A podcast posted every Sunday featuring extended interviews and discussions from Bookwaves, Art-Waves, and Bookwaves Artwaves Hour programs on KPFA, and newly digitized and edited archive interviews from the pre-digital Probabilities series dating back to 1977. Literature, theater, film, the visual arts: in-depth interviews from a progressive and artistic viewpoint, with long-time KPFA/Pacifica host Richard Wolinsky.
Vernor Vinge (1944-2024), in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded in the KPFA studios, May7, 1992 while on tour for his Hugo winning novel, “Fire Upon the Deep.” Over his career, Vernor Vinge won five Hugo Awards, three for Best Novel and two for best novella, and is credited as the first science fiction writer to create cyberspace, a few years before William Gibson, and to use ideas about singularities.
Michael Crichton, recorded December 5, 1990, while on tour for his novel “Jurassic Park,” interviewed by Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff in the KPFA studios; First posted May 3, 2020.
Mary Higgins Clark (1927-2020) died January 31, 2020 at the age of 92. Best-selling author of 51 novels, many of which were adapted into theatrical and made-for-television films, she was interviewed by Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff on May 24, 1989 in San Francisco. From the Probabilities archive. First aired April 17, 2020.
Ian McEwan, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, discussing his novel “Atonement” and other works, from the archive, and recorded in New York City on April 3, 2002.
Walter Mosley in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded June 23, 1996 in the KPFA studios while on tour for the novel, “A Little Yellow Dog.” He also discusses his first mainstream novel, “RL’s Dream” and the film version of “Devil in a Blue Dress.” Newly digitized, remastered and edited in December 2024. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Tony Hillerman (1925-2008), in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded January 30, 1997 while on tour for his Leaphorn/Chee novel, “The Fallen Man,” the twelfth book in the series. Along with discussing the series, he talks about his 1995 stand alone novel, “Finding Moon.” This interview was digitized, remastered and edited in November, 2024, and not heard for over a quarter century.
Best-selling author Nelson DeMiller died in September, 2024 at the age of 81. In this interview recorded in 1997, he talks about several of his novels with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff. Digitized, remastered and edited in November 2024 and not heard in over a quarter century. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Photo: Creative Commons.
Charles Yu, author of “Interior Chinatown,” winner of the 2020 National Book Award for fiction, is interviewed by Richard Wolinsky. Charles Yu worked in the writers’ room of the first season of “Westworld,” along with other shows. This is his second novel, and riffs on the nature of Asian stereotypes in Hollywood movies and television shows. “Interior Chinatown” is now a streaming miniseries.
Steven Bach (1938-2009) author of the biography “Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl”, interviewed in 2007 by Richard WolinskyIn an interview perhaps more timely today than the year it was recorded, Bach compares Reifenstahl’s work to right-wing propaganda in America, and the use of the Hitler playbook This podcast was first posted May 5, 2017.
Richard Powers discusses his latest novel, “Playground” with host Richard Wolinsky. Richard Powers won the Pulitzer Prize i 2019 for “The Overstory,” and the National Book Award in 2006 for “The Echo Maker.” This latest novel focuses on Silicon Valley and the history of computers and A.I., and on life in the deepest parts of Earth’s oceans.
