At this moment in time, we’re going to interface with someone who will hopefully tell us why words adversely impact so many people. Are we annoying you yet? Jeremy Butterfield might know why. He’s the author of a new book called "A Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare," which features the most annoying words and phrases in the English language

Comments [70] Listen Add to Playlist

Comments [0] Listen Add to Playlist

Politicians are masters at spinning their words to boost their appeal. Which candidate in this year’s presidential election uses the most spin? The Takeaway talks to David Skillicorn, a computer science professor Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Comments [3] Listen Add to Playlist

A focal point at tonight’s Democratic National Convention will be the delegation from the Illinois Democratic Party, a delegation that is infamous for its inability to cooperate. What is the story behind the fractious party in which Barack Obama cut his political teeth, and how has it taught him to be a presidential nominee?

Comments [0] Listen Add to Playlist

At most political conventions, the delegates usually line up behind the one candidate. But half the delegates Takeaway Political Director Andrea Bernstein spoke to say still they’re for Hillary Clinton. The votes will end up going to Obama, but Bernstein looks at how their level of support for Clinton will affect Obama’s campaign beyond the convention.

Comments [0] Listen Add to Playlist

The missing piece of the Democratic convention is now revealed with Joe Biden as Obama’s running mate. Biden’s choice helps Obama roll out the narrative of his life to a population that has yet to fully get to know him. The Takeaway goes live to Denver where Political Director Andrea Bernstein looks at the implications of the VP choice and how it will play out in the convention.

Comments [1] Listen Add to Playlist

Comments [0] Listen Add to Playlist

Isaac Hayes took the sound of Memphis around the world before dying Sunday at age 65. It was a sad day for soul fans and the end of a pioneering career.

Comments [1] Listen Add to Playlist

The Beijing Olympics start on an auspicious date in Chinese culture, but it’s not the only event happening on 8/8/8 for superstitious reasons. Thousands of Chinese Americans have picked this day to get married in the hope it’ll bring them luck. The Takeaway speaks to one couple who fought hard for event space on a day of big demand for weddings.

Comments [0] Listen Add to Playlist

Before the 1980s, the only music you heard during the Olympics was the ceremonial sounds of a marching band. Nowadays, there are at least a dozen pop songs associated with each year’s games. The Takeaway looks at the origin of Olympic "anthems” from Strauss to Freddie Mercury to Jackie Chan.

Comments [1] Listen Add to Playlist

The Blogging While Brown conference is on until Sunday, where, for the first time, bloggers of color from around the world have united in Atlanta to discuss their influence on the media and elections.

Comments [0] Listen Add to Playlist

Comments [0] Listen Add to Playlist

The Incredible Hulk, the do-over of 2003's Hulk, opens this weekend. The Takeaway sent nuclear physicist Tim Halpin-Healy, who (we think) has no anger management issues, to a press screening.

Comments [0] Listen Add to Playlist

Gas prices in America have jumped to an average of more than $4 a gallon for the first time. But gas prices aren’t just a problem in the United States. The Takeaway hears from taxi drivers from around the world, whose job depends on the price of gasoline.

Comments [0] Listen Add to Playlist

The longest democratic primary in recent memory is finally coming to a close. Five months, 35 million votes, 56 contests and more than $500 million raised later, the race might also be a harbinger for what happens in November. The Takeaway looks at what the primaries can tell us about the general election and why it’s turning the old electoral strategy on its head.

Comments [0] Listen Add to Playlist

No one thought it would last this long. After 153 days and 58 contests, the Democratic primaries will finally be over. But even after so many contests, there are voters who still haven’t made up their mind. We talk to one voter from South Dakota and one from Montana about what’s left to know before they decide on a candidate.

Comments [0] Listen Add to Playlist

The defining moment in the 2008 Democratic nomination race is set to be a procedural event. On Saturday, the Democratic National Committee's rules committee will convene in a Marriott hotel in Washington, D.C., to decide the fate of the Michigan and Florida Democratic delegates. The Clinton campaign, which has supporters on the committee, wants them all seated. Expect a compromise.

Comments [0] Listen Add to Playlist

The Phoenix Mars Lander launched Aug. 4, 2007, in a quest to find life on Mars. After a 10-month journey, the lander successfully touched down on the planet's northern polar surface last night. CNN's technology and environment correspondent Miles O'Brien has been at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory since Friday. He joins us live from Pasadena, Calif.

Pictured: The Phoenix Lander's Delta 2 launch vehicle taking off; an artist's rendering of the lander itself, and one of the very first images sent back from the lander this morning after its successful touchdown last night.

Comments [0] Listen Add to Playlist

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that nearly three out of 10 American households receive almost all calls by mobile phone. But if the landline is on the wane, University of Virginia professor Siva Vaidhyanathan says a more compelling chapter in telecommunications is just beginning — and our relationship with the phone itself is being redefined.

Comments [3]

The Takeaway gives you the trailer of all trailers... of trailers. On the big screen this week: Surfwise, Speed Racer and What Happens in Vegas.

Comments [0] Listen Add to Playlist