Good Week, Bad Week

Listen in as John Hockenberry and Celeste Headlee, co-hosts of "The Takeaway," bring you an audio version of The Week's "Good Week, Bad Week.” You can call in with Good Week, Bad Week nominations of your own at 877-8-MY TAKE, or e-mail them to mytake@thetakeaway.org. See more from "The Takeaway."

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Good week for:

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Anti-incumbent fever, after Mayor Barbara Brock of Tracy City, Tenn., was defeated by challenger Carl Geary, even though Geary had died a month before the vote. “I knew he was deceased. I know that sounds stupid, but we wanted someone other than her,” said restaurant owner Chris Rogers.

Lactococcus lactis, a bacterium used in the making of cheddar and Monterrey Jack, after it was named official state microbe by Wisconsin. It’s the only state to have an official microbe.

Hybrid vigor, after a British study found that people rated the faces of mixed-race people “more attractive” than those of either blacks or whites.

Bad week for:

Laura Hall, a 20-year-old British woman convicted of a series of public disorder offenses, who became the first person to be banned from every pub, club, and liquor store in the U.K.

Balancing the federal budget, after General Electric reported a $10.8 billion profit for the year, but didn’t pay a single cent in income taxes to the U.S. government. GE reported a loss in U.S. operations, saying all profits were made abroad.

Class clowns, after the city of Temple, Texas, voted to remove the ban on paddling in its public schools. Without paddling, said school board president Steve Wright, “there were no consequences for kids.”