WAMU-FM: WAMU: The Diane Rehm Show Podcast

E.L. Doctorow's writing career has spanned more than 50 years. He is the recipient of numerous awards, most recently the National Book Foundation's medal for "Distinguished Contribution to American Letters." His work includes "Ragtime," "The Book of Daniel," "Billy Bathgate" and "The March." Doctorow's 12th novel, "Andrew's Brain," has just come out. In it he takes us on a journey into the mind of a man who seems to leave destruction and tragedy in his wake at every turn. It's an exploration of memory versus imagination and the inner workings of the mind. Diane talks with E.L. Doctorow about his latest novel.

Fifty years ago this month, the Surgeon General issued a landmark report linking smoking to lung cancer. At the time, nearly half of American adults smoked cigarettes. Now, a new report from the Surgeon General finds that while fewer Americans smoke today, nearly 500,000 die from cigarette smoking each year and it remains the No. 1 cause of preventable death. The new report greatly expands the list of smoking-related health problems to include diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and even vision loss. And the findings are that smoking among young people is on the rise. Diane and guests discuss the latest report on cigarette smoking from the Surgeon General and why it's even worse than we thought.

Monday Night Football. Super Bowl Sunday. The big homecoming day game. New Year's college bowls. It's hard to imagine a sport more American than football. The game hasn't been embraced anywhere in the world quite like it has in the United States. Gregg Easterbrook, author of the new book, "King of Sports," says without football "there would still be 50 stars on the flag ... but America wouldn't be quite the same." But Easterbrook argues the game is in serious need of reform at all levels. Diane discusses football's impact on America and what it will take to clean up the sport.

The film "12 Years a Slave" is a brutal reminder of the connection between America's early economic success and the North American slave trade. Facing up to the moral and economic cost of slavery.

A Senate panel concludes the attack in Benghazi was preventable. Early vote tallies show Egyptians approve a new constitution. And the White House urges lawmakers to abandon a push for new sanctions on Iran. A panel of journalists join guest host Susan Page for analysis of the week's top international news stories.

President Barack Obama is set to announce new guidelines for the National Security Agency. A budget deal moves ahead in Congress. And West Virginia residents grapple with a chemical spill. A panel of journalists join guest host Susan Page for analysis of the week's top domestic news stories.

In an effort to deal with the effects of global climate change, scientists and engineers are developing new technologies that aim to manipulate the weather and control the Earth's temperature. It sounds like science fiction, but the growing field of geoengineering aims to alter clouds, store carbon dioxide deep in the ocean and reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the planet. An Australian expert on global warming argues that these new technologies dramatically alter our relationship with the earth. In a new book, "Earthmasters," he says geoengineering could cause more harm than good.

Target and Neiman Marcus are the latest retailers to reveal security breaches that put customers' credit and debit card data at risk. But experts say it's far more common than we'd like to think. Hundreds of data breaches were publicly disclosed last year alone. Yet the U.S. is far behind European and other nations that use more sophisticated chip-and-pin technology to thwart hackers. This week, U.S. lawmakers called for a congressional inquiry into credit card data theft. And major American retailers and card issuers have plans to adopt more secure technology. But many warn more needs to be done. Diane and a panel of experts talk about how to make credit and debit cards safer.

A 2006 report commissioned by Brown University revealed the institution's involvement in slavery, setting off a controversy that made headlines across the country. But Brown's troubling past was far from unique. In a new book, American history professor Craig Steven Wilder lays bare uncomfortable truths about race, slavery and the American academy.

Following last week's chemical spill, hundreds of thousands of West Virginians continue to live without safe running water. An update on the crisis and whether other states' water supplies are at risk.

Award-winning author Chang-rae Lee sets his new novel in a dystopian future America. Post-industrial cities like Baltimore and Detroit have been converted into forced labor camps populated by Chinese immigrant workers who produce food and supplies for a suburban elite. He explains how he came to write this cautionary tale of income inequality, class divisions and environmental decline.

Unemployment insurance first started in the Depression era by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. As the Senate weighs extending unemployment benefits, a look at how it works — and answering your questions.

Al-Qaida takes control of two cities in Iraq. The first shipment of chemical weapons leaves Syria. And former NBA players make a controversial trip to North Korea. A panel of journalists joins Diane for analysis of the week's top international news stories.

The December jobs report is being called "weird" and "wacky." While the U.S. economy added just 74,000 jobs last month, the unemployment rate fell as fewer people sought work. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats hit a snag in their plan to extend long-term unemployment benefits. New Jersey Governor Christie apologizes for the actions of his staff who organized a traffic tie-up, apparently as political payback. The White House reacts to harsh criticism of the president and his staff by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. And Liz Cheney abandons her U.S. Senate run in Wyoming. A panel of journalists joins Diane for analysis of the week's top national news stories.

It happens every year: over the holidays we put on a few extra pounds. Come January we vow to drop the weight. This year, many are turning to intermittent fasting. Fueled by the bestselling book "The Fast Diet: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, and Live Longer with the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting," intermittent fasting is the weight loss trend of the moment. The idea is simple. On some days you eat as you normally would. On other days you cut your calories to a quarter of your normal intake. Advocates say this feast and famine approach mimics how humans ate for thousands of years. They argue that the benefits may extend beyond weight loss to staving off Alzheimer's disease and even preventing some types of cancer.