The Diane Rehm Show

The Diane Rehm Show

Genre	Talk radio
Running time	102 minutes 40 seconds
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
Home station	WAMU
Syndicates	NPR Sirius Satellite Radio
Hosted by	Diane Rehm
Produced by	Sandra Pinkard Nancy Robertson Susan Nabors Denise Couture Monique Nazareth Sarah Ashworth
Recording studio	Washington, DC
Original release	1970s – present
Audio format	Stereophonic
Opening theme	Allegre from "Toot Suite", Claude Bolling, composer
Ending theme	Same as opening theme
Website	www.wamu.org/programs/dr
Podcast	Podcast / RSS Feed

The Diane Rehm Show is an NPR (National Public Radio) call-in show based in the United States. In October, 2007, The Diane Rehm Show was named to Audience Research Analysis’ list of the top ten most powerful national programs in public radio – the only talk show on the list. ACT 1 Systems Inc., which is independent from Arbitron, estimated that The DR Show at that time had "1.7 million listeners." It is produced by WAMU and hosted by Diane Rehm. The show debuted on WAMU in the 1970s as Kaleidoscope, a weekday morning arts and discussion program. Diane took over as host in 1979, and it became The Diane Rehm Show in 1984.

Format

The show airs live Monday through Friday from 10:00 to 12:00 EST, but some local stations re-air it at a later time. The first hour of the show is an in-depth discussion of a topic or theme in the news. Occasionally, it is an interview with a newsmaker. Two examples of past show topics for the first hour include "European & Arab Media on the U.S. in Iraq" and "Drug-Resistant Bacteria". The second hour is either an interview with an author about a book or a segment of general interest. The books can be fiction or non-fiction, and cover a wide range of subjects and opinions.

There are also recurring features. Each Friday, there is a two-hour weekly "News Roundup" where the major national and international headlines of the past week are discussed by reporters. A (usually) monthly "Reader's Review" is when older books are reviewed and discussed.

The show is produced by Sandra Pinkard, Nancy Robertson, Susan Nabors and Denise Couture, Monique Nazareth and Sarah Ashworth. The engineers are Tobey Schreiner, Jonathan Charry, Kenneth Mason, and Andrew Chadwick. Dorie Anisman answers the phones. Transcripts of the show are available via the official web site.

Host

Further information: Diane Rehm

The show increasingly relies on alternating guest hosts Susan Page, Steve Roberts, Terence Smith, Frank Sesno, Andrea Seabrook, and Katty Kay. In March 2007, Rehm missed shows due to a bout of pneumonia. In March, 2007, Diane Rehm suffered severe and painful corneal burns when she sprayed perfume on her contact lens during a trip to Oklahoma City. Rehm said that she labeled the identical three-ounce tinted plastic bottles to show they held different solutions but that the labels became blurred and hard to read—especially without her lenses in.

In August and September 2009, filling in for the host, Susan Page of USA Today reported that Rehm was running across the street on Thursday when her heel got caught in the leg of her pants. As a result, Rehm tripped and broke her pelvis during the fall.

Awards

Awards won include: the 2002 New York Festival Bronze World Medal for Best Regularly Scheduled Talk Program Interview, the 2002 American Bar Association Silver Gavel Honorable Mention, the 1999 New York Festival's Bronze World Medal, and two 1999 American Women in Radio and Television first place Gracie Allen Awards. In 2009, Diane Rehm won the coveted George Foster Peabody Award.

External links

• The Diane Rehm Show webpage
• University of Maryland Television interview with Diane Rehm posted by the Research Channel