Diane Rehm: On My Mind

Dr. Anthony Fauci became a household name during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

To many, he was a hero for his efforts to relay potentially lifesaving information. But he also found himself at the center of conspiracy theories -- and became the target of a vitriolic political backlash. 

He says of the experience that it was “very painful and tragic to see people make decisions that led to their detriment.”

Dr. Fauci served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022. He has advised seven presidents, guiding the nation’s response to threats like Zika, Ebola, AIDS, and Anthrax.  His work on a 2003 plan to address the global HIV/AIDS crisis helped save more than twenty-five million lives. 

Dr. Fauci’s new memoir is titled “On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service”.  He joins Diane to talk about his career in public health and share his thoughts on the threats ahead. 

President Biden laid out a series of proposals to change some fundamental aspects of our nation’s highest court this week. This included term limits, a code of ethics and a constitutional amendment that would say nobody is above the law. 

Though the Supreme Court’s approval ratings are stuck at historic lows, Republicans said the reforms are “dead on arrival.” Democrats, on the other hand, see this as a winning issue among the American public for this election cycle, and beyond. 

“I think Biden and the people advising him are playing the long game,” says Harry Litman. 

Litman is the senior legal affairs columnist at the Los Angeles Times, a former U.S. attorney and deputy assistant attorney general, and host of the podcast “Talking Feds.” He joined Diane to break down Biden’s proposed reforms, what impact they would have, and why the president is proposing them now. 

You can find "Talking Feds" wherever you listen to podcasts or on YouTube. 

For years experts have warned of a wave of politically motivated violence in America. And, some might argue, that threat of violence has become a reality. 

There were the events of January 6th when one woman was killed, police officers were beaten, and the Vice President Pence’s life threatened. There was the foiled kidnapping plot against Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer that ended in multiple convictions. And there was the recent assassination attempt of Donald Trump, when bullets narrowly missed ending the former president’s life. 

“You certainly see by every possible measure that it’s worsening,” says Adrienne LaFrance, executive editor of The Atlantic. 

LaFrance has written extensively about political violence in the U.S. She joins Diane to talk about her new essay titled “American Fury,” in which she asks if the situation will get worse before it gets better. 

The Republican National Convention convention wrapped up last night with a speech from Donald Trump that lasted more than 90 minutes. It capped a week that was heavy on rhetoric, short on specifics. 

Enter Project 2025. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a document created by the conservative Heritage Foundation that lays out a vision for the next Republican president. 

“Project 2025 has gotten a lot of attention,” says Andrew Prokop, a senior political correspondent at Vox. He notes that Democrats in particular point to it as “a stand in for a lot of Trump’s extreme plans for dictatorship.”

Though Trump has distanced himself from the document, experts say much – or even most of its proposals will likely be on the agenda for a possible second Trump term. 

Andrew Prokop joined Diane to talk about the myths and the facts about Project 2025. 

Sheila Johnson is known as the nation’s first black female billionaire. She first rose to prominence as the co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, or BET. Since then, she has become a widely recognized business leader, a hotel mogul, and the co-owner of three professional sports teams. 

But, Johnson says, her triumphs masked deep trauma and pain that she carried for decades. That included fear and self-doubt, an emotionally abusive 33-year marriage, and a severe depression following her divorce. 

Johnson joined Diane in April at WAMU’s Black Box Theater for a special in-person Diane Rehm Book Club Conversation. They talked about her memoir, “Walk Through Fire.” 

Judge David Tatel sat on the bench of the powerful D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for nearly three decades. Appointed by Bill Clinton, he became a prominent, liberal-leaning voice in the judiciary, widely considered a top candidate for the Supreme Court had Al Gore won the 2000 election. 

Tatel was known as a brilliant legal mind, whose opinions helped shape laws affecting voting rights, the environment, internet regulations and press freedoms. But he was also known for another reason: he was blind.

David Tatel retired from the bench in January. He joins Diane to discuss his new book, "Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice." In it, he opens up about his experience as a blind judge – and his grave concerns about the Supreme Court. 

Last night President Biden and former president Donald Trump took to the debate stage.  Hosted by CNN, the conversation focused more on personal attacks than policy. 

Throughout the night, Trump rattled off strings of lies that largely went unchecked. Biden, meanwhile, sounded meandering and unsteady, raising questions about his fitness as a candidate.

Jamelle Bouie is a columnist for The New York Times who writes about politics, with an eye towards history. He joined Diane on Friday morning to help make sense of what happened last night and what it will mean for the 2024 election. 

Once upon a time television news was dominated by men like Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. Some might call it an old boys club. Today, the sight of a woman in the anchor’s chair is commonplace. For this, we can thank Barbara Walters. 

In 1976 she became the first female host of a network nightly news program – and it did not go well. She was shunned, ridiculed, glared at by her co-anchor and eventually replaced. 

Instead of giving up, Walters transformed herself, becoming a legendary long-form interviewer. She talked to presidents, celebrities and, famously Monica Lewinsky. 

Walters went on to host ABC’s “20/20" for 25 years and “The View” for 17 more. She died two years ago at the age of 93. 

Journalist Susan Page has long been fascinated by Walters, her drive to succeed, and how she changed our understanding of news. Page wrote about her in the new book, “The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters.”

Almost half the tap water in the United States contains PFAS, also called forever chemicals. This class of compounds never fully break down in nature and have been linked to serious health problems. 

In April the Environmental Protection Agency required the removal of PFAS from drinking water. Now industry is pushing back. This week a group of chemical and manufacturing companies sued the EPA, saying it overstepped its authority. 

ProPublica’s Sharon Lerner has been reporting on these substances for years. Her latest piece appears in The New Yorker and is titled “How 3M Discovered, then Concealed, the Dangers of Forever Chemicals.” 

Lerner joins Diane on this episode of On My Mind to talk about the history of PFAS and how they became so ubiquitous.  

After a New York jury found former President Donald Trump guilty of 34 felonies last week, the reactions were swift and vehement. 

The former president’s calls for vengeance have become louder. GOP attacks on the justice system have become nearly universal, backed by specific threats and proposals. And Democrats seem to be struggling to find a way to respond. 

Susan Glasser writes a weekly column about life in Washington for The New Yorker, and is co-author of the book, “The Divider,” a best-selling history of Donald Trump in the white house, co-written with her husband, Peter Baker. 

Glasser joins Diane to talk about what has happened in the presidential race since Trump’s verdict and the starkly different worldviews the candidates are presenting to the American people.