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.
Richard Wolinsky co-hosted and produced “Probabilities,” a program devoted to science fiction, mystery and mainstream fiction, from 1977 to 1995 on KPFA-FM. From 1995 through 2001, he co-hosted and produced the Thursday edition of “Cover to Cover,” taking the program solo in early 2002, and renaming the show “Bookwaves”. The half-hour “Arts-Waves” program came along in 2014 and the two were combined in 2019 into Bookwaves Artwaves. A half hour Bookwaves program is syndicated through Pacifica Audioport.
Along the way, he has spoken with most of the English speaking world’s leading authors, including Peter Carey, Joseph Heller, William Kennedy, Margaret Atwood, Anne Rice, Gore Vidal, James Ellroy, Joyce Carol Oates, Norman Mailer, Salman Rushdie, E.L. Doctorow, and many others.
Richard Wolinsky has a BA from Binghamton University (formerly SUNY Binghamton) and an MA in Philosophy from the New School for Social Research. from 1978 to 1992 he was editor of the KPFA Folio magazine/program guide. Since then he has worked as a commercial and free-lance writer, elections expert, and graphic designer. His book “Space Ships! Ray Guns! Martian Octopods: Interviews with Science Fiction Legends” was published in 2025 by Tachyon Press. His theatre reviews can be found as the Bay Area Theatre podcast at kpfa.org.
Richard Wolinsky’s interviews have been published in numerous venues, including the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Heavy Metal magazine, and Mystery Scene, Magazine, and such books as Feast of Fear: Conversations with Stephen King, The Louis L’Amour Companion, and Macabre II: Stephen King & Clive Barker.
The co-hosts of the original Probabilities program were Lawrence Davidson and Richard A. Lupoff.