Studs Terkel interviews Valentin Pluchek and Stanislaw Pchenikov on Russia theater, focusing mainly on the city of Moscow.

Studs Terkel discusses Russian theater with Stanislaw Pchenikov and Theater director Valentin Nikolaevich Pluchek.

Soviet intellectuals Tamara Mamedova, Nicolai Pogodin, and Anatol Safronov talk with Studs Terkel about their work with the Institute for Soviet-American Relations (U.S.) and Soviet arts and culture.

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

Salisbury continues talking about the artists like writers, musicians and dancers being national assets to Russia. In a country with its history of tyranny, Russian society is becoming more permissive and relaxed, explained Salisbury. Khrushchev keeps the peace right now, says Salisbury but wonders, like the title of a new book he's working on, is this "A New Russia?".

Being a correspondent for the New York Times in Moscow gave others the chance to see Russia through Harrison Salisbury's reporting. Inside their country, the people, says Salisbury, they have started to loosen up and they have started to talk to one another. The freedoms of the arts have come back, too.

Harrison Salisbury discusses his book “The 900 Days: The Siege Of Leningrad” and the lasting impact of the siege on the Soviet Union and life in Leningrad during the siege. Salisbury reads a poem by Olga Bergholz.Isabella Zorina discusses a trip to mass graves, including the many young people who were also visiting, some as part of wedding ceremonies, and the music played at the graves. Terkel plays Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, at the end of the program.

Discussing the book "A Time of Change: A Reporter's Tale of Our Time". Harrison Evans Salisbury discusses his career and the stories he has covered as a reporter. Includes Harrison Evans Salisbury reading a passage from the book at the beginning.