Anthony Shadid, Mideast correspondent for our partner the New York Times, has died while on assignment inside Syria. The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner died from an apparent asthma attack triggered by an allergic reaction. His reporting has been a fixture on The Takeaway like this last February from Cairo when he told us the mood had become more aggressive as pro-Mubarak demonstrators surrounded Tahrir Square.

This time last year, unrest in Libya sent oil prices climbing, adding pressure to an already struggling economy.  Now, it looks like a similar scenario could happen this spring and summer: in retaliation for an embargo planned by the European Union, Iran has threatened to cut off oil supplies. Impacting virtually every aspect of the U.S. economy, these increased oil prices will almost certainly influence the election's climate.

This morning we are heartbroken to report that Anthony Shadid of our partner The New York Times is no longer one of the survivors. The veteran Middle East correspondent for The Times, Washington Post and Boston Globe and long time voice on this program has died. A fatal asthma attack while he was reporting in chaotic Syria, working undercover. His body carried across the Syrian border and home by a colleague yesterday.

Historian Robert Kagan holds the distinction of influencing both Mitt Romney and President Obama's political discourse. A foreign policy adviser to the Romney campaign, Kagan's ideas were also evident in President Obama’s state of the union address, which disputes the claim that America is in decline.  

Charlie Chaplin's contributions to the eighth art are indisputable. His most famous character, The Tramp, entertained millions and has influenced both "serious" actors and physical comedians for almost 100 years. But it doesn't take a film scholar to see that many of Chaplin's films contain pro-socialist messages, especially in those that he directed. In 1952 during the House Committee on Un-American Activities's second series of investigations, Chaplin was denied re-entry to the U.S. Chaplin lived the rest of his life in Europe, and obtained a knighthood in 1975 — despite a great deal of pressure from the F.B.I.

The Jeremy Lin story only gets more amazing this week, as the most unlikely sports hero of the past decade. Also this week, the tragedy of Whitney Houston. Michigan becomes the next battleground in the GOP primary. We look back at this week's stories with our panel. Ron Christie is a Takeaway contributor and Republican political strategist. Jeff Yang writes the Tao Jones column for The Wall Street Journal and blogs for our co-producer WNYC's It's a Free Country. Farai Chideya is a journalist and blogger at Farai.com.

The U.N. General Assembly has voted to approve a measure condemning human rights violations and backing an Arab League plan to stop the killings in Syria. The resolution also calls on President Bashar Assad to resign. Syria's ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, speaking through a UN interpreter, tried to forestall those results.

In 1958, Mildred and Richard Loving were arrested in their own home, in the middle of the night, for the crime of miscegenation. When the Supreme Court declared miscegenation laws illegal in 1967, 16 states still had such laws on the books. A new poll released this week by the Pew Research Center shows just how far we’ve come in the five decades since the Lovings’ arrest. 15 percent of new marriages in 2010 crossed racial or ethnic lines, double the rate from 1980. And a great majority of Americans say they would readily accept an interracial marriage in their family.

Transportation bills usually get a free ride through Congress — they create jobs and maintain the country's infrastructure. But the recent House five-year, $260 transportation bill would be funded by new drilling projects, and reigniting partisan divides between the two parties. What is the future of a comprehensive approach on transportation? President Obama's secretary of transportation joins us for a discussion.

The religious freedom restoration act of 2012 is the latest wrinkle in a debate over contraceptive use in America. Last month, President Obama announced a mandate that would require faith-based employers to cover contraceptive care. Women's rights advocates have supported this measure, but members of the clergy and republicans in Congress have rallied against it in the name of religious freedom. The Takeaway asked listeners where they fell in the argument.

It's been a big week for advocates of gay marriage: legislation in its favor passed both New Jersey's Assembly and Maryland's Senate. However, this isn't the first time Maryland lawmakers have debated this issue. Last year a similar bill died after being passed by the state senate. The bill's failure was largely attributable to black representatives who were hesitant to back an issue so strongly opposed by the state's black clergy. Governor Martin O'Malley has voiced his support, and now so has Reverend Delman Coates, pastor of a 6,000 strong black church.

This morning we are heartbroken to report that Anthony Shadid of our partner The New York Times is no longer one of the survivors. The veteran Middle East correspondent for The Times, Washington Post and Boston Globe and long time voice on this program has died. A fatal asthma attack while he was reporting in chaotic Syria, working undercover. His body carried across the Syrian border and home by a colleague yesterday.