Kansas

April 18, 2018: By now, you’ve probably heard of Michael Cohen. Cohen is most famous today as President Trump’s personal lawyer and all-purpose fixer. He paid off Stormy Daniels through a shell company to quash allegations of a sexual liaison. And recently it was revealed in open court that Cohen has Fox New pundit Sean Hannity as a client. That information was disclosed subsequent to a raid of Cohen’s offices by the F.B.I. earlier this month. But long before President Trump, Michael Cohen was working with shady lawyers like Simon Garber, the first in a long and unlikely career that begins in a small taxi cab law office in Queens, and goes all the way to the president of the United States. The Takeaway traces Cohen’s storied career and service to the president. Plus, we look at a new investigation by Reveal documenting possible labor violations by car-maker Tesla, which denies the allegations; the myths and misperceptions about eating disorders exposed in a new documentary; the roots and legacy of Islamophobia in America; and the passing of former First Lady Barbara Bush.

April 5, 2018: On Tuesday afternoon, a disgruntled blogger forced her way into YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California, and fired at employees before committing suicide. The incident follows a spate of mass shootings around the country. But it also points to a troubling trend, a rise in the number of workplace homicides across the U.S. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 500 workplace killings in 2016. That’s up from 409 in 2014. The Takeaway looks at how a significant portion of these incidents are committed from embittered current or former employees. Plus, we bring you the latest on the unarmed black man shot and killed by police in Crown Heights, Brooklyn; the federal trial of three Kansas men who planned to bomb a Somali mosque; and, on its 50th anniversary, the James Brown concert in Boston that quelled potential riots as the country exploded after the assassination of Dr. King.

March 21, 2018: On Monday, President Trump addressed the public about the opioid epidemic from a podium in New Hampshire, one of the states hardest hit, citing “toughness” as a focal point in his approach to combating the crisis. Toughness, according to the president’s remarks, means cracking down hard on drug dealers, and a tough-on-crime approach above all else. But his plan also includes provisions for reducing the prescription of opioids and widening access to treatment. The Takeaway looks at how the White House’s approach appears to diverge from congressional solutions. Plus, we give you the latest on the man suspected to be behind the spate of fatal explosions in Austin, Texas; we preview the trial of three Kansas men charged with plotting to bomb a mosque; and we examine the fate of the last male northern white rhino, whose subspecies is now functionally extinct.