In 1974, oral historian Studs Terkel published a book with an unwieldy title: “Working: People talk about what they do all day and how they feel about what they do.” This collective portrait of America was based on more than a hundred interviews Studs did around the country. And after “Working” came out, something surprising happened. It became a bestseller. It even inspired a Broadway musical. Something about ordinary people talking about their daily lives, struck a cord. Studs recorded all of his interviews on a reel-to-reel tape recorder, but after the book came out the tapes were packed away in boxes and few have ever been heard. Here we present a special, one hour episode of our series The Working Tapes of Studs Terkel.

The Working Tapes of Studs Terkel is a co-production of Radio Diaries and Project&. This series is a part of the larger initiative Working in America, which has an exhibit featuring images from Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Lynsey Addario traveling the country right now.

Find out more at working.org.