Joe Ngo, performer, Cambodian Rock Band, at Berkeley Rep through April 2, 2023.
Jesse Green, NY Times theatre critic, co-author (with the late Mary Rodgers), Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers. A no-holds barred often hilarious memoir by one of Broadway's greatest raconteurs. (previously unaired excerpt). Complete 48-minute interview.
Theatre Review: Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer at TheatreWorks Palo Alto through April 2, 2023.
Luis Alfaro, playwright, The Travelers, at the Magic Theatre through March 5, 2023. Also author of Oedipus El Rey and other plays, performer, activist.
Jane Smiley, author of the novel, A Dangerous Business. Set in the early 1850s in Monterey, California, this novel is a murder mystery as well as a look at the lives of women in the west at the time, with the Civil War just on the horizon.
Fay Weldon (1931-2023) noted author of The Life and Loves of a She Devil, recorded March 1990 while on tour for her novel The Cloning of Joanna May. Interviewers: Richard Wolinsky/Richard A. Lupoff An iconic feminist author who often focused on science fiction themes.
Wil Haygood, author of Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World, an in-depth look at how the black community viewed Hollywood and the way Hollywood's view of race evolved, and did not evolve..
Dennis Lim, Part Two, discussing his career as a critic. See below.
Theatre Review: In Every Generation at TheatreWorks Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.
Dennis Lim, author of Tale of Cinema, which focuses on the work of South Korean film director Hong Sang-soo. Hong's films are available on Kanopy, the library app. This interview was in conjunction with a retrospective of Hong's films at Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive.
Russell Banks (1940-2023) noted novelist and short story writer, recorded June 7, 2000 while on tour for his collection, The Angel on the Roof. In the interview he discusses his work with Hollywood, how he came to be a writer, and dissects short stories. Interviewers: Richard Wolinsky/Richard A. Lupoff.
Jack O'Brien, author of Jack in the Box, or How to Goddamn Direct, and theatre director, winner of three Tony Awards and nominated seven times. The book starts as a look at the process of directing but turns into an anecdote filled romp featuring Mike Nichols, Jerry Lewis, and several others.
Suzy McKee Charnas (1939-January 2, 2023), science fiction and fantasy author of The Vampire Tapestry, Motherlines, and other novels, recorded late October, 1981.
Frank Galati (1943-January 2, 2023), noted stage director, director of Ionesco's Rhinoceros at ACT in 2019. Tony and Oscar nominated director and screenwriter.
Vanessa Veselka, author of The Great Offshore Grounds and Zazen. A singular stylist, Vanessa Veselka's two novels focus on people living on the margins, and in the case of her epic second novel, The Great Offshore Grounds, on road trips and fishing boats, and so much more.
Robert B. Parker (1932-2010), author of the Spenser novels and other detective fiction, recorded spring, 1981. In the late '70s and early '80s, Parker led the noir/detective revival with his novels featuring Spencer, Hawk and Susan Silverman. This interview covers his early career. Interviewers: Richard Wolinsky/Lawrence Davidson. First of two Probabilities interviews.
Shelley Singer (1939-2022), mystery author, Jake Samson mysteries; Barrett Lake mysteries. Former book reviewer on KPFA's Probabilities radio show. Interview recorded November 19, 1986,
Interviewers: Richard Wolinsky/Richard A. Lupoff.
Philip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials trilogy and The Book of Dust trilogy. Recorded November 30, 2000 while on tour for The Amber Spyglass.
Helen Benedict,co-author (with Eyad Awwadawnon) of Map of Hope and Sorrow: Stories of Refugees Trapped in Greece. First person narrations of escape from the Middle East and Africa, and life in the refugee camps. Compelling and horrifying.
Theatre Review: Little Shop of Horrors, at Theatreworks Lucie Stern Theater.
Derek Goldman, co-playwright/director, Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski, at Berkeley Rep's Peets Theatre thru Dec. 18, 2022. Complete 42-minute interview.
