Femi Oke

The U.S. Figure Skating Organization has a name for the increased interest in the sport they get every four years: They call it "The Olympic Buzz," and it's linked to the media exposure skating gets during the Winter Olympics. Takeaway correspondent Femi Oke goes in search of the 2010 "Olympic Buzz" at one of the most famous ice rinks in the world: Wollman Skating Rink in New York's Central Park.

It's not often that you hear a UN Chief described as a "badass," but that’s the way retired Lieutenant Colonel Shayne Gilbert is described by his team.  His official title is Chief of the Joint Operations and Tasking Center for the United Nations in Haiti.

First Lady Michelle Obama launched a nationwide campaign to fight childhood obesity this week. Major news outlets assigned reporters to cover the story, but 11-year-old Jonas Hosmer...

Despite the fact that the Department of Labor lists young people, African-American and Hispanic men as having some of the highest rates of unemployment, a group of youngsters in East New York, Brooklyn is determined to buck the trend and get into the job market. The Takeaway's Ibrahim Abdul-Matin introduces them to us and their challenges when it comes to finding work.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama proposed to spend $30 billion to help small businesses weather the tough economy. This is the latest move by the administration to support small business owners, but has any of these plans materialized into practical help? We put the question to small business owners in different parts of the country.

In just over a week Americans have given more than $305 million to help Haitians recover from the recent earthquake in Port-au-Prince.  The numbers are being tracked by the independent charity watchdog Charity Navigator. 

Until December 2009, Haitian journalist Michele Montas was on call 24/7 for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon. When she retired from her post as his spokesperson to Port-au-Prince, she vowed to do "three months of nothing".  However, that was before an earthquake destroyed her home city. 

This weekend WNYC hosted a Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday celebration at the Brooklyn Museum in New York.  Our own Celeste Headlee co-hosted the event, which included prominent educators, politicians and activists. 

• MONEY TAKEOUT: The Labor Department released new inflation figures last Friday, and it appears that the economy is experiencing moderate deflation. New York Times finance reporter Louise Story talks to us about the effects this deflation could have on ordinary Americans.
  
• SPORTS TAKEOUT: We check in with Takeaway Sports Contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin about last weekend's NFC playoffs and talk about the Cinicinnati Bengals' Marwin Lewis, who just won the NFL's Coach of the Year award.
• MLK TAKEOUT: This weekend, WNYC hosted a Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday celebration at the Brooklyn Museum, co-hosted by our own Celeste Headlee. Celeste and Femi Oke spoke with Columbia law professor Patricia Williams about the future of the civil rights movement.

• CONGRESS TAKEOUT:  The USAID says that the search-and-rescue operation in Haiti will officially end sometime today, as relief agencies transition to other recovery efforts. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich brings us the latest on this and the U.S. military's deployment in Haiti.
• SPORTS TAKEOUT: Sports Contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin tells about the big upset last night that ended the hopes of the Indianapolis Chargers and guaranteed the New York Jets a place in the AFC finals.
• MLK DAY TAKEOUT: Femi Oke and Celeste Headlee went to a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, and spoke about the future of the civil rights movement with Dr. Roscoe Brown.  Brown is a professor at CUNY graduate center and a former Tuskegee airman

• GOOD WEEK/BAD WEEK: Our regulary segment with The Week Magazine. We reflect on the past seven days to see who had a good week and who didn’t. We’ll take your nominees anytime.
• CONGRESS TAKEOUT: Lawmakers, labor leaders, and President Obama were on Capitol Hill last night saying significant progress has been made towards a final health care bill. Takeaway correspondent Todd Zwillich was there.
• COMMUNITY TAKEOUT: The crisis in Haiti has affected many American Hatians living in New York. Takeaway Correspondent Femi Oke reports from a community center in Brooklyn that has become a hub for sending aid to the country. 

The first U.S. Navy ship arrived in Haiti yesterday morning. A large aircraft carrier is set to arrive off the coast today, with 14 helicopters and relief supplies. But right now, the situationon the ground is grim. We hear from Christina Boyle a reporter for The Daily News who landed in Port-au-Prince last night.

A Hatian radio host has been offering updates of yesterday's earthquake via Twitter.

On Tuesday night, New York Haitians gathered to exchange news, share information and watch TV together as they tried anxiously to get more news from home. Femi Oke spoke with Haitians in New York City.

Last Thanksgiving, a crowd of thousands crushed into a Wal-Mart store in search of holiday sales, killing a 34-year old man.  That incident has made stores around the country look at ...

Media Takeout: Oprah Winfrey's production company announced an end date for her talk show: September 9, 2011, Winfrey will reportedly start her own cable channel. Brian Stelter, who...

I am in Brooklyn spending my lunch hour with Michelle Obama, and we’ve just been evicted from Starbucks! The manager on duty obviously didn’t appreciate the First Lady...

Mark Moffa shaves a cast in the Prosthetics lab of the VA Medical Center in New York. Mark Moffa is lovingly caressing the leg of a Vietnam vet. His fingers linger o...

The latest unemployment numbers are out, and as expected they rose. The unemployment rate is now at 10.2 percent, and 190,000 jobs were lost in October. The numbers are surprising and...

All this morning, we've been talking about scary movies and what's got you shivering in your seat. We've compiled a mash-up of our listeners' scary movie suggestions.