E.Y. (Yip) Harburg and Studs Terkel read from the book "At This Point in Rhyme". E.Y. Harburg also discusses his thoughts on humanity, how to properly write a song, and the importance of light verse and humor as a basis for everything he creates. Excerpts of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Judy Garland, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" by the Weavers, and a Broadway recording of "How Are Things in Glocca Morra" are played in the original airing but have been removed from this version for copyright reasons.
E. L. Doctorow’s way of writing has turned to storytelling in his book, “Lives of the Poets: A Novella and Six Stories”. To get the reader interested, it is as though the storyteller has placed a sort of spell on his audience, explained Doctorow. As the author and storyteller, Doctorow’s said his job was to make uneventful events seem more interesting than they actually are.
When he was a child, Dudley Moore first wanted to study the violin. He's grateful to his mother for insisting that he first study the piano. Moore said his influences include Bach and Garner. Unlike other musicians, Moore's main focus has always been on the beat, both the cultivation and the presence of the beat of a song and of music.
Interviewing Dr. Quentin Young and others about Cook County Hospital and public health services in Chicago and throughout the country.
Drs. Quentin Young, Lambert King and Robert Maslansky discuss public hospitals in the United States. Young is the chairman of the Department of Medicine at Cook County Hospital, King is the medical director of Cermak Memorial Hospital, and Maslansky is the director of medical education at Cook County Memorial Hospital.
Dr. Marvin Schwarz, Dr. Hy Hirschfeld, and Ed Diener discuss the Elan School for troubled adolescents in Poland, Maine. The Elan School is a therapeutic boarding school for adolescents.
Dr. William Beecher, Chi Academy of Sciences, Dorothy Buell, member of Dunes council, Tom Dustin, head of Indiana Issac Walton League, and Thelma McVey, head of the Sierra Club Midwestern, discuss why the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore must be saved, and the measures they are taking to do so.
Thinking a person is special and trusting that person and committing yourself to that person are two steps for real love, as covered in Dr. Willard Gaylin's book, "Rediscovering Love". One can not go through life in an armored car but rather Gaylin talks about taking risks. One of Gaylin's last points, if you find yourself in a loveless life, to compensate, give love away.
Dr. Willard Gayelin talks about and reads from his book "In the Service of Their Country." He talks about the imprisonment of conscientious objectors who did not want to participate in the war.
Dr. Williard Gaylen, a physician and professor of psychiatry at Columbia, discusses how feelings define humanity. He explains that there are no "bad" or "good" feelings, because even anxiety and guilt are strictly human emotions. Dr. Gaylen also talks about how envy is the only useless feeling. Two recordings of people talking about pride and guilt are also played.
Dr. Urie Bronfenbrenner discusses the differences between how children and childhood are treated in the United States and the Soviet Union. Topics of discussion include the age segregation of American society, the value of intergenerational ties, peer group influences on children, and the influence of societal expectations on parenting and child raising.
Studs interviews Dr. Timothy Leary about the three stages of the psychadelic experience: turning on, tuning in, and dropout. Leary discusses how his life changed from being a successful psychologist and professor at Harvard to renewing his life as a religious teacher. He shares how the drug LSD is used in the tribal communities who turn on and also explains the values of those who practice turning on. Leary also describes other methods used to turn on, which he considers a religious experience. Studs reads what Richard Goldstein said about Dr. Leary.
Dr. Thomas Szasz discusses his book "The Manufacture of Madness: A Comparative Study of the Inquisition and the Mental Health Movement" and the ways that mental illness has been used to control and maintain the status quo, scapegoat certain kinds of people, and label people as "other." Szasz asserts his belief that mental illness and mental health cannot be defined, that depression and schizophrenia are not diseases, and the distinction between individuals seeking mental health treatment and those who are institutionalized against their will.