Hsi-Chang Lin

• BUSINESS:  Our partner, The New York Times is looking at the lasting negative effects of the recession in a series called "The New Poor." Times finance contributor Louise Story describes the series and the effects of long-term unemployment on Americans.
• OLYMPICS: New York Times reporter, Jason Stallman, previews the Olympic ice dancing finals, the semi-finals in women's hockey, and freestyle skiing aerials.
• ANIMAL PROTECTION: There is a new bill in the works in California that could treat people who abuse animals like sex offenders. New York Times reporter, Jesse McKinley, explains how animal abusers could soon be listed in an online registry.

A new CNN poll finds that 86 percent of Americans think that government is broken. This week, we kick off a series called "Frustration Nation," where we examine the gridlock in the capital and how politics has come to be so divisive in America. For the first installment, we put today's situation in a historical context.

• WASHINGTON TAKEOUT: An update from Time Magazine Washington correspondent Jay Newton-Small on legislation President Obama just introduced that would crack down on insurance companies. It's the first time the president has introduced legislation in the health care debate.
• OLYMPICS TAKEOUT: From Vancouver, New York Times reporter, Jason Stallman recaps the Olympics weekend, including the U.S.- Canada hockey team and Bode Miller's gold performance in the super combined.
• LISTENER RESPONSE: All weekend our listeners called in with their nominations for the top sports movies for people who hate sports. We hear some of your favorites.

Later this afternoon, the Department of Health and Human Services is expected to release a report criticizing insurance companies for their dramatically increasing insurance premiums.

• BUSINESS TAKEOUT:  European investors are focusing on the debt in countries like Greece and Italy, but domestic analysts will be watching the U.S. Treasury, which releases the monthly deficit figures this afternoon. New York Times finance reporter Louise Story brings us more.
• SPORTS TAKEOUT:  New York Times sports reporter John Branch brings us up to speed with the latest Olympic news.
• LISTENERS RESPOND: We asked listeners which hobby you'd like to turn into a money-making venture. Here's what you said.

• BUSINESS TAKEOUT:  The Greek finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, is attempting to reassure the European Union that his country's deficit problems are largely under control, but New York Times finance reporter Louise Story tells us that not everybody is buying his story.
• SPORTS TAKEOUT: Ibrahim Abdul-Matin takes a look at some possible moves that could happen before Wednesday afternoon's NBA trade deadline.
• DOGS TAKEOUT: After more than a hundred submissions and several days of voting, the listeners' favorite was clear: a chihuahua named Benny, photographed looking anxious between a pair of Siamese cats.  We spoke with the owner and her mother about Benny and the advantages of looking scared in a competition.

Today marks the 68th birthday of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. He is well known for keeping his country and citizens isolated from the outside world, and now, with rumors of his failing health, North Korea watchers are keenly focused on the future of this extremely secretive, and isolated regime.

• MONEY TAKEOUT: European Finance Ministers are uniting against a plan by President Obama to overhaul the banking system. New York Times finance reporter Louise Story tells us more.
• OLYMPICS TAKEOUT: The international men's hockey tournament is heating up at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Freelance sports writer Dan Friedell joins us from Vancouver.

Yesterday, Indiana's Democratic Senator Evan Bayh announced that he will not be seeking re-election later this year. The news came as both a shock and a painful blow to national Democrats still reeling from last month's upset in the Massachusetts special election that saw the loss of their supermajority status.

• AFGHANISTAN: Emal Pasarly, editor at the BBC Pashtu service gives us insight into how ordinary Afghans are responding to the joint offensive in their country.
• HOLLYWOOD LAND: The Trust for Public Land covered the Hollywood sign with a sheet saying, "Save the Peak" to raise awareness about a plan to cover the Cahuenga Peak with luxury houses being built. Sam Hodder from the Trust for Public Land joins us to talk about why they are doing this and how much money they need to raise to conserve the land.
• FINANCIAL TAKEOUT: New York Times Wall Street and finance contributor Louise Story details Wall Street's involvement in the current financial woes of European countries like Greece, Portugal and Italy. 

Vancouver, British Columbia, host of the 2010 Winter Olympics, pulled out all the stops for this year's games — spending approximately $100 million to construct newer, bigger and faster courses for the world’s finest athletes.  But we're discovering bigger isn’t always better.  

• WASHINGTON TAKEOUT: We talk to Lynn Sweet, Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times who describes the political cost of the president's upcoming meeting with Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
• SPORTS TAKEOUT:  New York Times' sports reporter John Branch joins us from Vancouver with the latest Olympic news and previews the week of winter sports ahead.

26 percent of American deaths are related to heart disease.  Diseases that our guest, Dr. Steve Nissen, chair of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, says are largely avoidable.  With an eye on President Clinton’s recent hospitalization, we examine some of the factors that make Americans such high-risk candidates for terminal heart disease.

In conjunction with our friends at The Week magazine, each Friday we discuss the winners and losers of the past seven days in a segment we call Good Week/Bad Week. This week we learn why in Madison, Wisconsin a working class hero is something to be, as a local bus driver pulled in more than $100,000. We also see how a Long Island woman topped our bad week list when she attempted to pull a fast one on the highway patrol.

• BUSINESS TAKEOUT: The Bank Bailout might have backfired in a big way, according to the special inspector for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. New York Times reporter Louise Story tells us why.
  
• SPORTS TAKEOUT: Takewaway sports correspondent Ibrahim Abdul-Matin gets personal as he profiles some of the players in this year's Super Bowl.
  
• MEDICAL TAKEOUT: Scientists at the University of Michigan discovered a trend that could exclude large swaths of society from the benefits of stem cell research. They found a huge deficit in the stem cell lines of African Americans. We ask Sean Morrison, director of the University's Center for Stem Cell Biology.

Haitian airlifts have resumed, but they're still flying almost exclusively to Florida – and to Miami's overburdened hospitals. According to Florida Governor Charlie Crist, the state has taken more than 500 injured evacuees from the Haiti earthquake since it struck three weeks ago. Doctors there says 150 of those have gone to two hospitals in Miami.

• WASHINGTON TAKEOUT: Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich talks about the latest on Capitol Hill, including where Congress is at with health care reform.
• MOVIE TAKEOUT:  Director James Cameron is once again 'King of the World' as "Avatar," his latest feature film, breaks the record for total box office receipts set by Cameron's "Titanic," a decade ago. Thom Geier, Senior Editor at Entertainment Weekly, joins us with a behind the numbers look at the business of blockbusting.

In what will certainly be looked back upon as a landmark and highly controversial decision, the Supreme Court reversed longstanding restrictions on campaign finance yesterday: specifically, laws restricting corporations and corporate money during election season.

Every seven days, the editors of The Week put their stamp on the news with their "Good Week/Bad Week" feature. 

Yesterday we heard some strong arguments against the very structure of bank bonuses from economics professor Dan Ariely. Today we hear from someone who represents the financial services industry to explain why bonuses are used.