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.

More than 300,000 Afghan civilians have been associated with the U.S. mission over its two decades in the country, according to the International Rescue Committee. But how many can realistically be evacuated? IRC President and CEO David Miliband speaks with Christiane about how time could be running out.

The world is watching the outcome of Taliban talks with former government leaders. Has the Taliban attitude towards women and journalists really changed? Saad Mohseni is chief executive of Afghanistan’s largest media organization and joins the show to assess the situation on the ground.

Billie Jean King is both a tennis legend and a tireless social activist who refused to accept unequal treatment for women or people of color from the very start of her career. In her new memoir "All In," she writes, “Early on, what was most apparent to me was that the world I wanted didn’t exist yet. It would be up to my generation to create it.” She joins the show from New York to discuss.

Many are skeptical of the Taliban’s claims to protect the rights of women and girls. Violent and deplorable treatment is something that Malala Yousafzai has suffered through firsthand. The Nobel Peace Prize winner was just a teenager when the Pakistani Taliban shot her in the head for going to school. Since then she has founded the Malala Fund to advocate for girls’ education worldwide.