Many people received thanks for the safe return of two American journalists imprisoned in North Korea, including Bill Clinton, President Obama, and ... John Podesta? The former Chief of Staff under President Clinton and the mastermind behind President Obama’s White House transition is rarely in the headlines these days, but he is hard at work behind the scenes. Between his work bridging the two most recent Democratic presidencies, and starting an influential liberal think tank (the Center for American Progress), he might just be the powerful "unofficial official" in Washington. Josh Gerstein, the White House correspondent for Politico gives us his take on John Podesta.

Gun owners across America are carrying guns in record numbers. This June, parts of Missouri, North Carolina, Texas and Utah all saw record numbers of applications for concealed weapons, according to a USA Today article. In Clay County, Missouri, the sheriff’s office had to hire two additional staffers to deal with the rush. Clay County is where Don Pind, a firearms instructor at Show Me Shooters Indoor Range, is based; he joins The Takeaway today. We also talk with Kristi Manning, another firearms instructor who teaches at Carter Shooting Supply in Harrison, Tennessee. Manning’s had her class size triple since last November.

U.S. auto sales soared in July. Auto analysts like The Takeaway's guest Tom Libby, a Detroit-based independent auto analyst, say the government’s Cash for Clunkers program is giving a big push to the numbers. The program, which gives people $4,500 to buy a new car when they trade in their rusted hulks, blew through a billion dollars in its first week. Now the Senate is deciding whether to allocate another $2 billion to the program. The House already agreed to the re-up. So what happens to the cars when you trade them in? And are dealers really making a mint? The Takeaway talks to Brian Willian, sales manager for the Albany Honda dealer in Albany, Georgia, and J.C. Cox, owner of an auto salvage business in Moultrie, Georgia, to find out the cradle-to-the-grave of Cash for Clunkers.

The preparations have begun for the First Family's summer vacation. At the end of the month they’ll be joining other beach-bound tourists and heading to Martha’s Vineyard. The locals are getting ready. Nelson Sigelman, managing editor of the Martha’s Vineyard Times, talks about whether everyone's making much ado about nothing more than a vacation.

Eric Jones, director of IT at iPass in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, hasn't taken a vacation in a long time. That wouldn't be the case if he worked for Eric Berridge, co-founder and CEO of Bluewolf, a global IT services company, because his company offers unlimited vacation. The company doesn't even track the number of days. As long as work is done, the company is happy. Is that the wave of the future? Kari Henley thinks so. She's director of the board at the Women and Family Life Center in North Haven, Connecticut. Only 14 percent of Americans took two weeks of vacation last year and the number of Americans taking family vacations has dropped by a third in the past generation. Are we just too busy to take a break?

Today in The Takeaway's Science segment, we talk about neuroscience. A handful of new studies suggest that in matters of weight loss, will power could lose out to brainpower. The brain, which is an organ designed to seek out calories, could outsmart the tricks we play on it, such as drinking diet soft drinks. Joining The Takeaway to talk about the brains behind our bulk is Jonah Lehrer. He is The Takeaway’s science contributor and author of the books "How We Decide" and "Proust Was a Neuroscientist." Todd Zwillich, The Takeaway's Washington Correspondent also joins the conversation to talk about how health policy could be used to encourage better eating habits.

Our guest, Niall Ferguson, once coined the term "Chimerica" to describe the American-Chinese relationship. What did he mean, and where does he think this weeks' talks between U.S. and Chinese officials will lead? Niall Ferguson, a Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University and William Ziegler Professor at Harvard Business School, joins us.

This weekend, Cooperstown holds its induction ceremony for the Baseball Hall of Fame—days after White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Takeaway talks with Dave Zirin, who writes about sports for The Nation and is author of "A People's History of Sports in the United States."

Watch the final out in Mark Buehrle's perfect game below.

