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.
Peter Mayle (1939-2018) became a best-selling author with his memoir, “A Year in Provence.” He followed that up with several books about the French region, both fiction and non-fiction. Richard Wolinsky interviewed Peter Mayle, on October 18, 1999, while he was on tour for his collection of essays, “Encore Provence,” his third non-fiction book set in that part of France.
Tim Kreider, cartoonist and author of the essay collection “I Wrote This Book Because I Love You” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. Tim Kreider gained a reputation as a cartoonist in the style of B. Kliban before turning political following the stolen election of 2000 and 9/11. His series, “The Pain — When Will It End?” ran for twelve years in the Baltimore City Paper and other alternative weeklies. Currently he writes for The New York Times and other newspapers and magazines.
George Saunders, author of the novel “Lincoln in the Bardo,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. George Saunders is the highly acclaimed author of several short story collections, including “Tenth of December,” “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline,” “In Persuasion Nation” and others, along with political commentary that recently appeared in The New Yorker and other magazines.
Trina Robbins, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. A legend in comic book circles, an artist at a time when hardly any women drew comics, Trina Robbins discusses her latest book, a memoir, “Last Girl Standing,” which deals with her life as an artist, author, and clothing designer. She was the first woman to edit a comic book created by women, “It Ain’t Me Babe,” the first woman to draw “Wonder Woman,” and the single most influential historian of the women who created comics and cartoons.
Margaret Atwood, interviewed February 22, 1989, focusing on her two most recent novels, The Handmaid’s Tale and Cat’s Eye. In the interview she also discusses her early career as a writer, feminism, her views on being a Canadian writer, and other topics. She was interviewed by Richard Wolinsky, Richard A. Lupoff and Lisa Goldstein.
Ursula K. Le Guin, who broke the artificial wall between science fiction and literature, died on January 22nd, 2018 at the age of 88. An essayist and poet along with being a fiction writer, she transcended all genres with the quality of her prose and the allegorical nature of her work. On September 29th, 2000, Richard Wolinsky and his then co-host Richard A. Lupoff spoke with Ursula K. Le Guin about her career as a writer and about her latest novel, a political and social science fiction allegory, “The Telling.”
Nathan Englander, whose latest novel is “Dinner at the Center of the Earth” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. An acclaimed fiction writer, Nathan Englander’s second novel concerns the ongoing crisis between Palestinians and Israels in the story of a prisoner, a former Mossad agent, now being held in an Israeli prison.
An interview with Deena Rosenberg, author of “Fascinating Rhythm: The Collaboration of George and Ira Gershwin” and Michael Strunsky, trustee for the Ira Gershwin Trust, about the lives and music of George and Ira Gershwin. Originally aired and recorded in August, 1992. Second of a series of interviews about the Gershwins. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky and Alex Davis.
Sue Grafton died on December 28, 2017 at the age of seventy-seven. Best known as the author of a series of mysteries featuring the detective Kinsey Millhone, Sue Grafton was at the forefront of the Sisters in Crime movement — women authors who wrote crime fiction – starting with her first mystery, A is for Alibi in 1982, and continuing the alphabet through Y is for Yesterday. The final book in the series, Z is for Zero, was never written. On April 17, 1989, on a book tour for F is for Fugitive, and again on April 13, 1992, for I Is for Innocent, Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff spoke with Sue Grafton about the history of her career and her writing process. This program is taken from those two interviews.
Helen Benedict, whose latest novel is “Wolf Season,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. A journalist as well as novelist, Helen Benedict focuses on the effects of war, both on civilian and military populations. Her latest novel, “Wolf Season,” takes place in a small town near Albany, New York, where Iraq war veterans and Iraqi refugees both live and work.
