Today one of the biggest power lunches of the year will take place in the Oval Office. President Bush, President-elect Barack Obama, and former Presidents Clinton, Carter and George H.W. Bush will all gather for a private midday meal. For a look at what it takes to cater to their presidential palates, The Takeaway turns to Chef Roland Mesnier. For 25 years he was the Executive Pastry Chef at the White House.

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It's a good thing astronauts are rocket scientists, because President-elect Barack Obama has sent some some very puzzling messages about the future of NASA under his administration. First he was for cutting the space budget, then he was on record supporting NASA. Joining The Takeaway to discuss what NASA may be in for is Phil Plait an astronomer and writer of the blog, Bad Astronomy.

Explore the pages of America's Briefing Book, a set of audio primers from experts on important issues President-elect Barack Obama will face when he takes office in January 2009.

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Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power. The sweeping changes to the island nation weren't only of the political variety. Cuban music adapted and evolved, too. To take us on a tour through five decades of Cuban music, The Takeaway talks to Ned Sublette, author of Cuba and It’s Music: From the First Drums to the Mamba.

If you want more of Ned Sublette's musical insight, check out his choices of the best of Cuban music.

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President-elect Obama campaigned on a platform of hope, change and sweeping healthcare reform. That was before the U.S. economy melted down. Now, unemployment is rising and healthcare is on nearly everyone's mind. Obama faces enormous challenges. For the long view on healthcare reform in 2009 and beyond, The Takeaway checks in with Susan Dentzer, editor-in-chief of the health policy journal, Health Affairs.

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'Tis the season to be groggy, nauseous and dehydrated. For a look at what it takes to not pay for one's drinking sins, The Takeaway explores the causes and cures behind the holiday hangover with Dr. Robert Swift. Dr. Swift is a professor of psychiatry at Brown University Medical School. He’s also the Chief of Staff for Research at the Providence VA Medical Center.

Everyone has an opinion about hangover cures. Here are the purported cures gathered by the BBC and its listeners. National Geographic put together a very handy chart of global cures for this pressing global problem. And a New York Times blogger weighed in, too, with a discussion of cures for the inevitable.

Here's some of what Youtube.com has to offer on the subject:



Got a cure you KNOW works? Tell us! We'll need it.

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Today people across the country are overwhelmed with the fear of loss: fear of losing one’s job, fear of losing one’s life savings, fear of losing all our money in a Bernie Madoff-style ponzi scheme. Can all of this anxiety be bad for our brains? Of course! Dr. Gregory Berns is the Director of the Center for Neuropolicy at Emory University and author of the book "Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently." He joins John and Adaora for a talk on how fear can impair our brain functions.

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To outsiders Zimbabwe seems to be in crisis. A cholera epidemic has killed over 1,000 Zimbabweans and the economy is in collapse. On Monday, the U.S. and Britain demanded that President Mugabe step down but Mugabe says he will never surrender. For insight into this transcontinental power-struggle, we turn to journalist Heidi Holland, the author of "Dinner With Mugabe: The Untold Story of a Freedom Fighter Who Became a Tyrant."

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With unemployment claims at a 16-year high, Detroit looking into the abyss, and the economy in freefall, our national security could be at risk. James Rickards, senior managing director for research at Omnis, an applied research firm, argues that government agencies need to pay attention to the security implications of our economic troubles.

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President-elect Obama has plans for a new cabinet position: Chief of Technology.

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In 1978 Harvey Milk made history as the first openly gay man elected to office in San Francisco. Months later, disgruntled former city employee Dan White made history when he assassinated Milk and San Francisco mayor George Moscone. Thirty years have passed and Hollywood is marking Milk’s legacy with a movie about his life. The Takeaway takes stock of Milk’s enduring influence with attorney Carol Ruth Silver, who served on San Francisco’s Board of supervisors with Harvey Milk. We are also joined by New York State Senator Tom Duane. Duane was the first openly gay and HIV-positive member of the New York state senate and city council.

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There are now over 800,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. Of those, roughly 300,000 have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, but only half of these veterans have been professionally treated for their trauma. Traditional "exposure therapy" treatments help veterans get a handle on their experiences by having them relive them, using methods like talk therapy, guided visualizations, and others. Modern technology has recently begun making strides as effective treatment for 21st century combat. Software known as "Virtual Iraq" allows soldiers, through simulation, to become desensitized to deep-rooted traumatic experiences.

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With the election behind us, the Republican Party is a little worse for wear. From prominent conservatives, such as Colin Powell and Christopher Buckley, wandering off the reservation to a resounding win for the Democrats, the GOP has been hit hard. Christine Todd Whitman, the former governor of New Jersey and ex-chief of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, discusses what it will take to breathe life back into the GOP.

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"That's God's wife. Not only did he have a wife, but he had many girlfriends, too."
--Gary Glassman, from the upcoming Nova documentary on the Bible

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"Instead of planning for the prison, how about some money for Head Start? How about some money to keep families together?"
--Ted Conover on what prisoners want in prison reform

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View links related to this segment at Garry Golden's The Energy Roadmap blog »

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"We are very unhappy and have made it clear that the money that was used to buy stock in banks has not been used by all the banks the way it should have been."
-- Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Chair of the House Financial Services Committee

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"National Republicans really think they can hold the line and stop the bleeding."
-- Susanna Capelouto

U.S. Senate party affiliation numbers (as of Nov. 13, 2008)

57 D (55 D + 1 I + 1 ID) | 1 D leads | 1 Runoff | 1 R leads | 40 R



Read and listen to more about the close races in the Senate »

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