· Diane Rehm: On My Mind
- 00:30:49
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.
Episodes
How serious is the threat of political violence in the U.S.?25 Jul· Diane Rehm: On My Mind- Listen later
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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.
- Understanding Project 2025 and how it could shape a second Trump presidency19 Jul· Diane Rehm: On My Mind
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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.
See AlsoPolitical Affairs Now An Open BookThe Reporter Dispatch from White Plains, New YorkJohn Edwards Net Worth + How Get Famous - Gemtracks BeatsWho is Aliza Barber? Everything To Know About Her - Top Info Techs“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.
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- The nation's first Black female billionaire on resilience, creativity, and following her passions11 Jul· Diane Rehm: On My Mind
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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.”
- A retired federal judge on his life on the bench and the current Supreme Court4 Jul· Diane Rehm: On My Mind
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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.
- The first Trump-Biden debate of 2024: "They both lost"27 Jun· Diane Rehm: On My Mind
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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.
- How Barbara Walters changed the news media for women -- and everyone else20 Jun· Diane Rehm: On My Mind
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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.”
- The push to remove "forever chemicals" from America's drinking water13 Jun· Diane Rehm: On My Mind
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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.
- How Trump's guilty verdict shifted the race for president (if not the minds of the voters)6 Jun· Diane Rehm: On My Mind
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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.
- 'The Spirit of America' vs. 'America First': Revisiting FDR's war of words with Charles Lindbergh30 May· Diane Rehm: On My Mind
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In 1939 fascism was on the march around the world and America found itself at a crossroads.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt believed Hitler and the Nazis posed an existential threat to democracy. But the American public, still reeling from the Great Depression, remained wary of getting involved.
Fascist sympathizers and powerful right-wing media groups egged on the isolationists. Famed aviator Charles Lindbergh became the voice of this opposition and over the ensuing two years a war of words played out between Lindbergh and Roosevelt.
Paul Sparrow, the former director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, tells this story in a new book, “Awakening the Spirit of America.”
“Awakening the Spirit” will be on bookstore shelves on June 4, 2024.
- The Story Of One Woman's Decision To End Her Life23 May· Diane Rehm: On My Mind
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Diana Williams lived a rich life by any measure. She was a wife, a mother, a traveler, and the founder of a job training organization at San Quentin prison in California.
But for three decades, Williams was plagued by mysterious symptoms. These included exhaustion, night sweats, brain fog, and throbbing headaches and chills that left her bedridden for days.
Specialists diagnosed her with a series of maladies such as multiple sclerosis, Lyme disease, and toxic mold exposure. They prescribed grueling treatments that took up time, money, and ultimately proved unsuccessful.
Williams eventually decided enough was enough. In January of this year, she traveled to Dignitas, a “death with dignity” group in Switzerland, and ended her life.
In December 2023, just weeks before her “death date,” Williams joined Diane for a conversation about her agonizing choice and why she felt it was so important to tell her story of “a life well lived, a death well planned.”
You can read more about Diana Williams’s story in her posthumously published memoir, “Traveling Solo.”
