Over thirty years ago, Ian Dury concluded what many people already believed…that sex, drugs and rock & roll were all that a brain and body really needed for a happy life. Technology reporter Peter Nowak says Dury was not completely off-base. He analyzes the relationship between war photography and pornography, and looks at how the military has driven food technology.

Today we welcome Miami listeners to The Takeaway this week at WLRN, Miami's public radio station. To kick off our first week of broadcasting there, we're asking Miami-based, Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist Dave Barry to welcome us.

It's Friday movie review day at The Takeaway, and we cover Judd Apatow’s latest film, "Funny People," starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill. Joining The Takeaway to talk about the "dudeness" of the film and how Apatow treats his female characters is freelance film critic Michelle Orange.

Watch the trailer for "Funny People" below.

Should parents worry when they see their kids watching reality TV? The Takeaway talks to Kate Dailey, who writes the Human Condition blog for Newsweek. And for a real-life take on what teenagers learn from watching reality TV, we have Grace Rosen, a 17-year-old reality TV fan.

Read Kate's recent blog post about her take on this topic, "Takeaway From The Takeaway: Don't Let Reality TV Turn Your Kids Into Judgmental Jerks".

For a closer look at this type of programming, watch the clip of Jon & Kate Plus Eight 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.

The Emmy nominations are out this morning. Some shows or actors were shoo-ins, while others were shut out. Topping the nominees was Tina Fey with a jaw-dropping 22 nominations; the other big nominee was AMC's "Mad Men". On The Takeaway is Kim Potts; she runs the blog TV Screener and is here to talk about the Emmys.

Click through for a complete list of nominations, but here are the headlines:

Drama Series: "Big Love," HBO; "Breaking Bad," AMC; "Damages," FX Networks; "Dexter," Showtime; "House," Fox; "Lost," ABC; "Mad Men," AMC.

Comedy Series: "Entourage," HBO; "Family Guy," Fox; "Flight of the Conchords," HBO; "How I Met Your Mother," CBS; "The Office," NBC; "30 Rock," NBC; "Weeds," Showtime.

Flight of the Conchords made a surprise appearance in the Best Comedy category, and one of it's stars, Jemaine Clement, is vying for Best Actor in a Comedy Series:

The other big nominee was AMC's period drama Mad Men:

Comparisons come almost too easily. One can rank the hype and pure star power of Michael Jackson up there with the most famous people who have ever lived. His reach was planetary in scale. His loss delivers the shock and tragic complexity of the death of Elvis Presley, John Lennon or Marilyn Monroe. But focus on Michael himself and the comparisons evaporate. This is an irreplaceable talent that sadly the world lost some time ago. By the time of his death at age 50 this week, Jackson had receded from a world that could only witness him in bizarre glimpses. Those glimpses continued all evening on television news reports showing blurry crowds and telephoto shots of ambulances. As in life, in death the best mere humans can do is get a ticket for the global stadium event.

Michael was outsized from the moment he took the stage as part of his family's irresistibly appealing Motown act. But he immediately outgrew his family; over time he became, as the King of Pop, bigger than his genre. Then, at the top of his game, he exceeded the scale of celebrity itself. In the late 80s and 90s Michael hung out with actress Elizabeth Taylor because almost no one could match his towering profile of talent and weirdness. ... Continue reading

Michael Jackson was planning a 50-consecutive-night comeback in London this summer. It would have been more than a decade since Jackson had performed on stage. Despite rumors that he would appear for only 12 minutes each night -- and questions about whether the show would even come off at all -- fans had snapped up the pricey tickets. For more, we talk again to Chris Hawkins, a presenter on the BBC's 6Music radio station.

Michael Jackson was a phenomenal talent and a very strange man. We ask New York Times music critic Jon Pareles how he thinks Michael Jackson will be remembered years down the road.

From his obsession with plastic surgery to his legal and financial troubles, Michael Jackson led a complicated life. What will he be remembered for: his work as a musical artist or his latter-day weirdness?

Bill Wyman is the former arts editor for Salon and now writes for the blog, “Hitsville.”

Millions of people around the world are mourning the death of Michael Jackson. What's the reaction beyond the U.S.? Roz Atkins is host of the BBC show World Have Your Say and has been getting reaction from all over the world. He joins The Takeaway to talk about it.

Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, died yesterday afternoon at the age of 50. Details of his death will not be known until a full autopsy is done. But what we do know is the legacy he has left behind. His career spanned over 40 years, and his musical importance ranks with Sinatra, Elvis and the Beatles.

Joining us in remembering the King of Pop are Chuck D from legendary hip hop group Public Enemy, Brian Raftery, Contributing Writer for SPIN Magazine, and, Farai Chideya, journalist and friend of The Takeaway.

Click through for a transcript.

