More than thirty lawmakers, including California Representatives Maxine Waters and Laura Richardson, are being scrutinized by the House Ethics Committee. The investigation was first disclosed through a "cyber leak." What are the allegations? And does this mean the Ethics Committee is upping its game?

A 15 year-old girl was gang-raped outside her high school dance at Richmond High School this week. Although there were many witnesses, no one intervened for approximately two hours. Across the nation people are asking, Why didn’t anybody stop this horrific act? Are bystanders responsible in a case like this? Would you have been strong enough to go for help? Or would you have been frightened to leave the group of people watching?

In 1909, President Teddy Roosevelt left office, leaving behind a legacy of public lands under the newly created Forest Service. Then, in 1910, several wildfires coalesced into a massive fire that eventually killed 100 firefighters and galvanized public opinion on national forests. Writer Timothy Egan talks about his book and this period and its impact on today's park lands and forest fires.

Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Lael Lowenstein of Variety and Peter Rainer of Christian Science Monitor discuss the week’s new film releases, including This Is It, Gentlemen Broncos, Skin, The House of the Devil, The Fall, and Jump.

The AFI Fest presents movies by emerging and established filmmakers. For this year’s festival, from October 30-November 7, tickets are free to all movie screenings. Larry Mantle talks with AFI Fest’s artistic director about this year’s lineup.

Author Mitchell Zuckoff joins Larry Mantle to talk about legendary Hollywood movie maker Robert Altman who burst onto the Hollywood scene in 1970 with the movie M*A*S*H. In a decade, Altman revolutionized American filmmaking producing masterpieces like McCabe and Mrs. Miller, The Long Good-bye and Nashville. The visionary director’s outsized life and unique career are revealed in a new biography by Zuckoff who was working with Altman on his memoirs before he died.