We know the housing market has seen better days, but what if you’re selling homes in a housing market right in the middle of hurricane country? The residents of the Florida Keys are being evacuated in anticipation of Hurricane Ike, as the storm heads across Cuba. This left us wondering: do people still want to buy homes in a region so vulnerable to the elements? Lizette Miller is a realtor in Islamorada, Florida and she spoke with us about the best way to sell a house in a hurricane.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson described mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as “interwoven into our financial system.” The government’s takeover of the two giants will have very real effects on mortgage holders, mortgage seekers, and taxpayers.

Forget Red State - Blue State politics. But don't forget that all politics is local. The Christian Science Monitor's Patchwork Nation project is redefining political geography based on social and economic data, and in the process is clarifying the issues that will matter to Americans come November. Project leader Dante Chinni returns to The Takeaway to talk about another Patchwork Nation community, "Evangelical Epicenters."

Upon his return home from the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, “Freakonomics” author Stephen Dubner came to a conclusion: John McCain hates economists. Dunber talks to John and Adaora about what the McCain camp has against number crunchers
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As the U.S. mainland continues its debate over the selection of Governor Sarah Palin, we look northward and talk to a long-time reporter in Alaska for a local’s opinion on McCain’s pick
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About half of the year, actor and comedian Harry Shearer lives in the French Quarter of New Orleans. He’s been watching Gustav’s wrath from afar, via satellite feeds from his other home in Southern California.
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College kids heading to school are also heading for sticker-shock when they discover the costs of this semester's textbooks. But Rich Baraniuk believes he has a solution: free, collaborative textbooks.
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Guest: Trisha Wallace, meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center, Miami, Fla.
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Hurricane Gustav was the first test of New Orleans' new and improved levees, which are still being rebuilt three years after Hurricane Katrina.
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Now that Hurricane Gustav has dashed the momentum leading up to the Republican National Convention, the storm’s ill-timing led us to wonder if there has been a time in history when inclement weather affected political outcome. Author Laura Lee joins us with five examples of when the weather changed history.
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New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin called Gustov “The Mother of All Storms.” If it was a scare tactic to move the residents of New Orleans out of the city, it worked. Residents left by the thousands, fearing what could have been a repeat of Katrina. Now as the storm begins to settle, The Takeaway talks to Lolis Eric Elie, Metro Columnist for the Times-Picayune, about what the mayor will do the next time New Orleans is threatened.
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George Esteves, reporter for CBS 4, Miami
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Jessica Shower Clark, meteorologist for the National Hurricane Center
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Hundreds of thousands of parents are flooding college campuses, decorating dorm rooms, eating lunch at the student union and driving back to an emptier home-- for the first time. To talk through the mix of emotions that parents are experiencing, and the best way to prepare for this life-changing event, we turn to family psychiatrist Alan Manevitz. And for context we check in with Sandra Markt-Reardon. She’s just driven her last kid off to college.
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Last week, on the heels of the Democratic convention, John McCain caught everyone’s attention when he announced Alaska’s governor, Sarah Palin, as his Vice Presidential pick. The Takeaway talks to Tara Wall about what this means for the Republican party and the undecided voters who could be the deal breakers of this year’s election.
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George Esteves, reporter for CBS 4 Miami.
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WNYC reporter Bob Hennelly and Chicago Public Radio reporter Ben Calhoun
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We ask two New Orleanians the question they’ve had to ask themselves: Should I stay or should I go?
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Col Alvin Lee, US Army Corps of Engineers
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Michael Eckert, meteorologist and Senior Branch Forecaster, National Weather Service
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Hero Reports, a new Web site by MIT doctoral candidate Alyssa Wright, is tracking stories of everyday acts of courage, mapping goodwill in the same way others map home values and crime rates. It was inspired by the New York subway's "See Something, Say Something" campaign, but seeks not to uncover acts of terrorism, but to tap a zeitgeist of good, promote a civic culture and reflect the communities we live in.

Read Hero Reports from New York City here. Or, if you've witnessed an everyday act of courage anywhere in the country, share your Hero Report with us here.

Wednesday June 25, 2008
» The Takeaway talks with Alyssa Wright, creator of Hero Reports, and the stories of hero reporters.
» John, joining the ranks of the hero reporters, tells the subway bag story

Wednesday July 3, 2008
» Faith unites Jews, Muslims, Christians and Buddhists in Iowa flood aftermath
» Your Hero Reports

Wednesday July 23, 2008
» A Hero Report on YouTube: The Hugging Saint

Thursday September 4, 2008
» Famed psychologist Dr. Philip Zimbardo looks at how heroism can be "democratized"

When Katrina ripped through New Orleans, only a handful of restaurants survived the initial blow. Today 955 restaurants are up and thriving -- that's according to food critic and radio host Tom Fitzmorris' citywide restaurant count. Fitzmorris talks with The Takeaway about the city's enduring spirit.
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Guest: Sandy Rosenthal, founder of the New Orleans-based Levees.Org
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Terence Blanchard is a prolific composer and musician. He’s written film scores for over thirty movies including, “Malcolm X”, “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts”, “Inside Man” and “Miracle At St. Anna”, Spike Lee’s upcoming film about the lives of four African-American soldiers fighting in World War 2. Three years ago Blanchard was working on the score of “Inside Man” in Los Angeles when he turned on the television and saw hurricane Katrina hit his home city of New Orleans. Recovering from the disaster and rebuilding and reinvigorating the Crescent City has been his passion ever since. Terence Blanchard joins The Takeaway on the eve of the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans, to talk about how he’s using music to rebuild the city he loves.
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After Hurricane Katrina, colleges in the area, such as Tulane University, were not able to provide higher education, forcing students to look elsewhere for their education for the fall semester of 2005. When Tulane re-opened the following year, the decision of whether to stay at Tulane or transfer to their host school was a huge and major decision, altering lives for many students. New Orleans was still a wreck but most of the freshman students came back to study, determined to be part of their city’s future. The Takeaway talks to Amani Jambhekar, a senior at Tulane University.
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This week in Riverside, California a civilian jury is being asked to decide whether a former US Marine committed a criminal act during the course of his military service. The verdict aside, this case is a first for US courts. The case establishes a precedent by allowing military contractors and ex-military to be prosecuted for crimes committed overseas. The Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, was passed in 2002, but this is the first time it’s been tried in US courts. The Takeaway talks to Steven Cuevas, a reporter from KPCC who has been following the trial from California
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Read Senior Editor Femi Oke's notes on the series below.

It's been three years since Hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast and changed the lives hundreds of thousands of Americans. This week, The Takeaway is talking to some of those people and looking back at the events that followed the storm.

Forget Red State - Blue State politics. But don't forget that all politics is local. The Christian Science Monitor's Patchwork Nation project is redefining political geography based on social and economic data, and in the process is clarifying the issues that will matter to Americans come November.
Listen Add to Playlist