WAMU-FM: WAMU: The Diane Rehm Show Podcast

A young, educated British woman was spending an idyllic weekend in Italy with her seemingly charming boyfriend she knew for five years. But the day she was supposed to return home, he threatened to kill her younger brothers if she didn't help him pay off debts. For the next six months, she was forced to work as a prostitute. She wrote a memoir about her escape and how her captor remains at large. This young woman is one of an estimated 20 million people who are trafficked for sex or forced labor worldwide. We talk with her and a panel of guests about new efforts to combat modern slavery.

Nearly a quarter of Medicare's $550 billion annual budget pays for medical treatment in the last year of life. And almost a third of Medicare patients have surgery in their last month of life. But when people are fully informed about the risks of many life-prolonging procedures, they often decide against them. That's what happened to a woman in Connecticut. After the devastating experiences her husband went through following a stroke, she refused major heart surgery for herself. In a new book, the couple's daughter — a journalist — tells their story and offers advice for us all.

Pat Conroy says he does not remember a time when he did not hate his father. The best-selling author of "The Prince of Tides" has spent his writing life trying to exorcise the demons of his stormy childhood — one in which his military pilot father regularly beat and verbally abused him. Conroy first confronted his family's demons in his 1976 novel, "The Great Santini." It featured an abusive, simple-minded Marine Corps fighter pilot named Bull Meecham who terrorized his wife and children. At first, Bull's resemblance to Don Conroy widened the rift between father and son, but eventually the two men grew closer. Diane talks with novelist Pat Conroy about his new memoir. In it, he tries to make sense of his family history one last time.

A decade ago plant-based fuels held tremendous promise in the U.S. The hope was that they would reduce reliance on foreign oil and cut greenhouse gases caused by burning fossil fuels. Ethanol made from corn took off, helped by a government mandate requiring billions of gallons of corn ethanol to be added to gasoline and diesel. But last month the Obama administration signaled it is rethinking the biofuel mandate. This has corn growers and developers of advanced biofuels up in arms. On the other side is the oil industry and environmental groups. For this month's Environmental Outlook: the battle over ethanol policy and the future of biofuels.

Shirley Jones is best known for her roles in classic musical films like "Oklahoma!," "Carousel" and "The Music Man." She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in "Elmer Gantry." And she played one of television's best-known moms in "The Partridge Family." Often cast as a wholesome, all-American beauty, she grew up in small-town Pennsylvania as a tomboy who loved to sing. Nineteen-year-old Jones grabbed the attention of Broadway legends Rodgers and Hammerstein at her first audition. But life behind the scenes, in challenging marriages and raising three sons in the world of show business, wasn't always so easy. Diane talks with singer and actor Shirley Jones about her life on and off the screen.

Martin Cruz Smith does not receive a warm welcome at the airport when he visits Russia. His Arkady Renko series features a fictional Russian police investigator who has slipped from favor because he refused to join what Smith calls, "the conspiracy of duplicity." The American author of "Gorky Park" has just written his eighth novel in the series. It's based on the mysterious death of a real-life reporter who pursued stories on political corruption in Vladimir Putin's government. Smith believes she was killed for doing so. Smith speaks with Diane about his latest novel, "Tatiana," and why he worried it wouldn't get written at all.

Billy Collins describes his poetry like an eye chart: the letter at the top is clear but by the bottom you are squinting and hopefully a little confused. Known for his accessible, unpretentious and often humorous style, Collins has been called the most popular poet in America. He has used his fame to lift poetry from the libraries and the halls of academia into public spaces. Through a variety of initiatives, Collins has brought poetry to the sides of subway cars and buses — he even created a poetry channel for Delta Airlines. His latest book is "Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems." Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins joins Diane for the hour.

Fannie Flagg is well known to listeners of a certain age as a comedian and actor, but she found her true calling as a writer. The daughter of a film projectionist, Flagg moved from Alabama to New York in her 20s to pursue acting. She soon became a regular on TV shows like "Candid Camera" and "The New Dick Van Dyke Show." But years later, while in a Broadway play, Flagg found she had lost her passion to act. She quit and pursued a new dream: full-time writing. Her second novel, "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Caf?," became a best seller and a blockbuster film. Flagg's new book covers similar ground. Set partly in the South, it spans decades and features strong, trailblazing women. Diane talks with Fannie Flagg about her latest novel, "The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion."

The summer of 1927 isn't a year that particularly stands out in U.S. history books, but it was, as writer Bill Bryson explains, a crucial one in America's past. A previously unknown young man, Charles Lindbergh, crossed the Atlantic. Babe Ruth transfixed a nation with a home run record that endured for decades. And an epic flood of the Mississippi River prompted the first ever massive federal relief effort. In a new book, Bryson details these and other events of the summer of 1927 and their long lasting legacy.

Hamlet, Macbeth, Juliet: Most of us recognize the characters of William Shakespeare. But while their world is familiar, it is nothing like our own. In a new book, Neil MacGregor, author of "a History of the World in 100 Objects," presents 20 artifacts that shed new light on Shakespeare's age. It was a time when discovery of a New World challenged long-held certainties. He also explores the assumptions Londoners brought with them to Shakespeare's new globe theater. The objects that reflect those understandings range from the rich to the humble and represent themes of the Shakespearean age - globalization, reformation, plague, and magic. Diane talks with British Museum director, Neil MacGregor, about what he calls Shakespeare's restless world.

The end of the year is traditionally the time when Hollywood studios release movies they believe will contend for Academy Awards. Critics say this season is especially strong, starting with the fall release of "All is Lost," starring Robert Redford as a lone sailor adrift in the Indian Ocean. Many of the films are based on true stories, including Tom Hanks as "Captain Phillips" battling Somali pirates. Dame Judi Dench stars in "Philomena," about a woman's search for the son she was forced to give up. And the new release "American Hustle," a period crime drama based on the Abscam scandal, has seven Golden Globe nominations. Three of the nation's top film critics join Diane to discuss this season's best movies.

Last week on his 77th birthday the leader of the nation's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, Pope Francis, invited three men who live on the streets of Rome to join him for breakfast. The move is consistent with the down to earth, inclusive and questioning approach he's taken since become pope nine months ago. His remarkable ability to connect with people and willingness to address important issues has drawn praise within the Roman Catholic Church and well beyond. Time Magazine named him person of the year, as did "The Advocate", a magazine focused on gay rights. Please join us to discuss the pope's message.

Ukraine accepts Russia's bailout offer. Fighting in Syria escalates ahead of the January peace conference. And the U.S. and Britain evacuate citizens from South Sudan as violence spreads. A panel of journalists joins Diane for analysis of the week's top international news stories.

Presidential advisers recommend the NSA not be allowed to collect and store Americans' phone data. The Senate approves a two-year budget deal. And outgoing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke says the stimulus program will gradually end next year. A panel of journalists joins Diane for analysis of the week's top national news stories.

For the last 40 years, the baby boom generation has shaped the American workplace. This trend continues. But today's boomers are posing a new challenge: how to support a staff made up of workers in their 50s, 60s, even 70s. Next year the youngest boomers turn 50. And older members of the generation are also sticking around. A recent study found that since 2008 the average retirement age increased three years to 62. Those boomers still working estimate that they won't retire until age 66. Diane and her guests discuss how an aging workforce is transforming the workplace.