Eight American soldiers and four Afghan security officers were killed in an attack this weekend in a remote part of Afghanistan. It occurred less than 20 miles from a similar attack last year in Kunar Province that killed nine Americans. We speak with Washington Post National Security Reporter Greg Jaffe, who's author of the forthcoming book "The Fourth Star". Jaffe has written a series of reports looking back at the Kunar attack and what it says about US strategy in the region.

Why is capitalism so crash-prone? It's not only greed, says our guest John Cassidy. The real causes are much scarier and harder to deal with. Cassidy points out that because of the way the U.S. economy is structured, it may be more risky for a bank to sit out of a bubble than to dive in. John Cassidy is staff writer for the New Yorker and author of "How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities".

Is America losing its edge when it comes to higher education? Even though U.S. universities are considered the best in the world, Asian governments are pumping more money than ever into theirs. And many public schools in the U.S. are seeing state funding cut back. The Chronicle of Higher Education is out with a special investigation into the rise of higher education in Asia. We speak to senior reporter Karin Fischer.

Michael Greenberg's book "Hurry Down Sunshine", details the story of his teenage daughter's madness. We spoke to him last year when his book came out.