Interviewing lawyer, activist and author Derrick Bell.

Commemoration of the defunding of the Illinois Writers' Project

C.D.B. Bryan discusses his book "Friendly Fire" and the Vietnam War. Bryan discusses the true story of Michael Mullen who was killed by friendly fire in Vietnam and his family.

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.

The author of Ballots and Bandwagons gives an overview of many of the presidential campaigns and conventions of the first half of the 20th century.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations 

As the guest editor of “Critical Inquiry,” Henry Louis Gates, Jr. covered the importance of Black writers and their contributions. Because there is no color blindness is the western world, explained Gates, pointing out that one is a Black writer or a Black doctor is important to society. Gates also covers the issue of race not being solely about Black and white people but rather it has to do with multi-ethnic and multi-cultural people.