Diane Rehm: On My Mind

On Wednesday night eight candidates took the stage to make their appeal to GOP primary voters. But, as the moderators pointed out, the elephant not in the room was Donald Trump. He opted for a one-on-one interview with Tucker Carlson. The former president then traveled to Atlanta to be booked on criminal charges for the fourth time in recent months.

Susan Page is Washington bureau chief for USA Today. She joined Diane to discuss what we learned from the debate about the primary, Donald Trump’s grip on the party, and what the GOP’s vision for the country looks like.

North Carolina became the tenth state to recognize No Labels as a political party this week.

The non-profit group behind the effort seems to think there is a moderate majority in America that wants to move away from the two-party system. Leaders of the New Labels Party are now toying with offering a presidential ticket in the 2024 election to tap into what they think is a dissatisfaction with the status quo.

Veteran journalist Gerald Seib has been reporting on the No Labels movement. “As I go around the country and talk to people, I get asked all the time, why isn’t there a third party?” says Seib, who last year retired from his role as executive Washington editor for the Wall Street Journal. “They say why isn’t there an alternative?”

Seib recently published an essay in his former paper titled “Could a Third Party Finally Do It?” He joined Diane to talk about the history of third party candidates – and why this might be the election we see one break through.

Rep. Jamie Raskin has been among the strongest voices in politics calling for accountability for the violence that occurred on January 6th. 

As a House manager during the second impeachment of Donald Trump, Raskin announced the charge of incitement of insurrection against the now-former president. The Maryland congressman went on to serve on the House committee that investigated the events of January 6th and whose work ended in a recommendation of criminal charges against Trump.

Now, as Donald Trump faces four counts related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Rep. Raskin joins Diane to explain why he feels legal accountability is critical for the health of the country’s democracy. Raskin also discusses his cancer remission and why he decided against a run for the Senate.

Special counsel Jack Smith announced charges against Donald Trump this week related to the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

This is the third time Trump has been indicted in recent months – but many commentators are saying this is the big one. That includes New York University law professor Ryan Goodman, who says the crimes Trump is accused of committing are a direct threat to our government, calling them “democracy crimes.”

Goodman, co-editor in chief of Just Security, joined Diane to outline the charges and explain why he thinks only a 2024 election victory can save Donald Trump from conviction.

Americans are getting older. Much older. In 1900, we lived an average of 38 years. By 2000, our average lifespan had been extended by nearly four decades. And though recent years have seen a downturn in the trend, the 85 and older population is projected to more than double by 2040.

“We are not even close to prepared,” says M.T. Connolly, a lawyer and longtime elder rights advocate who in 2011 won a MacArthur Genius Grant for her work in the field. She argues our country’s policies and institutions have not kept pace with our advances in longevity. This mismatch, she says, can result in serious harm for those living into old age, and those who care for them.

Connolly joined Diane to discuss her new book, “The Measure of Our Age: The Measure of Our Age: Navigating Care, Safety, Money, and Meaning Later in Life.” In it, she identifies the obstacles that prevent us from maintaining quality of life as we grow old, and what we as individuals – and as a society -- can do about them.

Diane wanted to share a special conversation from the archives, an interview with legendary book editor Robert Gottlieb, who died in June at age 92.

Gottlieb worked with many of the best-known writers of the 20th century. On the list of names whose work he made shine was Diane Rehm.

Diane remembers him as a masterful editor who was so kind to her –  someone with name recognition in the world of public radio, but no track record as a writer.

Gottlieb became one of Diane’s closest friends and confidantes. She says, “he was a genius,” and she was so lucky to have him by her side.

Robert Gottlieb joined Diane several times as a guest on the Diane Rehm Show over the years. This is their conversation from September 2016 in which he discussed his memoir, “Avid Reader.”

This month, On My Mind will be sharing conversations from the Diane Rehm Book Club and Author Interview Series. Today we bring you a conversation with novelist Amy Bloom.

Diane selected Bloom’s memoir “In Love” as her March 2022 read.  It deals with an issue that is extremely important to Diane – medical aid in dying. Diane has supported the movement to expand access to this life ending option since 2014 when her husband, John Rehm, suffered a painful and prolonged death from Parkinson’s disease.

In this book, Bloom tells the story of how she helped her own husband die after a tragic diagnosis.

Amy Bloom joined Diane last year to share her experience, an experience she hopes will prompt others to think about what they want at the end of their lives.

This month, On My Mind will be sharing conversations from the Diane Rehm Book Club and Author Interview Series. Today we bring you a conversation with Washington Post foreign affairs columnist – and novelist -- David Ignatius.

Diane selected Ignatius’s book “The Paladin” as the November 2022 read. This high-tech thriller explores the question what happens when bad actors move beyond hacking and disinformation campaigns, to creating false realities?

As part of the book club event Diane first welcomed a panel of guests to discuss the novel– and the spy thriller genre. You can find a recording of that here. Then David Ignatius joined her on Zoom to talk about what inspired the story, as well as his decades long career moving between fact and fiction.

For the next few weeks, On My Mind will be sharing conversations from the Diane Rehm Book Club and Author Interview series. First up is novelist Min Jin Lee.

Diane selected Lee’s novel “Pachinko” as this year’s January read. It tells a generation spanning story that begins in 1910 after Japan’s invasion of Korea.

As part of the book club event Diane first welcomed a panel of guests to discuss the novel – and the history that inspired it. You can find a recording of that here. Then she sat down with Min Jin Lee to hear about how a near fatal illness helped launch her writing career – and the decades of research that went into writing “Pachinko.”

On last week’s podcast, Diane talked to The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser about the indictment of Donald Trump.

One listener emailed after listening to the episode, asking for a clear explanation as to how the former president’s behavior compared with other politicians’ handling – or mishandling -- of government secrets.

So that’s what Diane is doing – hosting a conversation about Donald Trump’s documents, Hillary Clinton’s emails, and Republican charges of unequal treatment.

Diane’s guest, Mary McCord, is the executive director of Georgetown Law’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection. She is also a former prosecutor and was Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the U.S. Department of Justice from 2016 to 2017.

She explained the next steps in the federal case against former President Trump and why she thinks the charges of unequal treatment don’t add up.