Studs Terkel interviews Valentin Pluchek and Stanislaw Pchenikov on Russia theater, focusing mainly on the city of Moscow.

Sharon Tennison was concerned with U.S. and U.S.S.R. relations in the early 1980's when there was a nuclear threat and decided to form a group of ordinary citizens to travel to Moscow and immerse themselves in the culture. They got firsthand accounts and dispelled decades old myths. They not only formed the Center for U.S.-U.S.S.R. Initiatives but created branches of Alcoholics Anonymous in the Soviet Union as well as teacher and young adult exchanges. The ordinary citizen has created participatory democracy and began a dialogue and exchange with a former enemy.

Studs Terkel discusses Russian theater with Stanislaw Pchenikov and Theater director Valentin Nikolaevich Pluchek.

Soviet intellectuals Tamara Mamedova, Nicolai Pogodin, and Anatol Safronov talk with Studs Terkel about their work with the Institute for Soviet-American Relations (U.S.) and Soviet arts and culture.

Studs Terkel and Tcherepnin discuss Tcherepnin's early years in Leningrad, his creative drive and its relation to real-life experiences and the influence of Chicago on his 1953 Op. 87 Suite for Orchestra.

Northwestern University professor of Slavic languages and literatures Irwin Weil discusses Russian literature, poetry, and theater. Weil discusses the strong interest students have at Northwestern University for the subject he teaches, and attempts to answer why that is. Weil sings several unnamed Russian folk songs throughout the program and reads “A Magic Moment I Remember” - Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin.

Northwestern University professor of Slavic languages and literature Irwin Weil discusses his trip to China to attend an international meeting of teachers in Russian and Russian literature. He also briefly discusses notable Russian writers. Weil sings several unnamed Russian and Chinese folk songs throughout and reads “I Loved You” - Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin.

Nikolay Akimov, Theodore Komisarjevsky and Pavel Markov discuss the Soviet theater. The ending music on this record was edited out

Kohl Education Award winner Nadia Barova discusses childhood education and the similarities and differences between education in America and the Soviet Union.

Joshua Rubenstein discusses his book "Tangled Loyalties: The Life and Times of Ilya Ehrenburg" and the importance of Ehrenburg during the Stalin regime.

Discussing the book "Capitalism, Communism, and Coexistence: From the Bitter Past to a Better Prospect" (published by Houghton Mifflin) with the authors, economists John Kenneth Galbraith and Stanislav Menshikov.

Even while spending four years in a labor camp, Irina Ratushinskaya managed to write her poems on bars of soap. Ratushinkaya explained that one must keep their sense of humor while in the labor camps because there is nothing else. Other women in the camps helped Ratushinkaya smuggle her poems to the outside world.