The Diane Rehm Show on WFDD

Charles Moore, the author of Margaret Thatcher's authorized biography, joins us to discuss his new book.

Following the devastating tornado in Oklahoma, the federal government is stepping in. A look at disaster assistance and the politics of relief.

For the last few years, Congress's approval ratings have been dismal. A Gallup poll last month showed only 15 percent of Americans approve of how Congress is doing its job. Seventy-nine percent disapprove. Olympia Snowe is fed up with Congress, too. After 18 years in the U.S. Senate, the Maine Republican called it quits. When she announced she would not seek re-election in 2012, she cited increasingly partisan politics as a major factor. In her new political memoir, she tells how she went from being an orphan at age 9 to a GOP lawmaker known for reaching across the aisle. Her take on what's wrong with Congress and how to fix it.

In recent years, federal funding for public broadcasting has fallen to record lows. Many broadcasters have turned to wealthy donors to fill the gap. In 2006, billionaire industrialist David Koch joined the board of WNET, New York's PBS affiliate. Last fall, the station aired a documentary titled, "Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream," which contrasted ultra-rich residents of the Upper East Side with their Bronx counterparts. In an article for The New Yorker magazine out this week, investigative journalist Jane Mayer chronicles the fate of that movie and another documentary produced for PBS. Diane talks with Mayer about the questions her article raises about the influence of big money on public media outlets.

The rescue of an American aid worker kidnapped in Somalia. The story of her ordeal and why she intends to return to Africa.