Burl Ives, actor and singer, discusses his life including childhood, schooling, early career, married life and some of his most popular songs. Ives also talks about his books and writing.

In a quick roundtable discussion, Moe Asch, Jerry Silverman and Dick Waterman cover the topic of music. Much to their surprise, American folk music is very popular over in Europe. All three men agree that one's everyday experiences, past or present, do become subjects of writers' songs.

Studs Terkel travels to a Yurt shepherd's farm commune to hear the old song ballad of a Mongolian hero. It concerns a slave uprising from 200 years ago and shows the unity of the Mongolian people. Terkel compares this music to the Hungarian legacy before moving to the School of Story Telling and School of Music and Story Telling in the capital of Inner Mongolia, Hohhot. We are introduced to the four string hu that played Homeric ballads of drinking songs that could last four days.

The following songs were removed due to copyright restrictions:, "East Virginia", "Sticking With The Union", "Old Blue", "Jesu, Meine Freude", "We Shall Overcome", "The Draft", "Sailin' Up, Sailin' Down", and "Precious Friend" an instrumental song.

Songs, music and lyrics are among the topics of Win Stracke's interview. Stracke believed folk songs had a morality all their own. He also explained that songs have a way of recapturing the feeling(s) of an event that the printed work can not convey.

Changing up the conversation, Win Stracke talks about artists he's admired like Bill Broonzy and Jim Post. According to Stracke, although Broonzy was a blues musician, he liked humor found in songs. Stracke said he really liked Jim Post, who singled out people who were the best at what they did. As a result, Post asked Stracke to record an album of hymns with him.

While reminiscing about their 46-year friendship, Studs Terkel presents of retrospective of Win Stracke's work. Stracke said he was surprised that Studs hadn't outgrown their friendship. A few excerpts from past interviews are included in this interview.