Radio Wolinsky

07.06.26

By Richard Wolinsky

Lisa See, whose latest novel is “Daughters of the Sun and Moon,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky, Lisa See’s best-selling books include Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, China Dolls, The Island of Sea Women more recently, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women. Each novel, thus far, focuses on the role and lives of women of East Asian descent in various countries, including Korea, Japan, China and the United States. Some of the novels focus on a mystery, others take place within the context of historical events.

06.28.26

By Richard Wolinsky

Edmund White (1940-2025) discusses his novel “The Married Man” in a newly digitized interview conducted in the KPFA studios on June 10, 2000 with host Richard Wolinsky. Digitized, remastered and edited on June 20, 2026 and heard for the first time in over a quarter century.

06.21.26

By Richard Wolinsky

David Sedaris, author of the new essay collection, “The Land and Its People,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Originally known for his commentaries on “This American Life” on NPR, David Sedaris has now written 14 books, all of which have become best-sellers, including the early “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” and later “Calypso,” “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls,” and collections of his diaries. He has a home in North Carolina, and lives in England.

06.15.26

By 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)

06.08.26

By Richard Wolinsky

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).

06.01.26

By Richard Wolinsky

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.

05.25.26

By Richard Wolinsky

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.

05.18.26

By Richard Wolinsky

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.

05.11.26

By Richard Wolinsky

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).

05.03.26

By Richard Wolinsky

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.