Max Bernstein

As a teenager, Kevin Barnes from the band Of Montreal learned the Rolling Stones’ “Under My Thumb,” and those simple chords changed the course of his life.

"I am amazed that this show is on the air — constantly amazed — because on paper this show shouldn't work," Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan tells Kurt Andersen. It’s the story of ...

Last week, the Obama administration announced a new initiative to improve a handful of the nation’s worst performing schools through arts education. The Turnaround Arts Initiative has...

The band Of Montreal is known for its theatrical, over-the-top shows. Frontman Kevin Barnes’ antics and flamboyant costumes recall the heyday of glam rock. Barnes wasn’t a born perfo...

When the documentary Bully received an R rating recently, for strong language used by real children in the footage, distributor Harvey Weinstein fought back, pulling the ratings syste...

"I am amazed that this show is on the air — constantly amazed — because on paper this show shouldn't work," Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan told Kurt Andersen. It's no wonder he f...

Citing budget cutbacks, the Brooklyn Museum announced this week that it was canceling its upcoming exhibition of “Art in the Streets,” a popular and controversial retrospective of street art currently showing at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. “Art in the Streets” has brought in droves of visitors to LA MOCA, while reigniting that very old culture war over whether a tag on the side of a building or a subway — an act of vandalism — can also be classified as a work of art.

The summer has arrived. Our kids have been let out of school. The sun still hangs low in the sky when we leave work. Our heavy sweaters and thick coats have been pushed aside for sleeveless shirts, shorts, and airy dresses. We seek refuge from the heat under the shade of trees in the park, or by the ocean at the beach. The smell of grass permeates the air. The familiar sound of the ice cream truck never seems to be that far away during the day, replaced at night by the songs of crickets.

Summer is all of these things and so much more. We want to know, what sights and sounds mean summer to you? Download the Takeaway iPhone App to send us photographs, video, and audio of the things that signify the summer to you. We'll play the audio on air, and post your videos and photos to our website.

Father's Day is coming up this Sunday, and we want to hear stories about your dad. What's the best — or worst — piece of fatherly advice your dad gave to you?  Leave your answer in the comment section, or call us at 877-8-MY-TAKE, and we might play your stories on air on Friday's show.

Security forces in Syrian tanks opened fire on civilians and killed at least 9 people Sunday, fueling speculation that the country is engaging in even more brazen efforts to quell the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad. Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, analyzes the events in Syria. "This revolt has settled into a stalemate," says Landis, while the government maintains the upperhand as it continues to shoot at protesters.

Gil Scott-Heron, a Chicago-born poet who many called the "Godfather of Rap," died Friday, at the age of 62. Scott-Heron was a musical innovator, whose spoken-word-over-jazz 1970 debut album "Small Talk at 125th and Lenox," is often credited as year zero of rap music. The record featured songs like "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," which, along with many other Scott-Heron compositions, became heavily sampled and referenced in music that came afterward. The musician and writer often said the accolades were misguided, and preferred to call himself a "bluesologist." 

Sunday, President Obama visited Joplin, Missouri to assure tornado victims that their country would not forget them. The giant tornado killed as many as 136 and destroyed the homes of many more. The president spoke to the people of Joplin during a memorial service for the dead. Truck driver and Joplin resident, Kenneth Irvin shares his impressions of the president's visit and updates us on how he is coping with the damage.  

A new peer-to-peer payment system called bitcoins allow people to use currency online without being taxed, tracked, or subject to the regulation of governments or banks. Internet entrepreneur and host of the "This Week in Startups" podcast Jason Calacanis says they are "the most dangerous open-source project ever created," and that they threaten to "change the world unless governments ban them with harsh penalties."

Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana announced over the weekend that he would not be seeking the Republican nomination for president, telling the Indianapolis Star, “I love my country, but I love my family more.” A popular governor with significant experience in the private sector who is known as an intellectual heavyweight on fiscal reform issues, Daniels was considered a favorite of many conservative pundits. Among a relatively weak field of potential Republican candidates, Daniels stood out as someone who could both appeal to the party’s conservative base, and the political center in a general election.

Average gas prices around the nation have soared to around $4 a gallon. Last time prices were this high was three years ago in May 2008, right during the worst of the recession. Then Americans began to drive less, buy more fuel efficient cars, and take public transportation more often. But according to new projections from AAA, 34.9 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more next week for the Memorial Day weekend.

A new investigation confirms that the Mubarak regime was behind the violence carried out against protesters during the revolution in Egypt. Egypt’s transitional government carried out the investigation and found that at least 846 people were killed during the three-week-long revolution that resulted in the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak. The new death toll is more than double previous estimates by the Egyptian government. The results come from a panel of judges and are based in part on interviews with 17,000 government officials and witnesses and over 800 video clips.

Yesterday, North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue's office released its newest figures on the loss of life and property suffered after 25 tornadoes touched down across the state on Saturday. According to the latest assessment, 24 people died and more than 130 were injured. As far as property damage goes, 430 homes were destroyed and over 6,000 homes have suffered damage. Two thousand people are estimated to be out of work because of the storms.

One of President Obama's signature policy initiatives has been to connect 80 percent of Americans to high speed rail within 25 years. However, the 2011 budget allocates no further funding to high speed rail projects. Furthermore, in states like Florida, Ohio, and Wisconsin, Republican governors have returned money for high speed rail projects, which was given to them as part of the stimulus. Is high speed rail dead? 

After another incident of an air traffic controller falling asleep while on the job alone, the FAA announced yesterday that it will now post an extra staffer on overnight shifts in 27 control towers across the country. The incident in Nevada early Wednesday morning is the sixth time this year an air traffic controller has fallen asleep while working alone during a night shift.

In 2008, much was made about how the Obama campaign’s mastery of social media helped catapult a young, relatively unknown senator into the White House. But three years later, voters are harnessing the power of social media not to put candidates into office, but to "throw the bums out." Recall elections have gone viral, and angry voters throughout the country are using social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to drive recall efforts against unpopular politicians.