Discussing public welfare and interviewing Frederick Wiseman, director of the documentary film, "Welfare."

Frederick Ritter, professor at Illinois Institute of Technology, discusses the life and work of playwright Bertolt Brecht, the genre of epic theater, and more.

Frederick Ritter discusses the life and work of playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht and preforms a few his songs. He also discusses the philosophy of epic theater and literature in Germany. Sabina Roupp joins Ritter with Brecht's music.

Frederick Ritter, professor, preforms musical numbers from Austria. He also discusses the history of baroque theater and Volk's Theatre, along with Viennese culture. He is joined by Sabine Roupp, Joseph Gardner and David Miller on piano during the performances. Ritter also compares Bertolt Brecht with earlier writers, Johann Nestroy and Ferdinand Raimund. Selected pieces includes works by Mozart and Ferdinand Raymond and Johann Nestroy.

Frederick Manfred's, "The King of Spades" is the last novel of the five-part series, "The Buckskin Man Tales." The west, family, and tragedy are all apart of Manfred's novel, which he said was the hardest to write. As a writer, Manfred soon learned his interests were with themes and topics as opposed to writing about history.

When Frederick Busch wrote his book, "Long Way from Home," he wanted to understand, How does a mother leave her child? To Busch, fiction is people in motion trying to find a dream or people in motion, running away from a nightmare.

Discussing the making of film documentaries with Fred Wiseman, especially his film, "Juvenile Court." Includes excerpts of the sound track from a juvenile detention center in Memphis, Tennessee.

Content Warning: This conversation includes graphic descriptions of physical abuse. A Methodist minister, Fred Morris, talks about the 11 years he lived in Brazil. Morris found it difficult to preach to the poor people whose children were dying of starvation. Morris also talks about the time he was abducted and tortured.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations

Discussing the book "La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience" (published by HarperCollins) with the author Ben Morreale and author Fred Gardaphe.

Discussing the book "Italian Signs, American Streets: The Evolution of Italian American Narrative" (published by Duke University Press) with author Fred Gardaphe.

Discussing reverse migration when native sons return to Italy with authors Fred Gardaphe and Nat Scammacca.

Discussing the book "From the Margin: Writings in Italian Americana" (published by Purdue University Press) with two of its editors, Fred Gardaphe and Anthony Tamburri.

Fred Christy and Frank Carney discuss life, family, youth, and demographics in Chicago. Includes Studs Terkel interviewing a group of teenagers who call themselves the D.J.'s. about their life and ambitions.