During the lockdown, a new podcast will go live every Sunday afternoon. A podcast featuring extended interviews and discussions from the Bookwaves and Arts-Waves programs on KPFA, interviews and discussions with KPFA producers and hosts, and extended archive interviews from the Probabilities series over the past thirty years. Literature, theater, film, the visual arts: in-depth interviews from a progressive and artistic viewpoint, with long-time KPFA/Pacifica host Richard Wolinsky. New podcasts are generally weekly, though not always.
A conversation with Tony Taccone, Artistic Director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, one of the country’s leading regional theaters. In this in-depth interview, He talks about the plays that were produced in the 2015-2016 season, and gives a preview of plays coming up in the 2016-2017 season, including his own adaptation of Sinclair Lewis’s powerful novel, It Can’t Happen Here. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
An interview with Garry Marshall (1934-2016) hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Garry Marshall died on July 19, 2016 at the age of 81. Over the course of his life, he was a comedy writer, actor, director, and television show-runner, creating shows such as Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, The Odd Couple, and Mork and Mindy, and directing such successful films such as Overboard, Pretty Woman, The Princess Diaries and more recently Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve . Recorded on May 9, 2012, this is an in-depth retrospective look at his life and career.
A conversation with Jim Obergefell, co-author of Love Wins: The Lovers and Lawyers Who Fought the Landmark Case for Marriage Equality. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky. In June 2015 in the case Obergefell v Hodges, the Supreme Court made gay marriage the law of the land. Since then he has become a spokesperson for gay rights around the country. The book Love Wins, co-written by journalilst Debbie Cenziper, tells the story of the marriage equality case against the backdrop of Jim and John’s relationship, and the relationships of others who also joined the case.
A conversation with Richard Londsdorf and Edwin Outwater of the San Francisco Symphony, hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Richard Londsdorf is the programmer and Edwin Outwater the conductor of the San Francisco Symphony’s annual summer series of concerts
A conversation with Viet Thanh Nguyen, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his novel, The Sympathizer. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky
A conversation with director, screenwriter and author Whit Stillman, whose latest work, Love & Friendship, is both a film and book. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
A Conversation with Tom Ross, artistic director of Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley, hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Tom Ross is the artistic director of Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley, celebrating its 25th year in the 2016-2017 season. In this discussion, Tom Ross talks about the history of the theater, working on the thrust stage, and the upcoming season at Aurora.
A Conversation with Eric Ting, Artistic Director of Cal Shakes, California Shakespeare Theatre. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Cal Shakes is considered on of the Bay Area’s premiere theatrical institutions. Located in the hills of Orinda, California, its outdoor venue is one of the finest in the United States. Eric Ting, recently named Artistic Director of Cal Shakes, talks about his views on theater, and on the upcoming season.
An conversation with Adam Hochschild, author of Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Noted historian Adam Hochschild’s latest book is a history of the Spanish Civil War, the precursor to World War II, from the perspective of Americans fighting that war. Narrowing it down to the stories of a handful of men and women who were combatants, journalists and witnesses, Hochschild brings this violent and vicious war down to a human level and in so doing, brings history alive.
An interview with legendary author J. G. Ballard (1930-2009), conducted for KPFA’s Probabilities radio program in 1988, digitized and re-edited in 2016 by Richard Wolinsky. J. G. Ballard, who died in 2009 at the age of 78, was one of the greatest of all British speculative fiction writers, and one of the major writers of the period known as the British New Wave. On May 8th, 1988, KPFA’s Probabilities crew (Lawrence Davidson, Richard A. Lupoff and Richard Wolinsky) had a chance to sit down with J. G. Ballard while he was on tour for his novel, The Day of Creation. It turned into a fascinating career retrospective.
