The August unemployment rate is out. The new rate is 9.7 percent. That's up from 9.4 percent last month, and is a little higher than what economists predicted. Most economists are saying the recession is waning, but try saying that to the more than half a million laid-off workers applying for benefits. New numbers out Thursday showed a slight improvement in jobless claims from the week before, but it’s still far higher than the 350,000 claims that economists say is a sign of a healthy labor market.

We’re looking at the economic picture of ordinary people. We’ll crunch the big numbers with Catherine Rampell, editor of the New York Times Economix blog. But we’ll also speak to three people struggling to find a job or hold onto the one they already have: Cliff Hagedon, owner of Fort Gratiot Express trucking; Francine Morin, an unemployed health care program coordinator; and Liz Gold, who manages a social networking site called MomsLikeMe.com for mothers in Tampa, Florida.

And we’re asking people to tell us their own economic picture: Are you, or people close to you, finding it easier or harder to get a job? Getting more interviews, job offers? Tell us your story and we’ll get it on the show.

The United Nations says that in 30 years, there may be no ice left in the Arctic if we don’t do more to stop global warming. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon was in the Arctic Circle this week, to drive that point home. We talk to the director of the Secretary General's Climate Change Support Team, Janos Pazstor, and Anthony Russell of the U.S. Coast Guard. Russell is part of a team that just returned from the arctic north, as part of a U.S. exploration mission.

Listen to the sound made by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy as it manuevers in the Arctic sea ice:

(click through for a map of America's swath of the Arctic.)

Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently delivered what many described as a surprisingly honest and sober analysis of the current situation for the war in Afghanistan. But predicting the road ahead seemed more difficult for Gates.

In a piece she co-authored in today's New York Times, Pentagon Correspondent Elisabeth Bumiller describes an Obama administration openly conflicted about the war in Afghanistan.

A NATO aircraft has attacked two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan. The local governor said at least ninety people were killed, most of them Taliban militants, but other local officials and eyewitnesses say many of the dead were civilians. The attack comes at a sensitive time for the U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, as discussion turns to how deeply international forces should commit themselves and what their priorities should be in-country.

Chris Morris, correspondent for the BBC, is watching the fallout from this airstrike very closely from Kabul, and joins us from there.

Labor Day is the last big holiday weekend of the summer – a great time to get out there and see the last of the summer movies. We talk about what's coming out this weekend with Rafer Guzman, film critic for Newsday. He gives us his take on Mike Judge's new film, "Extract," and the latest movie to feature Sandra Bullock, "All About Steve." (Click through to see the trailers for "Extract" and "All About Steve.")

A drug gang stormed a Mexican rehab clinic this week, killing 18 people. The execution was one of the most violent recent incidents in that country's brutal drug war. Time Magazine journalist Ioan Grillo has covered Mexican drug cartels for a long time, and he talks with us about why clinics are being hit and the future of Mexico’s grueling fight against the cartels. 

The hotly contested "public option" for health care coverage is up for debate on Capitol Hill next week. Some say it's essential for reform while others, such as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, say it's not critical.  Sebelius said last month that the public option was “not the essential element” of the president’s health care plan.

For a closer look, we talk to Xavier Becerra (D-California), Congressman from California and the vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus. (click through for the full interview transcript)

Recently, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mike Mullen said that the situation in Afghanistan was "deteriorating," but just yesterday, during a press conference at the Pentagon, Mullen said the U.S. would "regain the initiative."

To give us an idea of how turning the situation around might be possible, we turn to retired Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner, who taught Military Strategy and Military Operations at the National War College.

The Williams sisters have dominated U.S. women’s tennis for a long time, but there are a few new faces starting to make their own news. 17-year-old Melanie Oudin, from Georgia, defeated fourth-seed Elena Dementieva yesterday in the second round of the U.S. Open. Takeaway sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin is here to talk to us about this big upset and other news around the sports world.

If you want to watch Melanie Oudin or any other tennis players,  view information of the schedule on the U.S. Open website.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley decided yesterday to run for the Senate seat left vacant after Senator Ted Kennedy's death. Coakley has officially announced her intent to run, while speculation still hovers about whether ex-Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling will throw his hat into the ring.  Joining us to go over the details is Frank Phillips, Statehouse bureau chief for the Boston Globe.

With grade schools opening across the nation, many parents are taking measures to prevent their children from catching the H1N1 flu virus. But a new study out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that children under four-years-old may actually be the safest from H1N1. To tell us why is Dr. Richard Wenzel, chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth and the former president of the International Society for Infectious Diseases.

Lockerbie bomber Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi was recently freed from a Scottish prison on "compassionate grounds" to return home to Libya.  Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, had a warning to Libyan president Muammar Qaddafi, who'll be visiting the General Assembly later this month. She said that “virtually every American has been offended by the reception accorded to” Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi when he returned home to Libya recently.

But what has the reaction been in Libya to the return of the Lockerbie bomber? And are U.S. condemnations having any affect on Libyan public opinion? We talk to Rana Jawad, the North Africa correspondent for the BBC, from Tripoli.

Our Friday movie round-up looks at some upcoming films that defy being pigeonholed neatly into a single genre, from still-appealing-to-adults "kid's movie" Where the Wild Things Are, to horrific-sounding-but-not-actually-scary The Antichrist.  We're joined by Rafer Guzman, film critic for Newsday; and Karina Longworth of the daily movie site SpoutBlog.

Click through to see the trailers for the movies mentioned, along with other fall movies: The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Astro Boy, The Princess and the Frog, Jennifer's Body, and The Road.

The U.S. Forest Service said that arson started the wildfires still burning north of Los Angeles, having already destroyed 250 square miles of forest and killing two firefighters. A federal homicide investigation is underway. We talk to Steve Julian, Morning Edition host for KPCC in Pasadena, California, with the latest report.