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.
Vauhini Vara, author of the novel, “The Immortal King Rao,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Recorded via zencastr September 8, 2022. Vauhini Vara studied at the Iowa Writers Workshop, worked as tech reporter at The Wall Street Journal and wrote for the business section of The New Yorker. She is a contributing writer at Wired
Stephen King, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Lawrence Davidson, while on tour for The Dead Zone, recorded September 8, 1979 at Dark Carnival Bookstore in Berkeley and posted in honor of his 75th birthday on September 21, 2022. At the time of this recording, Stephen King had only written a handful of books — Carrie, Salem’s Lot, The Shining and the Stand preceding The Dead Zone.
Peter Straub (1993-2022), in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded April 4, 1993 while on tour for his novel, “The Throat,” third in a thematic trilogy that included “Koko” and “Mystery.” Peter Straub, who died on September 4th, 2022 at the age of 79, was a master of horror and supernatural fiction whose work erased any distinction between genre and the literary world. Among his best known works were “Ghost Story” and the Stephen King collaboration, “The Talisman.”
Stuart Woods (1938-2022) who died on July 22, 2022 at the at the age of 84, wrote over one hundred novels in a career spanning forty years. In this interview recorded May 10, 1993 with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, he discusses his recent novels L.A. Times and New York Dead, as well as his career and his dealings with Hollywood.
Salman Rushdie discussing his memoir of his years in hiding from the fatwa, “Joseph Anton” with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded September 25, 2012. The recent attack on the famed author brought back memories of the fatwa issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini regarding the publication of the novel “The Satanic Verses.” The death threat forced Salman Rushdie into hiding for a decade, out of which he emerged and eventually resumed a normal life.
Joyce Carol Oates, author of “Blonde,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded May 3, 2000 in the KPFA studios. In this wide-ranging interview, she discusses her work on this retelling of the life of Marilyn Monroe (soon to be a film with Ana de Armas) as well as her writing career. This recording was recently digitized and has not been heard for twenty years.
Hershey Felder discusses his stage show, “Chopin in Paris,” playing at TheatreWorks Mountain View through September 11, 2022 with host Richard Wolinsky. Over the past 29 years, Hershey Felder has been performing one-person plays with his piano accompaniment, focusing on a variety of different composers, including George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Tschaikovsky, Beethoven and others.
Fourth in a series of interviews recorded for an abandoned documentary on George and Ira Gershwin. For seven years, cabaret performer and American Songbook master Michael Feinstein worked as an archivist for Ira Gershwin. In this interview from 1991, he discusses a then-recent recording of the 1927 Gershwin show, “Strike Up the Band,” and his work as an archivist. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Jonathan Lethem: Career Retrospective, hosted by Richard Wolinsky. On March 3, 2016, Richard Wolinsky had a chance to sit down with Jonathan Lethem in front of a Berkeley audience as a benefit for KPFA. In this career retrospective, Jonathan Lethem talks about his best-known novels, including Chronic City, Motherless Brooklyn and Fortress of Solitude, and his early novels as well.
Christopher Moore, author of “Razzmatazz,” “Noir,” and other novels of comic fantasy and horror, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Christopher Moore has eighteen novels to his credit, including Practical Demonkeeping, Bloodsucking Fiends, Fool and Secondhand Souls, many of which take place in San Francisco, where he now lives.
