Ohio is on the economic mend — the Lordstown GM plant is humming, along with a brand new billion-dollar steel plant and the discovery of shale natural gas — but can Obama claim credit? Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich talked with workers and undecided voters on this battleground to find out.

If you're a voter in Ohio, Colorado, or Virginia, it probably won't surprise you to learn that a recent study found that 2012 has been a record-breaking year for political advertising. Michael Franz, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project and professor at Bowdoin College, discusses the astronomical amount of money devoted to advertising, and what it means for politics.

The new film “The Sessions” is based on the real experiences and writings of Mark O’Brien, a severely disabled survivor of childhood polio who cannot move his body, but has full sensation in it. The real sex surrogate who Mark saw, Cheryl Cohen Greene, was a consultant on “The Sessions.” She shares the story behind the story, explains her profession, and discusses the unique challenges of working sexually with people who have disabilities.

Friday is movie day on the Takeaway. Rafer Guzman and Kristen Meinzer weigh in, as usual. In addition to hosting the podcast, Rafer is film critic for Newsday and Kristen is culture producer for The Takeaway.

Michael Adams is an associate Professor of English at Indiana University who studies one important intersection of language and identity: slang. He says slang keeps us sharp — and that there is creative value in the creation of new language among different social groups.

After Ann Coulter tweeted, “I highly approve of Romney’s decision to be kind and gentle to the retard," Special Olympics athlete and global messenger John Franklin Stephens published “An Open Letter to Ann Coulter."  In his letter, he pleads with Coulter to reconsider her usage of the R-word and its negative connotations. He writes that Coulter “assumed that people would understand and accept that being linked to someone like me is an insult."

When it comes to presidential politics, the campaign season is often the comedy gift that keeps on giving. From The Daily Show to The Colbert Report to Saturday Night Live, the election season provides no shortage of material. But this year, only one show has actually received a presidential endorsement. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele  are the comedians behind "Key & Peele" on Comedy Central. Keegan and Jordan discuss identity, politics, comedy, and their writing process.