The mental toll of war on service members and veterans is hard to overstate. Someone who has experienced that firsthand is former marine and bestselling author Elliot Ackerman. He served five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and he has now helped hundreds of Afghans escape, in what he calls a “digital Dunkirk.” Ackerman speaks with Hari Sreenivasan about how vets like him view the end of this war.

As Covid cases surge in the U.S., the EU is recommending a new ban on nonessential travel for Americans. At the same time, the WHO has identified a new variant of interest, first seen in Colombia and since found in 39 countries, which could be more resistant to vaccines. Epidemiologist Dr. Larry Brilliant helped defeat smallpox in the 1970s and joins the show for the latest on the pandemic.

The future of Afghanistan and American foreign policy lie in the balance, as President Biden declares his withdrawal marks not just an end to that engagement, but to the whole era of trying to “remake other countries.” Sarah Chayes first went to Afghanistan as a reporter after 9/11, later returning to work with aid agencies in Kandahar, and also advising several U.S. military officials.

One country that has a lot at stake as the Taliban take over Afghanistan is neighboring Pakistan. Maleeha Lodhi served as the country’s ambassador to the UK, the US, and the UN, and she is warning that there is much to fear if Afghanistan descends into chaos.

There has been a recent uptick in U.S. vaccinations, but 26% of adults in the country remain unprotected – and there may be a hidden economic impact. Michelle Singletary is a finance columnist for The Washington Post and her new op-ed “Fired, Sick, or Both” breaks down the cost of refusing inoculation – as she explains to Michel Martin.

What is next for a nation that has drawn so much American blood and treasure, and has for 20 years been the focus of U.S. strategic and security planning? To discuss, Christiane is joined by Ashley Jackson, an expert on extremist groups in the region, alongside Robert Grenier, who served as CIA station chief for Pakistan and Afghanistan from 1999 to 2002.

Angela Merkel, one of Germany’s longest-serving chancellors, has held office for nearly 16 years, but her final term will soon conclude. There are three leading candidates for the post, one of whom is Green Party leader Annalena Baerbock. She joins the program from Potsdam, Germany.

The lights are out in New Orleans. Power is down across the entire city and half the state of Louisiana as Hurricane Ida leaves a trail of destruction in its wake. Ida has now been downgraded to a tropical storm as it continues its path across the U.S., and the Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi joins the show to assess the storm's impact and what’s to come.

As many as five rockets were fired at Kabul Airport this morning before being intercepted by a U.S. defense system. Moreover, according to local journalists, nine members of a family were killed in a U.S. drone strike the Pentagon said targeted a suspected ISIS-K suicide bomber. Mike Rogers, former Republican congressman and chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence, joins to discuss.

Many trying to leave Afghanistan will be left behind as of tomorrow’s evacuation deadline. According to the Pentagon, the State Department will continue working to get them out. Officials are saying at least 34 unaccompanied Afghan children have arrived in the U.S. For more on all this, we’re joined by Mark Hetfield, who heads a nonprofit that provides humanitarian assistance to refugees.

The Taliban already have begun imposing harsh restrictions on Afghans not seen since 2001. One Taliban spokesperson told the New York Times that they still consider music forbidden in Islam. Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, founder of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music and his former student, Zarifa Adiba, who has conducted the school’s trailblazing all-female Zohra Orchestra join the show to discuss.

Author and retired naval commander Theodore Johnson argues that “racism is an existential threat to America,” though that isn’t to say that all is lost. In his new book, When the Stars Begin to Fall, Johnson lays out a blueprint for healing the nation, as he explains to Michel Martin.

To understand how the U.S. withdrawal could have been handled differently, and what needs to happen most urgently to improve the situation on the ground, Bianna speaks with retired General Joseph Votel, who as commander of U.S. Central Command oversaw the war from 2016 to 2019.

John Sopko has served as America’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction since 2012, and in a scathing new report he writes, “if the goal was to rebuild and leave behind a country that can sustain itself and pose little threat to U.S. national security interests, the overall picture is bleak.”

President Biden is facing a storm of criticism about the unfolding crisis in Afghanistan, particularly about America's lack of preparedness for the quick Taliban takeover. Eliot Cohen served as a counselor in the State Department under President George W. Bush and joins the show from Maryland.

Last weekend’s earthquake in Haiti killed more than 2,000 people and left the country “on its knees,” according to Prime Minister Ariel Henry. The country was already reeling from extreme poverty, COVID-19 and the recent assassination of its president. Margarett Lubin heads the Haiti branch of Community Organized Relief Effort and joins the show from Port-au-Prince.

The U.S. Census Bureau has released its first round of population data, setting in motion the redistricting process in states across the country. This is what author David Daley calls the “gerrymandering Olympics.” Daley, the author of "Unrigged," says redrawing boundaries is messing with the bedrock of American democracy.

With Afghanistan now in the hands of the Taliban, the question of how they will govern – and who will be in charge – is not a simple one. Michael Semple has personal experience meeting and negotiating with the Islamist group and has lived and worked in Afghanistan for many years. He joins the show to discuss what Afghanistan might look like under Taliban rule.

How did the Chinese government manage to turn a cover-up in Wuhan into a triumph for the Communist Party? The acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Nanfu Wang addresses this question in her new documentary "In the Same Breath," as she explains to Hari Sreenivasan.

Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins’s TV series "The Underground Railroad" has received seven Emmy nominations, including a nomination in the category of “Best Director of a Limited Series.” Based on Colin Whitehead's acclaimed 2016 novel of the same name, the series tells the story of a young girl who escapes a Georgia plantation through a network of secret routes. Jenkins joins the show.