Twenty-five-years-ago, an upstart from Minnesota shot into superstardom with the release of "Purple Rain," the film and its accompanying soundtrack. The album produced hits like the title track, “Let’s Go Crazy” and its biggest hit, “When Doves Cry.” Brian Raftery is a contributing writer for SPIN Magazine, and he has the cover story on its next issue commemorating Purple Rain’s 25th anniversary. It includes interviews from most of the major players involved in the groundbreaking film and album.

Because of copyright restrictions, we can't show you the real video for "When Doves Cry." Instead, here is Clay Aiken singing the famous song. Yes, this is the problem with copyright law.

To see Dave Chapelle's take on the iconic Prince, watch the video below. (Warning: Some content may be not safe for work. Also, there's a lot of bleeping.)

As golf's U.S. Open starts up, the biggest story is the weather. Days of rain in New York have made for a group of soggy players and an extremely wet course. Tiger Woods tries to defend his title, while fan favorite Phil Mickleson tries to focus on the course while his wife battles breast cancer. For analysis and predictions we turn to Bob Harig, golf writer for ESPN.com.

It's been 20 years since the classic dance floor jam, Bust a Move, flooded the airwaves and became an instant classic. The Takeaway talks to the song's creator, Young MC, and host Farai Chideya takes on a trip down memory lane to relive a moment in 1989.

Transcript:

Farai Chideya: Alright, you know it. You were wearing those parachute pants and those kinda-like shiny shoes that you thought were so fly. And you know that — especially if you're black — you had some sort of texturizer in your hair. You were listening to Bust A Move by Marvin Young or Young MC. Now this proud papa has a song that is 20 yrs old. That song is old enough to go to the club. Crazy, huh Marvin?

Young MC: Yes, Farai. This song is old enough to go to the club; get in all sorts of trouble.

FC: Definitely. I mean, your song is a classic dance floor jam. And so, I want you, I'm going to call you Marvin or Young or Young MC. Marvin is the name that your friends call you, Young MC is how most of us know you. So Young, take me back to where you were and who you were 20 years ago when this song hit the airwaves. ...(more)

On the campaign trail, President Barack Obama said that no one should graduate from university without having read poetry. He also promised that he would open up the White House to a wide range of people. Last night he made progress on both promises when the White House hosted a poetry slam (or more accurately, a poetry jam because it wasn’t a competition, but instead an open mic night that included slam poets, musicians and spoken-word artists. James Earl Jones read a piece and among the performers were two young spoken word poets from Youth Speaks, a non-profit organization in San Francisco for teens. One of the young poets, Joshua Brandon Bennett, joins The Takeaway to perform some of his poetry and talk about the experience. Also joining the conversation is Jeff Chang, journalist and author of Can't Stop, Won't Stop, the award-winning history of hip-hop.

To get a taste of what went on at the poetry jam, watch this clip of Joshua Bennett freestyling.

The election of Barack Obama may have had what we'll call The Urkel Effect. Takeaway Contributor and Senior Editor at Essence Magazine, Patrik Henry Bass says the rise of the bookish President may clear a path for people once maligned as nerds and bookworms. And he says that may have a particularly strong impact in the black community, especially in conjunction with the rise of authors such as Colson Whitehead and Trey Ellis.

Which books were on Patrik's list?

• Paul Beatty, The White Boy Shuffle
• John Ridley, What Fire Cannot Burn
• Trey Ellis, Platitudes
• Mat Johnson, Drop
• Victor LaValle, Big Machine
• David Anthony Durham, The Other Lands
• Colson Whitehead, Sag Harbor

Barack Obama may be President, but will he get his own breakfast cereal like Urkel?

Trouble viewing this video? Check out the YouTube version.

Filmmaker John Waters has been capturing cheerful appreciation of the American grotesque for decades. Film buffs with a penchant for the perverse can keep up with Waters on Netflix or at the local art house. But John Waters the visual artist may be a little less accessible. In the last decade he has been using photography and sculpture to embody the absurdities of American excess. His new show “Rear Projection” is on view at the Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York from April 3 to May 2 and in Los Angeles at the Gagosian Gallery from April 10 to May 23rd. John Waters joins us for a preview of his latest works.

Look out! (c) John Waters/with permission

Catholic sins (c) John Waters/with permission

A baseball tournament with so few games is vulnerable to upsets that leave behind the best teams, but not in this World Baseball Classic: Korea and Japan will play tonight for the championship after clearly establishing themselves as the best teams in the tournament.

Korea’s got it all: pitching, defense, speed and power, and they’re playing at the top of their game. They whacked a stacked Venezuelan team 10-2 on Saturday to get to the final. It’s inconceivable to me that some sad-sack organization like the Pirates or the Royals doesn’t turn over $50 million to the Korean Baseball Organization and buy themselves an all-Korean, instant contender.

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