The documentary film "F R E E" follows five Oakland teenagers over a year as they transform their personal struggles and stories into a collaborative dance performance. The teens are part of Oakland's Destiny Arts, a violence prevention and arts education center. We'll talk with one of the teens featured, as well as the film's producer and the artistic director of Destiny Arts Center about the fundamental role art can play in navigating life challenges.

Jinho "The Piper" Ferreira had a thriving career as a rapper in 2009, when Oscar Grant was killed by a BART police officer. Watching the dysfunctional relationship between the black community and the police in the protests that followed the killing, he decided to get involved. He now works as a sheriff's deputy in Alameda County. We talk with Ferreira, whose one-man play "Cops and Robbers" explores issues of violence and law enforcement in East Oakland.

Ask Bay Area residents to pick their favorite local burrito and you're likely to get a range of fervent and informed opinions. So you can imagine the challenge facing journalist Anna Maria Barry-Jester. The "burrito correspondent" for ESPN's FiveThirtyEight site traveled from Key West to Hawaii in search of the country's best burrito. The Burrito Bracket winner, announced on Wednesday, is none other than the carnitas burrito from San Francisco's own venerable La Taqueria. What burrito would top your bracket?

China's e-commerce giant Alibaba, which started in an apartment with a pooled collection of $60,000, is expected to make its Wall Street debut raising $24 billion -- even more than when Google and Facebook went public. The company already surpasses eBay in China, with founder Jack Ma looking to take Alibaba's reach global. What would the IPO mean for the Chinese company and its U.S. competitors?

Why do so many politicians these days refer to people as "folks?" What does it mean for a candidate to get "Cantored?" And what exactly is a "Washington Handshake?" In his new book, journalist David Mark answers those questions and shares today's most revealing examples of political jargon and slang. What are your most cringe-worthy examples of Beltway blather?

President Obama is set to announce his strategy Wednesday night for defeating the militant group known as the Islamic State, including possible expansion of U.S. airstrikes into Syria. At the same time, Democrats in the Senate are planning a bill that would authorize the U.S. military to train Syrian rebels and other foreign troops that oppose the Islamic State. Experts discuss Obama's proposed strategy, and what it means for America and the Middle East.

Biomimicry, ecosystem restoration, grassroots movement building and climate change are the types of issues the Bioneers Conference addresses each year, bringing together scientists, innovators, business leaders and activists. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the conference. We talk with co-founder and CEO Kenny Ausubel about what the organization has achieved and what projects are on the horizon.

At China Camp State Park in Marin County, visitors can still explore the remnants of a 19th-century Chinese shrimp-fishing village. Such camps once ringed the Bay, and at the industry's height they exported nearly 1 million pounds of dried shrimp to Asia annually. The new "Chinese Whispers: Bay Chronicles" project seeks to highlight this overlooked part of maritime history through voyages on a replica of a 19th-century sailing shrimp junk named "Grace Quan." The project also includes public programs, lectures and a planned multimedia exhibit.

Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was released from the team and suspended by the NFL this week after TMZ published a video showing him brutally punching his then-fiancee in an elevator. Meanwhile, San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York says he doesn't have enough information to punish player Ray McDonald following an arrest on suspicion of domestic violence. The incidents come 20 years to the week of the signing of Violence Against Women Act. We discuss domestic violence, the response from the NFL and how the nation's response to domestic abuse has changed in the past two decades.

Take an '80s pop icon with a love of pink hair streaks and add a raspy-voiced Broadway star with a love of drag, and you've got the award-winning team of Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein. They join us to talk about their own colorful careers, and their upcoming San Francisco performance of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical "Kinky Boots," the story of the unlikely pairing of a bootmaker and a dancing transvestite.

A number of well-respected U.S. think tanks, including the Brookings Institution and the Atlantic Council, have accepted tens of millions of dollars from foreign governments in Europe, the Middle East and Asia as these countries seek to influence U.S. policy. That's according to a New York Times investigation published on Saturday. The Brookings Institution released a statement defending the independence of its scholars, saying the article contains "major omissions, distortions, and errors."

When journalist Peter Laufer opened a bag of rancid walnuts from Kazakhstan labeled "organic," he decided to investigate how "organic" they really were. The longtime journalist and author discovered that some companies couldn't verify that their sources were organic, and found other issues with fraudulent labeling in this $28 billion industry. How can you verify how "organic" your food is?

Economists were disappointed by the August jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which stated that employers added far fewer jobs than expected. We'll discuss the significance of the new jobs numbers and assess how the economy is faring on both the state and national levels.