The Diane Rehm Show

For the last few years, Congress's approval ratings have been dismal. A Gallup poll last month showed only 15 percent of Americans approve of how Congress is doing its job. Seventy-nine percent disapprove. Olympia Snowe is fed up with Congress, too. After 18 years in the U.S. Senate, the Maine Republican called it quits. When she announced she would not seek re-election in 2012, she cited increasingly partisan politics as a major factor. In her new political memoir, she tells how she went from being an orphan at age 9 to a GOP lawmaker known for reaching across the aisle. Her take on what's wrong with Congress and how to fix it.

In recent years, federal funding for public broadcasting has fallen to record lows. Many broadcasters have turned to wealthy donors to fill the gap. In 2006, billionaire industrialist David Koch joined the board of WNET, New York's PBS affiliate. Last fall, the station aired a documentary titled, "Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream," which contrasted ultra-rich residents of the Upper East Side with their Bronx counterparts. In an article for The New Yorker magazine out this week, investigative journalist Jane Mayer chronicles the fate of that movie and another documentary produced for PBS. Diane talks with Mayer about the questions her article raises about the influence of big money on public media outlets.

The rescue of an American aid worker kidnapped in Somalia. The story of her ordeal and why she intends to return to Africa.

Lifetime alimony payments may soon be a relic of the past. A growing number of states are considering laws that would generally end permanent spousal support. Instead, they would create formulas to determine the amount and duration of awards. Some proponents of alimony-law reform are seeking to make the elimination of permanent alimony retroactive. The proposals have triggered heated debate: payers who criticize what they call unjust and outdated awards are pitted against family law attorneys who say the measures are punitive to women. One twist: an increasing number of those seeking reform are women who out-earn their ex-husbands. Diane and her guests discuss the future of alimony.

The U.S. economy has been showing some positive signs: the stock market is up. House prices in many places are higher than they've been for seven years. The number of new workers seeking unemployment benefits has declined, and the deficit is smaller this year compared to last. But there are still more than 12 million Americans looking for work. Current deficit numbers may delay the next political showdown over the raising the debt limit, but that battle is still coming, and there is no sign that the White House and Congress will be able to agree on plan that supports long term growth. Please join us to discuss what's ahead for the U.S. economy.