A note from Diane: Over the years I had the chance to interview President Jimmy Carter more than 10 times. We talked about his faith, his rural childhood, his triumphs and challenges as president, and his work as a global humanitarian after his years in the White House.He was always kind, warm, gracious and thoughtful. But what made him such an interesting person to talk to was that he never stopped learning, never stopped evolving. You could see this in how he approached the issues he cared about: housing and homelessness, the peace process in the Middle East, and international health, to name a few.Now, as we look back on his legacy, I wanted to share excerpts of our conversations with you.You can find many of Diane's conversations with President Carter in their entirety here: https://wamu.org/series/diane-rehm-in-conversation-with-president-carter-through-the-years/

Susan Page, Washington bureau chief at USA Today, brings her political expertise to discuss Joe Biden’s presidency as it nears its end. She highlights his role in overcoming the Covid crisis and achieving significant legislative successes amidst a backdrop of partisan conflict. The conversation reveals the complexities of his decision to run for a second term, which some see as a gamble that could define his legacy. Page argues that Biden's transformative potential may echo for decades, painting a nuanced picture of his impact amid public perception and challenges.

Thousands of years ago humans learned to control the power of water – and civilization was born. Now, in a new book, Jeremy Rifkin argues climate change has shifted that equation, and water is once again controlling us – with floods, droughts, hurricanes and typhoons. “The waters are rebelling,” he says. “They are literally taking down the infrastructure of our civilization in real time.”Rifkin is the author of more than 20 books about the influence of scientific and technological changes on the economy, the workforce, and the environment. He has advised governments around the globe on how to adapt economies and infrastructure to a changing world. He joins Diane to talk about his new book, “Planet Aqua,” a plea to radically rethink our relationship to water and its impact on our future.

Ann Patchett, a celebrated novelist and Parnassus Books owner, joins Eddie Glaude Jr., a prominent Princeton professor specializing in African American studies, and Maureen Corrigan, a renowned book critic from NPR. They passionately discuss their top book picks for 2024, highlighting the art of literary annotation and the emotional journeys in books like 'Sipsworth.' The trio explores themes of loss, identity, and the unique storytelling in debut novels while sharing insights on the profound connections literature fosters. A must-listen for book lovers!

Donald Trump has tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.They say they will cut one third of the federal budget, slash regulations, reduce the federal workforce ... and that it “will be easy!”David Fahrenthold is an investigative reporter at The New York Times and has covered government spending for years. He says there are certainly places where government can run more efficiently, and where waste and fraud can be eliminated. However, he adds, “It’s really hard to find places where you can cut a trillion or 2 trillion dollars and not drastically cut back the services people expect from the government. Fahrenthold joins Diane to talk about what the leaders of DOGE have in mind andwhat it will take to accomplish their goals. 

Teresa Ghilarducci, a leading economics professor at The New School and author of "Work, Retire, Repeat," dives into the pressing issues surrounding Social Security. She reveals how President Trump's proposals could hasten the program's insolvency by two years, raising alarms about its future. Ghilarducci discusses the complexities of Social Security taxes, urges urgent reforms, and emphasizes the necessity of government-run retirement plans. Her insights shed light on the fragility of retirement funding and the contradictions in public support for government programs.

For years, legendary folk singer Joan Baez wrote poems and tucked them away in notebooks and on scraps of paper. She started this decades ago, around the time memories surfaced of childhood abuse at the hands of her father. Baez says poetry was a way to explore the reasons behind her lifelong phobias, insomnia and panic attacks – and to come to terms with a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder, which for her meant she lived with several other voices in her head. Now 83, Baez has taken these musings about her life, her trauma, and her passions for nature and art, and is sharing them with the world. “When You See My Mother, Ask Her to Dance” reads like a diary in verse, and offers deep insight into the experiences and creativity of one of our nation’s most beloved folk musicians.Diane spoke to Joan Baez on Zoom in front of a live audience as part of The Diane Rehm `Book Club in August of this year. They talked about the book, as well as the recent documentary about Baez’s life, “Joan Baez: I Am a Noise.”Find out more about The Diane Rehm Book Club here: dianerehm.org/bookclub

Donald Trump has tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services. It’s an appointment that has many public health experts more than a little concerned. For years Kennedy has spread misinformation about vaccines, calling into question their safety and efficacy. He has promoted controversial or debunked medical treatments. He has falsely linked antidepressants to school shootings. And he has accused the federal agencies he will oversee as having an interest in “mass poisoning the American public.” Dr. Céline Gounder is an infectious disease specialist, epidemiologist and currently the editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News. She joins Diane to separate the facts from falsehoods and outline just how much power Kennedy might have over our healthcare system. 

Promises of mass deportations were a centerpiece of Donald Trump’s campaign. His fiery – and false -- rhetoric painted undocumented immigrants as murders, rapists and violent criminals. He vowed to throw them out of the country by the millions starting on day one. Last week’s appointment of Tom Homan as “border czar” and Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff for policy send a clear signal that Trump hopes to follow through on those promises. “I think we can expect that something dramatic is likely coming,” says Nick Miroff. He covers immigration enforcement and the department of homeland security for The Washington Post. Miroff joins Diane to explain whether Trump can put his words into action and just how much his policies could transform the nation’s immigration system.

During the run up to the election, Donald Trump made big promises about immigration, about the economy, about remaking the bureaucracy of the United States government. And now it seems he will get a chance to follow through on those promises. “This is a much broader rejection than a rejection of Biden and by extension Harris,” says Norman Ornstein, emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “It is a rejection of a larger sense of who has been running the country, all the elites.”Few know the workings of the U.S. government as well as Ornstein and though he says “the elites” (himself included) have much to learn from the extent of Trump’s victory, he warns that people might not understand what they have gotten themselves into. “For a lot of Americans who think that you can get rid of the bureaucracy, get rid of government and all will be fine," he say Ornstein, "they’re going to discover what it does in terms of disruption to their daily lives.” Ornstein joins Diane to make sense of what we saw on Tuesday – and what a Trump second term will look like.