This week, a presidential panel warned that the H1N1 virus could kill up to 90,000 Americans and send 200,000 to the hospital. Joining us to discuss these alarming figures (which he says he now wishes they hadn't included in the report) is Dr. Harold Varmus. He co-authored the report and is co-chair for the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. And for a look at how hospitals can ready themselves for such a stress on their resources is Dr. Jeff Kalina, an associate director of Emergency Medicine with the Methodist Hospital in Houston.

All this week we've been speaking to different groups affected by the debate over health care reform. Today we turn to young people. What we've been hearing – from those generally healthy enough to risk choosing whether or not to have coverage – is that they see it as a gamble. We've compiled a mix of voices from young people wondering if they really need health insurance... or can afford it.

For our Thursday work segment, we're talking about how work, or the lack of it, puts a strain on mental health. Some health experts say that stress from a recession can negatively impact your mind and body. Stress on the economy can lead to stress in your body, in other words.  Joining us is our finance contributor Beth Kobliner, and Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo, a psychologist and physical therapist.

Dr. Lombardo's "GREAT" acronym for avoiding stress-related physical effects:

The Obama administration wants Israel to stop all construction in the West Bank as a precondition to resuming peace talks with the Palestinians. That's partly why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been meeting with world leaders this week. All of this, according to some predictors, comes ahead of a new Middle East peace plan that could be unveiled by President Obama as early as next month. For more, we're joined by Jonathan Marcus, diplomatic correspondent for the BBC.

The “Lion of the Senate” was known for tussling fearlessly with all comers. He wasn’t scared to take fights right to the top, as in his famous speech in 2007 at the National Press Club, challenging President George W. Bush's decision to send more troops to Iraq.

Ted Kennedy rarely backed down, and least frequently from his Republican challengers. Conservatives frequently opposed Kennedy's initiatives, but as Republicans reflect on his legacy, their respect for the late senator is clear. One such Republican, former Massachusetts Governor William Weld, joins us to share his thoughts. ...(click through for the full interview transcript)

Watch a video of Senator Ted Kennedy at the National Press Club in January 2007.

For 47 years, Senator Edward Kennedy was a passionate advocate of liberal causes. Today, he leaves an enormous void, which Massachusetts Democrats will have to fill. For a look at who is topping a list of potential successors and why the appointment may be more complicated than it appears, we're joined by Frank Phillips. He is the Statehouse bureau chief for the Boston Globe and has covered the Massachusetts Statehouse for nearly 40 years.

Home price indexes, GDPs and jobless claim numbers are all coming in this week. Sure, the numbers look good, but what does it all mean in practical terms? Can the worst of the economic downturn really be behind us? We speak with Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics at Moody’s Economy.com, and Andrew Walker, who covers economics for the BBC, to interpret these fuzzy economic indicators.

As part of our week-long series of health care roundtables, we’re talking with small business owners about how they want to see reform take shape. Small businesses employ about half of all American workers but only 62 percent of these businesses provide heath insurance. We speak to John Costin, who lives in Kennebunk, Maine and owns Veneer Services Unlimited; Dan Sherry from Barrington, Illinois, who runs two small businesses with his wife; and ReShonda Young from Waterloo, Iowa, who runs the family business, 'Alpha Express.'

Click here to access the other round tables in this series

In his 47 years in the U.S. Senate, Senator Edward Kennedy had become a powerful force in Washington politics.  Of the many issues he worked on, Kennedy repeatedly called reforming the health care system "the cause of his life."  What will his passing do to the debate. and who will fill his void? For more, The Takeaway talks to Julie Mason, White House correspondent for the Washington Examiner.

We talk with Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP Washington Bureau and Emily Rooney, host of WGBH's Greater Boston. They tell us about the the impact of Senator Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama's presidential bid during the campaign.

We speak again with Kevin Cullen, columnist for the Boston Globe, about Senator Kennedy's place in Northern Ireland's politics.  Some politicians thought Kennedy agreed with the IRA's political stance. He also speculates on what might have happened if Senator Kennedy had won the presidency in 1980.

We talk to Chris Lydon, former host of NPR's The Connection and creator of Open Source radio. He has covered Senator Kennedy throughout his years as a reporter. We also talk with Jeff Zeleny, White House correspondent at The New York Times who is on Martha's Vineyard waiting for President Obama to speak about Kennedy's death and legacy.

People from all over the world are remembering Senator Ted Kennedy, who died early this morning. We're joined by former Senator Harris Wofford (D-Pa), who worked closely with Kennedy over many, many years in the Senate, as well as Tricia Rose, professor and Chair of Africana Studies at Brown University.

In nearly 50 years in the U.S. Senate, Kennedy compiled an impressive list of legislative achievements: on health care, civil rights, education and immigration.  From outside the Kennedy's house on Cape Cod, we're joined again by Sean Corcoran, senior reporter for WCAI. The Kennedy family legacy is far from exclusively American, however – it extends across the Atlantic to Ireland. We're joined by Irish politician and former Kennedy intern Mark Durkan, leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party in Ireland, and one of the leaders of the power-sharing governments in Northern Ireland.

We go live to Hyannis Port, Cape Cod, to talk with Sean Corcoran, senior reporter at WCAI.

Lucy Marcus, former intern for Senator Ted Kennedy, joins us today to talk about the work she did with him on education policy. She now lives in the United Kingdom, where she runs a company which restructures private equity funds.

We speak to Nicholas Lemann, Dean of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and author of "The Big Test: The Secret History of the American Meritocracy," about Kennedy's policy legacies in education and health care.

In May of 2008, Senator Ted Kennedy had a seizure and was rushed to the hospital. Just a few days later, he was diagnosed with malignant glioma. It's a particularly difficult type of brain cancer to treat. With us to talk more about the condition Kennedy faced is Dr. Eugene Flamm. He heads the department of neurosurgery at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. We also talk to Dr. Sherwin Nuland, surgeon and professor of bioethics and medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. He is also the author of seveal books including, "How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter."

Will the passing of Senator Kennedy effect the outcome of health care reform? Our guests talk about how they remember the senator as well as how the health care debate rolls on during these dog days of summer. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are looking at one very influential group in particular: senior citizens. And while the Republicans wait for Senator Charles Grassley to decide where he falls on the debate, the Democrats continue to rally around their new poster politician for health care reform, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean. To make sense of this week in the health care reform debate is Jay Newton-Small, Washington reporter for Time Magazine; Jonathan Wilson, public radio reporter for WAMU in Washington; and Congressman Gerald Connolly (D-VA).

Ken Feinberg, former chief of staff for Senator Ted Kennedy, worked for Kennedy from 1975-1980. Since being appointed Special Master of the U.S. Government's September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, he's now "Pay Czar" for the Obama administration.  Feinberg joins us to remember Kennedy's presidential aspirations, legislative record, and personal approach to politics.  (click through for full interview transcript)