What started out as a 5-piece article on health care became Laurie Abraham's book, "Mama Might Be Better Off Dead: The Failure of Health Care in Urban America". Through her stories, Abraham points out the many hardships and catch-22 scenarios of some poor families. One woman, after caring for her mother all day, Julie, wanted to work part time in the evenings. However, she soon learned that she'd be making too much money and she'd no longer be eligible for Medicaid for herself and her children.

Author Laurence Shoup discusses his book, "The Carter Presidency and Beyond: Power and Politics in the 1980s," and explains how President Carter came to be elected. He describes the Trilateral Commission and other groups created by corporations and the richest American families to lobby. the government. He also discusses the Carter presidency and his double-dealing with major issues such as unions and regulating big businesses.

Discussing the book "The Chicagoization of America, 1893-1917" (published by Chicago Historical Bookworks) with Chicago author Kenan Heise.

As part of an on-going series, Chicago Sun Times reporter, Judy Nichol and her colleagues went to various high schools in Chicago and the suburbs to talk to students about drugs in the high schools. Lane Tech seniors Jim and Kurt said the reason they got into doing drugs was because of their peers and because they wanted to be a part of the crowd.

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.

With his book, "Hunting Mr. Heartbreak: A Discovery of America," Jonathan Raban wanted to see if, in the 20th century, a man could have a new life in America. Raban traveled to New York City, to the deep south in Alabama, to Seattle and finally to the Florida Keys.

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.