William Gibson, master of cyberpunk, interviewed while on tour for Pattern Recognition, recorded February 4, 2003. In the interview he discusses his history as a writer, and the history of the internet (and its future). From a twenty year vantage point, it’s fascinating.
Theatre Review: Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 at Shotgun Players Ashby Stage.
Masters of Science Fiction
Ray Bradbury (1920-2012), recorded at his home in Los Angeles, 1992. Interviewed by Richard Wolinsky & Richard A. Lupoff. Complete 38-minute interview.
Emma Rice, adaptation and direction, Wuthering Heights, at Berkeley Rep's Roda Theatre, November 18 - January 1.
Julie Powell (1973-2022), author of Julie & Julia and Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession. Recorded Dec. 16, 2009. Complete 35-minute interview.
Theatre Review: Colonialism is Terrible but Pho is Delicious, at Aurora Theatre.
Richard Powers, author of Bewilderment, now out in trade paperback. A father and son novel about relationships, astrobiology, ecology and the need for connection. Another brilliant novel from the Pulitzer and National Book Award winning author.
George Saunders, author of the short story collection, Liberation Day. Another outstanding collection of stories from a master storyteller.
Lisa Ramirez, playwright, The Book of Sand at the Oakland Theatre Project, November 11 - December 4, 2022. Part One focuses on her work on The Book of Sand.
Jesse Green, NY Times theatre critic, co-author (with the late Mary Rodgers) of Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers. A no-holds barred often hilarious memoir by one of Broadway's greatest raconteurs.
Clive Barker, noted horror writer, archive interview recorded September 1987 while on tour for his novel Weaveworld. Co-interviewers: Richard Wolinsky/Richard A. Lupoff.
Vauhini Vara, author of the novel,The Immortal King Rao. This first novel by a former writer for Wired, incorporates the story of life in the 1950s in India with a future dystopia in which wealth is determined by popularity on the internet, and groups of outcasts live on islands threatened by global warming. Complete 45-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast.
Bill Irwin, creator/performer, On Beckett, at ACT Toni Rembe (Geary) Theatre, October 19-23, 2022. Recorded January 9, 2017. Complete 29-minute podcast
Masters of Horror
Peter Straub (1943-2022), author of The Throat and Ghost Story. Ghost Story put Straub on the map as a leading horror and fantasy author, and he embellished that reputation over the next few years with a series of novels that functioned both in the literary field and horror genres. He also co-authored The Talisman and its sequel with Stephen King. Recorded April 4, 1993. Interviewers: Richard Wolinsky/Richard A. Lupoff. Digitized & Edited September, 2022.
Stephen King, author of The Dead Zone (at the time of the interview). Recorded September 8, 1979. Interviewers: Richard Wolinsky/Laurence Davidson. One of the earliest interviews with Stephen King, this Probabilities interview has appeared in multiple compilations over the years.
Two Roz Chast Interviews
The noted New Yorker cartoonist, discussing her career and her two books. The second interview also features comedy writer Patricia Marx.
October, 2017: Roz Chast discusses Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York, which is a comic (and comic book) look at how to view New York City, originally written for her daughter. Complete 33-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast.
April 2019: Roz Chast and Patricia Marx, co-authors of Why Don’t You Write My Eulogy Now So I Can Correct It?: A Mother’s Suggestions, a comic (and comic book) look at mothers and daughters. recorded April 8, 2019.
Mary Roach, author of Fuzz: When Nature Breaks The Law. An examination of how the animal world interacts with the human world, often to the detriment of both. Funny and informative, an insightful look at invasive species, deer in your headlights, killer elephants, and more.
Stuart Woods (1938-2022), author of Chiefs, L.A. Times, New York Dead.died on July 22, 2022 at the at the age of 84, wrote over one hundred novels in a career spanning forty years. In this interview recorded May 10, 1993 with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, he discusses his recent novels L.A. Times and New York Dead, as well as his career and his dealings with Hollywood. Digitized and edited in August, 2022. Complete 34-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast.