Montreal, Canada, hosts the annual "Just For Laughs" festival this weekend. A swarm of comedians from around the world descends on the city for hundreds of shows. Joining The Takeaway from Montreal to talk about the festival is Steve Heisler, a contributor to The Onion's A/V club, and Andy Kindler, a writer and comedian and a veteran of the festival.

Watch a clip of Andy Kindler performing below.

"Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" premiered last Wednesday. By Sunday, the film had raked in approximately $160 million—$20 million more than the previous Potter film. To deconstruct the Harry Potter juggernaut, The Takeaway talks to Susan Gunelius, president and CEO of KeySplash Creative, a marketing agency, and author of the book Harry Potter: The Story of a Global Business Phenomenon. We're also joined by Ben Maynard, a 17-year-old die-hard Harry Potter fan.

Somewhere between a smartphone and a laptop is a nifty gadget called a netbook. It allows you to get online, but has no hard drive so it's ultra-portable. These lightweight internet-only devices have been around since 2007, but are getting more attention as both Google and Microsoft unveil new programs designed specifically for netbooks. Joining us now to talk about why the netbook is so popular, and where it fits in among all the other gadgets out there, is Matt Buchanan, contributing editor for the blog Gizmodo.com.

Reports are trickling out that say the economy is on a slow upswing. But is it really? The Takeaway talks to two small business owners. Jack Bernstein, who owns a corporate catering business and retail sandwich shop owner in Miami, says that business is down. Ed Snively, a real estate broker in El Centro, California, says that business is way up from last year.

The Takeaway checks in on Sonia Sotomayor's old stomping ground: the Bronx. Joining the conversation are Mary McKinney, founder of the Concerned Residents Organization in the Soundview section of the Bronx; Agnes Rivera, with Community Voices Heard, a low-income public housing campaign; and Orlando Plaza, owner of Camaradas del Barrio restaurant in East Harlem.

Sasha Baron Cohen has made himself famous by mocking himself and others in his roles as Ali G and perhaps most famously as Borat, the Kazakh reporter. Now he's turned his barbs on another group: gay Austrian fashionistas. His film Bruno opens today. Joining The Takeaway to discuss whether Mr. Cohen is mocking homophobia or homosexuals themselves is Alfons Haider, Austrian TV host of Strictly Come Dancing —the number one television show in Austria. Some say he's the person on whom Bruno is based. We are also joined by Rashad Robinson, the senior director of media programs for GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation).

Click through for a transcript of the discussion with Alfons Haider and Rashad Robinson.

To listen to New York Times Film Critic A.O. Scott's review of the film, click here.

Judge for yourself! Here's the trailer for Bruno

Of Michael Jackson's millions of fans worldwide, only a few thousand were lucky enough to attend the memorial service in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Takeaway talks to Melvin Price, an electrician in North Hampton, England, who flew to Los Angeles and was rewarded with the miraculous appearance of two tickets to the service, and with Karen Thompson, a cosmetologist from Compton, California, who was also at the memorial service.

This 4th of July weekend, the Statue of Liberty’s crown will re-open; visitors can take the 12-story spiral steps leading up the narrow passage to see what may be the best view in the world. The crown was closed after the 9/11 attacks. Brad Hill and his father James Hill are eagerly awaiting the crown's re-opening. They own the Evelyn Hill concession and souvenir stand at the base of the statue. The store has been in their family for three generations and James was born on the island.

Auto sales numbers are out and there may be a glimmer of hope for the U.S. auto industry. The industry posted their second best month of sales this year. So who's buying American these days? The Takeaway turns to Mark Porter, President of Mark Porter GM Supercenter dealership in Pomeroy, Ohio, and Dale Hart, who just bought two cars from Mark.

The Center for Disease Control said on Friday that at least one million people in the U.S. have contracted the H1N1 virus known as swine flu. The Takeaway is talking to Donald McNeil, a science and health reporter for The New York Times who has been following the outbreak of H1N1 from the beginning. Zoom out on the image below to see a map of the U.S. as a whole.