The national borrowing limit is set at $16.4 trillion, but that limit needs to be raised in order for the Treasury Department to continue to be able to pay for what Congress has already approved. If Congress doesn't agree to the increase, the President has warned that the consequences will be "catastrophic." Meanwhile, Congressional Republicans have been threatening to demand spending cuts before agreeing to raise the debt ceiling. Joe Weisenthal, deputy editor of Business Insider, lays out the options for tackling the coming crisis.

In her reporting for The New Yorker, journalist Rachel Aviv follows subjects with complicated legal or medical problems, such as homeless LGBT runaways living with HIV, or whether teenagers who commit heinous crimes should be given life sentences. Aviv's latest piece, "The Science of Sex Abuse," explores the difficult medical, legal and moral questions in civil commitment in cases of possessing child pornography.

It's the season for a changing of the guard in Washington. Among the new faces being nominated by President Obama, there's no one of color nor any women. Marie Wilson, founder of the White House Project, a New York-based nonprofit group, has spent her career advocating for women’s leadership in the highest echelons of government.

Temitayo Fagbenle is sixteen-years-old, and like a lot of teenagers, she sees a lot of images online that fall squarely under the definition of sexual cyberbullying; or in layman’s terms: slut shaming. They're photos of girls in various states of undress, often taken by their own boyfriends, and then posted on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere.

In a rare testimony, writer and author Mira Kamdar recounts her own experience with conservative views towards women, even as a young girl in India. Though she grew up in the United States, Kamdar was taught by her Indian grandfather that as a female, she should remain invisible.

The Committee to Protect Journalists estimates that 48 journalists have been killed or kidnapped in Mexico between 2006 and 2011. In a new point-of-view-style documentary airing on PBS stations tonight, filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz follows the story of a Mexican newspaper and its brave editorial team which is moving forward with its mission despite direct attacks on its own staff and reporters.

In the wake of a brutal gang rape in New Delhi, Western commentators have criticized the way Indian society handles cases involving violence against women. Researcher and writer Emer O'Toole agrees that Indian law enforcement and the country's judicial system should take this opportunity to examine the adjudication of rape cases, and how victims are treated in the press and in the street -- but that the West needs to do the same. 

Within civilizations made out of hunter-gatherers, the practices for raising children and caring for the elderly are far different than in the developed world in the West. But, there may be lessons to be learned from these traditional societies. Jared Diamond has spent nearly 50 years studying culture and civilizations in Papua New Guinea. His latest book is called, "The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?"

Comet ISON is expected to pass close to earth in late 2013 and when it does, it could be one of the brightest comets seen in many years, perhaps even brighter than the full Moon. The American Museum of Natural History's Denton Ebel talks about Comet ISON and other spectacular comets.

Amardeep Kaleka, and his brother Pardeep, traveled to India this week to pay tribute to their father, who was killed in the Sikh temple shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin earlier this year. They talk about the long journey that's taken them from Oak Creek to India, and the stops they've made in between to advocate for stronger gun control laws in America.

With only five days left in 2012, lawmakers are back in Washington, D.C. today to continue talks on the fiscal cliff. Before the Christmas break, House Speaker John Boehner pulled Plan B off the table. 

There are few professions, if any, that require as much as training as becoming a doctor, but now, that process could become one year shorter. Bioethicist Art Caplan discusses a new plan by NYU to allow some students to finish medical school in three years, instead of four.

For George Takei, gift giving will always be associated with something that was taken away from him as a child. As a boy he remembers being rounded up at the beginning of World War II and sent to an internment camp for Japanese Americans. It was there, in among the most unexpected placed, where Takei recalls his most memorable gift.

Recent guests, including actors Ed Burns and Brian Cox and singers Olivia Newton John and Darryl McDaniels, tell us about the gifts that have meant the most to them.

As The Takeaway explores stories of gift giving and gift receiving all this hour, a rare act of generosity changed Beth Gonzalez’s perspective on the notion of presents. Beth tells the story of her three-year-old son Lucas who was born with a rare genetic immune disorder, and how donations from all over the world saved his life.

In the last four decades, however, many new evolutionary theories have been created and revised. The "Out of Africa" theory, for example, maintains that humans emerged rapidly in one small part of Africa and then spread to replace all other humans within and outside the continent. Chris Stringer has a theory of his own. His new book, "Lone Survivors: How We Came to be The Only Humans on Earth" suggests that distinct humans coexisted and competed across the African continent, exchanging genes, tools and behavioral strategies.

Back in 1987, Run D.M.C. did something unusual for hip hop artists — they released a Christmas single titled, "Christmas in Hollis," sampling holiday classics like "Joy to the World," "Frosty the Snowman," and "Back Door Santa." It went on to become a classic itself. Darryl "D.M.C" McDaniels is a founding member of the group.

Ira Glass, host of This American Life, has a story or three of four each week on his radio program. Ira and our host John Hockenberry used to work together at National Public Radio a long time ago, including time spent working together through the holidays. But while John was just low on the totem pole, Ira had entirely different reasons for working over the holidays.

For NATO, 2012 has been a key year in Afghanistan, as troops there prepare to hand over power to Afghan security forces next year. As far as the challenges that lie ahead, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says he recognizes that countries in the alliance are economically strapped, a condition that could impact their defense budgets.

As the debate over gun control is relaunched in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, there is another conversation taking place over the mental health resources available to troubled youth like the shooter, Adam Lanza. Rick Moody is someone who has thought a lot about access to mental health services. He's the author of "The Ice Storm," and he recalls being a "troubled kid in Connecticut."