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.
John Irving in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded in November 2009 while on tour for the novel “Last Night in Twisted River.” John irving is the author of “The World According to Garp,” “The Hotel New Hampshire,” “Cider House Rules” and other novels.
Ray Bradbury, the legendary author who passed away in 2012, sat down for an interview with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff in 1992 at his home in Los Angeles. Though called a science fiction or fantasy writer, Ray Bradbury spanned all genres, from poetry to mystery to mainstream fiction. Among his works include The Martian Chronicles, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Farenheit 451 and The Illustrated Man.
Erik Larson, author of “The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. In the interview, Erik Larson discusses his source material, and compares some of what went on then to what’s happening today, particularly in terms of heroic and destitute patterns of leadership.
Margaret Atwood, discussing her novel “The Robber Bride,” recorded in San Francisco on November 24, 1993 with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, from the “Probabilities” archive
Carlos Ruiz Zafon in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded in 2009 while on tour for “The Angel’s Game.” Best known for “The Shadow of the Wind,” the noted Spanish author, born in Barcelona, died on June 19, 2020 of cancer.
Ayana Mathis, author of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. Recorded in January 2013. The Twelve Tribes of Hattie revolves around the matriarch of a black family of the Great Migration and her children and grandchildren, and was an Oprah Book Club selection.
Bonnie Tsui discusses her book, “Why We Swim,” which examines the human need for moving in water, from the history of swim strokes, to how physiology plays a role in swimming, to the history of swimming from ancient times in the Sahara to Rome and to the present, and how swimming became a sport. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
An interview with Judy Juanita, recorded in 2013, as she discusses her novel “Virgin Soul,” a thinly disguised fictionalization of her life with the Black Panthers in the 1960s. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Tayari Jones’ novel “An American Marriage” deals with an African American couple torn apart by a white woman’s false accusation toward the husband, and how both husband and wife cope with their lives in this country’s unjust society. In the interview, Tayari Jones talks about the book and about her career as a writer. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
John Updike was considered one of the great chroniclers of middle class American life. Novelist, short story writer, literary critic, poet and essayist, twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction — for the novels Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest – Updike was considered one of America’s greatest literary masters. He was interviewed by Richard Wolinsky on June 9, 2006.
