The massacre at Houla forced the world to remember the ongoing violence in Syria. President Bashar al-Assad has reportedly killed 12,000 civilians and doesn't appear willing to stop. A coalition of opposition groups called the Syrian National Council has emerged as the best political force to fight the regime. But how effective has the Council really been?

The semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee begin today. And who better to talk through it all than 1999 champion Nupur Lala? Nupur won the bee with the word “logorrhea,” which means “the excessive use of words.” Her journey to the top was documented in the Oscar-nominated film “Spellbound.” 

Sherry Hunt grew up in the Midwest, wears plaid flannel shirts, and likes to ride horses. She is also the whistleblower who cost Citigroup $158.3 million and exposed deep deceptions at the massive bank. In an expose out today in Bloomberg Markets Magazine, projects and investigations reporter Bob Ivry details the cover-up culture at Citigroup — and the courage it took for Hunt to come forward.

At age 18, an American is old enough to fight, and die, for his or her country, but not old enough to buy a beer. At age 16, one can obtain a driver’s license, but not rent a car. And at age 17, one can get married in some states, but not in others. When, exactly, is a kid no longer a kid? When does childhood end and adulthood begin?

Economists consider workers between 25 and 54 to be in their prime, and fewer of them are working than at any point since 1948. That means America’s workforce is going through a dramatic shift. And so is the definition of the family breadwinner.

In January 2003, The Lancet — one of the world's oldest and most respected medical journals — published an article championing the combination of two drugs (ACE inhibitors and ARBs) in treating certain types of kidney disease. But then an investigation concluded that the data in the study had been collected in a way that made it scientifically unsound. The Lancet printed a retraction, but thousands of patients still receive these drugs in combination.

Is zero traffic fatalities a utopian pipe dream? Chicago’s transportation commissioner Gabe Klein explains why he thinks otherwise. He lays out the city's new initiative to eliminate all traffic fatalities within ten years.

Since our country's founding, Americans have debated the speeches and tracts sacred to our founding, from the Exodus story to the Declaration of Independence. In this election year, politicians and pundits constantly debate the "true" meaning of America's core canon, asking what the founding fathers or Martin Luther King, Jr. or Eleanor Roosevelt would think of immigration reform, or affirmative action, or birth control. In his new book, author and professor Stephen Prothero has collected these core texts in his new book, "The American Bible."

New York City plans to ban the sale of large sugary drinks, announced Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Wednesday. The ban, which aims to fight obesity, would impose a 16-ounce limit on the size of sweetened drinks sold at restaurants, bodegas, and movie theaters. Joining us is Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at New York University and author of "Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety." Also with us is Jay Cowit, Takeaway Technical Director and Chief Soda Correspondent.