We’ll talk with American Olympians and look ahead to the Vancouver Winter Games, opening one week from today.

Toyota turmoil. Big bonus plans. And the Joint Chiefs Chairman takes a stand on gay rights. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

We’ll get up close with the largest, loudest, longest-lived animals on earth with Philip Hoare, author of “The Whale.”

Pulitzer Prize-winning military writer Tom Ricks on the Pentagon, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and the state of America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We’ll talk with Eve Ensler — author of “The Vagina Monologues” — about her tough new look at the lives of teenage girls around the world.

With filibuster threats and gridlock, many fear Congress is failing to deliver, just when the country needs it. We’ll look at what’s been called the “broken branch.”

“Avatar” was bumped off screens in China by a state-sponsored biopic on Confucius. We look at his teachings — and the rise of Confucianism in China today.

The Oscar buzz says it’s a big year for Hollywood women. We look past the hype with The New York Times’ Manohla Dargis and The Daily Beast’s Nicole LaPorte.

One year after Barack Obama’s inauguration, the loss of Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat has stunned Democrats. We look at the president, his party, and his agenda now.

The “Tea Party” movement is shaking up the GOP and big chunks of the country. We talk with Tea Partiers about where they go from here.

The firm formerly known as Blackwater is front and center again in Iraq — and Afghanistan. We ask why US forces are still entwined with the contractor.

An uncertain economic recovery. Financial reform in limbo. Is the U.S. headed for a comeback or more trouble? We take stock with economist Simon Johnson.