Guest: Andrea Bernstein, Takeaway Political Director

Word that Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s teen daughter is five months pregnant has become massive fodder for all kinds of political chat – for both conservatives and liberals. But looking at teen pregnancy as an issue unto itself – separate from the left or right -- might provide a different kind of conversation.

Pakistan’s Tribal regions are packed with Taliban and Al Qaeda militants. NYT reporter Dexter Filkins slipped inside and met with Taliban leadership. We’ll talk to him about militant power, and whether Pakistan is really fighting them.

guest: Stephen Dubner, Takeaway convention correspondent, author “Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything”

Vice President Cheney is in oil-rich Azerbaijan today, the start of a tour that aims to show Washington's support of Russia's southern neighbors. He plans to head later to neighboring Georgia, where Washington is trying to bolster support for Mikhail Saakashvili's U.S.-allied government, battered by last month's short war with Russia.

Last week John McCain shook things up when he chose as his running mate the unknown Alaskan governor Sarah Palin. This week, a number of disclosures raise eyebrows about her candidacy and about how rigorously she was vetted. For a look at past Vice Presidential vetting we talk to Joel Goldstein, law professor at St. Louis University and vice presidency scholar.

The GOP convention was slated to be a mega bash of Obama’s experience and organization. Instead it’s attempting to find its legs following Hurricane Gustav and the Palin pregnancy. The Republicans must desperately get back their “buzz,” if they want a bounce by Friday. Are they the dominant force they say they’ll be or the political gang that couldn’t shoot straight?

The Sports world perplexed at the recent announcement that Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson has legally changed his name to Chad Ocho Cinco, which is the Spanish translation of his number 85 jersey. Ocho Cinco certainly isn’t the first famous person to have a change of heart about his given name.

Stephen Dubner, Takeaway convention correspondent, author “Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything”

Guest: Andrea Berstein, Takeaway Political Director

In 2000, Senator Joe Lieberman spoke at the Democratic Convention as Al Gore’s VP nominee. Eight years later, he’s on stage at the Republican Convention, supporting McCain. We’ll compare his convention speeches.

Oil refineries and rigs along the Gulf Coast escaped the major damage that followed Hurricane Katrina, and oil prices dropped to a five-month low. But Kevin Kerr, MarketWatch contributor and editor of the trading newsletter Global Commodities Alert, reminds us that this is just the start of a busy hurricane season. He says we’ll feel the effects of Gustav: the hurricane has caused evacuations and power outages, and that means oil production slowdowns well into next week.