Studs Terkel

Winner, George Polk Career Award
Winner, National Book Critics Circle 2003 Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner, National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
Winner, Presidential National Humanities Medal

Studs Terkel (1912–2008) was an award-winning author and radio broadcaster. He is the author of Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession; Division Street: America; Coming of Age: Growing Up in the Twentieth Century; Talking to Myself: A Memoir of My Times; “The Good War”: An Oral History of World War II; Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do; The Studs Terkel Reader: My American Century; American Dreams: Lost and Found; The Studs Terkel Interviews: Film and Theater; Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression; Will the Circle Be Unbroken?: Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith; Giants of Jazz; Hope Dies Last: Keeping the Faith in Troubled Times; And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey; Touch and Go: A Memoir; P.S.: Further Thoughts from a Lifetime of Listening; and Studs Terkel’s Chicago, all published by The New Press. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a recipient of a Presidential National Humanities Medal, the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, a George Polk Career Award, and the National Book Critics Circle 2003 Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award.

News and Reviews

Reading List

A reading list of books by legendary author and oral historian Studs Terkel, from Americans at work, to a portrait of World War II.

President Barack Obama and Working

Celebrating Studs Terkel’s legacy and the launch of President Barak Obama’s Netflix docuseries inspired by Terkel’s classic book, Working.

Book Excerpt

Read an excerpt from Touch and Go on The New Press blog.

In March 1970, Maya Angelou sat down with Studs Terkel for a radio interview about her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Books by Studs Terkel

American Dreams
Lost and Found

Studs Terkel

And They All Sang
Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey

Studs Terkel

Coming of Age
Growing Up in the Twentieth Century

Studs Terkel

Division Street
America

Studs Terkel

Giants of Jazz

Studs Terkel

“The Good War”
An Oral History of World War II

Studs Terkel

Hard Times
An Illustrated Oral History of the Great Depression

Studs Terkel

Hard Times
An Oral History of the Great Depression

Studs Terkel

Hope Dies Last
Keeping the Faith in Troubled Times

Studs Terkel

P.S.
Further Thoughts from a Lifetime of Listening

Studs Terkel

Race
How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession

Studs Terkel

The Studs Terkel Interviews
Film and Theater

Studs Terkel

The Studs Terkel Reader
My American Century

Studs Terkel

Talking to Myself
A Memoir of My Times

Studs Terkel

Touch and Go
A Memoir

Studs Terkel

Will the Circle Be Unbroken?
Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith

Studs Terkel

Working
People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do

Studs Terkel