On this anniversary of the terrorist attacks, we have a conversation about the war that traces its origins to this date. Yesterday, top Congressional democrats urged President Obama to outline a plan for winning the war in Afghanistan or he will risk their support if he has to ask for even more troops. We speak to the BBC's security and defense correspondent, Nick Childs in London.

In the book, "The Tender Bar", Pulitzer Prize winning writer J.R. Moehringer recalls growing up fatherless in the Long Island town of Manhasset, where he was raised primarily by a a group of men hanging out in a bar. On September 11, 2001, 50 people from Manhasset died in the attacks on the World Trade Center, and suddenly Manhasset had many more fatherless children.

Two-thirds of American businesses, including those in critical industries like food and energy, are unprepared for a possible major outbreak of swine flu this fall. We speak with Dr. Gillian SteelFisher, research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health.

A follow up to a story we reported on earlier. Late night classes get underway at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston. We hear from some of the night owls studying there.

We open up our inbox and hear from listeners.

Author Lorrie Moore knits together the shadow of 9/11 and a young girl's bumpy coming-of-age in a luminous, heart-wrenchingly story. She joins us to talk about her first novel in 15 years, "A Gate At The Stairs".