Ben Brock Johnson

When Officer Peter Figoski responded to an alleged burglary Monday morning and was shot in the face, he became the 166th American police officer to be killed in the line of duty ...

Virginia Tech freshman Kelsey Starr, of Avon, Conn., has been live tweeting her experience on campus in the wake of a shooting incident Thursday that left a police officer and one other person dead. Starr, who writes for the university's newspaper, the Collegiate Times, told Takeaway producer Mythili Rao that the campus was under strict lockdown. "They don't know exactly where he is and everyone's on lockdown," she said. "Everyone's scared and I'm actually in one of the academic buildings here. I locked myself in a room with 3 other girls." Listen to the interview: 

Economically, Detroit is arguably a city fighting to diversify, reimaging itself everyday as a hub of entrepreneurship. But socially, some say, Motown is stuck in neutral, still weighed down by decades of racial divisions and a reputation as one of the most segregated cities in America.  

"Racism continues to cast a shadow over southeast Michigan, and we are still feeling the impact,” said Thomas Costello. Costello is CEO of The Michigan Roundtable, a human rights group that’s come up with what it considers a bold idea to tackle issues of race in Detroit: an independent truth commission on racial inequality. 

 

Occupy Wall Street and other Occupy movement protests have made headlines this week — both in New York and elsewhere around the country. Tuesday and Today, protesters clashed with police in disputes over their right to occupy parts of lower Manhattan. We want to know: Has your view of the Occupy movement evolved in light of recent events? How? Answer our poll. 

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Anyone watching the American economy might question what it means to have job security 2011. In Detroit this week, a group of national community organizers will be taking the question to the extreme as they ponder: What does it mean to work? The traditional answer—get a job and keep it—is suddenly beyond the reach of so many Americans, that the very definition of work must be re-imagined; say organizers of the Reimagining Work conference.

It brought in the big bucks, but did "Paranormal Activity 3" actually scare our intrepid movie date podcasters? Well, the review is mixed. Neither really lost any sleep about it, even though Kristen has a long history of being kept up by scary ("The Shining") and non-scary ("The Hulk") movies and TV shows. Unsurprisingly, the podcast turns into a discussion of Kristen and Rafer's favorite scary movies as well as a review of the latest blockbuster. 

Earlier this week we asked our listeners to participate in a flash poll about GOP candidates participating in the 10th presidential debate. With so many Republican debates so far (Wednesday was the 10th), and so may to go (12 more), we wanted to see how listeners might thin the herd. We wanted to know: of the four candidates polling the lowest, who would you "vote off" the next debate? The choices were Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.), and Jon Huntsman. Who did you choose? 

When the TV cameras are gone, what is it like to spend the night at Occupy Wall Street? It's been a month since protesters first began to occupy Zuccotti Park, near Wall Street in New York City. Since then, temperatures have been dropping as the number of protesters in New York and across the globe grows. This leaves many wondering how many protesters will be left when winter hits. Well, we aimed to find out — and to understand better just who was spending the night there and why.

If Michigan legislators have their way, the state could soon be home to some of the most permissive charter school regulations in the nation.

Michigan, and Detroit in particular, is widely seen as one of the epicenters for a number of experimental school reforms. The recently introduced legislation aiming to relax the cap on charter school growth, follows a move, earlier this year, that essentially placed the worst performing schools in the Detroit Public School system into a separate district. The city and the state have been rallying to overcome U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s declaration, last year, that DPS was “arguably the worst urban school district in the country.’’

But in the push to implement sweeping school reform, some veteran educators say Detroit and the state may be missing an opportunity to make student and classroom-centered changes.

 

You don't have to be an urban planner to know that cheap quality space can mean artists, and artists can mean revitalization. With a video slide show, Martina Guzman of WDET tells the stories of artists who have moved or even returned to Detroit and Berlin, not only for the cheap space, but for businesses and manufacturing infrastructure open to their needs. 

Last week and today, we've been covering added charges for basic banking needs as well as the Wall St. protest movement that seems to be emerging. Tomorrow, we plan to speak to a person from a big bank — or at least, someone who represents their point of view. We want to ask them questions from listeners. What would you ask a representative of big banks? 

The push to re-imagine Detroit as a national Mecca for creative entrepreneurs takes another leap  forward, starting September 21, with the new Detroit Design Festival, eight days and nights of crowd-sourcing ideas, talents and urban solutions.. The city has been making global headlines of late for its ability to draw young artists from all over the country and from every genre on the promise of cheap real estate and rich creative opportunity. This festival marks the first major showcase of creative Detroit and the potential local and relocating artists have to transform one of America’s anchor rust belt cities.

 

For those who came of age in the 1990s it may be hard to believe, but Nirvana’s "Nevermind" album turns twenty years old this week. Considered groundbreaking by some and over-hyped by others, the album is still often played and discussed two decades later.

The Vancouver indie band Destroyer is known for writing inscrutable lyrics. But when the group released its music video for "Savage Night at the Opera," it was surprising how few note...

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, there were many human casualties. But for some, like John Hockenberry, one of the most significant casualties in his own life was a feeling of control. Ten years later, Hockenberry reflects on the attacks, and what they have wrought for New Yorkers, and indeed all Americans, in anticipation of the tenth anniversary of September 11th.

Last night just after President Obama finished his address to a joint session of Congress, we wanted to conduct a quick poll, and asked 200 of our listeners from all over the country to give us their immediate reaction. We got a substantial response, and we're still taking submissions. If you want to participate, comment here, or sign up to be part of our texting team and our daily conversations on the news by texting "start" to 69866. Check out the graph of responses below. 

Last night many watched GOP candidates feint and parry in the latest Republican presidential debate at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Tonight, President Barack Obama presents his own arguments for moving forward, laying out what is reportedly $300 billion in proposals for job growth. Tomorrow we'll be talking to Michael D. Shear, political reporter and chief correspondent for New York Times blog The Caucus. He will be answering your questions about President Obama's speech, the state of the race among Republicans and how the GOP field shapes up against the incumbent.

For the 10th anniversary of 9/11, The Takeaway is speaking to people from all over the country about their own reflections on the terrorist attacks. For many, the events of September 11th altered their world. How did it change yours?