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.

Michael Goldfarb discusses the emancipation of Europe’s Jews in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Emancipation: How Liberating Europe's Jews from the Ghetto Led to Revolution and Renaissance gives a account of how Jews ushered in a second renaissance after they were freed from their ghettos, and how within a century, Marx, Freud, and Einstein revolutionized politics, human science, and physics that continue to shape our world.

Winston Churchill coined the phrase "The Special Relationship" 60 years ago to describe the relations between the U.S. and the U.K. But now, a senior British parliamentary committee is trying to move away from the phrase, stating that the U.K. needs to stand up to Washington and start saying "no."

The G20 summit kicks off in Pittsburgh today. Leaders from the world's biggest economies are gathering in the Steel City to develop plans for repairing the wounded global economy, reforming bank-bonus structures and continuing the climate change conversation. Out on the streets of Pittsburgh, residents are battening the hatches while hoping their city avoids the wrath Seattle faced in 1999. (Seattle saw riots and chaos on the streets during the World Trade Organization meetings in 1999.) Joining us for a view from the ground in Pittsburgh is Cindy Skrzycki, a correspondent for GlobalPost. And for an international perspective, we speak with GlobalPost correspondent Michael Goldfarb in London.

Read the Global Post's full G-20 coverage

The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will meet with President Obama on the beaches of Normandy, France, tomorrow in commemoration of the 65th anniversary of D-Day. This happens while an expenses scandal rocks Brown's governing Labor Party as well as the other major British political parties. Joining The Takeaway is BBC's Political Correspondent Nick Childs from Westminster and Michael Goldfarb, London Correspondent of Globalpost.com.