Click on the audio player above to hear this interview. We all know Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech—it’s remembered nearly every January, when we celebrate the federal holiday dedicated to the civil rights activist. The speech, delivered at the 1963 March on Washington, will celebrate its 50th anniversary in August. It turns out August 1963 wasn't the first time that King delivered that speech. A few months earlier, on June 23, Dr. King led more than 100,000 people in...

HBO's "The Sopranos" changed television, it changed the entertainment industry and actor James Gandolfini himself changed the character of the Italian-American made guy. News broke late Wednesday that Gandolfini, who was in Italy for a film festival, died of a heart attack. He was 51. "We're all in shock and feeling immeasurable sadness at the loss of a beloved member of our family," a statement from HBO says. "[Gandolfini] was a special man, a great talent, but more importantly a gentle...

In the small Mexican town of Malinalco Takeaway host John Hockenberry met Hermelinda Medina Millan. In April, 1997 when she and her husband first decided to migrate north, cross the border, and enter the United States illegally. Her husband Anselmo Vazquez Landeros worked in the fields for a cotton grower. He drove tractors, plowed the fields laid out irrigation tubing. Life was hard, and it became even harder for Anselmo after Hermelinda decided to take Nancy back to Mexico to rejoin their...

Was the I.R.S. correct to flag certain organizations applying for tax-exempt status for additional review? New analysis from The New York Times finds that in many cases groups singled out by the IRS may, in fact have been involved in “improper campaign activities.” A California group called the CVFC, for example, spent thousands of dollars on radio ads supporting Republican Congressional candidate.  Another organization called the Ohio Liberty Coalition, which has complained about the...

Yet again the mayor of Oklahoma City has been tested and challenged by tragic circumstances. The latest giant tornado to strike the Oklahoma City area and its suburbs on Monday destroyed entire neighborhoods, leaving at least two dozen dead, and hundreds injured. Mick Cornett, the mayor of Oklahoma City, gives an update on how his city is faring now, and what work is at the top of his to-do list.

We’ve all found ourselves in bad situations, and chosen not to get out. On a personal level, those situations might be a bad jobs or unfulfilling relationships. On a bigger level, they might be international conflicts or government cover-ups. But regardless of scope, one question persists: Why is it that we so often stay, and for so long? To quote Kenny Rogers: Why don’t we know when to walk away, or for that matter, know when to run? Turns out there’s a reason, and that reason has a name....

They vowed to go where no one has gone before. But can the crew of the Enterprise really go new places without paying tribute to the old? And what are those old places that brought us to where we are now? David Goodman is something of a “Star Trek” historian. He’s the author of “Star Trek Federation: the First 150 Years.” He’s even written for the Star Trek franchise, specifically for the TV series “Star Trek: Enterprise.” And he’s also the man who penned the famous “Futurama” episode “Where...

A recent Pentagon report demonstrates the severity of the problem: based on anonymous surveys, the Defense Department estimates that 26,000 members of the military were sexually assaulted in fiscal year 2012, up from 19,000 the year before. Of these 26,000 victims, only a small fraction, 3,374 in 2012, reported the crime. These grim statistics combined with recent sexual battery charges against the Air Force's sexual assault prevention chief and similar accusations against an Army...

The implementation of the Affordable Care Act is the responsibility of the Department of Health and Human Services, which largely writes the regulations; oversees notifying hospitals and providers about what is changing; provides insurers with fair warning of new regulations and requirements; and heads up the national campaign to inform the public. In a controversial move, the federal government has turned to private sources to help with the marketing and information campaign for the ACA....

This Sunday marks a year since last Mother’s Day, and while many of us say thanks in the form of a card, a text or a bunch of flowers, celebrated actress, model and environmental activist Isabella Rossellini says thanks through a short film series called “Mammas.” After writing and directing the Webby-award winning Sundance series “Green Porno” and “Green Porno Seduce Me," which celebrates the mating rituals and sex lives of animal. Rossellini turns her attention to exploring creatures’...

Marijuana regulation has changed radically over the last few years. Voters in Washington State and Colorado legalized marijuana in the 2012 election, and, with a prescription, almost any Californian can walk into a dispensary and buy the substance. With changing policies come new challenges regarding the economics and culture of marijuana.  First, a regulatory angle. Six months ago, Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. While...

All this week we're talking to women and mothers who have harnessed smarts, spirit, and self-awareness to break into male-dominated careers and rise to the top. Judy Woodruff has covered news and politics as a broadcast journalist for more than three decades for PBS, CNN, and NBC. She served as an anchor and senior corresponded at CNN for 12 years and was the White House Correspondent for NBC News from 1977 to 1982.  Woodruff is also a wife and mother of three, including a son with spina...

