Jillian Weinberger

Montanans living along the Yellowstone River say they are worried and angry, following the rupture of an ExxonMobile pipeline which sent up to 1,000 barrels of oil gushing into the river. The pipeline had been shut down once before, in May, after residents of the town of Laurel raised concerns over rising river levels. 

The number of immigrants living in the United States and Western Europe continues to grow. As the foreign-born population increases, so does anxiety about our identity. What does it mean to be American or British or Italian today? How does our identity—our ethnicity, gender, and/or race—change how we vote and contribute to civic life?

Months ahead of the 2012 primary elections, wars of words are heating up between political rivals, some of whom aren’t even running for office. Right now, Michele Bachmann landed herself in some legal hot water when she chose to use Tom Petty's song "American Girl," without the artist's permission. This isn’t the first time artists have taken offense with the political appropriation of their work. 

The coming-of-age story is a summer book standard. So many of us remember spending our lazy summer days with Francie from "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," the March sisters of "Little Women" or Holden Caulfield of "Catcher in the Rye." The next pick for our Summer Book Club furthers this tradition through a uniquely accurate adolescent voice. Jo Ann Beard's "In Zanesville" follows a teenage narrator and her best friend through high school life in 1970s small-town Illinois. The novel is so transfixing, Celeste claimed she couldn't put it down. John finished it and immediately passed it along to his daughters.

One month ago today, President Obama visited the town of Joplin, Missouri, where a tornado killed 156 people and caused millions of dollars in damage. Today we’re going back to the scene of the devastation to see how Joplin residents are recovering one month after President Obama told Joplin, "There’s no doubt in my mind that Joplin will rebuild. And as President, I can promise you your country will be there with you every single step of the way...The cameras may leave. The spotlight may shift. But we will be with you every step of the way until Joplin is restored and this community is back on its feet. We’re not going anywhere."

Randy Newman captured a moment of national anger in "Burn On," a song about the polluted Cuyahoga River catching fire in 1969. That environmental disaster pushed Congress and the Nixon administration to create the Environmental Protection Agency and pass laws like the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. But today's guest warns that these laws are woefully outdated, and that clean water is becoming increasingly scarce. Access to freshwater, he argues, is the most urgent problem we face in the twenty-first century.

One in eight people over age 65 suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Most patients develop late-onset Alzheimer's. Scientists have found a predisposing genetic risk factor for this type of the disease, and while they have yet to discover a direct genetic link, researchers have isolated the early-onset Alzheimer’s gene. Early-onset Alzheimer's is rare, affecting only five percent of Alzheimer’s patients. But it can strike as early as 30, with devastating consequences for the patient and their families. Many families are unprepared for the difficult decisions caregivers face when their loved ones are diagnosed with early- or late-onset Alzheimer's. 

Father's Day is coming up on Sunday. We've talked a lot about dads this week, about the best fictional fathers and about single dads who are raising their kids on their own. Today we'll hear about an inspirational father, a man who encouraged not only his son, but many of us across the nation. Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy decided not to seek reelection last year. He has focused his life after politics on a new organization called One Mind for Research, a brain research organization inspired by his father, the late Senator Ted Kennedy.

The American auto industry traveled a bumpy road in recent years. The big three auto makers watched their profits fall throughout the Great Recession. The Troubled Asset Relief Program saved Chrysler and General Motors from total ruin, but the American car industry was suffering long before the recession began. Bob Lutz was the vice chairman of General Motors from 2001 to 2010. His new book is "Car Guys vs. Bean Counters." He analyzes the auto industry and the culture of business.

All summer long we’re celebrating the season of relaxing and reading with our book club here at The Takeaway. Some of the novels we'll talk about this summer are escapist in a fantastical way. They’re easy to read and enjoy. Other books are escapist because they are deeply engrossing. They draw us in to a difficult story, making it impossible to look away from the problems the book brings to the surface. Today's book club pick does just that. It’s called "Oil On Water" by Helon Habila. "Oil On Water" tells the story of two journalists who are in pursuit of a scoop in the oil-rich, poverty-stricken Niger Delta.

