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Studs Terkel on Life, Faith, and Death

November 13, 2008
SOF OnDemand: » Download (mp3, 53:09) ¦ » Listen Now (RealAudio, 53:09) ¦ » Podcast

We remember Studs Terkel, who recently died at the age of 96. The legendary interviewer chronicled decades of ordinary life and tumultuous change in U.S. culture. We visited him in his Chicago home in 2004 and drew out his wisdom and warmth on large existential themes of life and death. A lifelong agnostic, Studs Terkel shared his thoughts on religion as he'd observed it in his conversation partners, in culture, and in his own encounters with loss and mortality.

About the Image

Photo series of Studs Terkel from the book WRITERS: Photographs by Nancy Crampton.

(photo: © 2004 Nancy Crampton)

Program Details

Hear the Music

» SOF Playlist ¦ hear full-length tracks of each song played in the program

About the Image

Photo series of Studs Terkel from the book WRITERS: Photographs by Nancy Crampton.
(photo: © 2004 Nancy Crampton)

Unheard Cuts

» Unedited Interview with Terkel (mp3, 52:35)

We made some judicious edits for this lengthy interview. Download it and tell us what you think of our cuts.

SOF Observed

» The Shot of Whiskey I Never Drank

Studs Terkel's death reminds our online editor of the opportunity he passed up.

SOF Observed

» "Vissi D'Arte" and the Other Guy from Chicago

Remembering Studs' ability to speak about music and finding a complete version of a song in the show.

Conversations with Studs Terkel

A series of statues depicting life during The Great Depression inside of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, DC. (photo: B Tal/flickr)

» Voices of the Great Depression
We scoured Terkel's latest book, P.S., and his recordings at the Chicago Historical Society and found three stories that give insight for us now.

And, from Terkel's book Will the Circle Be Unbroken?, we included these five stories:

Delbert Lee Tibbs ¦ Hideko Tamura Snider ¦ Vernon Jarrett ¦ Kurt Vonnegut ¦ Uta Hagen

Voices of Our Audience

» Reflections ¦ tell us and other audience members what this program meant to you.

Voice on the Radio

Studs Terkel

Terkel was a radio personality and author who published 20 books on central themes and events in American life. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his 1984 oral history of World War II, The Good War. He died on October 31, 2008.