As a result of making cabinets, the family business of making pianos started in 1853. John Steinway is a 4th generation piano-maker. Steinway talks about his own apprenticeship and first learning about wood. He feels the pianos are made better today because long ago, only two men made a piano versus a six or eight man crew to perfect the craftmanship today.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations

Stuart Brent believes people are totally indifferent to reading. He has come to the realization that, for some, material rewards are more important than cultural activities and as a result, culture is dying. But he is puzzled as to why readers would want to shop at big conglomerate stores like Kroch's and Brentano's when his store offers a personal, caring nature to its customers. This recording includes two excerpts from interviews with British booksellers Una Dillon and Handasyde Buchanan.

Presenting a debate over nuclear energy

Elma Greisel is the executive director for the National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform. Greisel talks about the continuing struggles of older people's civil rights when placed in a nursing home. She also talks about the abuse and neglect older people suffer when in a nursing home. We as a society, expect the best quality of care for those in the nursing homes, says Greisel, and yet the nursing home employees are not paid very well.

Win Stracke, Bill Adelman, and Bill Neebe discusses the Haymarket Riot and the following trials and hangings which changed the labor movement around the world. The group discusses the American labor movement and police brutality that led to the protest and the eventual accusal of eight men. They also explore the roles George Pullman, Marshall Field, and the police force played and how they used the protest to weed out union leaders they did not like. The group briefly discusses the future of the labor movement.

Abena Joan Brown, President of ETA Creative Arts Foundation, a Chicago-based African American cultural performing arts institution discusses some upcoming shows and past activities. Artists, Paul Robeson, Mahalia Jackson, Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke and poet Angela Jackson are discussed.

John Kenneth Galbraith, economist and diplomat, discusses his book, "The Age of Uncertainty," which was being made into a PBS documentary. Galbraith talks about some of the most well-known economists and explains their writings. He explains how many of their ideas have long lasting effects on capitalism the US has today.