Reflections on Judith Wax's life are part of her book, "Starting in the Middle." Ms. Wax talks about being the perfect wife and mother, when she always secretly wanted to be a writer. Being an ignored female guest at dinner parties was always interesting, too, as male guests would often ask her, "What does your husband do?"

Joshua Rubenstein discusses his book "Tangled Loyalties: The Life and Times of Ilya Ehrenburg" and the importance of Ehrenburg during the Stalin regime.

In "Goodbye Land," Jose Yglesias travels to Galicia, Spain, his father's native province. Yglesias found a number of cousins who remembered his father. Time was spent in a tavern owned by one of his cousins, talking about what they recalled about Yglesias' father. His cousins viewed Yglesias' travels to Spain as an event; a millionaire traveling to Spain and they showered him with an abundance of gifts.

Terkel interviews author Jonathan Yardley on his latest book. This book titled "Ring" is a biography of the sports writer columnist Ring Lardner.

Discussing the book "The Crimes of Patriots: A True Tale of Dope, Dirty Money, and the CIA" (published by Norton) with the author, investigative journalist Jonathan Kwitny.

Film critic John Simon and Studs Terkel discuss various movies, filmmaking techniques, and how film is a newer form of art. Terkel plays an audio clip from an interview he did he with Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni.

Kentucky writer John Egerton discusses his book "Generations: An American Family." The song "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is played at the opening and closing of the interview. The timestamps are as follows: 00:01:29-00:02:36 (opening) 00:55:33-00:58:40 (closing)

Because there' s murder, torture, prison terms and terrorism involved, Studs Terkel, mentions that this book reads like a crime novel. "Assassination on Embassy Row," is John Dinges' account of what happened to Orlando Letelier in Washington, D.C. in 1976.

Studs Terkel disccuses the Chicago Dance Festival with Joel Hall, Lynn Colburn, and Larry Schoeneman.

Joan Cook discusses her book "In Defense of Homo Sapiens" and talks about research done by other scientists working with Chimps and other primates. She explains her stance that not all humans lean towards violence and that nature, not nurture, and the environment creates aggression and violence. The conversation compares economics and Darwinism for a view of humanistic economics.

Discussing "How the Good Guys Finally Won : Notes from an Impeachment Summer" and interviewing Jimmy Breslin.

Jessica Mitford an English born author, investigative journalist, and civil rights activist discusses her book "Kind and Usual Punishment: The Prison Business,". Ms Mitford and Studs discuss her finding that prisoners were used as test subjects for drug trials and other medical research, and slave labor. Ms Mitford's book makes the argument that prisons are a governments means to making money from the prisoners they have punished. They speak about reform needed in the laws and decriminalization of many things and the abolishing of prison altogether. Ms.