WAMU-FM: WAMU: The Diane Rehm Show Podcast

The U.S. says it's considering arming rebels in Syria. President Barack Obama talks trade and other issues with his counterpart in Mexico. Iraq is hit with the worst violence in five years. Afghanistan's president admits to receiving bags of cash from the CIA over the past decade. Bangladesh makes more arrests in the factory collapse that killed hundreds. The U.S. demands North Korea release an American citizen sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for unspecified "hostile acts." And Europe's central bank cuts a key interest rate as the region struggles with recession. Guest host Steve Roberts and a panel of journalists provide analysis of the week's top international news stories.

President Barack Obama renews calls to close Guantanamo. Criminal charges are filed against three friends of the Boston bombing suspect. And the latest housing and unemployment numbers. A panel of journalists provides analysis of the week's top national news stories.

In the aftermath of recent tragedies, specially trained dogs have been sent to provide comfort. Diane and her guests discuss why canines are uniquely suited for the job.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is expected to sign a bill today that would abolish the death penalty. This makes Maryland the sixth state in the last six years to repeal capital punishment. New Mexico, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have abolished capital punishment and other states, including Nebraska and Delaware have considered similar reforms. There is growing unease among lawmakers across the country that the risk of putting an innocent person to death remains too great. But many argue that the death penalty remains a worthwhile deterrent to violent crime.

Diane speaks with renowned physician and social activist Paul Farmer. In his latest book, he encourages young people to tackle the greatest challenges of our times, from global health and poverty to climate change.

An estimated 2.5 million people work as in-home health and personal aides for the elderly and disabled in this country. Tasks include helping with meals and bathing, light cleaning and companionship. These services can allow an elderly person to postpone or avoid costlier nursing home care. As baby boomers age, demand for this kind of care is projected to rise significantly. But in many states, in-home health care providers earn less than minimum wage and are not entitled to overtime. What the shortage of caregivers means for patients, their families and the home health care industry.

In 1775, Boston was a city of 15,000 people packed into a one-mile island. King George was tightening his grip on the colony with new taxes and blockades. British soldiers occupied the city, angering the colonists. And vigilantes roamed the streets, exacting their own justice. In June, the tension exploded at Bunker Hill, one of several unoccupied peaks outside the city. In the bloodiest clash of the Revolutionary War, an unlikely group of citizen soldiers wiped out half the British forces. Their courageous stand changed the course of the American Revolution. From the bestselling author of "Mayflower," a new book on the battle of Bunker Hill.

Evidence that Syria has used chemical weapons against its people puts new pressure on the Obama administration to respond.

Not many films have changed the American cinematic landscape. But "The French Connection" can make that claim. The 1971 classic, with its handheld documentary style and legendary car chase, became the standard for on-screen authenticity. Its director, William Friedkin, is still going strong at age 77. Though his career stalled for a time after making "The Exorcist," he's enjoying a late renaissance. His 2011 horror-thriller "Killer Joe" garnered some of the best reviews of his five-decade career. And now he's enjoying a second calling: directing opera. Diane talks with Academy Award-winning director William Friedkin about his life and career.

More than half the detainees at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo are on a hunger strike. Their lawyers as well as military officials say the protest reflects the level of despair felt by the prisoners there. Set up under President George W. Bush to hold terror suspects after 9/11, the prison today incarcerates 166 men. Most of them have never been charged with a crime. Detainee advocates want President Barack Obama to make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo facility. But others argue the detainees pose a national security threat — even those who have been cleared for transfer to their home countries. A discussion of the future of Guantanamo's detainees.

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Rohde spent eight years covering Afghanistan and Pakistan. For seven months of that time he was held captive by the Taliban. In a new book, he argues our experience in Iraq and Afghanistan clearly underscores the limits of military power. What's needed, he says, is not military force but support for economic growth, the kind of support we used to regularly deliver through USAID and other civilian institutions. Veteran foreign affairs columnist David Rohde on the urgent need for traditional American diplomacy, how the Islamic world is changing and what these shifts mean for U.S. strategy.

The U.S. is pressing for a comprehensive United Nations investigation of chemical weapons use in Syria. Canada foils a terror plot to derail a passenger train. And the deadly collapse of a garment factory in Bangladesh. A panel of journalists provides analysis of the week's top international news stories.

Frustration over sequester-related air travel problems. The latest on the Boston bombing investigation. And five presidents help dedicate the George W. Bush presidential library. Journalists provide analysis of the week's national headlines.

Naturalist Tim Gallagher is obsessed with rare birds. A decade ago, the editor-in-chief of "Living Bird," the magazine of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, joined Diane to talk about his rediscovery of the legendary ivory-billed woodpecker. Now, Gallagher relays his current pursuit to save the giant imperial woodpecker of Mexico's Sierra Madre Mountains. No one knows whether this rare bird is extinct. Gallagher describes his dangerous expedition into this remote region of Geronimo and Pancho Villa where he dodged armed drug traffickers and kidnappers.

The Senate is likely to move ahead this week on a bill that would allow states to tax Internet sales. All but four states require brick and mortar retailers to charge their customers sales tax. Online retailers have been exempt. Customers who buy on the internet are supposed to be keeping track of their on-line purchases and paying taxes due on their own, but this happens rarely. Opponents of the law argue it would be an administrative nightmare for small online sellers to comply with the all the different state sales tax rules and an added expense for consumers. Please join us to discuss the pros and cons of taxing internet sales.