Over the course of his 45 years on WFMT radio,
Studs Terkel discussed every aspect of 20th-century life with
movers, shakers, artists, and working folks.

From civil rights to labor to jazz, his work spanned an impressive array of topics and figures. These
enchanting, historically-significant interviews — which have been largely inaccessible to the public —
will soon come to life in a new website hosting the comprehensive Studs Terkel Radio Archive.

45

years on WFMT radio

9,000+

hours of radio & book interviews

5,000+

unique voices & stories

The WFMT Radio Network, along with the Studs Terkel Center
for Oral History of the Chicago History Museum and many other
committed partners, are working toward turning this site into the first-ever,
comprehensive online Studs Terkel Radio Archive.

This Archive will feature interviews from Studs’
hour-long daily radio show which ran from 1952 to 1997 on WFMT in Chicago, during which he conducted over 5,000 interviews. The subjects of his interviews span almost 5 decades of prominent figures such
as jazz, blues, folk, classical and world musicians; novelists; scientists; historians; visual artists; actors; political theorists and activists; poets; dancers; film-makers; sociologists and anthropologists; architects and urban planners; civil rights leaders; philosophers; folklorists and, of course, many fascinating, non-famous working people.

This temporary website provides access to several hundred interviews in an existing online collection.
Over the course of the coming years, this website will transform into a robust and completely public archive, featuring thousands of additional programs.

Join our mailing list and we’ll let you know when the new site launches.

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST Visit our blog for updates  

Want more Studs? Tune into WFMT every Friday night at 11:00 CT to hear rebroadcasts of Studs's original radio shows on the "Best of Studs Terkel" program. With 10 years of practice and a huge selection of interviews to choose from, the "Best of" show is your best source for themed interviews.

Our Partners

Dominican University's Graduate School of Library and Information Science  |  The European Broadcasting Union
Library of Congress National Audiovisual Conservation Center  |  Media Burn independent video archive
The Organist   |  The Poetry Foundation   |  Pop Up Archive  |  Project&  |  PRX and PRX Remix
Third Coast International Audio Festival

View the Studs Terkel Archive Staff

Tony Macaluso
Archive Director (and Director of Syndication for the WFMT Radio Network)

Allison Schein
Archivist

Grace Radkins
Digital Content Librarian

Microphone

Sample the Show

For over forty-six years, Studs Terkel explored a variety of themes, from architecture to rock music,
from poetry to the intricacies of the labor movement. Now you can explore these themes by
listening to our temporary archive. Here are a few of our favorites.

What’s in the Archive

Categories

See Active Categories
  • African American History / Civil Rights
  • Architecture / Design / Urban Planning
  • Blues / Gospel
  • British Culture
  • Chicago
  • Childhood & Youth
  • China
  • Cinema
  • Classical / Experimental Music
  • Cold War
  • Comedy
  • Dance
  • Environment / Ecology / Biology
  • Feminism
  • Folk / Rock / World Music
  • Gay Culture & Rights
  • German Culture
  • Great Depression
  • History
  • Italy
  • Jazz
  • Latino Culture & History
  • Literature
  • Medicine & Psychology
  • Poetry
  • Politics & Political Organizing
  • Psychology
  • Russia
  • Science
  • Song
  • South Africa
  • Sports
  • Theater
  • Theology / Mythology
  • Vietnam War
  • Visual Arts
  • Working / Labor
  • World War II

People

& Many More

Are you looking for the previous version of this site? It has been archived here:
Studs Terkel: Conversations with America