The Diane Rehm Show

In 1999, the Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard became the first person to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon. The journey took three weeks but he almost didn't make it, nearly running out of fuel. That close call inspired Piccard to attempt another flight around the world--this time without relying on fossil fuels. Today he is just years away from accomplishing that dream. This time the trip won't be in a balloon, but a plane. Piccard, and his partner, Andre Borschberg, are the first to build and fly a solar powered plane that can fly at night. The two join Diane for the hour to talk about adventure, innovation and the flying without fossil fuel.

In a recent poll, more than one in three Americans reported negative effects of the sequester. That's up from one in four when the $85 billion in budget cuts took effect in March. A Meals on Wheels Association of America survey showed nearly 70 percent of local programs have had to reduce the number of meals served to housebound seniors. Head Start programs for preschoolers have shrunk, funding for medical research is reduced and national parks are scaling back services. Diane and her guests discuss the broad reach of sequestration on Americans' lives.

Immigration has long been an emotionally and politically charged topic in the United States. The Senate last week began debating a bill to reform the nation's immigration policies. President Barack Obama called it a "broken system" and urged lawmakers to fix it. Some members of Congress are fighting for tougher laws. They, along with many Americans, worry immigrants are taking jobs from U.S. citizens and burdening already strapped social service programs. But a new book argues that legal immigration is almost always economically — and morally — beneficial. Diane speaks with Alvaro Vargas Llosa about immigration.

Yesterday former intelligence subcontractor Edward Snowden denied ties to China. Many questions remain unanswered related to his claims that the U.S. government routinely collects vast troves of information on ordinary Americans. But there's another kind of surveillance not widely acknowledged: facial recognition. An estimated 120 million facial images are stored in searchable databases across the country. Law enforcement authorities in 26 states are allowed to search these images for crime suspects, victims and witnesses. How facial recognition software and other biometric techniques are being used today.

Most Americans say they want to die at home, but 75 percent die in hospitals or nursing homes. Hospitalization often means aggressive, high-cost treatment at the expense of quality of life. And life-prolonging care accounts for 30 percent of total Medicare spending. Now, two Harvard doctors are making movies that visually depict common forms of end-of life care in hospitals. The short films show real patients receiving treatment such as emergency CPR and feeding tubes. Clinical studies show that patients who view these movies overwhelmingly opt out of costly, life-prolonging treatment. Diane and her guests discuss how to make better end-of-life decisions.