NPR's Diane Rehm Shares Most 'Amazing Experiences' of Her Career: Interviewing the Clintons

January 30th, 2010 8:13 AM

NPR talk show host Diane Rehm was lionized in the Washington-area newspaper The Beacon ("In Focus for People Over 50") as "the queen of talk radio." It became quite clear in Barbara Ruben's profile that this queen’s most amazing career moments on the radio were spent in the presence of the Clintons:

"To have an opportunity to interview a sitting president in the Oval Office [Bill Clinton], to have Hillary Clinton come in here two or three times...those were all amazing experiences," she said with her distinctive leisurely cadence and careful enunciation.

"Leisurely cadence" is a very kind definition of Rehm’s broadcast voice, which we could also kindly suggest is not universally pleasing (like an older female version of Bob Woodward). The Clintons made a point of schmoozing the local NPR folks at WAMU and telling them they were regular listeners.

As you might expect, Rehm's list of politician guests leans to the left, as well.