Forty years ago, E.B. White – the author of "Charlotte’s Web," "Stuart Little", and many other beloved children’s books – wrote a letter to the children of Troy, Michigan, at the request of a librarian in Troy’s new public library. "A library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy, for there, in a book, you may find encouragement and comfort. A library is a good place to go when you feel bewildered or undecided, for there, in a book, you may have your question answered." White was just one of the famous authors and public figures who responded to librarian Marguerite Hart’s request for letters to urge the children of Troy to read.

The National Archives and Records Administration releases the Pentagon Papers in full for the first time today. When the papers were leaked by Daniel Ellsberg in 1971, Americans learned the truth behind the U.S.’s involvement in Vietnam for the first time. Exactly 40 years ago, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times published the first in a series of articles based on the Pentagon Papers. The Times' decision to publish the classified documents led to a series of legal battles with the Nixon Administration. The Supreme Court finally decided the case, ruling that under the First Amendment, the Times could freely publish the Pentagon Papers.

Celeste Headlee is broadcasting from the studios of our partner, WGBH, today. She's in Boston to speak at the National Race Amity Conference this weekend. Tonight, a new play called "Xernona and the Grand Dragon X" premieres at the conference. The play tells the story of the friendship between Xernona Clayton, an African-American civil rights leader, and Calvin Craig, a Grand Dragon in the Ku Klux Klan. It was his friendship with Xernona that convinced Calvin to publicly renounce the KKK in 1968.

Bob Graham has accomplished a lot in his career. He served as governor, then senator of Florida, and on the 9/11 Congressional Inquiry Commission. Former Sen. Graham can now add “novelist” to his long list of achievements. His new book is called "Keys to the Kingdom: A Novel of Suspense." And while it’s fiction, some of the events and characters in the book bear a striking resemblance to former Graham’s real life. 

Over the past 25 years, the MIT Media Lab has developed the technology behind a wide variety of devices, from e-book readers to robotic prosthetic limbs. The academics who call the Lab home work in a unique environment, where disciplines break down and professionals from diverse fields collaborate to create and innovate. Frank Moss was the Director of the MIT Media Lab from 2005 to 2010. He describes his experiences in his new book, "The Sorcerers and their Apprentices."

We kicked off our summer book club last week with a discussion of what makes a good summer read. Today we discuss our first pick from Senior Producer Mary Harris. Her choice for the summer is Daniel Wilson's "Robopocalypse." From "The Jetsons" to "Star Wars" to "Wall-E," robots have long been part of the American imagination. We talk to Daniel Wilson, a trained roboticist, about how "Robopocalypse" fits into this American tradition.

Whether your summer plans include a vacation to the beach or a "staycation" in your backyard, 'tis the season for relaxing and reading. Today we’re kicking off a summer-long book club. John, Celeste and a few Takeaway contributors have posted their their top five summer books on our blog. We’re starting our summer of reading with a conversation about summer books, both from a reader’s perspective and from a publisher’s perspective.

Just before the 2010 Midterm Elections, a CBS News poll found that black Americans were more likely than whites to express optimism about the economy. And while nearly 50 percent of black Americans thought America’s next generation would be better off, only 16 percent of white Americans thought the same.

Every year, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards honor the best high school and middle school students in a variety of categories, including painting, journalism and fiction. Past winners include leaders and luminaries in their respective fields, including Joyce Carol Oates, Andy Warhol and Truman Capote. Some 185,000 pieces of art and writing submitted this year, and eighteen-year-old Haris Durrani was one of seven high school seniors to win a gold medal for a portfolio of writing, out of 3,000 portfolio entries.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that California's overcrowded prison system violates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The Court ordered California to transfer or release thirty thousand inmates over the next two years. But California isn’t the only state with a high rate of incarceration. The U.S. has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Peter Moskos thinks that Americans are in denial about the brutality of our prison system. And he has a provocative idea about how to change it. He's the author of the new book "In Defense of Flogging" and an assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.