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Mayor Bill de Blasio is three weeks into his new gig, and reporters who cover him regularly are getting to know what to expect when the mayor shows up, often later than scheduled. He can be charming, a little funny and occasionally combative.

Friend and senior adviser Peter Ragone has known de Blasio for close to 20 years. In assessing his friend’s style, Ragone compared the mayor to Alfred E. Smith, a governor of New York in the 1920’s who was once called the “Happy Warrior.”

“In a lot of ways, Bill de Blasio is 21st century version a ‘happy warrior.' Someone who is fighting for the things that New Yorkers need but doing it with a smile and sometimes a joke,” Ragone told WNYC.

Listen to this reporter's notebook from WNYC’s Brigid Bergin to hear what it’s like to cover the mayor in his first weeks at City Hall and on the snowy streets of the city.

The Super Bowl is being played in New Jersey, but New York City hosting the pre-game festivities known as the NFL Experience. And starting this Wednesday, 13 blocks of Broadway will be converted into Super Bowl Boulevard—but not everyone is cheering.

Flooding is pushing a famous house out of New Jersey.

A veteran American photographer is getting her first major museum retrospective. Carrie Mae Weems' work, now at the Guggenheim Museum, focuses mostly on issues facing African Americans, such as racism and personal identity.

It's hard to keep up with all the allegations surrounding the one-time presidential front-runner for the GOP. Get caught up.

Stephen Colbert present stories with game changing objects--a time-travelling house and a marriage-busting pair of shorts.

Marc Hirsh argues that the Best New Artist award, the kids' table of the Grammys, ought to go the way of the dodo bird, for everyone's sake and everyone's sanity.

Forty years ago this month, a game was introduced to the world that changed pop culture forever: Dungeons & Dragons. Helping The Takeaway to celebrate this milestone, and explain how Dungeons & Dragons withstood the test of time, is David Ewalt, author of "Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons and Dragons and the People Who Play It," and John August, a D&D enthusiast and screenwriter behind “Frankenweenie,” “The Corpse Bride,” “Big Fish,” “Charlie's Angels,” “Go,” and many other blockbuster films.

Chris Hadfield’s recent cover of David Bowie’s classic song “Space Oddity” has more than 20 million views on YouTube. And not because of Hadfield’s voice (which isn’t bad, for an astronaut). Commander Hadfield was singing the song in space aboard the International Space Station ...

Video: Hadfield sings “Space Oddity” on board the International Space Station

In the Bay Area, there's a number you can call to chat anonymously with strangers. People use it for phone sex. On the new Love + Radio, reporter Julia DeWitt called up and tried to interview the men on the line, and it's very great radio. 

Who are your favorite Vine-ographers in New York City? That's what we asked people in the Vine community in recent weeks. We've heard about dozens of incredible comedians, musicians, stop-motion artists and illustrators who bring New York to life with their six-second videos. Here are 10 of our favorites.

Feeling taxed by 2014 already? Promised yourself you'd stop being a slave to your phone? Take one short minute for this fun video guide to a digital detox. 

Whether you're watching to see your favorite artists perform or to mercilessly criticize today's pop stars, we want you to join Soundcheck on Sunday night, Jan. 26 as we play Grammys bingo. Will Clive Davis get a shout-out? Can you spot Lang Lang? Is someone sporting sunglasses on stage? Get five in a row and tweet Bingo!

Hear the alt-country folk singer-songwriter Doug Paisley perform songs from his latest album Strong Feelings in the Soundcheck studio.

Radio programmers at Top 40 stations are desperate to keep you tuned in and listening to ads; that’s how they pay the rent. So they’ve done some homework, and they think they might have a way of competing with music streamers like Spotify: Play fewer hit songs, more often.

Hear Nashville-born, New York-based alt-country singer-songwriter Laura Cantrell perform songs from her latest album No Way There From Here in the Soundcheck studio.

The Hold Steady is set release Teeth Dreams, its first record since 2010's Heaven Is Whenever on March 25 and the band has given fans a first taste with the song "I Hope This Whole Thing Didn't Frighten You." Members of the Soundcheck team give the new track a spin and have these first impressions.