Apple CEO Steve Jobs Going on Medical Leave from The Takeaway: Early Edition by feedback@thetakeaway.org (Public Radio International and WNYC Radio)

For the second time in the company’s history, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is going on medical leave. A year and a half ago, Jobs underwent a liver transplant, and recovered from pancreatic cancer in 2004. The company's most recent earnings report will also be released today. Both announcements come at a time when Apple is facing some of its toughest competition from smaller tech challengers as well as fellow titans like Google. Thus far Steve Jobs has been synonymous with Apple — an often essential part of the brand. What is the possible future of Apple without Steve Jobs? We talk about the legacy of Steve Jobs and the future of the world's most valued technology company with Ken Auletta, author of the Annals of Communications column for The New Yorker Magazine and author of “Googled: The End of the World as We Know It.” We also talk with Steven Levy, journalist for Wired magazine. The podcast will be posted on this WNYC webpage, shortly.

The US and China: Neither Friends Nor Rivals from The Takeaway: Early Edition by feedback@thetakeaway.org (Public Radio International and WNYC Radio)

As Washington prepares for a visit from Chinese President Hu Jintao this week, we take a look at what lies ahead in the shifting relationship between superpowers. Should we fear the "waking dragon"? We're joined by Gideon Rachman, chief foreign-affairs commentator for the Financial Times and author of "Zero-Sum Future: American Power in an Age of Anxiety," and Simon Tay, was an Asia Society 2009 Bernard Schwartz Fellow and is Chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. He is also the author of "Asia Alone: The Dangerous Post-Crisis Divide from America." Listen to the podcast.

Alone Together from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

MIT professor Sherry Turkle discusses her new book Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, in which she examines how technology is diminishing our face-to-face contact and why that matters. The podcast will be available shortly, on this webpage.

King's New York Connection: MLK Jr's Friendship With Stanley Levison from News from WNYC New York Public Radio by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC Radio)

One of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most important political advisors, Stanley Levison, has remained largely hidden from public view — even 40 years after King’s death. A white Jewish lawyer from New York, Levison probably would have wanted it that way: his interest in the civil rights movement was largely selfless, and associations from his past meant that it was in the best interest of the civil rights movement to pretend that he wasn’t involved. King and Levison met sometime in 1956. King was just coming off of the successful bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, an episode that made him a sudden star in some circles. One of King’s biographers, David Garrow, said the civil rights leader would come to New York frequently to raise money — and likely stopped in at some fundraisers where Levison was present. It was during the run-up to the 1963 March on Washington that a piece of Levison’s past resurfaced and complicated his involvement. Jones, who has just published a book about the march, “Behind the Dream: The Making of the Speech that Transformed the Nation,” recalled that King and other civil rights leaders gathered at the White House in the summer of that year.

Please Explain: Salt from Please Explain from WNYC New York Public Radio Podcast

Salt is found on most dining tables and in most kitchens--but this ubiquitous household item has a long and curious history. It's a flavor enhancer, an ice melter, has been used as a currency, and has shaped civilization. Mark Kurlansky, author of ?Salt: A World History, and Dr. Sonia Angell, Director, Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Control, New York City Health Department, explain what salt is, where it comes from, and discusses its influence on history and on our health. Listen to the podcast here.

Marian Anderson from WNYC's Soundcheck by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

2009 marked the 70th anniversary of Marian Anderson's historic performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Today, we look at her legacy -- as a civil rights figure and as a singer -- with African American opera star Denyce Graves and Raymond Arsenault, author of the book The Sound of Freedom. The podcast will be posted on this WNYC webpage, shortly.

The Anti-Vaccine Movement from WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Dr. Paul A. Offit, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a founding advisory board member of the Autism Science Foundation, discusses the debate over vaccines and why the link between autism and vaccines has been discredited. His book Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All explains the origins of the anti-vaccine movement and how it has affected public health. Listen to the podcast.

That's Crazy from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

The mental health of the Tucson shooter has become central to the conversation about the deadly incident in Arizona last weekend. Slate.com senior editor Dahlia Lithwick looks at how mental health becomes political and the history of the insanity defense. Plus: Seth Mnookin, author of the new book The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear; Money U continues with a conversation about debt collection; and Nassau County’s money problems.

What is a Chinese Mother? from The Takeaway: Early Edition by feedback@thetakeaway.org (Public Radio International and WNYC Radio)

Author, mother, and law professor Amy Chua is creating a firestorm with an essay published in this past weekend’s Wall Street Journal titled, "Why Chinese Mothers are Superior.” The essay, which was given its title by the Journal, included excerpts from her new book “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.” Both showcases Amy’s strict parenting style — from forcing her daughters to practice the piano well into the night without bathroom breaks, to forbidding them to attend sleepovers. We’ve invited Amy on the show today — not to discuss whether her parenting methods are good or bad or right or wrong - but to talk about whether or not her methods are really Chinese. And if they're not Chinese, what they are instead. The podcast will be posted on this webpage, shortly.

