Radio Wolinsky

03.10.16

By Richard Wolinsky

Yann Martel became an international figure with the publication of his novel, Life of Pi, and the subsequent award-winning film by director Ang Lee. His follow-up novel, Beatrice and Virgil, hit the best seller lists in 2010. In this 43-minute interview, Canadian author Yann Martel discusses the themes in his works, particularly in his latest book, The High Mountains of Portugal, the film version of Life of Pi, and his strange correspondence with Stephen Harper, the former Prime Minister of Canada.

03.04.16

By Richard Wolinsky

A conversation with Tim Kang, hosted by C.S. Soong, sitting in for Richard Wolinsky.

Aubergine, a play by Julia Cho about family, food, and forgiveness, is having its world premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Tim Kang, who plays the lead character discusses the play and also his perspective as an Asian American actor.

02.27.16

By Richard Wolinsky

Jon Beavers, Ian Merrigan, Ramiz Monsef and Casey Lee Hurt, co-creators of The Unfortunates, a theatrical piece at A.C.T.’s Strand Theatre through April 10, 2016, join Richard Wolinsky for an in-depth look at the creation, content, and themes of this musical play,

02.20.16

By Richard Wolinsky

Umberto Eco, who died on February 19, 2016 at the age of 84, was one of the world’s leading semiologists, studying the relationship of signs and symbols to meaning and language. He was also a well-known and well respected novelist. The Name of the Rose, a detective novel set in the middle ages, became a surprise best-seller, and he followed it up with Foucault’s Pendulum, which dealt with world conspiracies, and five later novels. In 2005, Richard Wolinsky sat down with Umberto Eco in the KPFA studios while the Italian writer was on tour for his most recent novel, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana.

01.31.16

By Richard Wolinsky

Paul Kantner, who died on January 28, 2016 at the age of 74, was one of the founding members of the great San Francisco band, Jefferson Airplane, and later one of the founders of Jefferson Starship. A legendary vocalist and songwriter, Kantner was known for his melding of rock and roll and science fiction in his lyrics. On February 9th, 1984, Richard A. Lupoff and Richard Wolinsky spoke with Paul Kantner in an interview never meant to be aired.

01.14.16

By Richard Wolinsky

Radio Wolinsky 8: David Gans and Blair Jackson, co-authors of This Was All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead, talk with Richard Wolinsky, whose own history with the Dead go back to his college paper review of the May 1970 Harpur College concert.

12.29.15

By Richard Wolinsky

Armistead Maupin is the author of the legendary “Tales of the City Series.” The final book in the series, “The Days of Anna Madrigal” was published in 2014. In this interview, Maupin talks about the entire Tales series, about the musical version that played in San Francisco, about the TV series, and about the various characters.

12.22.15

By Richard Wolinsky

Miranda July is a multi-talented artist, working in film, fiction, monologue, digital media presentations, and live performance art. This extended version of an interview while on tour for that novel and recorded in January, 2015 runs fifteen minutes longer than the show that originally aired.

12.08.15

By Richard Wolinsky

Dennis Bernstein is an investigative journalist and host of KPFA’s drive-time program, Flashpoints. On December 7, 2015, he sat down with Richard Wolinsky to discuss how he first came to Pacifica, and how he became an investigative journalist.

11.25.15

By Richard Wolinsky

Richard Wolinsky talks with Jill Leovy, author of Ghettoside. Leovy, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, spent many years embedded with police and community members in the part of the city known as South Central. In this book, she focuses on the ongoing issue of homicide involving African American men, and the results of both under-policing and over-policing. This interview was aired in two parts on KPFA, and is heard here in its entirety.