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.
The great Irish novelist and playwright Edna O’Brien died at the age of 93 on July 27, 2024 after a long illness. Her novels changed the face of Irish literature, starting with “The Country Girls,” which was banned in Ireland after its publication in 1960. This interview was conducted in 2000 while she was on tour for her novel, “Wild Decembers,” third in a thematic trilogy. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
John Barth (1930-2024), who died on April 2, 2024 at the age of 93, was America’s leading writer of metafictional and post-modern fiction. This interview was conducted by Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff on November 12, 2001 in the KPFA studios, while on the book tour for the novel Coming Soon.
Noir/thriller/mystery authors Jonathan and Faye Kellerman discuss their one collaboration, “Double Homicide,” along with their careers, recorded October 28, 2004. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Photo: Jesse Kellerman.
Adam Gopnik discusses his book “At the Strangers’ Gate with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded in the KPFA studios, September 12, 2017. First posted October 19, 2017.
Aya de Leon in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Aya de Leon is the Poet Laureate of the City of Berkeley. She is a novelist and poet who currently teaches creative writing at U.C. Berkeley. She is the author of ten books, the most recent of which are the adult novel, “That Dangerous Energy,” and the young adult novel, “Untraceable.”
Nancy MacLean, in this 2017 interview about her book, “Democracy in Chains,” lays out the plan by the Koch brothers and their fellow oligarchs to gain control the United States, a plan which seems to have come to fruition at the close of this latest Supreme Court session, and the origins of that plan. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Pam MacKinnon, Artistic Director of American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) in San Francisco, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Pam McKinnon, has been Artistic Director of ACT — American Conservatory Theatre, since January 2018. A leading interpreter of the works of Edward Albee, she won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a play for a Revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf in 2013.
Pride Month Special: David Sedaris, noted humorist, comedian, diarist and radio contributor, discusses his collection of essays, “When You Are Engulfed in Flames” and how his career originated in this interview recorded in the KPFA studios on June 28, 2008. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Ayodele Nzinga, the Poet Laureate of Oakland and the director of the play “Pac and Biggie Are Dead” by Biko Eisen-Martin, which is running at BAM House in Oakland through June 30, 2024, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky
Colm Tóibín discusses his latest novel, “Long Island,” which follows characters from his earlier best-seller, “Brooklyn” twenty years later. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
