaux's two-part investigation in The Intercept explores the events on September 26, 2014 and the still-unresolved prosecution.
The Brood: Photographer Danielle Guenther subverts the traditional family portrait
Parents regularly shell out large chunks of cash for family photos. Those perfectly posed portraits where the family can be seen happily frolicking at a park, or gathered lovingly together in the living room, or dressed in matching attire for the holidays.
But let's get real for a minute. These photos bear little, if any, resemblance to what life is really like when you have kids.
Photographer and mom Danielle Guenther is well aware of this fact. She's been taking photos of what the modern day family really looks like and she joins Take Two to tell us more about her photo project "Best Case Scenario."
The New York Times says LA is finally cool. Really?
L.A. isn't filled only with blonde, vacuous wanna-be actors who never get out of our cars.
The New York Times wants you to know that because it's apparently a new trend to New Yorkers.
In "Los Angeles and Its Booming Creative Class Lures New Yorkers," Alex Williams writes, "Los Angeles is enjoying a renaissance with a burgeoning art, fashion and food scene that has become irresistible to the culturally attuned."
Angelinos quickly lined up to say the city has been cool all along. (And, no, you can't rent a 2 bedroom bungalow in Echo Park for $1,250).
Alex Williams tells Take Two that L.A. has always been the same: it's that New Yorkers are looking for ways out of NYC and see L.A. as a more affordable – and still culturally interesting – alternative.
Mark Twain letters shed light on his life as a young writer in San Francisco
Long before Mark Twain was the celebrated novelist and humorist we know him as today, he was a young newspaper writer in San Francisco, still having a tough time figuring out what to do with himself.
Now scholars at the University of California Berkeley have uncovered and authenticated a trove of Twain's columns dating back to 1865 that give a glimpse into his life back then, as a 29-year-old writer, filing 2,000 word letters six days a week for a Nevada newspaper.
Bob Hirst, general editor of the Mark Twain Project at UC Berkeley and curator of the Mark Twain papers, joins Take Two to explain what these letters reveal about Mark Twain.
New music from Hiatus Kaiyote, MC Lyte and more
It's time for Tuesday Reviewsday, our weekly new music segment. Oliver Wang and Morgan Rhodes join A Martinez in the studio to talk about the latest releases.
Morgan Rhodes
Artist: Georgia Anne Muldrow
Album: "A Thoughtiverse Unmarred"
Song: "Great Blacks"
Notes: As an artist she's a chameleon... prophet, philosopher, MC, beat maker, musician. She's multi-talented and has the discography to prove it, having burst onto the scene in 2006. Her lyrics speak to self awareness evolution, spirituality and they pay homage to those that paved the way. This all hip hop album is a first for her as previous releases covered many genres.
Artist: Ferry Ultra
Song: "Let Me Do My Thing ft. Gwen McCrae" [Opolopo Remix]
Notes: Well known for his funk and soul remixes, Peter Major Opolopo has been burning up the dance floor with his latest house music offerings. "Let Me Do My Thing," a 2009 collaboration between veteran German DJ Ferry Ultra and soul/disco singer Gwen Mcrae gets a sexy soulful redo, breathing new life into this already cool track.
Artist: Hiatus Kaiyote
Album: "Choose Your Weapon"
Song: "Shaolin Monk Motherfunk"
Notes: Melbourne darlings Hiatus Kaiyote are back after their smash debut project "Tawk Tamahak," which was released in 2013. Now signed to a major label with a throng of hardcore supporters singing their praises, "Choose Your Weapon" feels at times like a secret show.
Oliver Wang
Artist: MC Lyte
Album: "Legend"
Song: "Dear John"
Notes: MC Lyte decided to release her first album in 12 years the other week, but the catch is, she only sold it on one single day (Record Store Day) and from here on out, she’s only selling it on vinyl and at her live shows. It’s a very curious release strategy. I can’t claim to understand it, but regardless, I’m genuinely glad to know she’s still recording and she still sounds pretty good. She’s definitely updated her flow to fit in with more contemporary styles but that husky, staccato style of hers is still there. I had a chance to meet her a few years back and she mostly DJs now vs. MCs but she’s as charismatic as ever. Her album’s called “Legend” and she’s more than earned that honorific.
Artist: Morgan Bosman
Album: Morgan Bosman EP
Song: "Notice Me"
Notes: Bosman is part of that new wave of Nashville-based singer/songwriter/multi instrumentalists who are making the festival circuit and building a reputation for themselves with YouTube cover songs and the like. Her voice is obviously influenced by ‘70s soul singers, but there’s something about this track, “Notice Me,” that reminds me of the ‘80s... maybe it's the squiggly baselines and the chord progressions. And all from someone who wasn’t born until the ‘90s!
Artist: Jay-Z
Song: "La La La (Excuse Me Miss Again)"
Notes: Jay-Z just announced that he’s going to live-stream a "B-sides" concert of his lesser known tracks on Tidal, in an effort to get more people to sign up for the streaming service that was launched big but since has looked more dripping faucet than a tidal wave. I have no idea if this is going to really have any impact, but I do like the idea that an artist with a catalog as deep as Jay-Z’s is going to perform some of his more obscure-ish songs, even though, technically speaking, Jay-Z never actually release a lot of B-side tracks. I’m being nitpicky but in any case, as a wish list, I plucked out "La La La aka "Excuse Me Miss Again" from 2003, which was a bonus cut originally released on "The Blueprint 2.0."
Tustin holds public water workshop
The State Water Board will vote Tuesday on tough water conservation measures. The city of Tustin, located in Orange County, is ramping up efforts to meet those goals with a public water workshop.
Skid Row residents and activists campaign for separate neighborhood council
A movement is growing among Skid Row residents and activists to establish an independent neighborhood council. Skid Row is home to one of the largest homeless populations in the country and has long been a part of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, but some argue the community's needs are underrepresented.
Host Alex Cohen speaks to
, Chair of the Skid Row Neighborhood Council Formation Committee and former Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council member, about the steps toward establishment of an independent neighborhood council.
California has a housing crisis, but people don't like the solution: density
California has a housing crisis and the state says there’s a culprit – ourselves. There’s too much demand for housing, and home construction has not been fast enough to meet those demands.
Officials like Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti are racing to get construction going.
”I set the goal of building 100,000 units of housing in the city by 2021," he said in his recent State of the City address.
Getting there is another matter. Southern California is synonymous with sprawl, but there are few open spaces of land that can still be developed while being reasonably close to jobs.
Instead of spreading out, Santa Monica is one of the first communities to look up. Tuesday night its city council votes on a controversial zoning code that would allow for taller buildings that can fit more housing units. However, "density" has become a four-letter word.
KPCC's Leo Duran explains there are creative ways that officials, planners and developers try to sell Southern Californians that it's okay to live a little closer to your neighbor.
California's housing crisis was decades in the making
Density may be one of the ways out of the state's housing crisis, as controversial as that is.
But there's a complicated history that explains why California has become of the most unaffordable states to call home.
Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, tells Take Two that it's a perfect storm of falling wages, desirability and an ethos of NIMBYism that prevents new homes from being constructed.
MET Gala 2015: Beyonce, Sarah Jessica Parker grab attention
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York held it's annual MET Gala on Monday night.
It's the fashion world's Super Bowl, an event where celebrities and couture walk hand-in-hand, and the outfits on display ranged from the barely-there to the "what were they thinking."
Michelle Tyree of Fashion Trends Daily has the highlights.