Femi Oke

News host and Reporter for The Takeaway

Femi Oke appears in the following:

More Moms Drinking and Driving

Monday, August 24, 2009

For our family segment, we take a look at a recent government report that shows a 30 percent increase in the number of women arrested for drinking and driving in the past ten years. This report comes out amidst a vigorous discussion in the blogosphere about mothers who drink. Are mothers more stressed out than they used to be, or has the feminist movement made it more socially acceptable to drink than a couple of generations ago?

To discuss this we speak to Lisa Belkin, writer of the New York Times' MotherLode blog; and Tara Trower, assistant features editor at the Austin American Statesman and writer for the Statesman's Mama Drama blog.

Comments [2]

After 20 Years, Reinstating Rose?

Monday, August 24, 2009

Today marks an anniversary in baseball that is not exactly celebratory. Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s all-time hits leader, was banned from the game 20 years ago for gambling on baseball games while managing the Cincinnati Reds.

For 14 years, Rose repeatedly denied gambling until he finally admitted to what many had suspected for years: that he'd bet on baseball games, including games played by the Reds. We talk to sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin for his thoughts on the man known as "Charlie Hustle" and whether or not it's time for him to be allowed back into eligibility for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Comment

This Week's Agenda with Marcus Mabry and Jonathan Marcus

Monday, August 24, 2009

For this week's agenda segment, Marcus Mabry from The New York Times, and the BBC’s Jonathan Marcus look at the next chapter in the health care debate, growth of the GDP, and how questions about the Afghan presidential elections will be resolved.

Comment

The Obamas Head to Martha's Vineyard

Monday, August 24, 2009

After a summer of rough-and-tumble town halls, the president and his family are taking some time away from Washington to relax. The first family will spend the week on Martha’s Vineyard before returning to D.C. to resume wrangling with legislators. We’ll look at what the Obamas may do while there, and talk about how other presidents have spent their downtime.

We speak to John Fortier, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; retired Associated Press reporter Larry Knutson, who has covered presidential vacations; and Carol McManus, owner and operator of Espresso Love café on Martha's Vineyard (and inventor of "The Obama Muffin").

Comment

Report on CIA Abuses to be Released

Monday, August 24, 2009

In 2004, CIA Inspector General John Helgerson completed a report looking at abuses inside CIA prisons.  The report has been kept a secret until today, when portions of the report are expected to be made public. 

For more on the details of that report, we speak to Siobhan Gorman, intelligence correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and Art Keller, a former CIA case officer who served in Pakistan in 2006.

You can read Siobhan's article, "CIA Faulted for Conduct at Prisons," at the Wall Street Journal, and Art Keller's blog post on secrecy and political accountability around Washington and the CIA, "The Buck Stops Where?"

A CIA inspector's report scheduled for release TODAY [MONDAY] is expected to shine NEW light onto harsh interrogation tactics used at CIA secret prisons.

For more on that report we're here with Siobahn [shuh-VAHN] Gorman, Intelligence Correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. And we've also got Art Keller, a former CIA case officer. He served in Pakistan in 2006.

Comment

Practical Economics: Dogs, Cats, & Shoes

Friday, August 07, 2009

Unemployment numbers are due out this morning and economic analyst Lakshman Achuthan, Managing Director of the Economic Cycle Research Institute, joins us with his predictions. In April, Lakshman predicted that we’d be coming out of the recession this summer. We wanted to road test some of your ideas, so The Takeaway's Femi Oke went looking in unusual places for indications on how the economy is doing. First stop: the ASPCA in New York City, where the rates of pet adoptions tend to follow people's economic well-being. Could the dogs here give us a peek at which direction the economy is going?

Next stop: Wall Street, but not to visit the banks. Instead, Femi spoke with cobbler Minas Polychronakis, who for over 30 years has been repairing shoes for rich and poor alike.

Comments [1]

The Audacity of Hops

Thursday, July 30, 2009

As the president prepares to host a kegger to smooth the feathers ruffled over the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr, the nation's beer drinkers are paying close attention. The Takeaway's Femi Oke has hit the bars (for research, naturally) to find out whether conflict is best resolved over a beer. Then Brooklyn Brewery's Beer Master, Garrett Oliver, adds his thoughts on the president's beer selection: Budweiser, Blue Moon, and Red Stripe. No Brooklyn Lager, Mr. President?

Comment

On-scene Report: Tehran in Turmoil

Thursday, June 18, 2009

After days of protest over the disputed presidential election that kept President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power in Iran, demonstrators are once again taking to the streets. To give us an onscene report, we are joined by Babak Dehghanpisheh, Middle East Correspondent for Newsweek, who is in Tehran.

Comment

Fly Me to the Moon (But Let's Go Coach)

Thursday, June 18, 2009

NASA is set to blast off probes on Thursday in a lunar exploration mission to scout water sources and landing sites in anticipation of humans' return to the moon. NASA was hoping to send astronauts to the moon by 2020 for the first visit since 1972. But these lunar visions are delayed by the most terrestrial of concerns: money. We are joined by Miles O'Brien, a science and aviation reporter, and The Takeaway's go-to spaceman for more on the future of space travel.

