Attorney Debra Evenson and Gisela Lopez discuss the U.S. embargo on Cuba, the 1994 Cuban craft crisis, and food shortages and life in Cuba.

David Lewis, Canadian politician, discusses Canada's domestic and foreign affairs, including their relationship with America. He also spends some time talking about Canadian socialism including universal health insurance.

History, genocide, human rights and Amnesty International are all topics of this interview with David Hawk. Solutions to the problems in Cambodia are presented by Hawk, too. There is also an excerpt from Studs Terkel's conversation with William Shawcross.

David Hamlin, author and former Executive Director of ACLU, discusses his book "The Nazi/Skokie Conflict: A Civil Liberties Battle." Hamlin talks about Frank Collin, a jewish man turned leader of American Nazi Party leader and the court battle over the right to demonstrate in Skokie, Illinois. He also talks about the retaliation against the ALCU for defending Collin's case in court. At the end of the interview, Hamlin gives some advice on how to deal with people like Frank Collin.

David Halberstam, writer and historian, talks about his book, "The Fifties." The conversation includes Brown v. Board of Education, atomic weapons, the Cold War, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, consumerism, birth control, suburbs, television and the start of the counterculture. Halberstam reads several passages from his book.

Daniel Yergin, author and economic historian, discusses his book, "Shattered Peace: The Origins of the Cold War and the National Security State." He explains the key players in the Cold War and his thoughts on the Yalta and Riga Axioms. Yergin also explores the end of World War II and other events that led to the tensions between US and the Soviet Union.

Connor Cruise O'Brien, Irish politician, writer, historian and academic scholar, discusses politics and the book "Writers and Politics: Essays and Criticisms".

In 1967, Clair Culhane worked as a hospital administrator at a tuberculosis hospital near Saigon, Vietnam. She discusses what she observed at the hospital and her anti-war work when she returned home.

The Big Three leaders - Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin and Harry Truman - are among the main topics of Charles L. Mee's book, "Meeting at Potsdam." It was the ending stages of World War II and as Mee explains, the meeting at Postdam was really a peace conference. The beginning of this recording includes an excerpt of a speech by Churchill.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations 

Discussing with Charito Planas his testimony before the U.S. Congress: "On the Withdrawal of U.S. Bases from the Philippines."

Discussing the book "Against Forgetting: Twentieth-Century Poetry of Witness" (published by Norton) with author and poet Carolyn Forche.

Terkel interviews Carmen Alvarez and Juan Aguirre about the changing political climate in Spain during the mid-seventies when Francisco Franco was losing power and the fight for democracy was gaining traction throughout Spain.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations. This recording includes audio from a 1937 newsreel about Spanish novelist and philosopher Miguel de Unamuno.  

Evolution and the future of the human race are among topics in Carl Sagan's and Ann Druyan's book, "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are." Included is an excerpt of the astronomer Harlow Shapley speaking at the beginning. Carl Sagan also reads an excerpt from the book at the end.

Studs Terkel plays a variety of audio clips pertaining to the concepts of life and mankind destroying itself. The audio clips featured are from various established and respected writers, social leaders, and musicians.