After weeks of international pressure, Afghanistan announced that it will now hold a run-off presidential election. But the November 7 date gives the country less than three weeks to organize the nationwide vote. We look at the challenges the country will face to hold another election in such a short time, and what it will mean for incumbent President Hamid Karzai and his rival Abdullah Abdullah, with Christine Fair, professor at the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University. Fair is also a former election monitor in Afghanistan. We also talk to Emal Pasarly, deputy head of the Pashtu Service at the BBC; and from Afghanistan, Daoud Sultanzoy, an Independent Member of Parliament for Ghazni Province, in Eastern Afghanistan.

• Washington Takeout: The Obama administration wants to wait until the disputed Afghanistan elections are resolved before deciding on a new war strategy, including new troop levels. The Takeaway's Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, looks at how that decision is playing out in the capitol.
• Sports Takeout: Baseball's post-season is wrapping up, and two teams are a game away from the World Series. The Takeaway's sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, discusses the NY Yankees' "trampling" win (10-1) over the Anaheim Angels in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series. The Yankees now lead the series 3-1. We also get a preview of Game 5 of the National League Championship Series with the LA Dodgers squaring off against the Philadelphia Phillies.
• Listener Takeout: Listeners respond to our question on how you know it's winter and how you're preparing this year.

Consumers are reporting this week that Citibank recently closed some of its Shell-branded Mastercard accounts with only days' notice and no stated reason for the cards being canceled. We ask Adam Levin, chairman and co-founder of Credit.com and former director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, how consumers can protect themselves from such practices, and what it says about banks that are closing accounts this way.

It's easy to see that things aren't going well for our economy: The Consumer Price Index is down, foreclosure rates are through the roof following the historic burst of the housing bubble, and more and more of the American workforce finds itself un- or under-employed. With all of these negative economic indicators, you wouldn't think it's a time for anyone selling anything to raise prices. Yet, across the country, public and private colleges have been raising their tuitions all year. In a report released yesterday by the College Board, four-year public college tuitions increased at an average of 6.5 percent from just one year ago. 

For a look behind the numbers, and for the long-term effects of high-cost higher education, we speak to Patrick Callan, president of the National Center for Policy and Higher Education.

As the winter months approach, we take a moment to explore the warm comfort of chili and the many incarnations it can take. We talk all things con carne (and a few con tempeh) with The Takeaway's food contributor, and New York Times food writer, Melissa Clark, along with Bryant Terry, author of "Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy and Creative African-American Cuisine." They give us their recipes. And we're asking for yours!

Click through for Melissa Clark's and Bryant Terry's chili recipes.

When President Obama made overhauling the U.S. health care system his top domestic priority, he supported the so-called public option to help cover some of the nation's uninsured. As the debate lumbered forward over the summer, many Democrats said they would oppose any health care reform bill without a robust public option. But when Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) drafted a health care bill in the influential Senate Finance Committee, there was no public option included, in part because Republicans stood united against a government-run health insurarnce agency, calling it the first step toward socialized medicine. As far as the Senate was concerned, the public option was dead. But in the House of Representatives, the public option is back in the center of the debate.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has pushed for health care reform legislation to include a public option from early on in the debate. Even though it didn't make it into the Senate Finance committee's health care bill, the public option is now gaining steam. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll says 57% of Americans actually support it.

• Washingon Takeout: The Takeaway's Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich gives us his reaction to our discussion with Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) about the future of the public option in health care reform.
• Finance Takeout: Newsweek writer Dan Gross joins with a look at the economic recovery of one aspect of the economy — the business-to-business sales market. But is this trend an indicator of an economy in recovery? Or just a small rebound?
• Listener Takeout: Listeners respond to our conversation on the number of homeless increasing with the poor economy.

Pope Benedict XVI is paving the way for Anglican groups to take communion with the Catholic Church. In recent years some conservative Anglicans have been angered by their church’s decision to accept female priests and openly gay bishops. Retired Rev. George Langberg, Bishop of the Northeast Anglican Church in America, says he's happy about the move. But he says Anglicans won't be "converting," but instead simply entering into communion with Catholics. John Allen, senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, joins us with more of the story.

Hakimullah Mehsud is the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban. He's an enemy of Pakistan and, by extension, the United States. However, to some in his own ranks he is a hero: a young Pashtun willing to stake everything on upholding the Taliban's cause. BBC Urdu correspondent Haroon Rashid has met Hakimullah Mehsud many times and offers us a profile of the apparently charismatic young leader.

The following clip is in Pashto, but the images of Hakimullah Mehsud are fascinating in any language:

The 35th Annual National Conference of Black Mayors convenes today in Las Vegas. In honor of the conference, we put together our own roundtable of black mayors to talk about issues they're facing during these tough economic times. We speak to Mayor John Marks of Tallahasse, Fla., Mayor-President Melvin "Kip" Holden of Baton Rouge, La., and Mayor Sheila Dixon of Baltimore.