Our first-ever highlights episode. Featured conversations: reformed whiz kids; a citizen sleuth; comedians; the son of an infamous Miami gangster; a photojournalist who explores abandoned malls; an author trying to make peace with the ghost of a volatile parent; and the battle to diversify public media.

Two decades and more than two trillion U.S. dollars later, was this latest fall of Afghanistan inevitable? The nation of 40 million is once again in the hands of the Taliban, which is trying to rebrand. Can it be trusted? The Economist's James Astill and international security consultant Michael Arrighi weigh in.

New York Times culture reporter Dave Itzkoff on his relationship with his late, cocaine-addicted father -- and the grit it took to strike out on his own to become a nationally renowned journalist. In 2018, Itzkoff published a bestselling biography of tormented funnyman Robin Williams, who he got to know before his 2014 death.

Fueled by celebrity promotion, Shelly Tygielski's Pandemic of Love movement connects donors with people in Covid need. The lapsed corporate executive discusses her immigrant upbringing, quarter-life crises and her upcoming book, Sit Down to Rise Up: How Radical Self-Care Can Change the World.

Dr. Robert Winn, director of VCU's Massey Cancer Center, on breakthroughs in prevention, detection and intervention in the COVID era. Plus, Traci Eagle and Vickie Brooks (musical duo Tray and Vickie) on how fighting hate has helped Eagle's fight against cancer.

The unrest in Cuba -- some of the most violent scenes in more than 40 years -- also has the Miami street stirring. What are the stakes for a regime that's been in power since 1959? What can Washington do? What should Washington do?

Ri Sharma, 21, the voice behind Instagram forum Wall Street Confessions, always thought she wanted to go into investment banking. Then she realized there's too much in the industry that no one is talking about. Nicknamed "the Carrie Bradshaw of Finance," the Manhattanite discusses her personal journey; the mental health of junior employees; and the traumas that go with being a woman on Wall Street.

As he approaches his own retirement, veteran personal finance columnist Jonathan Clements reflects on 35 years of covering investing and the markets. The author of several books (including From Here to Financial Happiness and How to Think About Money), he contemplates risk, humility, "normalcy," advice to his younger self -- and much more.

Photographer, documentary maker, author, child of the Rust Belt, self-proclaimed "urban explorer": Seph Lawless (VICELAND; the book Autopsy of America) documents decaying spaces -- from dead malls and haunted houses, to abandoned factories and motels; even alligators terrorizing defunct water parks. What do these tableaus tell us about America?

What is Virginia telling us on this trademark off-year election?

Guests:

•Jeff Schapiro of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Michael Pope of Virginia Public Radio

•GOP strategist Taylor Keeney

•Ghazala Hashmi (D), who was elected Virginia's first Muslim state senator