After an evening of conflicting reports on whether Caroline Kennedy was in or out of the race to fill Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate seat, late last night she officially withdrew her name citing personal reasons in her brief statement. It's a startling development for the political world and leaves many questions as to who New York Governor Paterson might ultimately choose for the Senate seat. We are joined by WNYC's state politics reporter, Elaine Rivera, who has been watching these events closely.

President Obama’s cabinet is almost confirmed. Despite a last minute delay, even Hillary Rodham Clinton was able to be confirmed as the new Secretary of State. The latest roadblock? Obama's pick for Attorney General, Eric Holder, had his confirmation postponed, which may not bode well for a cordial working relationship between the President and the Congress. With more on the confirmations and the comings and going on Capitol Hill we turn to Todd Zwillich reporter for Capitol News Connection.

The crowds at the Inauguration as viewed from space. Shot courtesy of NASA.

Voters in Nashville, Tennessee head to the polls today to decide whether English should be the only language for all government business in town. This means marriage licenses, parking tickets, and court summons could only be written and responded to in English. Reporter Blake Farmer of WPLN has been covering the “English First" movement since the legislation was first proposed more than a year ago. He joins us from Nashville.

When he listed the diverse faiths of our nation in his inaugural address, President Obama chose to include nonbelievers, a group rarely acknowledged in official discourse. Randall Balmer, professor of American religious history at Barnard College and author of "God in The White House" joins John and Adaora to discuss the implications of the President's inclusion of atheists and agnostics as part of our spiritual community.

Despite the warming trend that is hitting the rest of the planet, it's been long thought that Antarctica is actually getting colder. Global warming skeptics point to Antarctica's cooling off as evidence that climate change is a myth. But now scientists using satellite data have determined that Antarctica is actually warming, much like the rest of the planet. One of the researchers, NASA climate scientist Drew Shindell, joins us to explain the findings.

Check out NASA's Earth Observatory website for a lot more information and imagery.

Several thousand Rwandan soldiers are now in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Congolese government said it invited the Rwandan army in to disarm a militia force with ties to the Rwandan genocide who are using bases inside Congo. The United Nations has peacekeepers in the region to monitor this development in this long-lasting African war. For more we are joined by BBC's World Affairs Correspondent Mark Doyle in London and Geoffrey Mutagoma, a journalist in Kigali, Rwanda.

A quick look at refugees leaving Congo for Rwanda.

Yesterday marked President Barack Obama’s first full day in office and he certainly had a full docket. Two wars, an economic recession, government ethics, White House pay freezes. He even took the oath of office. Again. All in a day's work for the 44th President. For more we return to Capitol News Connection's Todd Zwillich.

Now that Caroline Kennedy has officially withdrawn from consideration for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton as she became Secretary of State, all eyes turn to New York Governor David Patterson. Who will he pick to fill the seat now that the frontrunner is a non-runner? For insight into this suddenly wide open field, we are joined by Liz Benjamin a reporter for the New York Daily News who has been following this story from the beginning.

The British Pound has been taking a hit all week and it took another beating yesterday dropping to its lowest price since July 1985. While the government is rapidly injecting tax payer funds into the economy, the gloomy market has garnered the moniker "Reykjavik-on-Thames." We are joined by Julia Werdigier who is reporting on this from London for our partner The New York Times.

In sub-Saharan Africa vision and eye care services are costly and hard to come by. While 60-70% of people in wealthy nations wear corrective lenses, only 5% of people in the developing world wear glasses. Josh Silver, director of research at The Centre for Vision in the Developing World, has been working to make it easier for the world’s most destitute people to get glasses and keep them, even as they get older and their vision changes. He joins us now to talk about his efforts to bring sight to the world.

For more on this story, read this article on Josh Silver's amazing invention in The Guardian or this article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

China, the world's third-largest economy, has recorded its lowest rate of growth for seven years. The figure fell to nine percent in 2008. Growth slowed even more in the final quarter, falling to less than seven percent. Does this mean that the boom years in China are truly over? Chris Hogg, the BBC correspondent, joins us from Shanghai, China to discuss.

President Obama’s $825 billion stimulus package includes $300 billion in tax cuts, which would come to the American spending public in the form of rebates. But history proves that refunds, whether dispersed in a small steady amounts or in one lump sum, do little to jumpstart a spending spree. For an assessment of what a tax rebate should look like under an administration that runs on the motto of “change,” we are joined by Dan Ariely, who is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University and author of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions.

Have a better idea how to get the economy going? Create your own stimulus plan here.

For more on the vacant U.S. Senate seat, WNYC's Brian Lehrer joins us in the studio for his take on Caroline Kennedy's withdrawal and what it means for New York and for Ms. Kennedy. Was it political blow-back that made her change her name? Or was it the possibility that she flubbed her job interview? Todd Zwillich, from Capitol News Connection, contributes his thoughts on the replacement process from Washington, D.C.

Newly-minted President Obama had a full day of work yesterday firing off executive orders left and right. Richard Wolffe, the senior White House correspondent for Newsweek, joins us for his inside-the-Beltway view of Obama's first day in office.

Part of President Obama's busy day was a do-over of his Presidential Oath of Office after Chief Justice Roberts flubbed the line during the Inauguration.

The 81st Academy Awards nominations were just announced and our contributor Sharon Waxman, editor-in-chief of TheWrap.com, joins us for the rundown.

We've compiled the trailers for all the Best Picture nominees. Click away!
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Milk
• The Reader
• Frost/Nixon
• Slumdog Millionaire

If you don't know the story of Slumdog Millionaire, listen to our interview with its author Vikas Swarup.