Sounds of the Western from WNYC's Soundcheck by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Carter Burwell’s music for the Coen Brothers’ film True Grit turns its back on the legacy of film composer Ennio Morricone, whose scores for Sergio Leone’s “spaghetti Westerns” set the tone for genre's post-60s films. We’ll talk with Burwell about True Grit’s unlikely inspiration. And we’ll get a look at how the film fits into the canon of Westerns with Kathryn Kalinak, author of the book How the West Was Sung. Listen to the podcast.

Peter Bergen: History of the GWOT from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Peter Bergen, CNN's national security expert and author of Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden and The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda, offers an in-depth history of the War on Terror. Listen to the podcast.

The Caveman Diet from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Arthur De Vany, author of The New Evolution Diet: What Our Paleolithic Ancestors Can Teach Us about Weight Loss, Fitness, and Aging, discusses the paleo lifestyle movement and the caveman diet. Listen to the podcast.

Lockheed Martin and the Military-Industrial Complex from WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

January 17th marks the 50th anniversary of President Dwight Eisenhower’s famous speech on the military-industrial complex. William Hartung, director of the New America Foundation’s Arms and Security Initiative, discusses the history of Lockheed Martin—the nation's largest weapons contractor. His book Prophets of War traces the company's rise from military aircraft manufacturer in WWI, to a major supplier of fighters and bombers for the Allies in WWII, to corporate behemoth with a major role in setting American foreign policy. Listen to the podcast.

Lessons Learned from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Bloomberg administration officials got grilled by the NY City Council yesterday about the city’s response to last month’s blizzard. WNYC’s Ailsa Chang breaks down the lessons learned as the city braces for another winter storm. Plus, WNYC's Bob Hennelly gives a preview of Governor Christie’s State of the State address; Eric Alterman on kabuki politics; New America Foundation fellow Parag Khanna talks about his new book How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance; and a continued conversation about the shooting in Tucson, Arizona with NJ Congressman Bill Pascrell and others.

The Price of Everything from The Takeaway: Early Edition by feedback@thetakeaway.org (Public Radio International and WNYC Radio)

Everyday, all of us spend money on things — things we need, and things we don’t. And in turn prices are put on those things. But where do those prices come from? How much has to do with supply and demand? And how much has to do with bigger forces at play? Finance writer Eduardo Porter has been researching these questions for years. His new book is called “The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do.” Porter joins us to talk about the nature of value in modern society, some of its mysteries and explanations. Listen to the podcast.

Eric Alterman On Arizona And Obama from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Eric Alterman, columnist for The Nation, and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, is the author of Kabuki Democracy: The System vs. Barack Obama. He discusses the new political landscape in the light of the Tucson shooting, and next moves for the Obama administration. Listen to the podcast.

The Misinterpretation of Metaphors from The Takeaway: Early Edition by feedback@thetakeaway.org (Public Radio International and WNYC Radio)

Back in March Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords made a statement responding to Sarah Palin's anti-healthcare reform campaign, saying, "we're on Sarah Palin's targeted list. But the thing is the way that she has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gun site over our district." Could metaphors in that statement have had an effect on who Jared Loughner targeted in Arizona over the weekend? Our guest James Geary, a journalist and author of the upcoming book, "I Is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How It Shapes the Way We See the World," says that metaphors in political rhetoric and imagery have a profound and largely non-conscious effect on us. Listen to the podcast.

Backstory: Post-Soviet Moldova from WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

The year 2011 marks the 20th anniversary of Moldova—a nation created after the break-up of the Soviet Union and the subsequent reshuffling of borders. On this week's Backstory, Charles King, Professor of Government and International Affairs at Georgetown University, discusses Moldova's struggle to define itself. He's the author of the book The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the Politics of Culture, and of Odessa: Genius and Death in a City of Dreams, to be published in February. Listen to the podcast.

The Surprising Origins of Everyday Expressions from The Takeaway: Early Edition by feedback@thetakeaway.org (Public Radio International and WNYC Radio)

Why do we say we’re "flying by the seat of our pants?" Or that someone’s "got our goat?" Harry Oliver has researched hundreds of the quirky phrases we use in everyday life, and found out the history and stories behind each one. His new book is called “Flying by the Seat of Your Pants: Surprising Origins of Everyday Expressions.” Listen to the podcast.

China Considers Requiring Families to Care for Elderly from The Takeaway: Early Edition by feedback@thetakeaway.org (Public Radio International and WNYC Radio)

Caring for the elderly has long played an important role in Chinese culture. But rapid economic growth has forced adult Chinese children to abandon their hometowns to find jobs in other parts of the country — often leaving their elderly parents on their own. This cultural shift has led Chinese officials to consider a law that would require adult children to care for their parents. Sheryl WuDunn, banker with Mid-Market Securities and author of “China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power,” joins us to discuss this trend in China and how it compares to the United States. Lily Weasner immigrated to America from China in 1971. She recenlty visited China to care for her own mother, who was ill, a job that traditionally falls to the eldest child. Download the podcast here.