Norman Pellegrini interviews Studs Terkel to discuss his life and career as a radio personality. Studs recalls a specific moment walking through the streets of Chicago and hearing blues music coming through the window of someone’s home. As Studs recalls, this moment is one that jump-started his interest in music and radio and inspired him to leave his life of studying law and move into the unknown of music radio. Technical engineer and producer of the show, Jim Unrath, joins the conversation to recount previous interviews and programs of Studs'.

Stuart Brent believes people are totally indifferent to reading. He has come to the realization that, for some, material rewards are more important than cultural activities and as a result, culture is dying. But he is puzzled as to why readers would want to shop at big conglomerate stores like Kroch's and Brentano's when his store offers a personal, caring nature to its customers. This recording includes two excerpts from interviews with British booksellers Una Dillon and Handasyde Buchanan.

Author Ross Miller discusses his latest work, which centers around Chicago and the aftermath of the Great Chicago Fire and its effects on rebuilding the metropolis and the advantages of gaining a new take on architecture and society.

Professors Adolph Baker, Jurgen Hinze, Richard Lewenton and Father William Wallace discuss science and why the younger generation is not choosing to enter the science field. The four professors debate on how to change the world an whether science is the answer to that problem. Discussions about the future of mankind also occur.

Leo Stodolsky and Gerald Temaner discuss college students' activity — or lack thereof — and their magazine, New University Thought.

Dick Gregory satirizes capital punishment in the United States, calls for the churches to take action, and talks about potential actions from "demonstrators." Other panel members answer audience questions (Father James Jones, Norval Morris, Hans W. Mattick, and Arthur Wineberg). Hosted by the University of Chicago. (Part 3 of 3)

A panel at University of Chicago Law School discuss ending capital punishment (tapes A and B) and with Dick Gregory (tape C). Includes presentations by Father James G. Jones and Norval Morris. (Part 2 of 3)

A panel at University of Chicago Law School discuss ending capital punishment (tapes A and B) and with Dick Gregory (tape C). Includes presentations from Hans W. Mattick and Arthur Wineberg. (Part 1 of 3)

University of Chicago Professor of Ecology and Evolution, Monte Lloyd, and Professor of Anthropology, Terry Turner, discuss the environmental and human rights impact of the Amazon rainforest deforestation. Studs plays "Whose Garden Was This" - Tom Paxton (1970).

Milton Mayer discusses the state of U.S. education and the educational ideas of Robert Hutchins.

Jennifer Davis, Bill Sutherland, and Zola Zembe discuss the South Africa and their experiences with apartheid. Jennifer Davis grew up in the white middle class society of Johannesburg, whereas Zola Zembe, a native black man who lives in Capetown. They, along with Bill Sutherland, an American who works as a Representative for the American Friends Service Committee, talk about the changes that need to made and how American people and companies can help. An earlier interview of Carl Douglas Fuchs is also played.

The folk singer talks about her career and provides some examples of the folk music traditions of her native Scotland.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations 

Jane Kennedy (part of the group Beaver 55) went to prison for the scrambling of magnetic tapes at the Dow Chemical napalm producing plant in Midland, Michigan, and, a week later, the destruction of draft files in Indianapolis, Indiana. Both companies were profited from the Vietnam War.

Discussing the book "A Second Look In the Rear-View Mirror: Further Autobiographical Reflections of a Philosopher at Large" (published by Macmillan) with the author Mortimer Adler. Program includes an excerpt of a September 21, 1959 interview with Robert Hutchins.

Content Warning: This conversation has the presence of outdated, biased, offensive language. 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. Loneliness and hardships of both fitting in and finding a job are covered in the continuation of Horace Cayton's, "Long Old Road: An Autobiography." By living in a middle class home in Seattle with a full time Japanese servant, Cayton was seen as better off than most people.