Studs Terkel discusses the English language with Bergen Evans, television host, writer, and Northwestern University professor of English.

Northwestern University professor of Slavic languages and literatures Irwin Weil discusses Russian literature, poetry, and theater. Weil discusses the strong interest students have at Northwestern University for the subject he teaches, and attempts to answer why that is. Weil sings several unnamed Russian folk songs throughout the program and reads “A Magic Moment I Remember” - Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin.

Northwestern University professor of Slavic languages and literature Irwin Weil discusses his trip to China to attend an international meeting of teachers in Russian and Russian literature. He also briefly discusses notable Russian writers. Weil sings several unnamed Russian and Chinese folk songs throughout and reads “I Loved You” - Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin.

Poet and translator Kimon Friar discusses Nikos Kazantzakis and the art of Greek translation. Friar discusses the common theme in all of Kazantzaki’s works, how all of nature is set out to transform matter into spirit. Friar discusses and reads Nikos Kazantzakis’s “The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel”, Constantine Cavafy’s “Ithaka”, and Odysseus Elytēs’s “The Autopsy”. This program includes an excerpt of an interview with Eleni Kazantzakis, Nikos’s wife, where she describes how Nikos always saw the excitement in every person he met.

Foreign language expert Howard Vincent talks with Studs Terkel about foreign languages, Herman Melville, “Moby Dick,” and other literary works.

Ellen Afterman, Clinton Sanders and Spellman Young discuss the exclusionary power of language; i.e. white, middle-class language as the standard by which people are intellectually and socially judged, and how groups are using language to define identity.

Columbia University professor of psychology, Dr. Herbert Terrace, talks with Studs regarding his 1979 book "Nim: A Chimpanzee Who Learned Sign Language," animal cognition and the evolution of language.

*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations 

In 1953, one of the very first broadcasts on WFMT was with Lorenzo Turner. Topics that Turner cover include the Gullah language, his travels to Nigeria, and music. Turner also explains how using different inflections on a word can change its meaning.