Three women were awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, becoming the first women to win since 2004. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, also of Liberia, and Tawakul Karman of Yemen will share the award. The Norwegian Nobel committee honored the three women for "their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work." Johnson Sirleaf is the first democratically-elected female head of state in Africa, Gbowee is an activist, and Karman is a leading figure in Yemen's pro-democracy movement.

Every Monday, we take a look at the big stories in the week ahead. This week's Agenda, covers foreclosures, midterm elections, calls for UN peace keepers in  Sudan and the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Described as a chain-smoking, impassioned literary critic and political essayist, he has spent his adult life advocating for democratic reform in China. Today, he becomes the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel Peace Prize. And as of now, it is unclear how he will receive that news in his prison cell.

Liu Xiaobo is the winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his nonviolent political reform movement. The 54-year-old is months into an 11 year prison sentence for "inciting the subversion of state power."

We continue our coverage of President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech with Charlie Sennott, executive editor of Globalpost.

• Washington Takeout: Julie Mason of The Washington Examiner talks about bickering in the Republican party. 
• Business Takeout: New York Times reporter Louise Story on where the money from the second stimulus package will go. (Yes, we're likely to see a second one soon).
• Listener Takeout: Listeners react to our coverage of President Obama's being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Your calls and emails came in all weekend about the news of President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize. We listen to what you had to say and compare responses from pundits and talk show hosts.

President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize win caused an outcry among some Republicans, who say he does not deserve the honor. Will loud objections hurt the president — or the GOP? Julie Mason, White House correspondent for The Washington Examiner, looks for an answer.

Delaina Dixon, TV blogger from DelainaDixon.com, joins us to talk about the reaction over the weekend – particularly on the late-night talk shows – about President Obama's being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Conventional thinking has me on the side of President Obama in that I, too, “do not feel that [he] deserve[s] to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by [the Nobel Peace Prize].” (... continue reading)

President Barack Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” according to the Nobel Committee in Oslo. We talk with the BBC's Lars Bevanger in Oslo, presidential historian Douglas Brinkley and New York Times correspondent Sheryl Gay Stolberg for their reactions.

Hans Blix, former head of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), reacts to President Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize win.

Taking a closer look at how the decision was made for President Obama to win the Nobel Peace Prize, we talk again with Paul Martin, professor and director for Human Rights Studies at Barnard Colleage at Columbia University. We also talk with John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., who served under President George W. Bush.

We continue our discussion about President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize win. With us this morning is Paul Martin, professor and director of Human Rights studies at Barnard College at Columbia University. We also talk with 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai for an international take on this surprise win.

President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize early this morning for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” according to the Nobel Committee in Oslo. We take a look at the significance of this and a look back at the history of the prestigious award with Professor Paul Martin, director of Human Rights Studies at Barnard College, the BBC's Lars Bevanger reporting from Oslo, and New York Times reporter Alan Cowell.

Today in Stockholm, the Nobel prize committee announced that Romanian-born German poet Herta Muller has won the 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature. Muller is the author of such books as "The Land of Green Plums" and "The Appointment: A Novel." We speak to Patrik Henry Bass, books editor for Essence magazine, about why American authors so rarely win what is arguably the literary world's most coveted prize.

Wangari Maathai, the winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize will be our special guest on Friday's Takeaway (April 10, 2009). What would you like us to ask Africa's first female Nobel Peace Prize Laureate?

Record a question for us to play back on air at 1-877-8-MY-TAKE, e-mail us at mytake@thetakeaway.org or leave your question in the comments section below.