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.
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.
An interview with Evren Odcikin and Humaira Ghilzai, hosted by Richard Wolinsky Evren Odcikin and Humaira Ghilzai discuss the play The Most Dangerous Highway in the World, a Golden Thread production, at Thick House in San Francisco through May 29th. Evren is the director of the production, and Humaira is its cultural consultant. In this extended … Continued
Harlan Coben is the best-selling author of 28 fast-paced novels of suspense and has won virtually every major award in the field. His latest book, Fool Me Once, features a protagonist suffering from PTSD. Eight of his novels feature an amateur detective in the sports field named Myron Bolitor. He is interviewed by Richard Wolinsky.
A conversation with Anna Quindlen, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and columnist, and author of several novels, including Miller’s Valley. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Anna Quindlen was a reporter and columnist for the New York Times from 1977 to 1994, winning a Pulitzer Prize for commentary for her column Public and Private. From 1994 to 1999 she wrote a column for Newsweek, and since that time has become a full time best-selling novelist.
A.O. Scott is one of America’s foremost film critics. Since 2002, he’s shared the chief movie review slot at the New York Times with Mahnola Dargis. His book, Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think about Art, Pleasure, Beauty and Truth, takes a look at reviewing and criticism, at some of the challenges critics face, and at some of the issues that roll across his mind every time he writes a review.
Novelist, essayist, screenwriter and master of the novella Jim Harrison died on March 26, 2016 at the age of 78. His best known works include “Legends of the Fall” and “Wolf.” Richard Wolinsky interviewed Jim Harrison in 2007 for his novel, “Returning to Earth.” The conversation was wide-ranging, touching on not only his work but also life in New York after 9/11, the columnist David Brooks, the education system, and life in Hollywood in the ’90s.
Don Winslow is the author of several successful novels. His most recent work, The Cartel, a follow-up to his earlier novel The Power of the Dog, is a thinly disguised history of the Mexican drug wars. In this interview recorded July 23rd, 2015, Winslow discusses the drug wars and their relationship to American politics and economics.
