Content Warning: This conversation includes racially and/or culturally derogatory language and/or negative depictions of Black and Indigenous people of color, women, and LGBTQI+ individuals. 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. While aboard a train with 803 passengers, Studs Terkel spoke to various people about what this train meant to them. A female passenger said she was so happy to be on the train.
The English actress and the founding director of Chicago's Court Theatre discuss their staging of John Osborne's The Entertainer and the demise of music hall tradition as metaphor for the waning of the British Empire.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations
Paul Wilkes discusses his book, Trying Out the Dream: a Year in the Life of an American Family, about a blue-collar worker and his family adapting to suburban life in the 1970s. Includes a clip from an interview with steelworker Mike Lefevre.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations
The founder and director of Chicago's Free Street Theater joins Studs to talk about bringing contemporary theater to the communities, especially those that don't ordinarily get out to theaters.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations
Choral director Noah Greenberg previews a performance of The Play of Herod at The University of Chicago's Rockefeller Chapel.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations
In his book, Make-Believe Presidents: Illusions of Power from McKinley to Carter, the American journalist Nicholas von Hoffman examines which presidents had power and which did not.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations
Discussing comedy, humor, and politics with comedian Mort Sahl, upon the publication of his book, Heartland. Includes a clip from Studs' interview with Sahl in 1960.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations
The novelist and book publisher discusses his book, The Wallpaper Fox, part of a trilogy of novels about the privileged classes of New Haven, Connecticut.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations