An all-emails edition, as KPFA’s fund drive keeps our time tight and out phone lines busy. To chip in: Mention Corona Calls when you contribute at kpfa.org/support To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write to: [email protected]. Tune in live Monday mornings (or Tuesdays when Monday’s a holiday) at 7:30am Pacific at … Continued
Francine Prose, author of “1974, A Personal History” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky.
The author of twenty novels and ten books of non fiction, Francine Prose is best known for such novels as “Lovers at the Chameleon Club, 1932,” “The Vixen,” “Household Saints” and “Mister Monkey.” This latest book, “1974” is a memoir about her time in San Francisco in the mid-1970s and her friendship with Anthony Russo, who. along with Daniel Ellsberg, was an activist responsible for revealing the Pentagon Papers to the world.
Discussed in this episode: Wastewater monitoring seems to show COVID levels have peaked, after a summer wave much larger than in recent years. For the first time, H5N1 avian influenza has been confirmed in California. The California Department of Food and Agriculture confirmed it in three dairy herds, all of them in the Central Valley. There are … Continued
Author, satirist and musician Kinky Friedman (1944-2024) died in June, 2024 at the age of 79. In this wide-ranging interview recorded in September 1994, he talks about his double careers and lets loose his opinions about country music and Garth Brooks in this interview with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff.
Discussed in this episode: The FDA has approved the latest iteration of the Novavax vaccine. Here are the main differences with the MRNA vaccines (Moderna and Pfizer) that had new versions approved slightly earlier: Novavax works by injecting COVID spike proteins into the body, rather than injecting MRNA molecules that tell the body’s cells to … Continued
Noted playwright Naomi Iizuka discusses her translation and adaptation of Shakespeare’s history play, Richard II, a play written in verse, into a theatrical piece in which the language is comprehensible to a modern audience while maintaining the essence of the story, the characterization, and the poetry. She goes on to talk about her work in television, and her work as a professor of theatre. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Discussed in this episode: The FDA’s just approved a new round of COVID shots, tuned to target the KP.2 subvariant of the the virus, which is not the dominant strain in circulation right now, but a close relative. MRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna should be available as soon as this week. The updated Novavax … Continued
Josh Costello, the Artistic Director of Aurora Theatre in Berkeley since 2019, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky, discussing the state of Bay Area theatre today, including Aurora, and several other issues, along with looks at the past season and the upcoming one.
Discussed in this episode: Key COVID-19 prevalence indicators suggest the current surge of COVID-19 infections is the largest summer wave ever, with infections extra-concentrated in the western United States. Test positivity is at its highest since the Omicron wave, but hospitalizations and deaths are comparatively low. COVID levels in sewage samples are particularly high around … Continued
Erik Larson, best selling author of “The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded at Book Passage Bookstre on May 31, 2024.
