Jillian Weinberger

It's become a tradition here at The Takeaway to speak with veterans about who they're remembering on Memorial Day. Taryn Davis's husband Michael was a soldier serving in Iraq. He was killed in Baghdad in May 2007, when Taryn was just 21 years old. Taryn is the founder of the American Widow Project. Also with us is LaNita Herlem. Her husband was also killed in Iraq, in April 2006.

Memorial Day is coming up on Monday. Over the last few years, we’ve spoken with veterans to see who they’re remembering. Last year we spoke to veteran Joe Sturm about three men from his battalion who were killed in Afghanistan. But Joe is finding this Memorial Day more difficult than most, as he reflects on the ten years since the war began. Also with us is Roman Baca, an Iraq War veteran and the artistic director of Exit 12 Dance Company which stages "The Homecoming," a ballet about the Iraq War, on the Intrepid military ship this weekend in honor of Memorial Day. 

The documentary "How to Die in Oregon" premieres tonight on HBO. The film follows a woman named Cody Curtis as she suffers from liver cancer and, ultimately, makes the decision to end her life. It’s a difficult subject. Yet critics have described this documentary as “uplifting” and even “life-affirming.” Peter Richardson is the director of "How to Die in Oregon." He and Stan Curtis, the husband of the woman portrayed in the film, talk about the process of making the film and why the story needed to be told.

Today Oprah Winfrey signs off after 25 years as the queen of daytime talk. Oprah has built a multi-billion-dollar media empire. She’s one of only two African-Americans ever to grace the Forbes billionaire list — and the only black woman ever to do so. Many would argue that her success as one of the few black women in television has forever changed the face of the medium. So whether you’re a critic or a diehard fan, there’s no doubt that Oprah has had quite an impact — particularly on the African-American community.

We’ve heard a lot about President Obama’s ethnic background since the 2008 election: his father from Kenya, his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia. Few of us remember that the President's mother’s family came to the U.S. from Ireland. But the tiny village of Moneygall, Ireland hasn’t forgotten. Today they’re getting ready to celebrate the president as he visits his ancestral hometown for the first time. Barry Williams is a Moneygall resident - he says that many presidents have come through Ireland looking for ancestral roots.

Facebook has more than 500 million active users. Every link you click, every post you like, every piece of information you share with your friends on the site is also shared with Facebook — and their advertisers. Facebook isn't the only Internet company tracking you. Google, Yahoo News and plenty of other sites do the same. But how are these companies using your information? As the Internet becomes the primary way we get our news and understand our world, how might this filtering affect our world view? In other words, what aren't we seeing?

The Great Depression produced some of the greatest novelists in United States history: John Steinbeck, John Dos Passos, Zora Neale Hurston, Nathanael West. In 2011, as the U.S. recovers from the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression, our next guest wonders why the Great Recession hasn't yet generated a book like "The Grapes of Wrath." Michael Goldfarb is a freelance reporter. His article, "Where Are Today's Steinbecks?" appeared on the BBC.

Most of the news out of Libya focuses on the battle between Moammar Gadhafi’s security forces and the Libyan rebels. But what about the civilians, the foreign aid workers and the journalists who have to live with the chaos war leaves behind? James Foley is a freelance journalist reporting from Libya. He was captured by Libyan security forces in April and has been detained in Brega ever since. His mother Diane Foley joins us to talk about her son’s detention and the turmoil in Libya.

The first Republican Presidential Debate is tonight in Greenville, South Carolina. But few of the GOP’s leading contenders will be there. Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich are all opting out of the debate. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley warned that Republican candidates who ignore South Carolina do so at their own peril. "Anyone that discounts South Carolina is making a huge mistake," Governor Haley told Fox News.

Times are tough for New York City construction workers.

