More and more critics are saying that gay “conversion therapy” is not only ineffective, but humiliating and psychologically harmful. What will the courts say?

Winston Churchill, British war hero, brilliant military tactician, and prime minister, was a towering figure, an icon of the twentieth century. Historian and author William Manchester set out to publish a three-part biography of Winston Churchill. He wrote the first two in the 1980s, but William Manchester died in 2004. Before his death, Manchester enlisted journalist Paul Reid to finish his lifelong work. The result is "The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Defender of the Realm 1940-1965."

Broken pledges — that's the story this week in Washington as several Republican lawmakers begin backtracking from a pledge to not raise taxes they signed with Grover Norquist and the Americans for Tax Reform. Todd Zwillich, The Takeaway's Washington correspondent, has been following the story.

What happens when technology moves faster than the laws that govern it? That’s the major question before courts across the country, as cell phones, and the overwhelming amount of data they hold, become evidence. Peter Swire, professor at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law who worked on law and privacy issues for Presidents Clinton and Obama, explains how courts should deal with the emails, text messages, and social media accounts found on the cell phones of suspected criminals.

Yasser Arafat, former chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, died after a mysterious, month-long illness in a French military hospital, eight years ago. Today French, Swiss, and Russian scientists will exhume Arafat's body in Ramallah.

Was Arafat poisoned? How will Arafat's exhumation affect the tenuous peace in the Middle East? Charles Glass is a Middle East expert, journalist and broadcaster. He discusses the investigation, and Arafat's legacy.

On November 26, 1942, in the midst of World War II, a film called "Casablanca" premiered at the Hollywood Theater in New York City. The movie became an American icon, launching Ingmar Bergman's career and establishing Humphrey Bogart as a romantic lead. Jeanine Basinger, professor of film studies at Wesleyan University, says that the 'Casablanca' team had no idea their film would become such a major part of American film history.

Author and designer Kaylin Andres tackles cancer as comedy in her new comic book, "Terminally 'Illin." At the age of 23, Kaylin was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer that usually affects young children. In the midst of chemo and radiation, comedy became her coping mechanism.

Seth Meyers is Saturday Night Live's head writer and host of the show's Weekend Update segment. He explores the comedy behind the 2012 presidential election, and explains why Sarah Palin was a once-in-a-lifetime comedy gold mine.

Every year thousands of soccer balls are donated to the developing world by relief agencies. But they often go flat, so Tim Jahnigen, with the help of Sting and others, created a new type of ball that never wears out or needs a pump.

As Hamas and other groups in Gaza continue to launch rockets into Israel, and the Israeli Defense Forces bomb Gaza, in turn, it's hard to remember that there have been moments of reconciliation, and promises of peace, between Arabs and Israelis. William Quandt, who helped negotiate the Camp David Accords, and Robert Malley, who worked in President Clinton's National Security Council during the Oslo Accords, both have experience negotiating Middle East peace.

Poverty is on the rise in the United States and has been during the last decade, especially among children. Since 2001 child poverty rates have increased by 4.7 percent. Krissy Clark, the senior reporter for Marketplace's Wealth and Poverty Desk, is covering the implications of child poverty in the United States. 

The Chinese Community Party ushered in its new leadership on Wednesday, after the party's 18th National Congress. Xi Jinping has taken over for Hu Jiantao. Elizabeth Economy, senior fellow and director for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses China's new leadership.

On Wednesday, in response to rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, Israel launched a series of air strikes that killed Hamas military leader Ahmed al-Jabari, and, according to health officials in Gaza, nine others. Isabel Kershner, reporter for Takeaway partner The New York Times, reports from the Israel-Gaza border. Aaron David Miller, distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, discusses the current conflict and Israel's position in the evolving Middle East.

In all the news surrounding General David Petraeus’s resignation, there’s a central question about military culture itself. As Petraeus implemented his counter-insurgency strategy in Iraq, and then Afghanistan, he became a celebrity, an old-school military hero who seemed to have all the answers to America's messy conflicts abroad. Wired Magazine's Spencer Ackerman describes this as the 'Cult of David Petraeus.'

Joseph P. Kennedy, the powerful patriarch of the Kennedy dynasty, died in 1969, but the legacy he left behind has continued to fascinate, and puzzle, historians as well as his own descendants. David Nasaw cuts through the myth surrounding the elder statesman in his new biography, "The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy."

Apart from a question on assault weapons in the second presidential debate, President Obama and Mitt Romney rarely discussed gun rights or gun control in the 2012 campaign. Despite the lack of presidential rhetoric on the issue, the gun control and gun rights debate continues, especially in the wake of the Aurora shooting last July. Will conservatives and liberals ever find common ground on gun control? Author Craig R. Whitney says yes, and explains how in his new book, "Living with Guns: A Liberal's Case for the Second Amendment."

The "Save The Plain Dealer" campaign began this weekend in Cleveland as journalists react to rumors about staff cuts and reduced publication of the paper which, like many newspapers, has fallen on difficult times.

In the 2012 Presidential Election, 80 percent of minority voters cast their ballot for President Obama. America's changing demographics, and how the major parties responded to them, had major consequences in 2012. What will these shifts mean for election outcomes in 2016 and beyond? Demographer William Frey, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, explains.

Today 2,280 Chinese Communist Party delegates arrive in Beijing for the Party's 18th Congress, during which time President Hu Jiantao is expected to cede his position to his presumed successor, Xi Jinping. What should the Chinese people expect from their new president? How will the CCP leadership transition affect US-China relations? James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic, explains.

As he enters his second term, what has President Obama learned from his first four years? What are his goals for the next four? And how does the President hope to shape his legacy? Jodi Kantor, correspondent for Takeaway partner The New York Times and author of "The Obamas," examines these questions, and discusses the political consequences and cultural ramifications of the president's reelection.