Terkel comments and reads from The Man Who Lived Underground

Terkel comments and reads poetry with Gary Merrill

Ray Gordon, writer and director, and Susanne Nussbaum, cast member of "Disabled Geniuses," discuss the play and the life of people with disabilities. Nussbaum recalls experiences of discrimination she and her friends have faced due to their differences. Both interviewees then talk about the members of the play and some of the characters involved.

Interviewing author and former Attorney General Ramsey Clark. He discusses law, crime, and violence in the United States. Content Warning: This conversation includes racially and/or culturally derogatory language and/or negative depictions of Black and Indigenous people of color, women, and LGBTQI+ individuals. Rather than remove this content, we present it in the context of twentieth-century social history to acknowledge and learn from its impact and to inspire awareness and discussion.

Discussing the book "Deadly deceits: my twenty five years in the C.I.A" with the author Ralph McGehee.

The blues and jazz are topics covered by Ralph Ellison. Ellison himself started to play the trumpet at the age of seven. Ellison said for him, when hearing classical music, he then had to go and find classical literature.

Ralph Ellison, winner of the National Book Award for Fiction for his book "Invisible Man," discusses his early life and education and his life as a writer and lifetime scholar. He speaks on being a musician (trumpet), the joy of music and the Church and how they fit into the lives of African Americans.

Content Warning: This conversation includes racially and/or culturally derogatory language and/or negative depictions of Black and Indigenous people of color, women, and LGBTQI+ individuals. Rather than remove this content, we present it in the context of twentieth-century social history to acknowledge and learn from its impact and to inspire awareness and discussion. Discussing the book "By Design: Why there are no locks on the bathroom doors in the Hotel Louis XIV, and other object lessons" with designer and author Ralph Caplan. Includes an interview with George Nelson.

Studs Terkel montage

Presenting a debate over nuclear energy

Many of the great 20th century poets were published for the first time in Poetry Magazine. Among the poets discussed here are Robert Frost, e e cummings, Wallace Stevens, Ogden Nash, Richard Wilber, Gwendolyn Brooks, and W.H. Auden.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations 

The Goodman Theatre cast of the play “Fences” discuss some of the major themes from the play, including the African-American experience and race relations, particularly in Major League Baseball.

Pierre Burton, Canadian writer and journalist, discusses his book “The Impossible Railway,” touching on topics including the significance of the Canadian Pacific Railway, poor labor conditions on the railway, and differences between America and Canada. Content Warning: This conversation includes racially and/or culturally derogatory language and/or negative depictions of Black and Indigenous people of color, women, and LGBTQI+ individuals.

Studs interviews Phyl Garland about her book "Sound of Soul." They discuss the history of music and how black music influenced white music. Studs reads a quote from her book where she quoted Lerone Bennett. Garland also reads from her book a few times. They discuss how music changed over time for blacks from spirituals to slave songs to the blues because it was a reflection of their lives. Garland explains how blacks used music to help them through their trials and frustrations.