For this week's agenda we speak to Marcus Mabry, international business editor for The New York Times; and from London, Jonathan Marcus, diplomatic correspondent for the BBC World Service. We look at Iran and what the international community's response will be to Tehran's test-firing short- and medium-range missiles, and the acknowledgment of a second nuclear enrichment plant. We also consider whether President Obama will follow requests from General McChrystal and Republicans about sending more troops to Afghanistan. And, China celebrates 60 years of communist rule.

[In one mention of this story this morning, we said that Roman Polanski was picked up on a "31-year-old charge," which a listener correctly pointed out was incomplete: Polanski was charged, tried, pleaded guilty, and fled the country before being sentenced. -Eds]

Iran test-fired missiles over the weekend and revealed a previously undisclosed nuclear facility. We check in with Julie Mason, White House correspondent with The Washington Examiner, to gauge the reaction on Capitol Hill to these developments.

When unemployment rises, so do mortgage defaults. The Obama administration's plan to help borrowers modify mortgages has had mixed results, and lawmakers are calling for a second look. To explain, we speak to finance reporter Louise Story from our partner, The New York Times.

Our sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, tells us about some big upsets in college football and, in the NFL, the Detroit Lions ending their nightmare string of 19 straight losses.

President Obama has repeatedly tried to explain the mission in Afghanistan, eight years after the September 11th attacks, as an attempt to destroy al-Qaida as a threat. Osama bin Laden and the location of the al-Qaida leadership is still believed to be somewhere in the rugged highlands of northwest Pakistan, not far from Afghanistan. Joining us is Ian Black, Middle East editor for The Guardian newspaper and longtime reporter, editor, author and analyst of Middle East issues and military affairs.

After four straight months of rising sales on the housing front — good news for the economy — those numbers slipped downward for August. From an economist's point of view, the economy is having bumps as it rebounds. But what's the story on your block? Listeners gave us the reports from their block.

As a new generation of young mothers try to accomplish it all, having good careers and raising families, they also struggle to find common ground with their own mothers. We speak to two mothers about how their own moms have influenced them and how they are forging their own paths: Teresa McMahon is a mother of two and a daughter trying to find common ground with her own mother; Lynna Tsou is a mother of two and a child psychologist. We also speak to Julie Halpert, co-author of "Making Up With Mom: Why Mothers and Daughters Disagree About Kids, Careers and Casseroles (and What to Do About it)."

Launched missiles and secret nuclear facilities: Iran's had a busy few days. Now, they are headed into a week of negotiations with world leaders to explain themselves. Most notably, they are going before the U.N. Security Council on Thursday. We talk with Gary Sick, senior reseach scholar at Columbia University; and Baqer Moin, former head of the Persian service for our partners, the BBC. Sick takes a look at what world leaders want to see from Iran, while Moin considers the situation from the Iranian people's point of view.

This week the Senate Finance Committee meets (again) on the bill for health care reform. Washington Examiner White House correspondent Julie Mason updates us on what remains on their agenda.

The New York Times finance reporter Louise Story spent the weekend combing through Congressman Barney Frank’s (D-Mass.) 291-page plan for a new Consumer Protection Agency, and joins us to give us a Monday-morning book report.

His work spanned the world of conservative politics, journalism and the use of words. William Safire, former columnist for The New York Times, novelist, Nixon speechwriter and etymologist, died yesterday at the age of 79. We speak to his former Times colleague, columnist Gail Collins.

President Obama will soon face one of the most consequential decisions of his presidency: how to manage the war in Afghanistan. The fight right now is over troop levels. General Stanley McChrystal submitted a troop request to the Pentagon on Friday and spent the Sunday talk shows making the public case for his recommendations. We talk with BBC political correspondent Nick Childs.

Michael Moore has come out with his own take on the financial crisis. His new movie, "Capitalism: A Love Story," follows homeowners who have been foreclosed on by big banks, and the major players in government and in the financial industry who watched it all happen. We ask the man behind documentaries "Roger and Me," "Bowling for Columbine" and "Sicko" if he can call for change with this movie, and if he can still pull off his trademark ambushes now that his profile is so prominent.

State media in Iran is reporting that the country launched medium- and long-range missiles last night and this morning. Joining us to talk about the situation is Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, who joins us from Vienna. (click through for the full interview transcript.)