Poet and editor Michael Anania discusses his poetry collection, “Riversongs” and reads selected works from the collection. Anania discusses the themes of place, transience, and permanence in the Midwest. Episode includes relevant music recordings, including a number of unidentified instrumental recordings and songs by Woody Guthrie, Los Jaivas, and Joni Mitchell.

Poet Maya Angelou and journalist Tom Wicker discuss life in the U.S. South and how the region’s history has shaped its culture. Topics of discussion include social dynamics and race in the South, the concept of “home” and what it means to return to one’s roots, and religion in the South. Angelou reads excerpts of her poetry, including “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman,” and shares spiritual songs from her childhood.

Monsters, imagination and violence in children's literature are all topics of Maurice Sendak's book, "Where the Wild Things Are." When writing the book, Sendak used his own experiences as a little boy, remembering that the monsters in the family were relatives on his mother's side. There are two excerpts of composer Oliver Knussen.

Marjorie Kellogg writer and social worker discusses her second novel "Like The Lions Tooth". The discussion begins with a reading of the first stanza of a poem by W.B. Yeats "Crazy Jane Grown Old Looks at the Dancers". Studs and Marjorie Kellogg both read excerpts from her novel "Like the Lions Tooth", as they discuss the book.

Newberry Award winner Madeleine L'Engle did not set out to write good literature when she wrote "A Wrinkle in Time". Children's book publisher Elizabeth M. Riley also said of L'Engle's book, it's a good story for both children and adults. L'Engle shared her experience that when she writes, often times, she'll read what she's written to her children & if they say, "get back to the typewriter and write more," she knows she's onto something good.

Lastly, with his book, "The Library of Great American Writing," Louis Untermeyer talks about Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson and personal friends of his, Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg. Twain, said Untermeyer, started out as a humorist but then became more pessimistic with "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". Emily Dickenson wrote in secret and she only gave permission for six of her poems to be published.

In his book, "The Library of Great American Writing," Louis Untermeyer points out great writers and their works. Untermeyer believed that there was no one great piece of literature, but rather many great works from ordinary people, as well. For instance, Untermeyer explained, that when Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln didn't realize he was writing a great piece of literature.

Discussing the songs and music of the Vietnam War with author Larry Heinemann, musician Chuck Rosenburg, and folk singer Saul Brody.

Discussing the novel "Cooler By The Lake" (published by Farrar, Strauss & Giroux) with the author Larry Heinemann.

Discussing the novel "Paco's Story" (published by Farrar, Strauss & Giroux) with the author Larry Heinemann.

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.

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?"