This week a large team of “medical reinforcements” including Navy nurses, corpsmen, and specialists, were deployed to Guantanamo Bay as a response to the ongoing inmate hunger strike. With about 100 inmates refusing food in protest, the use of force-feeding tubes is now widespread, due to a military directive that aims to keep patients alive, regardless of if they want to be fed or not, or live or not. In a press conference Tuesday morning, President Obama responded to the force-feeding,...

A lot of people are talking about NBA player Jason Collins right now. Yesterday, he came out, becoming the first openly gay player in major American team sports. There have been those who’ve spoken out in support of Jason Collins, including Bill Clinton and Kobe Bryant, who tweeted, “Proud of jasoncollins34. Don’t suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others.” Not everyone, however, has been supportive. On Monday, on the ESPN show “Outside the Lines,” sports analyst Chris Broussard...

A new study from the Urban Institute offers strong evidence that the recession has exposed the United States as an economy without equality of opportunity.  The study shows a growing disparity in wealth between non-Hispanic white Americans and most minority groups-- and argues that major policy reforms are necessary to level the playing field for all Americans. Darrick Hamilton, associate professor of urban policy and economics at the New School in New York breaks down the...

The notions of terror and terrorism have occupied the headlines recently, in many ways, terror has been a large part of the American conversation since September 11, 2001. But one side of the conversation we don’t often see on film is that of the people living their lives in America, working alongside us, living alongside us as neighbors, only to be reframed as enemies or others because of how they look or worship. Mira Nair’s new film, “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” boldly goes there....

After the bombings at the Boston Marathon last week, residents in the city have come together in a sign of resilience. On The Takeaway this week, we're talking about the importance of residents getting to know their neighbors, especially during times of crisis or tragedy.  For Hassan Malik, little did he know that the Boston bombers lived just 200 yards from his home. Malik, a PhD candidate in international history at Harvard University, never met either of the Tsarnaev brothers, but he...

America has a love-hate relationship with marijuana. Millions of people use the drug but it remains mostly illegal. A journalist and self-professed marijuana enthusiast explores the country's dysfunctional relationship with cannabis and his own experience with the drug in a new book, "Marijuanamerica."   Part travelogue, part analysis, author Alfred Ryan Nerz goes inside a medical marijuana dispensary and finds himself entrenched with a major West Coast dealer as he looks at the drug's...

When the bombs went off at the Boston Marathon, social media networks lit up with cell phone pictures and videos. Investigators requested that anyone with footage of the attacks share them with authorities. While that information may have been helpful, the key technology used to identify the bombing suspect was Closed Circuit Television footage. There have been huge advancements in this technology over the past decade. John Cutter, former Commanding Officer for the NYPD's Criminal...

The tragic bombing of Boston's marathons leaves many unanswered questions. Who orchestrated it, and for what purposes?  Marathons are always equipped with security forces, but in this case, they were unable to stop this horrific attack. Here to talk about the security measures marathon organizers should pursue in the aftermath of this attack, and counterrorism around large events more generally is Nick Casale, New York City's Metropolitan Transit Authority's first Deputy Director of...

Today the Supreme Court hears arguments in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., a case that will determine whether companies have the right to patent human genes.  The case centers on Myriad Genetics, a company that patented the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in 1994. For women, the presence of either BRCA gene indicates increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Myriad Genetics discovered the genes and developed the test to determine whether patients have them. Myriad...

We’re in Portland this week, and there’s a lot to love in this town when it comes to food: food trucks, farmers markets, artisanal cheese, artisanal everything. It's hard to know where to begin. After all, who's a food snob, and who's a food lover? Enter Leo and Soren Westrey. They consider themselves anti-food snobs. And they also happen to be only nine years old. Leo and Soren are the young twins who write the food blog, KIDCHOWPDX, which includes everything from restaurant reviews to...

The president went off to Newtown, Connecticut yesterday to try and get some momentum for some new gun legislation. Here's what he had to say: "Newtown, we want you to know that we're here with you. We will not walk away from the promises we've made. We are as determined as ever to do what must be done, in fact, I'm here to ask you to help me to show that we can get it done. We'r not forgetting." Senate passage is iffy, and there is still the House to consider, and yet lawmakers on both...

According to her spokesman, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher died of a stroke this morning at 87. She served at the head of the Conservative party from 1979 to 1990. She was the first female prime minster.