Skip to main content

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Explore
  • Interact
      • Clips Explore themed playlists of audio clips from the Archive.
      • Reuse Listen to creative reuses of Studs’ interviews.
      • Remix Combine audio from the Archive to create entirely new works.
  • Podcast
  • Classroom
  • Donate
People
Topics
Has Audio or Transcript
Showing 1 - 15 of 20 results
  • Tribute to Johnny Mercer

    Aug. 18, 1976
  • Terkel comments and presents musical performance of Pierre Bensusan

    Jun. 11, 1979

    Presenting music with Pierre Bensusan.

  • Studs Terkel comments and presents on the life and work of George Gershwin

    Feb. 6, 1979

    Terkel comments and presents musical performance of Gershwin program.

  • Son House discusses his life and career as a blues musician

    Apr. 19, 1965

    Son House discusses his life and career as a preacher and blues musician. He talks about his family, his religious background as a preacher, and his recent comeback after disappearing from music scene in 1943. He performs several songs during the interview, which have been removed due to copyright.

  • Ollie Gilbert and Jimmie Driftwood discuss music ; part 2

    May. 25, 1964

    Ollie Gilbert, folk musician, and Jimmie Driftwood, folk songwriter and musician, discuss and folk music. They also discuss instruments such as banjos, guitars, and musical bows. The two musicians also talk about how music evolves over time and as it is passed through generations.

  • Ollie Gilbert and Jimmie Driftwood discuss music ; part 1

    May. 25, 1964

    Ollie Gilbert, folk musician, and Jimmie Driftwood, folk songwriter and musician, discuss music including how Gilbert's family has passed down music through the generations.

  • Martin Gottfried

    Martin Gottfried discusses his book "Broadway Musicals"

    Nov. 15, 1979

    Martin Gottfried discusses his book "Broadway Musicals" and the history of the musicals by evaluating the different big name composers, lyricists, and directors of Broadway.

  • John Prine

    John Prine discusses songwriting and growing up in Southern Illinois

    1972

    Studs and John briefly discuss coal mining in Appalachia, specifically Blackey, Kentucky. Includes an interview with Joe Begley a coal miner from Blackey.

  • John Prine

    John Prine discusses his life and his formation in music

    1975

    The opening song is a rebroadcast from a previous recording with Studs Terkel. John Prine talks about his family history in Paradise, Kentucky and when he was born and raised in Maywood, Illinois (Chicago Greater Area). Prine is known for humorous lyrics about love, life, and current events, as well as serious songs with social commentary, or which recollect melancholy tales from his life. All the songs are played in the studio from his albums "John Prine" and "Diamonds in the Rough"

  • John Jacob Niles talks with Studs Terkel

    Nov. 13, 1964

    The American folksinger and archivist joins Studs in the studio to share stories and songs discovered in his youth and through his years of research.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations 

  • Jimmie Driftwood discusses his music and career

    May. 25, 1977
  • Interviewing Pete Seeger, Cleofes Vigil, and Nimrod Workman

    1970

    Pete Seeger, Cleofes Vigil, and Nimrod Workman discuss folk music and their upcoming appearance at an anthropology conference.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations 

  • Interviewing Pete Seeger

    Oct. 3, 1964

    The singer, songwriter, and folk music ambassador returns to the States after a worldwide tour, and shares with Studs some of his experiences.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations 

  • Humorist and author, Abe Burrows discusses his career

    Aug. 1980

    As previously presented in Studs Terkel's weekly Almanac program, Abe Burrows, talks about how he got into writing. After the Depression, Burrows explained he had no true goal in mind other than that of simply surviving. Typing out material on a typewriter was when Burrows realized he was good at both writing and comedy.

  • Harry Chapin discusses his career as a writer and singer and reflects on the stories behind his music

    Mar. 31, 1975

    Studs interviews Harry Chapin about his music and career. They discuss Chapin’s style of writing songs. Chapin describes some of his songs such as “Cats In the Cradle,” “Sniper,” “WOLD,” and “Mr. Tanner.” He stresses that his songs tell stories and often are influenced by real-life events. For example, “30,000 Bananas Pounds of Bananas” came from a trip he took on a Greyhound bus through Pennsylvania where there was a truck accident.

Previous
of 2
Next
Major Support Provided By
The Becca Kopf Memorial Circle of Friends
WFMT Radio Network & Chicago History Museum

This site is being managed by WFMT in partnership with the Chicago History Museum.

Library of Congress

In-kind digitization services of the Studs Terkel Radio Archive are provided by the Library of Congress.

National Endowment for the Humanities

The Studs Terkel Radio Archive has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor.

Studs Terkel Radio Archive

All Programs About The Archive About Studs Supporters Contact

©2026 WFMT Radio Network | Site by Jell Creative

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this web resource do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.