Race is a national obsession and a Chicago obsession. Yet often our deepest feelings go unspoken.

When WBEZ and vocalo set out to hear what people in our area have to say about race in 2012, we did wonder: Is this something people really will talk about?

The answer in our first public conversation for the series Race: Out Loud was an unqualified Yes.

In this broadcast of that community conversation, you’ll hear Lookingglass Theatre Company actors in readings taken from Studs Terkel’s oral history collection, Race, with reaction and updates from the actual Chicagoans Studs interviewed.

And you’ll hear a diverse audience join in with their thoughts on how much has changed over the past 20 years in our region, and what has not. And yes,  they have some ideas on what needs to be done.