A podcast posted weekly (usually Sunday) featuring extended interviews and discussions from the Bookwaves Artwaves Hour programs on KPFA-FM and the Bookwaves half-hour syndicated program,. Literature, theater, film: in-depth interviews from a progressive and artistic viewpoint, with long-time KPFA/Pacifica host Richard Wolinsky.
George R.R. Martin, who would later write the best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels, interviewed for the radio show “Probabilities” by Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, five years before the publication of “Game of Thrones.” This podcast was first posted in April, 2019 and is reposted by popular demand.)Photo 2011 Wikipedia Commons)
Jeff Griffith-Perham is the curator of a retrospective “A Complete Stanley Kubrick” at Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), running from June 12 through August 30, 2026. He is interviewed by host Richard Wolinsky. In this interview, each of Kubrick’s films are discussed, along with ideas about Kubrick’s antiwar viewpoint, his working process and his place in film history. (Photo from 2001: A Space Odyssey courtesy BAMPFA).
Helen Benedict, Columbia Profesysor of Journalism and author of the novel, “The Soldier’s House,” about the lives of Iraqi refugees in America in 2010, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Helen Benedict has focused her literary career on the plight of refugees in America and Europe as she teaches young journalists the ways to keep digging for the truth and for justice.
Dan Simmons (1948-2026), Huge and World Fantasy Award winning novelist and short story writer, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded September 22, 1991 while on tour for the novel “Summer of Night.” Dan Simmons, who died February 21, 2026 at the age of 77, was the author of the now classic science fiction novels “Hyperion” and “Fall of Hyperion” along with horror novels “The Terror” and “Carrion Comfort,” never achieved the popularity of peers like Stephen King and Dean Koontz, but was a genre master in his own right.
John Lanchester, whose latest novel is “Look What You Made Me Do,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded May 6, 2026 .John Lanchester is the author of five previous novels, one collection of stories,Reality and Other Stories, published in 2010, and four works of non-fiction. He’s recently written essays for the London Review of Books and the Guardian on such issues as generation divides and the push toward A.I.
Michael Cunningham in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded while on the book tour for “Specimen Days,” recorded in the KPFA studios, June 24, 2005. Michael Cunningham is a celebrated author of eight novels, along with several short stories, and two produced screenplays to date. His novel The Hours, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1999, was adapted into an award winning film in 2003. First of three interviews. (Phoro: David Shankbone, Creative Commons).
Ian Watson (1943-2026), unconventional British science fiction and fantasy writer, who died on April 13, 2026 at the age of 82, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff for the Probabilities radio program, recorded in Oakland at Westercon 40 on July 2, 1987. Ian Watson was an unconventional author whose works brimmed with ideas and philosophical turnings with over thirty novels and various collections of short stories at the time of his death.
Margaret Atwood, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded in the KPFA studios OCtober 3, 2013 while on tour for the novel “Maddaddam,” third in a trilogy consisting of “Oryx and Crake,” “The Year of the Flood” and “Maddaddam.” This is the complete interview, never before posted or aired.
George Saunders, whose latest novel is Vigil, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. This latest novel, Vigil, takes place in the in-between time before death, when an elderly oil oligarch lies dying, and an angel of mercy, a ghost, named Jill, is on hand to comfort him. The question at hand concerns forgiveness, accountability, grace and several other issues that become involved when someone whose actions were deleterious to humankind and the planet is forced to examine their actions on earth.
Patrick Dooley, Artistic Director of Shotgun Players theatre company, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. In the interview, Patrick discusses his own history with live theatre, the origins of Shotgun Players, his views on such issues as the age of the audience and the subscription model, as well as the rest of the 2026 theatrical season.
