Studs and investigative journalist Fred J. Cook discuss Cook's book "The Corrupted Land: The Social Morality of Modern Americans" (Macmillan, 1966). The main topics of conversation are social morality and the corruption of the American business ethic. Terkel and Cook discuss unsung heroes, television quiz scandals,

Hearing Chopin being played through the pipes of another apartment and a tale about a young girl who died and whose father froze her body in an ice house are among the stories in Stuart Dybek's book, "The Coast of Chicago." Dybek explained that although his stories may seem dream-like, he tries to come up up with stories from some place of reality.

Nelson Algren discusses his short story, "How the Devil Came Down Division Street," the art of writing, and writers of the Beat Generation.

Marcel Marceau, world renown mime, talks about when he performed in prisons in France, Germany, and Chicago, including death row inmates who he could not see. He also discusses moments where he met famous silent actors such as Charlie Chaplin, Harpo Marx, and Stan Laurel. They then discuss childhood and aging. Content Warning: This conversation has the presence of outdated, biased, offensive language. Rather than remove this content, we present it in the context of twentieth-century social history to acknowledge and learn from its impact and to inspire awareness and discussion.

Joan Peters spent seven years researching history and asking a lot of questions like 'Who were the refugees? and why are they still in the camps?," for her book, "From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict over Palestine." According to Peters, the Middle East does not accept non-Muslim as equals. Peters explained, the Jews are not equals but rather they are 2nd class citizens.

Jane Kennedy (part of the group Beaver 55) went to prison for the scrambling of magnetic tapes at the Dow Chemical napalm producing plant in Midland, Michigan, and, a week later, the destruction of draft files in Indianapolis, Indiana. Both companies were profited from the Vietnam War.

As a tribute to Nelson Algren after his death, a collection of his writing is dramatized in this radio program titled "Come in at the Door."

Studs interview of Air jazz trio with Henry Threadgill - reeds, Fred Hopkins - bass, and Steve McCall - percussion. They discuss their individual careers and the people who have influenced them. Studs quoted Nelson Algren. Studs explores the evolution of their music and how the three came together. They discuss various pieces of their music and the instruments they use. Pauses were taken for musical numbers but none were played on this recording.

H. E. F. (Shag) Donahue and Nelson Algren discuss Donahue's book, "Conversations with Nelson Algren," a biographical exploration of Algren's life as a writer. They discuss the creative lives, successes and failures of other authors in relation to Algren's work, including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, J.D. Salinger, Richard Wright, and others. Includes the author reading excerpts from "Conversations with Nelson Algren."

Adapted by Peditto, the play, "Never Come Morning", is based on the Nelson Algren novel of the same title, a story about a man working his way out of a low-income neighborhood in Chicago. The cast discusses their familiarity with Algren’s work and how they found their way into this production. Studs and the cast of this production read through several of the scenes from the play. This program includes clips of interviews and performances of Nelson Algren that capture his storytelling abilities.

Living in the past and the present, Native American Indians and Catholicism are all parts of Louis Erdrich's book, "Tracks: A Novel." Both Michael Dorris and Erdrich have Native American Indian backgrounds. The husband and wife team also talk about how they take long walks with one another and discuss with each the ideas of future books and the books' characters.

As a tribute to Nelson Algren after his death, a collection of his writing is dramatized in this radio program titled "Come in at the Door."

As a tribute to Nelson Algren after his death, a collection of his writing is dramatized in this radio program titled "Come in at the Door."