Since KRCU added The Diane Rehm Show in September of 2012, some KRCU listeners have asked us why Diane Rehm's voice sounds shaky. The reason is because Diane has spasmodic dysphonia.
Diane Rehm is a native Washingtonian who began her radio career in 1973 as a volunteer producer forWAMU 88.5, the NPR member-station in Washington, D.C. She was hired as an assistant producer and later became the host and producer of two health-oriented programs. In 1979, she began hosting WAMU’s local morning talk show, Kaleidoscope, which was renamed The Diane Rehm Show in 1984.
Each week, more than 2.4 million listeners across the country tune in to The Diane Rehm Show, which has grown from a local morning call-in show to one of public broadcasting’s most popular programs. In 2010, Diane Rehm won a Personal Peabody Award (widely considered one of the most prestigious and selective honors in electronic media) for her more than 30 years in public broadcasting.
In 1998, Rehm’s career nearly ended because of spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological voice disorder that causes strained, difficult speech. Rehm sought treatment, returned to the show, and called attention to the condition. Recently, she has been consuming a drink that has eased her symptoms, the recipe for which was recommended by her voice coach, Gary Catona.