John Freeman interviews Carl Jung at his Zürich home, asking the psychologist questions about consciousness, his friendship with Freud, his thoughts on death, and his own self-analysis.
"It is never easy for one to accept the role of symbolism without going through constant moments of self examination." Martin Luther King discusses his childhood in a segregated America, and the challenges he still faces in the present.
Philosopher Bertrand Russell is the second guest on the series, beginning the interview by reading from a fictitious obituary he'd written for himself. Among the topics discussed are guilt, sex, money, childhood, prison and loss of faith.
Evelyn Waugh takes part in the series due to what he claims is "poverty", and that "everyone thinks ill of the BBC". Among the topics under discussion are religion, truth in fiction, and Waugh's own periods of mental illness.