Kristen Meinzer

For this week’s work segment, we look at a coming-of-age ritual that teenagers have engaged in for decades, but might be missing out on this year due to the bad economy: the summer job. A new study indicates that the unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds has doubled in the past three years, from 10 percent to 20 percent, making the search for the summer job harder than ever.

But it’s not entirely hopeless.

Kristen and Rafer talk about 'Babies,' and other movies people will be shocked that you dislike.

For this week's conversation about family, we talk with John Schwartz about his book "Short: Walking Tall When You're Not Tall At All." Among the issues he explores are confidence, prejudice, and the choice of some parents to "treat" their children's small stature with hormones.

We're asking listeners of any height: Has your height served as an advantage or disadvantage in your life?

Today, in honor of Mother’s Day, we’re looking back at our favorite on-screen moms, from the fierce to the nurturing to the lullaby-singing. We love them, we hate them, and we’ve enjoyed them on screen for as long as we’ve enjoyed movies.

She's adored by millions for her teenage roles in movies like “Sixteen Candles,” but today, Molly Ringwald has grown up. She is both an on-screen and off-screen mom. She stars in ABC Family’s “Secret Life of the American Teenager.” She has three kids. And on top of that, she's written a new book that’s part autobiography, part beauty guide and part mommy handbook called “Getting the Pretty Back.”

It’s Cinco de Mayo, and The Takeaway wants to go beyond beer and tortilla chips to talk about what should really be on your plate if you’re celebrating tonight. Helping us with the task are Jesse Vendley and Peter Oleyer. Along with Jesse's brothers Brian and Dave, they are the co-owners of Calexico, one of the east coast's most famous food carts and winner of the 2008 New York Vendy Award.

See Jesse and Peter's tasty and simple Cinco de Mayo menu. Try out the recipes and send us a photo of the result on our Facebook page!

Each week, Newsday film critic Rafer Guzman and Takeaway producer Kristen Meinzer get in a heated, but friendly debate about the movies. This week, as a remade version of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" claws its way onto screens all over the country, Rafer and Kristen talk about slasher movies and how they've changed over time.

For this week's work segment, we're asking, How do we know if we're getting paid what we're worth? Is it ever okay to ask our peers about their salaries for comparison's sake? And what can we do if our salary seems to fall below our worth?

Beth Kobliner, Takeaway work contributor and author of “Get a Financial Life,” guides us through the murky waters of determining our worth — and offers advice on what to do if we believe our value exceeds our paycheck.

With the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico dominating news headlines, some families are reacting by turning off the TV. But other families have instead chosen to respond by signing up to volunteer, as a family. Megan Miller and her 16-year-old daughter Savannah  Miller are signed on as volunteers with the Alabama Coastal Foundation. Together, along with dad Sean and 13-year-old sister Annalese, the Millers plan to help clean up the coast.

In literature, the African-American family has changed and morphed over the years. From the churchgoing family of James Baldwin's "Go Tell It On The Mountain" to the rural female-led household of Toni Morrison's "Beloved" to the inner city of Sapphire's "Push."  But now, the black American family is being rewritten all over again in a totally new way. We take a look at three upcoming books about family written by black men.

Rafer Guzman, Takeaway contributor and Newsday film critic, walks us through the best movies hitting theatres this summer, and a few that are bound to be big, even if he doesn't want to see them.

Kristen Meinzer and Rafer Guzman host our Movie Date podcast. In this blog, Kristen and Rafer fight it out and find some common ground on the summer movie schedule.

In the coming weeks, over 100 movies will be hitting theaters, ranging from teen romances like the latest “Twilight” flick to big budget action movies like “Iron Man 2.” It’s hard to know what to see and what to skip. Nonetheless, Rafer and I have dared to choose a few favorites and pass a few judgments. Below, our thoughts on some of this summer's highly anticipated flicks, organized by category.

Last week’s oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico has resulted not only in lost lives, but in a steady flow of leaking crude oil that could threaten coastal areas, wild life, and marine life. The well head continues to leak about 42,000 gallons of oil per day, or roughly the volume of seven tanker trucks. The slick has spread out over the water and still threatens to drift into Louisiana's marshland. We look at the technologies being enlisted to combat this enormous oil slick. 

The recent accidents in a West Virginia mine and a Gulf of Mexico oil rig have a lot of us focusing on dangerous jobs, and asking: what makes some careers so dangerous? And what drives some workers to risk their lives for their work?

Each week, Newsday film critic Rafer Guzman and Takeaway producer Kristen Meinzer get in a heated, but friendly debate about the movies. This week, Rafer and Kristen consider shoot'em ups and romantic comedies after Kristen walks out of "The Losers" and into "The Back-up Plan."

This weekend, movie-goers saw Jennifer Lopez pursue single parenthood with donor sperm only to meet the man of her dreams immediately after being inseminated. But what happens when the premise of "The Back-up Plan" happens in real life?

This weekend's big movies include J-Lo's artificial insemination romantic comedy "The Backup Plan," and the action adventure flick "The Losers." Takeaway movie contributor and Newsday film critic Rafer Guzman walks us through the new releases. 

For this week's movie segment, we’re celebrating the Tribeca Film Festival, which kicked off Wednesday night with "Shrek Forever After."

Just eight years old, the downtown New York festival attracts some of the biggest film distribution companies, actors, directors, and media outlets in the world. 

Five years ago this week, the first video was uploaded to a new online video sharing site called YouTube. It was grainy, slow-paced, and featured elephants: hardly the sort of thing you'd forward to one's coworkers.

Featuring YouTube co-founder Jawad Karim, it was soon joined by millions more video clips: some of them polished, controversial, mundane, irritating and laugh-out-loud funny.

Today, in honor of YouTube's anniversary, we talk with two ordinarly people who found international fame thanks to YouTube.

There's an overabundance of strawberries across the country, and rock-bottom prices to match. Why? And what should we do with all of them?

Janet Keeler, food and travel editor of the St. Petersberg Times explains where all these strawberries came from, and shares recipes for making the most of them. And Lauren Der, 2009 Strawberry Queen of Plant City, Fla., shares stories from America's strawberry capitol.