As part of our farewell to The Takeaway, host Melissa Harris-Perry sits down with the people behind the scenes who make The Takeaway happen. Today, we're taking a look at some of the work done by Cat Sposato while here on the show. Some of her favorite segments include: Unpacking the Parkland Shooter VerdictA Conversation with MacArthur Fellow Kiese LaymonHurricanes, Puerto Rico and Bad Bunny's "El Apagón"The Polarizing Popularity of Pickleball Cat joined The Takeaway team in September 2022, while in the final semester of her Master's program a ..read more

As part of our farewell to The Takeaway, Melissa Harris-Perry sits down with the folks behind the scenes who make the show happen every day. Today, we're highlighting the work of Mary Steffenhagen — an award-winning investigative journalist and producer who joined The Takeaway just over a year ago — by listening back to a few of her favorite segments: • "When Women’s Survival is Criminalized" and "Corrections in Ink" • "A Culture of Abuse and Cover-Ups in the Southern Baptist Convention" • "How Trains Left Indelible Tracks on American Culture" • "Music In Their Ow ..read more

We continue our Producer Appreciation Weeks with Host Melissa Harris-Perry, who peels back the curtain and speaks with the talented folks that make The Takeaway every day. Producer Ryan Wilde got his first taste of radio in an unlikely place: 104.5 Ice Radio in Antarctica.  After beginning his public radio career as an intern, and then producer for The Brian Lehrer Show, he also had a stop in Illinois to produce The 21st, a daily, statewide show produced by Illinois Public Media. After returning to New York City, he joi ..read more

As part of our Producer Appreciation Weeks, Host Melissa Harris-Perry talks with the professionals behind the scenes who bring you the stories you value and the shows you love.  Producer Katerina Barton revisits some of her favorite segments that she's produced throughout the past two years on The Takeaway: Gordon Plaza Residents Fight for Relocation from Toxic Land What is Driving the Truck Driver Shortage? What Does Queer Mean? Holiday Movie Prescriptions The Savannah Bananas Play Ball   Katerina joined The Takeaway as an intern in 2020 and came back as a temp produc ..read more

As the Takeaway comes to an end, we get one last set of movie prescriptions from Kristen Meinzer, a culture critic and host of the podcast "By The Book" and Rafer Guzman, a film critic for Newsday, and they bring us movie prescriptions about embracing change and fresh starts. Together Kristen and Rafer are the co-hosts of the podcast, Movie Therapy. KRISTEN’S PICKS: Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar, 2021 When middle aged best friends Barb and Star lose their jobs, they decide that a restorative vacation in Vista Del Mar is just what they need to he ..read more

You might not know this about our Line Producer Jackie Martin, but she is an Air Force Veteran who served from 2000-2005. On The Takeaway, she has produced segments about “Other Than Honorably” Discharged LGBTQ+ Veterans who were discriminated against and discharged due solely to their sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status. On top of that, she has coproduced a number of other segments about sports, politics, and culture. "After she left the AirForce she began her career in radio, where she worked for Howard Stern, and the SiriusXM sports channels ..read more

We went behind-the-scenes with our control room team: Jay Cowit, Vince Fairchild and Jackie Martin to find out how The Takeaway gets made every day. Then, we got a 1-on-1 conversation between show host Melissa Harris-Perry and Director Jay Cowit who's been working on the Sound design of The Takeaway for nearly 15 years now. "Jay has been with The Takeaway since its on-air inception in 2008, and has been the Show Director, Technical Director, and sound designer since 2009...He is responsible for the show's aural style, including, but not limited to, selec ..read more

On Friday, June 2, we will broadcast our final episode.  As we head into these final days, we are taking the time to pause and show a little gratitude for the extraordinary team of producers who make The Takeaway every day.  Today, we are hailing our Senior Producer: Shanta Covington. Shanta and Takeaway host Melissa Harris-Perry have been working on media projects together for over a decade now. They first met when Melissa worked as a tv host on MSNBC's MHP Show (2012-2016). Shanta was a guest booking producer for the network with a profound impact. On the MHP show, s ..read more

Ruth E. Carter made history when she became the first Black costume designer to win an Oscar, and the first Black woman to win two Oscars, both for her work on Marvel’s Black Panther franchise. She’s been the premier designer for movies that portray iconic Black characters and cultures for three decades, having worked with the likes of Spike Lee, Denzel Washington and Ava DuVernay even before her Black Panther triumphs. Carter recounts pivotal moments and reflects on her career in a new book, "The Art of Ruth E. Carter: Costuming Black History and the Afrofuture ..read more

A group of dancers working at the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, just won their battle to form the only current union for strippers in the country. Since being locked out on the job in March 2022, the dancers held a strike and picket for eight months before officially voting to unionize with Actors' Equity in November. But club management challenged the vote, prompting the National Labor Relations Board to set a hearing for May 15, 2023. Yet over this past weekend, the owners agreed to come to ..read more