Jules Feiffer discusses and reads from his children's graphic novel, "The Man in the Ceiling." The book has a central theme of overcoming failure and is slightly autobiographical in nature, with a comic book artist as its main character and author. Studs plays "Golliwog's Cakewalk" - Claude Debussy (1906-1908).

Judy Blume, author, discusses her books and work in children literature. She talks about her books "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret," "Forever..." "Iggie's House," "Deenie," "Tiger Eyes," and the censorship argument around her works. Blume also explains her beliefs on children's rights to choose what they want to read.

Two central themes of Judith Rossner's book, "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" are time and loneliness. In her book, Rossner captivates her readers with Theresa Dunn's experiences of being a teacher by day and living dangerously with her sexual exploits at night. Included in the interview, both Rossner and Studs Terkel read passages from the book.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations 

She never took any writing courses and she didn't have an agent and yet, Judith Guest's novel, "Ordinary People," became something of a phenomenon. After her youngest son left for college, Guest found herself with more time to dedicate to writing. Guest also talks about how Viking press wanted her to change the title of her book.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations 

The beauty of nature and all it has to offer is the main topic of Josephine Winslow Johnson's book, 'The Inland Island: A Year in Nature."*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations 

Discussing the book "Closing Time" with the author Joseph Heller. "Closing Time" was written as a sequel to his popular novel "Catch-22".

According to Joseph Campbell's book, "Myths to Live By," myths put people in touch with dimensions of their own being and consciousness. Dreams, Campbell explained, are private myths and myths are a public dream. Campbell also talks about how the west and the orient view myths and symbols.

In "Goodbye Land," Jose Yglesias travels to Galicia, Spain, his father's native province. Yglesias found a number of cousins who remembered his father. Time was spent in a tavern owned by one of his cousins, talking about what they recalled about Yglesias' father. His cousins viewed Yglesias' travels to Spain as an event; a millionaire traveling to Spain and they showered him with an abundance of gifts.

Curators Jonathan Wordsworth, Robert Woof, and Michael C. Jaye discuss the exhibition “William Wordsworth and the Age of English Romanticism”, an exhibition of paintings, watercolors, manuscripts, and literature inspired by Wordsworth's Romantic Poetry. Jonathan Wordsworth reads an excerpt of lines from William Wordsworth’s “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey”, "To Toussaint L'Ouverture", and "The World Is Too Much With Us." Studs reads "My Heart Leaps Up" - William Wordsworth. Studs plays "Ça Ira" - Edith Piaf (1954) and "A Man's a Man for A'That" - Ewan MacColl (1959).

With his book, "Hunting Mr. Heartbreak: A Discovery of America," Jonathan Raban wanted to see if, in the 20th century, a man could have a new life in America. Raban traveled to New York City, to the deep south in Alabama, to Seattle and finally to the Florida Keys.

Living in Montana in the early 20th century had many hardships, as covered in Jonathan Raban's book, "Bad Land: An American Romance". Raban said people were looking for new lives in the west but they encountered prairie fires, hail storms and grasshopper plagues.

Jonathan Miller discusses Shakespeare. Includes Feste's song "Hey, ho, the Wind and Rain" sung by Alfred Deller. Includes a clip from Jonathan Miller as Bertrand Russell.

Discussing the book "The Crimes of Patriots: A True Tale of Dope, Dirty Money, and the CIA" (published by Norton) with the author, investigative journalist Jonathan Kwitny.

Studs Terkel discusses the upcoming new play "Of Mice and Men", based on the novel written by John Steinbeck with the starring actors, John Malkovich (Lennie) and Gary Sinise (George). The program begins with the opening excerpt from the play "Of Mice and Men" featuring Terkel (George) and Win Stracke (Lennie) from 1952, which then leads into Malkovich and Sinise's interpretation of the rest of the scene. Folk singer Utah Phillips song "On the Goodnight Loving Trail" is presented as a comparison to themes expressed in "Of Mice and Men".