Kristen Meinzer

Many Americans are related to people who fought and died in the Civil War. But imagine that you’re related not just to one figure we associate with the Civil War and aftermath, but two. This is the case for Kenneth Morris. Not only is he the great-great-great grandson of abolitionist and Lincoln adviser Frederick Douglass, he’s also the great-great grandson of Booker T. Washington, the post-Civil War educator and activist. On top of that, Morris is the Founder president of the Frederick Douglass Family Foundation, which aims to eradicate modern-day slavery.

Tuesday is the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, which kicked off with the Battle for Fort Sumter. The battle began when confederate soldiers from Fort Johnson bombarded Fort Sumter, a piece of federal property in the Charleston, South Carolina harbor. In the end, Fort Sumter surrendered to the Confederates. In anticipation of Tuesday’s anniversary, enthusiasts from around the country have spent several years and thousands of dollars planning a reenactment of the Battle of Fort Sumter.

When David Foster Wallace took his own life in September of 2008, he left behind reams of unfinished work and a veritable young generation of readers still hungry for his work. This week, posthumous novel "The Pale King" is released from Wallace's long time publisher Little Brown. The book is unfinished, but was assembled from DFW's raggedy genius by longtime editor Michael Pietsch. Peitsch talks about how emotional it is for an editor to bring a book into the world when it's author is gone.

What's worse? Jokes about farts or boobs? Are there certain subjects that should be off limits for humor? And when does a movie cross the line from raunchy to completely tasteless? Rafer and Kristen debate these questions and share their opinions on the medieval raunch fest "Your Highness."

What should you see and what should you skip this weekend? Co-hosts of the Movie Date podcast, Kristen Meinzer and Rafer Guzman look at some of the weekend's anticipated films. In addition to being the co-hosts of the podcast, Kristen is a culture producer with the Takeaway and Rafer is a Film Critic for Newsday.

Kim Cattrall is perhaps most famous for her role as Samantha Jones on “Sex and the City.” But the accomplished stage and film actress has made memorable appearances everywhere from “The Simpsons” to London’s West End. Her newest project showcases even more of her range, though the subject may be similar to her most famous role. “Meet Monica Velour,” which opens today in a limited release, follows the relationship between an aging 1970s porn star, played by Cattrall, and the teenage boy who’s obsessed with her.

In just a few days, a new law goes into effect in France, banning any veils that cover the face. Effectively a "burqa ban," the law was passed last fall by the French senate with a vote of 246 to 1. But it’s not just the French senate that’s in favor of the ban. The Pew Global Attitudes Project found in a survey last year that only one in four French people are opposed to the ban.

Every day between April and August, Philip Connors climbs a 55-foot tower and settles into a 7-by-7 foot enclosed platform for the next eight hours. The tower is in the Gila National Forest of New Mexico, and his duty while there, is to look out for fires. But while Gila receives more than thirty thousand lightening strikes per year, Connors’s job is actually closer to Walden Pond than reality TV. Alone with nature, and his thoughts, he enjoys solitude, freedom and independence — independence which surely helped him complete a new book called “Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout.”

Before Julia Child was a famous cookbook author, before she became television’s first iconic television chef, and long before she was played by Meryl Streep in the Nora Ephron film “Julie and Julia,” Julia Child worked for the Office of Strategic Services, or OSS. The OSS was a spy organization formed during World War II and was a predecessor to the CIA. Julia met Paul Child while they both served in the OSS in the 1940s.

Between the powerful days of the Roman Empire and the intellectually vibrant era of the Renaissance, there was a time that we often refer to as Early Middle Ages, or more pejoratively, as the Dark Ages. During these centuries, literature, written history, and cultural achievements were on the decline in the western world. But just a bit further east, in the Arab world, a golden age of enlightenment was taking hold.

One shining moment, you reached for the sky.... When you hear the song "One Shining Moment," how do you feel?  Loved by some and hated by others, the emotional anthem has wrapped up the NCAA basketball championship for 25 years. Where do you stand on “One Shining Moment”? And what is it about sports that so often inspire divisive songs? Jon Solomon has his opinions on the matter. A college basketball journalist for Princetonbaskeball.com, he’s also a DJ at WPRB – Princeton.

In honor of April Fool's Day, Rafer and Kristen decided to turn this week's Movie Date into a Movie Dare. Knowing that Kristen would never choose to see "Road House" on her own, Rafer dared her to see the Patrick Swayze classic. And knowing that Rafer had yet to enjoy the entire Mariah Carey oeuvre, Kristen dared him to see "Glitter." Was this the scariest dare ever?

It’s the season of college acceptance and rejection letters, and all this week, we’ve been talking about college-related topics.

Today, we’re talking again with Beth Kobliner, Takeaway contributor and appointee to the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability. Beth was here on Tuesday to walk us through the ABCs of college loans, financial aid, and debt.

Beth is back today to answer all the listener questions that have come in since her appearance on Tuesday.

"Wretches and Jabberers" is a buddy movie, a road trip movie and a moving adventure. But this new film is different than your typical mainstream fare. The documentary stars two autistic friends and advocates who do most of their communicating through typing. The story follows Larry Bissonnette and Tracy Thresher, as well as their assistants Pascal Cheng and Harvey Lavoy, as they travel around the world, meet other autistic people, and advocate for autism rights.

Remember the periodic table? With its 92 elements and perplexing abbreviations? No doubt, you had to memorize portions of the table back in high school. But beyond high school classes and chemistry jobs, why should we care about the elements?

It’s college acceptance letter season, and all this week, we’re talking about college-related issues. Up until the 1960s, historically black colleges were the primary higher learning institutions available to African-Americans. Some of the most famous black people in the U.S., from Oprah Winfrey to Spike Lee, have attended them and went on to achieve great success. But in our seemingly less-segregated times, are these colleges really a good educational option?

Actor Ted Danson is having a phenomenal year on television. He has hit roles in three hot series: HBO's "Bored to Death" which he stars alongside Jason Schwartzman and Zach Galifianakis. He shows up every now and again on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and shares the screen with Glenn Close in "Damages." But our beloved "Cheers" bartender is mostly fired up about his latest off-screen project, ocean conservationist. He has co-authored a book that looks at the state of the oceans and how we can save them. He says he loves the ocean and wants to make it easy for anyone to help.

More than 140 million people have been watching the NCAA men’s basketball tournament this year. And nearly everyone involved with March Madness is profiting handsomely from the games. That is, everyone but the players. "Frontline" correspondent Lowell Bergman investigates NCAA labor issues in his new documentary, “Money and March Madness,” which airs on PBS tonight. Sonny Vaccaro believes that student athletes should benefit; he signed Michael Jordan to his first shoe contract.

All teenagers have been warned: “don’t give into peer pressure.” We hear that peer pressure can do things like lead to drugs and binge drinking and unplanned pregnancies. Maybe peer pressure will make you drop out of school and join a gang. But in Tina Rosenberg’s opinion, peer pressure isn’t all bad. The Pulitzer Prize-winner is the author of a new book called “Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World.” She argues that peer pressure is a very versatile tool.

The history of slavery is interwoven with the history of America, but what most of us learn about in school is the history of white settlers. And even in that white history, there are particular characters — mostly Dutch and Anglo-Saxon Protestants. Not Catholics, and certainly not Jews. But that may be about to change. A new novel called “Song of Slaves in the Desert” centers on a slave family and its owners, who are Jewish. It’s written by Alan Cheuse, the novelist and George Mason University professor who you might know as the books reviewer for NPR’s All Things Considered.