Evolution and the future of the human race are among topics in Carl Sagan's and Ann Druyan's book, "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are." Included is an excerpt of the astronomer Harlow Shapley speaking at the beginning. Carl Sagan also reads an excerpt from the book at the end.

Studs Terkel talks to people on the street about their observations during the blizzard that caused many people to be snowed-in. A veteran news vendor said the deliveries are slower, there are no cars or taxis around and that everyone who works downtown is staying in the hotels downtown. A young police officer said he witnessed more people giving others rides. One gentleman told Terkel that to him, it was as though everyone knew each other, and there were no strangers in a blizzard.

Terkel discussing the snow-in in Chicago in January 1967. Interviewee talks about how the human interaction differs during a blizzard then on a clear day.

Discussing the Foxfire books and interviewing Miles Horton and Elliot Wigginton. Wigginton is one of the editors/compilers of several of the books in the series about traditional handicrafts and practical methods used in rural life.

Studs talks with Donald Johanson about his book "Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind," in which the famed paleoanthropologist describes his discovery of the female hominin fossil in Ethiopia. The conversation includes talk of Charles Darwin, Eugène Dubois' Java Man discovery, what makes a hominid, holes in the fossil record, fossil dating, his disagreements with Louis and Richard Leakey, site discovery, and his belief that the Hadar Formation in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia holds the keys to the evolutionary puzzle. Includes snippets of the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."

University of Chicago Professor of Ecology and Evolution, Monte Lloyd, and Professor of Anthropology, Terry Turner, discuss the environmental and human rights impact of the Amazon rainforest deforestation. Studs plays "Whose Garden Was This" - Tom Paxton (1970).

Dr. Joseph Collins co-authored the book, "Food First: Beyond the Myth of Scarcity". Among the topics in the book include world hunger, famine, food policies and politics. Collins asks the readers to think about being ok with eating food grown in another country when the workers of that country are so poor, they themselves are starving for food.

A sprawling conversation with R. Buckminster Fuller including his great aunt Margaret Fuller, future communication, the nature of work, human nature, and physics.

Biologist, natural historian, and author David Attenborough discusses his book and upcoming television series “Life on Earth.” The book, show, and this interview focus on discussing the evolution of life.