Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.

Diane Rehm—our longtime public radio treasure—was one of the recipients of the 2013 National Humanities Medal yesterday.

President Barack Obama awarded the prestigious medal to Rehm, along with the rest of this year’s recipients, which include DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, folk-country singer Linda Ronstadt, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, among others.

During the ceremony, a military aide announced that Rehm was receiving the Medal for “illuminating the people and stories behind the headlines.” Adding that “in probing interviews with everyone from pundits to poets to Presidents, Ms. Rehm’s keen insights and boundless curiosity have deepened our understanding of our culture and ourselves.”

In his opening statement, President Obama quoted Maya Angelou, saying that “a bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.” He added: “Each of the men and women that we honor today has a song—literally, in some cases. For others, it’s a talent, or a drive, or a passion that they just had to share with the world.”

Rehm, who’s been hosting her own public radio show since 1984, certainly has a talent, drive, and passion to share with the world. She’s become a staple—both locally and nationally—for her probing and illuminating radio show, which continually finds new and relevant angles to cover the most pressing news stories.

You can watch the full ceremony below (Rehm comes on at the 21-minute mark):