Despite promises of reform from both the Syrian and Yemeni governments, demonstrations — and serious bloodshed — rage in both countries. NATO continues to support the rebels in Libya while some U.S. Senators call for Gadhafi's ouster. Marcus Mabry, editor-at-large of the International Herald Tribune, looks at protests throughout the Middle East and NATO's role in Libya. Middle East turmoil has also led to rising oil and gas prices in the U.S. Oil companies are set to release their earnings this week and Charlie Herman, economics editor for The Takeaway and WNYC, looks at rising oil profits and potential price gouging investigations.

As potential car buyers flock to the New York International Auto Show this week, some industry bigwigs are skipping the annual American show for another auto event — in Shanghai. The Chinese auto show and the American auto show overlap this year, and they are certainly competing over the industry spotlight. Paul Eisenstein, publisher of The Detroit Bureau.com, is at the New York show this week. He talks about the growing importance of China's auto show. Some of America's biggest launches, including the Chevy Malibu, are happening at that show as China becomes a major market for American cars.

Forty-five percent of Republicans still believe Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States. How will this issue play out for potential Republican candidates?

WNYC's Transportation Nation recently discovered that the U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed a new rule for long-distance truck drivers. It would require truckers to install a device to monitor the number of hours they drive per day. DOT regulations state that truckers cannot work more than fourteen hours per day — and they can only drive eleven of those fourteen hours. Advocates of the digital monitor worry that drivers violate these rules and simply lie in their handwritten logs. But most long-distance truckers aren't too happy with the new DOT proposition. Harley Helms, long-distance truck driver and Takeaway listener, has had a such a device installed by his employer. He joins us with his take on digital monitors.

The United Nations Security Council authorized a no-fly zone over Libya six weeks ago, but many have questioned the nature of NATO’s mission. This week, the U.K., France and Italy announced that they will send military advisers to aid Libyan rebels. The U.S. plans to give $25 million in non-lethal assistance to the Libyan rebels. Is this within the humanitarian goals of the UN Resolution? Or is this 'mission creep?'

For a man who has yet to officially declare his candidacy, there is immense hype surrounding Donald Trump as a Republican presidential contender. And it seems that GOP voters are interested — a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll of Republican primary voters had Trump tied for second place with former Governor Mike Huckabee at 17 percent, just a few points behind Mitt Romney, who came in at 21 percent. But our next guest isn’t buying it – in fact, he’s betting his savings that the Donald won’t enter the 2012 race. Joining us is Steve Kornacki, Politics Editor for Salon.com.

Former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo finally surrendered to a military assault by president-elect Alassane Ouattara yesterday. Ouattara won last November’s election with only 54 percent of the vote. While Human Rights Watch has accused Gbagbo and his militia of crimes against humanity, the organization has also accused pro-Ouattara forces of massacring over a hundred civilians in a pro-Gbagbo region. Ouattara has promised to put together a commission of truth and reconciliation to look at crimes from both sides. Can he unite this bitterly divided country? Rickard Dicker, Director of Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program talks about the legal issues faced by Ivory Coast.

Protesters gathered Cairo's Tahrir Square once again on Saturday to demand that the Egyptian military open an investigation into former president Hosni Mubarak's abuses. Mubarak responded to charges of corruption in a radio address on Sunday, the first time he's addressed the country since being forced from power in February. How have Egyptians responded to Mubarak's claims of innocence? What does this mean for the future of Egypt?

Saudi Arabia has played a behind-the-scenes role in fighting the revolutions sweeping through the Middle East this spring, propping up unstable neighbors like the Sunni minority government in Bahrain. But King Abdullah’s government is also fragile; and after watching the U.S. government turn against former allies like Hosni Mubarak, the king is concerned that he might not have American support for long. Martin Indyk, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Director of Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution, believes that President Obama needs to renew his relationship with Saudi Arabia – and guide King Abdullah toward a more open government. 

The Egyptian revolution has transformed more than just the government. For decades, freedom of the press was out of reach for most of the Egyptian media, but the revolution has changed all that — to an extent. Some topics such as the military are still left unreported by most traditional outlets. Blogs like "Tahrir Diaries," a website run by 25-year-old writer and activist Mona Seif, are one of the few sources reporting on military trials and violations.