Joan Chase discusses and reads from her book "During the Reign of the Queen of Persia: a Novel." This book is told from the perspective of four granddaughters of an Ohio farm wife during the 1950s and is broken into three parts that follow these women throughout their life recounting family stories and the struggles of rural life in modern America. Studs plays "Down in the Valley" - Pete Seeger, Bess Lomax, and Tom Glazer (1951), "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" - Kai Winding & J.J. Johnson (1959), and "Frankie and Johnny" - Burl Ives (1955).

Having spent time as a Marine in southeast Asia and his military experience became material for Asa Baber's first book, "Land of a Million Elephants". Baber also talks about how he formulated his book. "Writing is music. Writing is jazz," said Baber. He didn't believe writing was about concepts and structure.

Discussing the books "Burnt water" and "Distant relations" with the author Carlos Fuentes.

Discussing the book "Charlie boy" with Peter Feibleman.

Author Susan Brownmiller discusses and reads from her book “Waverly Place”, a fictional story heavily inspired by the Lisa Steinberg child abuse case of 1987. Brownmiller discusses the details of the case and how domestic abuse, law enforcement, and the judicial system affected the outcome of this case. Studs plays "She Sits on the Table" - Tom Paxton (1980).

Stephen B. Oates discusses his book "Let the Trumpets Sound: A Biography of Martin Luther King;" 2 short excerpts played during the program: one of Terkel interviewing Martin Luther King and another of E.D. Nixon speaking about MLK.