While the nation was riveted by the story of the boy who may have drifted away in his father's homemade flying machine, Alessandra Stanley, TV critic for our partner The New York Times, was a little suspicious. After all, this was the family that had appeared on the reality show "Wife Swap," and was already known for pretty eccentric behavior. Her suspicions may have been strengthened when the family appeared on CNN and the boy, Falcon Heene, of Fort Collins, Colo., said they "did this for a show." Was the Heene family pulling a publicity stunt? Or was their genuine concern for their son's safety overshadowed because the Heenes have a long history of camera-seeking?  

Here's the Heene family's response to CNN reporters' questioning the validity of their claims:

The nation's attention was captured by a strange and compelling episode yesterday. A homemade flying contraption drifted off into the air, and the constructor's young son was missing and suspected to be onboard. For four hours the internet was atwitter and the story dominated the airwaves as surely as the foil balloon dominated the skies over Denver...but then the story deflated. The boy, Falcon, son of Richard and Mayumi Heene of Fort Collins, Colo., was found hiding in an attic above the family's garage. Now the nation is wondering: Was it real? Or was it all for publicity? Dana Coffield, city editor for the Denver Post, has the story.

To make his living, Peter Franklin drives a yellow cab in New York City. As he makes his way around the city, ferrying customers from point A to point B, Peter has a knack for getting people to talk on subjects as erudite as global economic indicators and domestic policy. Now he has turned those daily conversations into a report for BBC radio and other outlets around the world. He joins us now for his take on life in New York City.

For more from the Gabby Cabby, check out his website and the BBC series Up All Night .

Crank up the tunes--they might help you make money on Wall Street. Phil Maymin, a professor at the Polytechnic Institute of NYU, studied decades of Billboard Hot 100 hits and discovered that songs with more consistent beats tend to be popular just before periods of high volatility in the stock market. He'll explain his theory and tell us what he thinks the current hit, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" by Beyonce, says about our financial future.

For more about how this theory works, watch Phil Maymin's video on Youtube.

We're checking back in with Ryan Bowen, the writer and cycling activist who is cycling cross country from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. for President-elect Obama's inauguration. We check in with Ryan who is camping out in Madison, Florida.

Listen to the last time Ryan was on The Takeaway.

Follow Ryan Bowen's journey on his video blog

It's the end of The Takeaway's first year and we were trying to think of the best way to look back on that time. Well, a way to look back that wasn't too corny. So, we put the onus on you, our beloved listeners. John and Adaora take a listen at the year in responses from our listeners all over the country. We want to explore what you really, really think. We think.

Leonard Cohen’s "Hallelujah" has been covered by over 50 artists, and is now poised to take the top two spots on the UK music charts. Who would have thought that these brooding lyrics about a bad relationship would become a planetary breakup anthem?

Lyrics to Hallelujah here, on Leonard Cohen's website.

Do you believe eating at night makes you fat? Or that you lose most of your body heat through your head? Guess who believed them too? Your doctor. Dr. Rachel Vreeman, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine, knew about the enduring legacy of these old wives' tales, so she and a colleague set out to debunk the more popular medical myths. Her findings were just published in the British Medical Journal. She joins The Takeaway to discuss these medical myths.

There is science and there is cooking. Then there is the area where the two intersect. New York Times writer Julia Moskin joins The Takeaway to talk about the culinary and scientific as heavy machinery, geometry and electrical engineering enter the kitchen.

The iconic chime of Big Ben marks the hours, but an artist found a way to bend time as the clock keeps it. The BBC partnered with American sound sculptor Bill Fontana on a public art project. Paddy O’Connell, of the BBC show Broadcasting House joins The Takeaway to discuss the project.

The Sports world perplexed at the recent announcement that Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson has legally changed his name to Chad Ocho Cinco, which is the Spanish translation of his number 85 jersey. Ocho Cinco certainly isn’t the first famous person to have a change of heart about his given name.

Guest: Ollie Williams, BBC World Service

Sixty-one years ago today, a ranch foreman named Mack Brazel went for a walk near his sheep ranch in Roswell, N.M., and nothing was ever the same. The Takeaway celebrates World UFO Day using historical tape and film clips to look at how pop culture grabbed on to the UFO craze and never let go.

Five sneakered human feet have washed up on the shores of British Columbia over the past year. They could be victims of a plane crash or the 2005 Asian tsunami, but Canadian officials are baffled. KUOW's Patricia Murphy goes CSI and explains the case.