To see what space exploration is all about, watch the video below.

Comment

The Iran Crisis: Taking to the Streets

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Our partners at the BBC are reporting that "eyewitnesses in Tehran say that thousands of people, many dressed in black, have gathered in a square in the south of the city." Joining The Takeaway this morning and following the protests closely is Professor Hamid Dabashi, Professor of Iranian Studies at Columbia and the author of Iran: A People Interrupted and Islamic Liberation Theology: Resisting the Empire.

View scenes from the protests in Iran in the video below.

Comment

The "Day of Mourning" Protests in Iran

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Protesters are beginning to gather in Tehran for the "Day of Mourning" called for by opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. The planned sit-in is meant to memorialize those killed by government forces in earlier protests. To paint the scene in Tehran, we are joined by Farnaz Fassihi, Deputy Bureau Chief for the Middle East for the Wall Street Journal.

For more, read Farnaz Fassihi's article, Iran Arrests Reformers as Huge Protests Continue, in the Wall Street Journal.

Comment

How President Obama Should Handle the Iranian Crisis

Thursday, June 18, 2009

President Obama has said "it is up to Iranians to make decisions about who Iran's leaders will be." This stance has riled some Republicans who are urging the president to show solidarity with Moussavi supporters. To explain his view, The Takeaway is joined by Congressman Mike Pence, Republican from Indiana and Chairman of the House Republican Conference. He has introduced a resolution in Congress to express support for the protesters. We also have Professor Hamid Dabashi, a professor of Iranian Studies at Columbia University and author of Iran: A People Interrupted, for his take.

Comment

Who Is the Real Mir Hossein Mousavi?

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Mir Hossein Mousavi is the public face of Iran's protest movement. His supporters claim he was the real winner of the election that returned President Ahmadinejad to power. But who is Mousavi, really? Would he differ from Ahmadinejad on the issues of nuclear development or Israel? We turn to Professor Hamid Dabashi, professor of Iranian Studies at Columbia University and author of Iran: A People Interrupted and Islamic Liberation Theology: Resisting the Empire.

Comment

(Gay) Friends with Benefits

Thursday, June 18, 2009

President Obama said yesterday that he will extend some benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees. But with the Defense of Marriage Act still in place, how big a step forward is really possible? The Takeaway talks to Kenji Yoshino, the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at the NYU School of Law.

To see a map of the state of gay rights across the globe, click here.

Comment

Messages from Iran

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Protesters across Iran continue to dispute the election results that returned President Ahmadinejad to office. To help us understand what is happening on the ground in Tehran, we turn to Pooneh Ghoddossi from the BBC's Persian Television. They have been receiving communiques from Iranians, including more than 4,500 emails this morning already.

Comments [2]

Eliot Spitzer on Regulatory Reform (And His Own Future)

Thursday, June 18, 2009

President Obama has proposed sweeping changes to the regulation of the country's financial system. But do these changes actually address the root causes of our financial crisis? For one view, we turn to Eliot Spitzer, former Attorney General and Governor of New York. When he was Attorney General he made a name for himself suing companies like AIG for deception, fraud and boosting the company’s stock price. He also discusses his personal feelings at having to watch the unfolding crisis as a bystander and not as political leader.

"Rearranging the deck chairs does not fundamentally alter the fact that the regulators had the power over the past few years."
— Eliot Spitzer on financial reform

Comments [13]

The Low Cost of High Quality Health Care

Thursday, June 18, 2009

President Obama's prescription for health care reform is simple: cut the costs, but keep the quality care. But how would that work in real life for doctors and hospitals? We turn to Dr. Elliott Fisher, professor of medicine and the director of the Center for Health Policy Research at Dartmouth Medical School. He's also the lead investigator for The Dartmouth Atlas, 20-plus year project that examines the wide variation in Medicare use and cost across the nation. He thinks low cost and high quality are not mutually exclusive.

Comments [1]

In China, a Stimulus Plan that Works

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Today the World Bank is raising its forecast for China's economic growth this year. Strong government investment and increased domestic demand have helped supported the growth of China's economy. For more, we turn to the BBC's Michael Bristow in Beijing.

Comment

In Iran, Echoes of Revolutions Past

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Tehran braces for another day of protests today despite governmental bans on "unauthorized gatherings." To help us analyze the protests and draw parallels to the past is an expert on Iranian history and politics, Hamid Dabashi, a professor of Iranian Studies at Columbia University and the author of Iran: A People Interrupted and Islamic Liberation Theology: Resisting the Empire. We will also talk to Ali, a 25-year old mechanical engineer in Tehran, who is a supporter of opposition candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi.

Comment

Economists See Good News. Are They Right?

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Economic indicators show that the economy will see an upturn in the coming months. But Justin Fox, Editor-at-Large for TIME magazine, isn't too excited about the numbers. He joins The Takeaway to explain why. He is the author of the recently published The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street.

For more, read Justin Fox's article, A Fun-Free Recovery, in TIME Magazine.

"I don't see anything but a rise in the tax burden. We've made a lot of commitments and at some point we have to pay for them. We've basically been able to borrow our way out of them for a while."
— Justin Fox of Time Magazine on the alleged end of the recession

Comment