Fleming Brown, banjo player, discusses the influences Uncle Dave Macon, Pete Seeger, The Almanac Singers, and his teacher, Doc Hopkins had on him. He and Terkel also discuss the influence of WLS's Barn Dance radio show in Chicago and the Grand Ole Opry's WSM had on folk music. Fleming plays "Uncle Buddy" by Arthur Smith, to open and close the show. He also discusses the themes of Appalachian music such as lost love, mystery and murder, and plays examples for the audience.

Using a Trobriand drum and harmonica, Ella Jenkins plays examples of call and response music with Studs. A few of her popular songs play between their discussion. Ella explains how her music came to be from the Chicago neighborhood streets with influences from her Uncle and other blues and folk musicians. Songs played include "Tahboo," "Miss Mary Mack," "You'll Sing a Song and I'll Sing a Song," "Come Dance By the Ocean," and "Dulce." Songs have been removed due to copyright restrictions.

Allan Evans and Henry Jordan, two young man who grew up in Chicago and attended Dartmouth, discuss their childhoods and adolescent dealing with crime. The two also talk about their gang, The Vice Lords, and the police brutality they experienced. Next, the group talks about the The Foundation Years, a project from Dartmouth.

Allan Evans and Henry Jordan, two young man who grew up in Chicago and attended Dartmouth, discuss The Foundation Years project. They talk about trying to recruit friends to Dartmouth, their campus experiences, and their coursework. They also talk about their experiences going through the public school system in Chicago, where they point out many of the inequalities for black students.

Dempsey Travis presents a jazz program and discusses the life, the music, and the community of Chicago jazz from before The Great Depression until World War II. Travis discusses 1920s-1930s Chicago for Black families including rent parties, breakfast dances, employment opportunities, union strikes, and jazz.

Dempsey Travis, real estate entrepreneur and civil rights activist turned historian and author, recalls his earlier days meeting and listening to many of the African American jazz artists. Some of the musicans mentioned are Louis Armstrong, Jimmie Lunceford, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Earl Hines, Art Tatum, Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole, and Benny Goodman.

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.

As members of CAP (Citizens Action Program), Bernie Willow, Hazel Montgomery and Stanley Nappolomi all have their questions and concerns about the communities in which they reside and who gave the banks the right to determine which neighborhoods and communities are deteriorating. An outspoken, almost militant member, Bernie Willow, points out that the charters of savings and loans institutions was to loan money out so people could reside in the neighborhoods. Many of the establishments, Willow says, have dropped the word “Loan” from the businesses.

Renault Robinson, founder of the Afro-American Police League in Chicago and Chicago Housing Authority board member, discusses police programs in public housing projects. He discusses how public housing breeds crime because families are struggling and the building conditions are terrible, and how a new police program can help fix problems.

Renault Robinson, founder of the African American Patrolman's League in Chicago, and Robert McClory, journalist and author of a biography of Robinson, "The Man Who Beat Clout City," discuss Robinson's life and court case, Robinson v. Chicago Police Department. Robinson recalls how he was seen as a model policeman until he created the Afro-American Police League, when the Police Department started treating him differently.