Caitlin Shamberg

World Cup fever is taking over and we went from South Africa to Brooklyn to hear how fans are gearing up for this weekend’s big games. And we asked you: Who are you rooting for?  On Facebook,  Niousha Moini writes, “Americans are the most lackluster soccer fans...SPAIN SPAIN SPAIN !!!!”

We spoke with Hanna Rosin, contributing editor for The Atlantic Monthly, who wrote a recent article entitled "The End of Men" arguing that a big gender reversal is under way. And that women are just better suited to succeed in our post-industrial society. We asked listeners what you thought. Are women better off? It's a complicated question, which prompted a range of thoughtful responses. Many of you underlined the different areas where men and women wield power.

Filmmaker John Waters joined the show to talk about his new book, “Role Models.” He counts a variety of colorful characters – everyone from Tennesse Williams to Little Richard – as his role models. And we’ve been hearing from you in response. You shared fantastic stories of those who have inspired you, citing everyone from artists to daughters. Takeaway listener, Eve called from Detroit tell us that she counts John Waters as her inspiration, saying, “that’s why I have his signature tattooed on my shoulder”

Today is a big primary day and we asked you to weigh in. If you could change the system, what would you do? Adrian DeVore suggests on Facebook that we "change it from partisan to non-partisan and implement public financed elections!" And Adam Edwards says that we should do "anything to take power away from political parties."

We also talked about the economic impact of the oil spill, which continues to pollute the Gulf. We specifically looked at whether cleanup jobs would have a positive effect as more and more fisherman are losing business. Listeners had great feedback.

The oil spill was the focus of today’s show. We heard experts on how BP should fix the spill, whether BP's CEO should be ousted and what it’s like in Pensacola, Florida, where beachgoers are noticing more and more tar balls in the sand.

This prompted Takeaway listener, Phil Henshaw from Manhattan to comment:

“We should encourage people to play with the tar balls, let them feel what the problem is, help the cleanup, let them study the dying sea life, and let them get to know what it is to be a physical organism relying on vanishing physical resources...kids just never get the chance to sit and play in the dirt with a stick any more, an enormous loss to our consciousness of being part of a physical world.”

What do you think? Would more interaction with our physical world help avoid catastrophes like this in the future? And what about now? You had a lot of suggestions for how to fix the spill.

Here are some of them:

We talked to Kathryn Schulz, author of "Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error," about her new book, which explores the merits of admitting your mistakes. Some of our listeners joked that they are never wrong, while others shared very thoughtful stories of coming to terms with the times that they had erred.  We also wanted to know if the Gore's divorce changed your views on marriage and received a bunch of responses on Facebook.

Every week we discuss workplace issues and today we talked about something that we should hold high on our list of important daytime activities: taking lunch. Justin Jones-Fosu of WEAA's Listen Up! joined us to talk about the importance of the midday break and Connie Thanasoulis-Cerrachio, of career-advice site Vault.com, explained how eating at your desk may actually be hurting your career. But we wanted to know if you leave your desk, get some air and enjoy your tuna sandwich? As it turns out, only half of you do.

Many civilians and veterans are remembering friends and loved ones today.  Last week we reached out to nearly two dozen veterans, and asked them all the same question: Who are you remembering this Memorial Day? Listen to their voices here:

And we also heard from you, our listeners, who called and wrote in to memorialize those who are close to you. 

We took your questions about the oil spill and answered them on air today. But listeners weighed via text message, our website and Twitter on on many of today's topics, from whether the housing market has improved to why they won't be seeing "Sex and the City."

BP continues its "top kill" operation in the Gulf of Mexico in an attempt to seal the oil that's been flowing for over a month. The oil has devastated wild life, marred the coastal environment, and caused economic harm to fisheries. It has also forced our government to rethink drilling plans. How will we clean up the mess after the oil stops spewing? How can we really reduce our need for fossil fuels? We're gathering your questions about the spill and we'll answer them on air.

We kicked off a new Takeaway food series looking at regional cuisine.  Today we focused on the North East, discussing the Philadelphia Cheese Steak and Rhode Island's Coffee Milk, but we know that there are recipes tucked away in all corners of the country. Listeners chimed in with some of their favorites. We're also taking your questions on the oil spill. Share what you want to know about the spill and the cleanup and we'll address your questions on the show.

