Two examples of past show topics for the first hour include "European & Arab Media on the U.S. in Iraq" and "Drug-Resistant Bacteria".

Occasionally, Rehm allowed callers to call in and interact with the author directly, often resulting in a lively debate.

The show was produced by Sandra Pinkard, Nancy Robertson, Susan Nabors and Denise Couture, Monique Nazareth and Sarah Ashworth.

The show was sometimes guest hosted when Rehm was out for treatment for her spasmodic dysphonia, by a rotating list of NPR and NPR-related hosts including Susan Page, Tom Gjelten, Steve Roberts, Terence Smith, Frank Sesno, Andrea Seabrook, and Katty Kay.

[3] In March 2007, Diane Rehm suffered severe and painful corneal burns when she sprayed perfume on her contact lens during a trip to Oklahoma City.

From August 21 into September 2009, Susan Page, of USA Today, filled in for the sidelined host, initially reporting that Rehm "caught her heel in the hem of her slacks while she was dashing across the street yesterday afternoon, and she cracked her pelvis when she fell.

[1] Awards won include: the 2002 New York Festival Bronze World Medal for Best Regularly Scheduled Talk Program Interview, the 2002 American Bar Association Silver Gavel Honorable Mention, the 1999 New York Festival's Bronze World Medal, and two 1999 American Women in Radio and Television first place Gracie Allen Awards.