Kristen Meinzer

Spanning four hundred years, and featuring an all-star cast of award-winning actors (most of whom play multiple characters), the new film "Cloud Atlas" is big, ambitious, and divisive.

Not surprisingly, Rafer Guzman and Kristen Meinzer find themselves disagreeing about whether it's any good, whether it makes any sense, and whether it's worth ...

Beginning today, New Zealand will have legal tender featuring Hobbit words and images. And it's not funny money, but real money that can be used to buy and sell goods, with pictures o...

While Sandy’s main impacts have been felt on roads, in homes, and in communities, they also have the potential of being felt at the voting booth. In the storm's aftermath, will all th...

As millions on the East Coast — from Maine to the Carolinas — face flooding, wind damage, dangerous debris, and power outages, West Virginia and neighboring Appalachian states are als...

David Goodman, a reporter for our partner The New York Times, explains what happened at a hospital in New York after it lost primary and backup power.

Only on rare occasions do the inhabitants of New York touch the water, and usually, it’s because the water is being brought to them through a strange meteorological event like a hurri...

Lt. General Russel Honoré knows a thing or two about hurricanes. Honere was commander of Joint Task Force Katrina, where he was responsible for coordinating military relief efforts fo...

With the presidential race as tight as it is, it could turn out that the winner of the popular vote will still lose the election. And it's all because of an old American tradition: th...

Some meteorologists are calling Hurricane Sandy a "the perfect storm." But what, exactly, is a perfect storm? And is Sandy fitting of the moniker? Dr. Jeff Masters, meteorology direct...

The new film “The Sessions” is based on the real experiences and writings of Mark O’Brien, a severely disabled survivor of childhood polio who cannot move his body, but has full sensa...

Friday is movie day on the Takeaway. Rafer Guzman and Kristen Meinzer weigh in, as usual. In addition to hosting the podcast, Rafer is film critic for Newsday and Kristen is culture p...

Still, a closer look at the Showtime series "Homeland" has some social critics wondering: is the show really so nuanced and layered? Or is it yet another show that relies on the short...

The World Series kicks off tonight, and Detroit is hoping their Tigers will do them proud. But do they have what it takes to beat the San Francisco Giants? Quinn Klinefelter, a Detroi...

Over three hundred people were killed in a 2009 earthquake in Italy. In the aftermath, many Italians focused their blame on the region's earthquake scientists, claiming that the scien...

The International Cycling Union has announced this morning that it will strip Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France wins. We talk to a former teammate of Armstrong's, next. Paul...

Last week, a 21-year-old Bangladeshi student named Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis tried to blow up the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Up until his arrest, Nafis was a student at ...

In this week's Movie Date podcast, Kristen finds one new movie comparable to "Scooby Doo" and another to be comparable to the tea cup ride at Disneyland. Meanwhile, Rafer confesses to some bad behavior at a certain movie screening, and admits that he likes Madea.

Yesterday, the Boy Scouts of America, one of the most illustrious and respected youth organizations in the world, released a number of “Ineligible Volunteer Files.” Also referred to a...

We have three very unusual movie releases this week: “Alex Cross,” which stars Tyler Perry in his first non-Tyler Perry role; “Paranormal Activity 4,” which supposedly brings the low ...

Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas. It’s a case that could bring an end to affirmative action, if the plaintiff, white student Abigail...