We spoke with Stanford law professor Deborah Rhode about whether the law should protect unattractive people. She thinks it should and explains why in her book, "The Beauty Bias: The Injustice of Appearance in Life and Law." She thinks that women are highly affected by this bias and says, "looks are really the last bastion of acceptable bigotry in this culture."  We heard from you.

Jake McCune texted us to say: "This is why telecommuting is fantastic."

This morning, Rep. Joe Sestak joined us to talk about the primary he just won and whether he'll be able to stand up to Washington as he campaigns in his bid to secure his seat in November. He seemed certain that he could, saying, "I haven’t changed a position since then. I’m not liberal, I’m not conservative, I’m not going to change any position. I’m pragmatic." Here's how listeners responded.

"I feel human species has run amock for a long time, pushing other species to the brink of extension and now pretending we can create new life, and who knows when that's gonna get out of control and create a Frankenstein monster. I think humankind must learn humility in the face of the nature and the cosmos"

- Takeaway Listener, Dana from South Wellesley

Today, we talked about the man-made cell and the scientific and ethical concerns implcit in this latest accomplishment. The conversation inspired us to ask you to share some of your favorite movies that touch on the subject. Here's what you had to say on our website:

Jeff Jarvis had positive things to say about "making our own public" on the web during this morning's discussion of online privacy. We also talked about how earlier this week, we asked you what would happen if you tracked someone down via a social networking site (Facebook, FourSquare, Twitter) and said hello (our digital editor, Jim Colgan did this in person a few days ago). Privacy is indeed a huge deal, and you had a lot of thoughtful and surprising things to say about the issue.

I visit Michigan every summer to see my in-laws in a rural town called Ionia (pop. 12589). On a perfect summer day, the clouds are much whiter and fluffier than they are here in New York, the fields are blanketed with yellow flowers, and there's a lot of corn. Also, there's Michigan pride. So I wasn't surprised that Michiganders had some great ideas when our partner station WDET in Detroit joined us in asking listeners to come up with a state slogan. I chuckled at Mary Charest Iorio's suggestion: "Michigan: We have big lakes."  You can read the rest of the WDET listener responses below, and see how the conversation stretched into Florida, Boston and New Jersey.

Anti-incumbent fever has hit Jerry from Missouri, who writes on the website, "I would vote everyone out of office every time. It's time to shake this political class off the government teet. They can get a real job."And Marko Farion writes on Facebook that he’d definitely vote out his representatives if he could. "Yes, I would," he writes, "Michigan has been hit the hardest due to their ineptitude..." You expressed these feelings repeatedly on our website, on Facebook and via text message.

We've launched a new way for you to talk to us — via text message. We can now get your text messages up on the website and on the air. (Here's how.) Commenters weighed in over the weekend and during today's show about issues ranging from privacy and Facebook to the ideal age for having kids.

Margy Hesser shares some good advice on Facebook about whether people care about Facebook's evolving privacy policies:
"Maybe it's because I've been immersed in the newest technology gag my whole life, but no. You are in control of what you post on Facebook — no one holds you at gunpoint, forcing you to enter all your personal data. If you don't want people to know your birthday, hide it. Know how to use your privacy settings, and don't post anything that you wouldn't be comfortable sharing with the world."

It's Friday, and what better is there to do this weekend than to pick up a new read or rent a movie? We asked you to recommend a book for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, and the list is impressive. We talked about these books and more with Essence Magazine's Patrik Henry Bass (listen here). Today also brought a lively conversation with the filmmakers behind "Best Worst Movie," a documentary that looks at the making of "Troll 2," a bizarre (yet, much-loved) horror film in which vegan trolls turn humans into vegetable matter in order to eat them. This inspired us to ask, "What is your favorite worst movie?"

"I may be a simple, ignorant teenager, but is it not obvious that we DO need to study ethnic groups in schools? By banning studies of other cultures, we are only breeding intolerance, as well as teaching kids to ignore and scorn what is different to them."

— Margy Hesser, via Facebook

Today, we talked about Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's new anti-ethnic studies law (you'll remember her as the governor who just signed the controversial immigration law) and received many thoughtful responses from our listeners around the country. We asked if ethnic studies was a necessary component of U.S. History, and like the "simple teenager" above, many of you wrote to say you absolutely support these programs.