Ntozake Shange discusses her play, "for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf." She goes on to discuss her advocacy for more Black authors and poets, especially in experimental artistic endeavors.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations 

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.

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.

Aileen and Eugene Smith discuss their photographic essay book, "'Minamata', Words and Photographs," documenting the mercury poisoning of residents and their legal battles with the polluting company Chisso.

Erica Jong discusses the paperback release of "Fear of Flying," reading excerpts as well as several of her poems from her previous collections, "Half-Lives," and "Fruits and Vegetables."

A 1976 interview with the feminist novelist and poet is rebroadcast after her passing in 1995.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations