More than 1,000 people have been killed in the violence in South Sudan that erupted last month, following a power struggle between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar. The Takeaway talks with Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University’s Fletcher School, about the roots of the current crisis. Deb Dawson, of Fargo, North Dakota also weighs in. Dawson works closely with Sudanese Lost Boys and Lost Girls both in the U.S. and abroad.

While Olympic Games often attract critics -- as London and Beijing residents can attest -- the road to Sochi may be the most corrupt yet. The new BBC documentary "The Putin Project" examines the corruption and disruption in Russia as the country prepares for the 2014 Olympic Games. Lucy Ash, an investigative reporter for the BBC, and Anastasia Uspenskaya, BBC Russian Service reporter, discuss the documentary and what lies ahead for Russia and the world as the Sochi Opening Ceremonies approach.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has freed one of his most significant political rivals, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the famed Russian oil tycoon, oligarch and Kremlin critic, who has been in prison for 10 years. Putin cited "humanitarian principles" for the unexpected pardon. The move comes just ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Joining The Takeaway to discuss Putin's sudden change of heart is Bob Amersterdam, former defense attorney for Mikhail Khodorkovsky who was at his trial ten years ago.

After days of anti-government protests in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his country would come to the aid of its neighbor to the tune of $15 billion. But the news of the deal was not enough to send protesters home. Borys Potapenko, Vice Chair of the International Conference in Support of Ukraine, has been closely monitoring the developments in Ukraine from Detroit.

Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Ukraine a massive financial lifeline, agreeing to buy $15 billion of Ukrainian bonds and lower natural gas costs. Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter, discusses what this means for the Ukraine and Russia's role in the region. Brzezinski is currently a professor at John Hopkins University and a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Brian Cox, a leading British physicist and science broadcaster on the BBC, says scientists need to realize that if they don't step up like Galileo to argue against distortion and myth they will lose the war for truth—even if they win the battle of being correct. "We're trying to understand the natural world and the world that is out there—that has nothing to do with whether you're a Democrat or a Republican," he says. Professor Cox joins The Takeaway to explain why it is so important to make science apolitical. 

Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who helped Edward Snowden break news of the NSA’s mas surveillance apparatus, has found himself in the middle one of the year’s biggest news stories. In this second half of a two-part interview with The Takeaway, Greenwald shifts his focus from national security issues to the meaning of responsible journalism. “The public will ultimately judge what it is that I do just like anybody else who’s acting in a way that affects public life, and I think that’s how it should be,” he says.

The Takeaway's Host John Hockenberry talked with Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who worked with leaker Edward Snowden to reveal the cache of classified NSA documents. Being involved with the leaks has forever changed Greenwald’s life. In a special two part interview, The Takeaway talks with Greenwald about everything from the safety of the United States to possible solutions to curb the NSA’s secretive surveillance plans. Here is a transcript of this interview.

Early winter storms are hitting parts of the Middle East with snow and freezing temperatures. For Syrian refugees, the bitter cold is only exacerbating life in make shift homes and refugee camps. Dr. Hammam Akbik, a Syrian-American doctor who works with refugees, just returned from Jordan last week. He explains the short term challenges ahead for Syrian refugees and the aid workers trying to help them.

“I think what we did made the threat much, much worse, and at the same time, destroyed many of the freedoms that we’ve all been taught define what the United States is all about,” says the investigative journalist.

More than 6 years ago, Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent, disappeared in Iran. He has been presumed to be a hostage of some kind, a designation that the U.S. government has not taken issue with. But now it turns out that Levinson may actually be a casualty of a CIA operation gone wrong. Tim Weiner is a former reporter for our partner The New York Times and author of "Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA" and "Enemies: The History of the FBI." He joins The Takeaway to discuss Levinson's case.

Dictator Kim Jung Un has executed his uncle, Jang Song Thaek—formerly the country's de facto No. 2 official. Earlier this week Kim Jong Un purged his uncle as an adviser and had him literally dragged out of a political meeting by military police. Yesterday the nation announced that he has been tried, convicted and executed for treason. Joining The Takeaway to explain what this decision means is Sokeel Park, Director of Research for Liberty in North Korea, an NGO working with refugees from North Korea.

The U.S. has long supported the effort that encourages the ouster of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad from power. Yesterday, the Obama administration announced that it would stop sending nonlethal aid—like food and medical supplies—to the moderate opposition in Syria, at least temporarily. Andrew Tabler, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and author of "In The Lion's Den: An Eyewitness account of Washington's Battle with Syria," joins The Takeaway to discuss these latest developments.

On Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un ousted his uncle and mentor Jang Song-thaek from office, for what the ruling party described as “criminal acts that baffle imagination." Joining The Takeaway to weigh in on the significance of this disruption to the reclusive state’s power structure is Thomas Hubbard, former Ambassador to South Korea from 2001 to 2004 and chairman of the Korea Society.