The Takeaway is launching a new podcast series with a distinct UK flavor, or as the English would write "flavour."  Chatter from America is an irreverent review of news and life in the United States, co-hosted by three ex-pat Brits. Every week The Economist's Matthew Bishop, Henry Timms from New York's famous 92nd Street Y and The Takeaway's Femi Oke analyze the news with only the occasional mention of cricket.

Hurricane Irene knocked out public transport from from the Carolinas through New England, and that includes all three of New York’s major airports. A big whack of all commercial flights in the U.S. are routed through New York, as many 12,000 flights have been cancelled. Business was hit as well. Samsung was forced to delay the planned release of it’s newest phone, because it couldn't can get shipments to New York. And on an individual level weddings had to be cancelled, the convention goers got stuck in Vegas for another weekend and then there's those who rode out Irene at JFK.

Hurricane Irene made landfall in New York Sunday morning, downgraded to a tropical storm after hitting the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Philadelphia, and New Jersey particularly hard over the weekend. Last night, the storm reached New England, triggering floods in Vermont. At least 16 deaths have been reported as a result of the storm. This morning, after being grounded through the weekend for Hurricane Irene, airlines at New York City's three major airports are readying their planes and crews for departures.

Since the first rumblings of revolution in Tunisia last year, we’ve been covering the Arab awakenings often. We’ve asked for analysis from political reporters and foreign correspondents, and reported the latest news as it came in. Today, we're examining a different angle to the uprisings: commerce, particularly the growing number of Middle Eastern wine businesses. 

We head back to London for some global reaction to the Royal Wedding, to speak with one of the many international Royal famlies who've just watched Prince William and Princess Catherine tie the knot. Yomi Oke is a member of the Nigerian Royal family, and she happens to also be the mother of our very own Femi Oke!

Orchestras everywhere are struggling to stay afloat, but the challenges for the only symphony orchestra in Central Africa were different than those faced by Western musical groups. A new documentary film "Kinshasa Symphony" depicting the genesis and survival of the Kinshasa Symphony Orchestra, which was set up during the 1998-2003 Congolese war, is playing this week at the New York African Film Festival. The Takeaway's Special Correspondent Femi Oke talks about the film and brings us details from some of its founders.

Mahen Bonetti, founder of the New York African Film Festival has an annual dilemma. From a program of over 30 films, she has to pick one to be the opening feature. The film has to be so enticing the audience is eager to come back to see more. That's a lot of pressure, but Bonetti is used to it. She's been selecting African films for New Yorkers for the last eighteen years.

Takeaway Special Correspondent Femi Oke traveled to U.N. Headquarters in New York — and beyond — for a deeper look at the Millennium Development Goals. With five years left to achieve the ambitious goals, which aim to alleviate hunger, poverty and illiteracy worldwide, massive challenges remain, but some nations have seen success.

Its time for the U.S. soccer team to take the field again. Riding high off their (lucky, by all accounts) tie with England last week, they now enter their match against Slovenia as favorites and a real shot to make it to the Round of 16. 

So the excitement is high for soccer fans around the country. Our own Femi Oke reports live with some die hard boosters as they prepare for today's morning match at Nevada Smith's bar in New York City. Jack Keane, director of football for the bar, has World Cup-proofed the place for the masses expected for the 10:00 a.m. match. 

At Madiba Restaurant in Brooklyn, New York, on the first day of the World Cup, the bar was full of enthusiastic fans of the South African team. The fans tell us which teams they're supporting and talk about what connects them to their team. In the video (after the jump), they are singing a song called "Shosholoza" which means "Go Forward"; it's a song that's often sung at soccer games in South Africa. 

Takeaway correspondent Femi Oke spends the morning at the South African restaurant, Madiba, in Brooklyn, New York, where owners and patrons are preparing for the biggest South African World Cup party in the city. Restaurant owner, Mark Hanegan says there are already 120 breakfast reservations from South Africa fans, coming to eat the home-style food and watch the game. Femi checks in with enthusiastic soccer fans at the bar, like Tiffani Knowles, who was the first to arrive at the restaurant this morning.

The U.S. Figure Skating Organization has a name for the increased interest in the sport they get every four years: They call it "The Olympic Buzz," and it's linked to the media exposure skating gets during the Winter Olympics. Takeaway correspondent Femi Oke goes in search of the 2010 "Olympic Buzz" at one of the most famous ice rinks in the world: Wollman Skating Rink in New York's Central Park.

It's not often that you hear a UN Chief described as a "badass," but that’s the way retired Lieutenant Colonel Shayne Gilbert is described by his team.  His official title is Chief of the Joint Operations and Tasking Center for the United Nations in Haiti.

First Lady Michelle Obama launched a nationwide campaign to fight childhood obesity this week. Major news outlets assigned reporters to cover the story, but 11-year-old Jonas Hosmer was probably the youngest of the bunch.

Despite the fact that the Department of Labor lists young people, African-American and Hispanic men as having some of the highest rates of unemployment, a group of youngsters in East New York, Brooklyn is determined to buck the trend and get into the job market. The Takeaway's Ibrahim Abdul-Matin introduces them to us and their challenges when it comes to finding work.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama proposed to spend $30 billion to help small businesses weather the tough economy. This is the latest move by the administration to support small business owners, but has any of these plans materialized into practical help? We put the question to small business owners in different parts of the country.

In just over a week Americans have given more than $305 million to help Haitians recover from the recent earthquake in Port-au-Prince.  The numbers are being tracked by the independent charity watchdog Charity Navigator. 

Until December 2009, Haitian journalist Michele Montas was on call 24/7 for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon. When she retired from her post as his spokesperson to Port-au-Prince, she vowed to do "three months of nothing".  However, that was before an earthquake destroyed her home city. 

This weekend WNYC hosted a Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday celebration at the Brooklyn Museum in New York.  Our own Celeste Headlee co-hosted the event, which included prominent educators, politicians and activists. 

• MONEY TAKEOUT: The Labor Department released new inflation figures last Friday, and it appears that the economy is experiencing moderate deflation. New York Times finance reporter Louise Story talks to us about the effects this deflation could have on ordinary Americans.
  
• SPORTS TAKEOUT: We check in with Takeaway Sports Contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin about last weekend's NFC playoffs and talk about the Cinicinnati Bengals' Marwin Lewis, who just won the NFL's Coach of the Year award.
• MLK TAKEOUT: This weekend, WNYC hosted a Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday celebration at the Brooklyn Museum, co-hosted by our own Celeste Headlee. Celeste and Femi Oke spoke with Columbia law professor Patricia Williams about the future of the civil rights movement.