Studs Terkel was an American author, historian, actor and broadcaster, often referred to as the 'Listener to Americans.' He is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans and for his long-running radio show in Chicago, The Studs Terkel Show. On the show, Terkel mostly played music, but he slowly introduced his listeners to interviews with both famous and unknown characters. The program eventually became the award-winning The Studs Terkel Program, which ran for 35 years.

He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for The Good War: An Oral History of World War II. His first best seller and the first in a triptych of tape-recorded works, Division Street: America, explored the urban conflicts of the 1960s. Other written works include Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression, Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day, and How They Feel About What They Do.