Arthur Laurents (1917-2011), interviewed on April 7, 2000 by Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, during the tour for his memoir, Original Story By … Arthur Laurents was one of the giants of American culture. A playwright, librettist and director, he was one of the collaborators on two of the greatest musicals in the history of Broadway, West Side Story and Gypsy. In Hollywood, he was best known for the screenplays to The Way We Were and The Turning Point.
Carlos Ruiz Zafon in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded in 2009 while on tour for “The Angel’s Game.” Best known for “The Shadow of the Wind,” the noted Spanish author, born in Barcelona, died on June 19, 2020 of cancer.
Ayana Mathis, author of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. Recorded in January 2013. The Twelve Tribes of Hattie revolves around the matriarch of a black family of the Great Migration and her children and grandchildren, and was an Oprah Book Club selection.
In honor of Pride: Legendary playwright, cabaret performer, actor, and drag superstar Charles Busch in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded in New York’s Greenwich Village in late July, 2018.
Bonnie Tsui discusses her book, “Why We Swim,” which examines the human need for moving in water, from the history of swim strokes, to how physiology plays a role in swimming, to the history of swimming from ancient times in the Sahara to Rome and to the present, and how swimming became a sport. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
In honor of Pride: Mart Crowley, author of “The Boys in the Band” and its sequel, “The Men from the Boys,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky on October 31, 2002 about both plays and about his life in Hollywood. Along with being a fine playwright, Mart Crowley was a terrific story teller. “The Men from the Boys” streams at playbill.com through June 29, 2020.
This week’s podcast is a June, 2011 interview with Anna Deavere Smith, while she was in the Bay Area discussing her then latest project, Let Me Down Easy, which was running at Berkeley Rep into early September of that year. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
An interview with Judy Juanita, recorded in 2013, as she discusses her novel “Virgin Soul,” a thinly disguised fictionalization of her life with the Black Panthers in the 1960s. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
On the treatment accorded to the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, headed by Fannie Lou Hamer. Atlantic City, 1964. (28 minutes)
John Henrik Clarke, history professor and friend of Malcolm X, speaks on Malcolm’s contributions to the Black struggle in the USA. (22 minutes)
