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.
Joe Ngo, who plays the role of Chum, the father, in “Cambodian Rock Band,” by Lauren Yee, and won an Obie for his performance at the Signature Theatre in New York, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. Joe Ngo is an actor and musician, and has been performing in “Cambodian Rock Band” since its origins at the Ground Floor, Berkeley Rep’s Center for the Creation and Development of New Work in 2016.
Robert Olen Butler, author of the novel “Perfume River,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded in the KPFA studios, October 25, 2016. Robert Olen Butler is the author of several novels and short story collections. His collection, “A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain” won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Photo: Kelly Butler, Grove/Atlantic.
Paul Auster, author of several novels, screenplays, books of poetry and film director, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded on February 14, 2017 in the KPFA studios while on tour for his still most recent novel, 4 3 2 1. First posted on April 1, 2017. (photo: 2007 Brooklyn Book Festival, creative commons)
Playwright Luis Alfaro discusses his latest play, “The Travelers,” at the Magic Theatre through March 15, with host Richard Wolinsky. A Chicano activist and performer, Luis Alfaro has established a career as one of this country’s leading playwrights. This interview focuses not only on his present work, but on his career and his views about the state of live theater today.
Fay Weldon (1931-2023) who died on January 4th, 2023 at the age of 91, published 31 novels during her lifetime, including The Life and Loves of a She Devil, one of four novels which later became films. She was also a playwright, short story writer, television writer and non-fiction author. Richard A. Lupoff and Richard Wolinsky interviewed her in the KPFA studios in March 1990 while she was on tour for her now classic novel, The Cloning of Joanna May.
Jane Smiley discusses her latest novel, “A Dangerous Business,” a mystery set in Monterey in the early 1850s, with host Richard Wolinsky. Jane Smiley is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of “A Thousand Acres,” and is the author of seventeen previous novels, including The Last Hundred Years trilogy.
Dennis Lim, film critic and Artistic Director of the New York Film Festival and author of “Tale of Cinema,” an examination of the work of South Korean film-maker Hong Sang-soo, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. A retrospective of Hong Sangsoo’s work can be seen at BAM/PFA from February 3 -18. Photo: scene from “Tale of Cinema,” courtesy BAMPFA
Jack O’Brien, theatre director and author of Jack in the Box, or How to Goddamn Direct, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. Jack O’Brien has won three Tony Awards and has been nominated seven times. The former artistic director of The Old Globe in San Diego, from 1981 to 2007, he’s one of the premier directors working in America today. Among his Broadway shows are The Full Monty, Hairspray, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Catch Me If You Can and The Coast of Utopia. He directed the much lauded 2018 revival of Carousel on Broadway. Most recently, in 2021, he directed Hairspray in London.
Suzy McKee Charnas (1939-2023), who died on January 2nd, 2023 at the age of 83, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded over Halloween Weekend, 1981. A novelist and short story writer focusing on fantasy and science fiction, and a groundbreaking feminist writer in the field, her career began in 1974 with her first novel, Walk to the End of the World. All told, she wrote eleven novels and several short stories, winning both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Short Story in different years. She is best known for her tetralogy, The Holdfast Chronicles, and for her stand-alone novel, The Vampire Tapestry.
Frank Galati (1943-2023), who died on January 2, 2023 at the age of 79, was a giant in American theatre. in this interview recorded in May 2019 while he was directing Ionesco’s “Rhinoceros” at ACT in San Francisco, he discusses not only the play in depth, but also some of his history as a director, librettist and screenwriter. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky. First posted as a Bay Area Theater podcast on June 2, 2019.
