From Oprah to Piers Morgan, the world loves a good talk show. And if the multiple seasons of Celebrity Apprentice have taught us anything, audiences also love reality TV shows featuring pseudo celebrities. Yesterday, a program premiered that’s a tiny bit of both. Entitled "The World Today," the new talk show is hosted by Julian Assange, the man most famous for founding WikiLeaks. Alessandra Stanley, television critic for The New York Times, watched the first episode of "The World Today." She shares her thoughts on whether Assange might be the next Ellen, or just another candidate for Celebrity Big Brother.

The Eighth Amendment declares that "cruel and unusual punishment" may not be inflicted on prisoners. But does solitary confinement constitute cruel and unusual punishment? In a new report looking at the imprisonment of Bradley Manning, the soldier suspected of leaking confidential military documents to the whistleblowing website Wikileaks, the UN Special Rapporteuer on Torture, Juan Mendez, says that it does. Having just completed a 14-month investigation, Mendez concludes that keeping Manning locked up alone for 23 hours a day over an 11-month period might have constituted torture and has formally accused the U.S. government of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment towards Bradley Manning. 

This morning the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks began publishing more than 5 million emails from a Texas-based global security analysis company that has been compared to a shadow CIA. WikiLeaks has not explained how it acquired the documents, which belong to the company Stratfor but it's widely believed that WikiLeaks was given the information by the hacker group Anonymous. Hackers linked to Anonymous claim to have stolen emails from Starfor last year. Noah Shachtman is a contributing editor of Wired Magazine and a Fellow at The Brookings Institution.

The Oscar-nominated documentary Incident in New Baghdad recounts the 2007 killings of two Reuters reporters by US attack helicopters, footage of which was released by WikiLeaks in 2010. Director Jim Spione [spee-OWN] joins The Takeaway to discuss his film.

A seven day pre-trial that closes Thursday will determine if Army Pvt. Bradley Manning, a suspect in leaking confidential military and diplomatic intelligence, faces a court-martial. Manning's defense lawyers claim that the Army's computer security was lacking and a faulty chain of command. Meanwhile, his prosecutors have brought 21 witnesses to the stand in the hopes of establishing traitorous intent.

In Fort Meade, Maryland, a pre-trial investigation to determine whether or not to court-martial Private Bradley Manning is underway. Manning is accused of passing confidential U.S. military documents onto WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. In theory, the Article 32 hearing could give Manning's lawyers the chance to bring up a broad host of issues connected to the case — about military secrecy, for example, and about the personal difficulties Manning, who is gay, struggled with in the Army. However, over the weekend, Army investigators put strict limits on what witnesses Manning can call in his own defense.

Two appeals judges in London ruled on Wednesday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can be extradited to Sweden to face rape and sexual assault changes. Assange, who has been under house arrest in a country manor for months, maintains his innocence and contends the charges are politically motivated. Assange and his lawyers will have 14 days to seek an appeal on the European Arrest Warrant. Nick Childs, correspondent for the BBC, reports from the High Court in London.

Since Wikileaks first began releasing diplomatic cables, the organization has been seen as a threat by the U.S. government and foreign officials. WikiLeaks recently published more than 134,000 diplomatic cables, but unlike previous "document dumps," WikiLeaks published the information themselves rather than working with established media partners like The New York Times and The Guardian. Previously, WikiLeaks would turn over documents to its media partners, which would study and redact the information before releasing it to the public. This time, WikiLeaks chose to release the documents without removing the names of diplomatic sources and other contacts.

The National Archives and Records Administration releases the Pentagon Papers in full for the first time today. When the papers were leaked by Daniel Ellsberg in 1971, Americans learned the truth behind the U.S.’s involvement in Vietnam for the first time. Exactly 40 years ago, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times published the first in a series of articles based on the Pentagon Papers. The Times' decision to publish the classified documents led to a series of legal battles with the Nixon Administration. The Supreme Court finally decided the case, ruling that under the First Amendment, the Times could freely publish the Pentagon Papers.

It’s been a year since Bradley Manning was arrested for allegedly handing over a half million classified documents to WikiLeaks, in the biggest intelligence breach in U.S. history. The former Army intelligence analyst remains jailed in the Army brig in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, awaiting his first pre-trial hearing, while WikiLeak’s head Julian Assange lives under police watch in a home near London. Their relationship is the focus of a Frontline documentary "WikiSecrets," airing tonight. Bradley Manning’s father Brian Manning says his son is innocent. He joins Frontline correspondent Martin Smith to discuss his son and the documentary.

