Jim Colgan

President Obama said today that he wants to build consensus with the Republicans who swept Tuesday's midterm elections. Now that he has a divided Congress to reckon with, the president said that Democrats and Republicans need to find ways to compromise. But, he said, there are some principles where neither side will ever budge.

How would you bridge the divide with the other side? If you're a Democrat, how could you find common ground with Republicans (and vice versa)?

After months of debate and campaigning, the moment of decision is almost here. Join Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich, for live analysis of the returns, interviews with his reporters in the field and questions from you.

Todd will help you visualize the results with real-life objects far more vivid than the virtual displays used by other news organizations. We have cardboard cutouts of the main candidates. We have a giant map of the U.S. that one can actually touch. And we'll bring our statistics to delicious life by show you pie charts made from real pie (what's more American than apple pie charts?).

Why watch cable TV when you watch the lo-fi version at TheTakeaway.org? Tune in at 7 p.m. Eastern.

And don't forget to help us report from your polling place after you vote.

After months of debate and millions spent in campaign cash, your moment of decision is finally coming. Help us capture the mood on election day: Cast your vote, then answer this one simple question: How do you feel?

 Record your message on The Takeaway iPhone app or just text the word, DECIDE, to 69866.

Then capture the atmosphere by snapping a photo or recording a video, which you can send through the app.

And if you want to do some reporting for us, ask the people around you the same question. Get the app and just follow the instructions (they're easy).

You've been sending photos and audio from your morning commute with the new Takeaway iPhone app. Hear some of the voices behind the pictures. 

Check out the slideshow and add your own image.

This week's polls are giving analysts a better idea of which party will end up controlling Congress after the midterm elections. But one survey puts some of those predictions in doubt. The Associated Press says a full third of likely voters have yet to make up their minds.

With this number so high so close to the election, just what are people undecided about? We've been asking that question all week and on tomorrow's show, we'll talk about the issues that could sway people between now and when they enter the polling booth.

In the 2008 election, just 14 percent of people were in this category. What's different this time around? What are you still undecided about, if anything? What could persuade you at this point?

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, outside interest groups have poured almost $260 million into political campaigns this election season. That's nearly four times the amount spent by similar groups in the last midterm election. And thanks to the Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates to corporation and union spending, these groups are on track to outspend political parties for the first time ever.

This might be the year of the multi-million dollar agenda.

We're profiling some of the interest groups spending the most in political campaigns this year. We're finding out who is behind the groups and what exactly is on their agenda for the candidates who enter office.

But we're also asking you what's on your personal agenda for the candidates you're supporting in November: What's the first thing you want your elected representative to do after this election?

You may not have caught this breaking news over the weekend, but on Friday Sony announced it was discontinuing the portable cassette player known to the world as the Walkman. In July 1979, the first Walkman rolled off the assembly line and into the hands of music fans who were suddenly free to take their mix tapes on the go. Three decades later, Sony thinks there's no longer a place for the device in an iPod world (at least in Japan, where it has been discontinued).

Do you remember the music you were listening to on your first portable player? Send us what was on your first Walkman mix tape and we'll relive the memories on the air.

Download the new Takeaway iPhone app and help us with an easy assignment: Send us a photo, video or audio that sums up your morning commute.

We're posting the highlights here and playing the audio on the air.

Get the app.

Tomorrow we'll talk to two guests who look at some of the science behind why people are gay or straight. It's not just gay people who react when they hear that a trait is determined by genes or choice.

Weigh in: When scientists say something in your life is genetic or not, how do you respond — whether it's sexuality, intelligence, or health? Add your comments below or leave a message at 1-877-MYTAKE.

Earlier this week, we annoyed many of our listeners when the writer Gail Sheehy called the Republican women running for election right now as "mean girls." Sheehy said candidates like Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina in California were "cut throat."

We'll hear some of your responses to that discussion tomorrow, but we'll also look at how women voters are viewing the issues of this election. But we're asking you, Is it sexist to look at politics through the gender lens?

Historians are criticizing the fourth-grade textbook in Virginia that says thousands of African Americans fought for the South during the Civil war. The author of the book, “Our Virginia: Past and Present,” says she wrote it based on information she found on the internet.

The story comes at the same time Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell is in the headlines for asking if the separation of church and state is really in the constitution.

In light of these two stories, we're talking about what U.S. history we need to get right and what parts of history are the most important to know. And we're asking you: 

What is the most important part of United States history that you think everyone should know?

Our photo project about class in your life continues. We hear more of the photographers' stories in their own voices.

Our photo project continues to draw pictures of class in your life. We hear some of the photographers' stories in their own voices.

Relationships drive the social media site Facebook: The friends you let into your network, the groups you seek to join. Relationships are also the crux of Facebook, the movie (aka "The Social Network"). In fact, it's the only part of the movie we're sure is true.

Relationships drive the social media site Facebook: The friends you let into your network, the groups you seek to join. Relationships are also the crux of Facebook, the movie (aka "The Social Network"). In fact, it's the only part of the movie we're sure is true.

We've been asking you to send in your primary day reports, particularly your experience with the new ballot design. You tell us your stories when you text BALLOT to 30644 and we call you back.

Your reactions so far have been mixed: Some people found the new paper ballots simpler - Jim Petzke said it was as "easy as eating a piece of pie."  We had lots of reports of nearly empty polling stations and people who were "in and out in five minutes."

But many of you reported problems. Organisational issues at the polling stations included missing ballots, broken optical scanners and long lines. Wayne Alan Blood wrote to our Facebook page to say that he had been "unceremoniously turned away" because the ballots never arrived.

There were lots of complaints about the paper ballots themselves. Voters called the print "tiny", and the design confusing and difficult to understand.

But the most outrage was voiced over what many of our listeners felt was a lack of ballot secrecy: Meryl Salvinger said poll workers told her to scan her ballot face up "which seems kind of crazy, with a poll worker standing standing right there, looking at it. I didn't really care, but that could be a problem for some people." Another caller, Greg Hofer, was livid:

"My voting booth was two pieces of manila file folders taped together at the end of the poll workers table. Anyone could have walked behind me and seen how I voted. In the forty years that I have voted, and I have never missed an election, this is the first time I felt exposed ... and I was absolutely appalled."

And it's not just the IAFC crowd that is finding trouble, Mayor Bloomberg has called the voting troubles a "royal screw-up."

Below is a running list of the reports we've received, updated throughout the day...

If you think you’re seeing more people on scooters this summer, you’re probably right. The number of two-wheeled vehicles registered in New York State continues to increase each year, and this year it's at a higher rate than in most other big states, according to the states' Department of Motor Vehicles. Scooter users say it’s the easiest way to navigate the city, and that it burns far less gas than a car. But while the two-wheelers may turn heads on New York streets, riders say they don’t get much respect from the City.

WNYC reporter Lisa Chow and Jim Colgan, digital editor at The Takeaway, talk about the New York City health department's new program to grade restaurants on cleanliness, and public reaction to the program so far.

Yesterday, the U.S. Copyright Office declared it perfectly legal for iPhone owners to "jailbreak" their mobile devices. In reviewing the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, the office said that although it may break Apple's warranty, there was no legal reason why iPhone users shouldn't be able to free their phones from the software restrictions that Apple places on them. The Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple Corporation responded that jailbreaking iPhones could lead to "copyright infringement, potential damage to the device and other potential harmful physical effects" to the device. The new ruling changes the sense of ownership that technology users have over their products.

Restaurant owners are bracing themselves for a new food safety grading system starting later this month.