Nearly 700 classified military documents are part of the latest trove released by WikiLeaks, detailed in a new story by The New York Times. The leaked documents tell new stories of still-detained and already released Guantanamo Bay detainees, providing details of life at the prison. One detail reveals a former prisoner held for several years who now is a rebel fighter in Libya; lists of the "pocket litter" items taken from prisoners pockets when they were captured. Andy Lehren helped break the story for The New York Times and explains what was in the documents.

The New York Times obtained a trove of more than 700 classified documents holding new information about the prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay. The documents show that most of the 172 prisoners who remain locked up at Guantanamo are “high risk” and pose a threat to our national security if released without proper rehabilitation. But more alarmingly, the documents reveal that nearly 200 of the 600 detainees already released were also rated high risk. Also, surprisingly, one of the prisoners who was released is now fighting with the rebels in Libya. Scott Shane, reporter for The New York Times helps analyze the documents.

As WikiLeaks has become a household name over the past year, one of the organizations that has most aided the website's rise to prominence is the New York Times. Through many of the leaks that have changed the landscape and called into question the tenants of journalism, the Times often provided Julian Assange and WikiLeaks with an audience by studying, and publishing the documents it was releasing. As questions about Julian Assange's character grow, so do those about his impact on the world and whether it is positive or negative. Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, talks about dealing with Assange behind the scenes.

Rudolf Elmer, an ex-employee of the Swiss Bank, Julius Baer, handed over two discs to Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, in a press conference yesterday. The discs reportedly contain information on tax evasion and other crimes of more than 2,000 individuals and companies around the world. Louise Story, Wall Street and finance reporter for The New York Times, sees these events as a preview of what could come shortly, as rumors swirl that WikiLeaks will release damning information on a major American bank; perhaps Bank of America. Is the website's new target corruption in the financial industry?

The State Department is working to warn foreign officials, human rights activists and businesspeople who are named in the diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. Although there haven't been any reports of harm, the State Department is worried that the documents could put hundreds at risk. Correspondent for The New York Times, Mark Landler reports on this move by the U.S.

Julian Assange was in court again this morning. The WikiLeaks founder is still fighting extradition to Sweden for alleged sex crimes, but today's appearance had more to do with the conditions of his bail. A British judge in a high court heard an appeal from prosecutors, but ruled against the appeal, allowing Assange to be freed from jail for some $317,000 bail. Other stipulations may also apply; the 39-year-old Australian might have to wear an electronic monitoring device, and give up his passport. But he reportedly does plan on leaving his cell for some nicer digs: a 10-room mansion in Essex.   

One of the world's most wanted men is seen as a hero and a villian, depending who you talk to. Many in the United States consider him a traitor, even though he is not a U.S. citizen. So how does Assange's native land feel about him? With help from our partners the BBC, we listen to reactions on the topic of Julian Assange and his controversial WikiLeaks, from his home country of Australia.

Many Congressional Democrats are not happy with President Obama's compromise with Republicans on extending tax cuts. House Democrats showed that by voting not to bring up the tax bill last week. Callie Crossley, host of the Callie Crossley Show on WGBH in Boston, and Charlie Herman, economics editor for The Takeaway and WNYC, look at how the Senate plans to vote today on the bill.

The leaky faucet of information from WikiLeaks continues even as Julian Assange is in custody. What are this week's findings as reporters sift through the documents? Somali pirates discover underground shipments of weapons to Sudan coming from the Ukraine; an Iraqi ambassador predicts how insurgents will use video of the taunting of Saddam Hussein to recruit, and the portrayal of Chinese leaders as obsessed with the Internet's potential threat to their power. For more on these news bits we speak with Andrew Lehren reporter for our partner The New York Times. 

Our listeners have had a lot to say during our coverage of WikiLeaks and the news on Julian Assange, from all parts of the opinion spectrum.   

Kevin from Kansas had this to say: 

Assange is not some hero making us aware of a policy he disagrees with. He just releases as much sensitive information as possible to create damage. What if he was leaking information damaging to you? Prosecute him to the MAX.