Joyce Carol Oates, author of Blonde, recorded May 3, 2000. A mythic retelling of the life of Marilyn Monroe, Oates' magnum opus became a mostly critically reviled film airing on Netflix. This interview discusses this novel, plus others in her career. Interviewers: Richard Wolinsky/Richard A. Lupoff. Digitized & edited August 2022. Complete 50-minute interview
Jasson Minadakis, Artistic Director, Marin Theatre Company on the upcoming 2022-2023 season.
Salman Rushdie, author of Quichotte. Salman Rushdie's most recent book. This interview airs following the attack on the world-famous author. The book is a satire of America during the Trump era. Complete 43-minute interview
Hershey Felder, creator/performer, Chopin in Paris, at TheatreWorks Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts through September 11, 2022. Complete 30-minute interview
Paul Rudnick, author of the novel Playing The Palace and the HBO film Coastal Elites. Playing The Palace tells the story of an American designer who falls in love with a gay Prince of Wales. It starts as a comedy (and Paul Rudnick is a master of comedy writing) but then starts to resemble the life of Prince William and Meghan Markle. Coastal Elites was written as a response to Trumpism and was filmed during the pandemic..
Christopher Moore, author of Razzmatazz. Christopher Moore is known for his comic science fiction and fantasy. Razzmatazz, a sequel to Noir, is set in San Francisco in 1946, and features lesbian bars, aliens and of course, murder.
Martin Amis, author of The Zone of Interest, recorded 2014. interview excerpt. The noted novelist and non-fiction author discussing conspiracy theorists, and reminiscing about Christopher Hitchens. Complete 33-minute interview.
Susan Faludi, author of In The Darkroom. Interview recorded October 5, 2016. In the Darkroom is a memoir about Susan Faludi's reconnection with her estranged father, who had moved back to Hungary and had a sex-change operation. The book is about identity, not only sexual, but also national and religious, and reads like a novel.
James Salter (1925-2015) Literary critic, novelist, interview recorded for his memoir, Burning the Days, October 7, 1997. A writer’s writer. Author of several novels, screenplays (including the Robert Redford film Downhill Racer) collections of essays and short fiction and travel works,
Interviewers: Richard Wolinsky/Richard A. Lupoff.
Peter Brook (1925-2022) Legendary British theatre director, recorded April, 2017 while co-directing Battlefield at ACT.
Tess Gerritsen, co-author (with Gary Braver) of Choose Me.
Complete 41-minute interview. A stand-alone novel involving a college professor who gets involved with a student and focuses on the #metoo movement from both a male and female perspective.
David Sedaris, author of the collection, Happy Go Lucky. A return to form by the noted essayist and diarist, including looks at survival in New York during the Covid shutdown and the death of his father. Complete 65-minute interview
Christine Dwyer, actress, Ragtime at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Mountain View Center for the Arts.
Flynn Berry, author of the novel Northern Spy. Set in the near future during a revival of the Northern Ireland troubles, Northern Spy focuses on a young radio producer who gets involved with both the IRA and British intelligence.
Jasson Minadakis, Artistic Director, Marin Theatre Company, and director of The Sound Inside by Adam Rapp, which plays through June 19, 2022.
KJ Sanchez, director/co-adaptor, Romeo y Juliet at California Shakespeare Theatre (Cal Shakes) through June 19, 2022.
Theatre Review: The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin, at San Francisco Playhouse.
Don Winslow, author of City on Fire, first of a trilogy based on the Trojan War epics of The Iliad, The Odyssey and The Aeneid, set in a 1980s Rhode Island gang war. The author has said these will be his final novels as he concentrates on political videos for Twitter which warn of oncoming fascism in the United States.
David Thomson, author of A Light in the Dark: A History of Movie Directors. The noted critic and film historian discusses the nature of movie direction, with particular attention to how our perception and era changes how we look at films.
Theatre Review: Octet at Berkeley Rep's Peets Theatre through May 29, 2022.
A.O. Scott, film critic for the New York Times, author of Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think about Art, Pleasure, Beauty and Truth. 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. Recorded April 2016.
Max Von Sydow (1929-2020). Short interview with the actor, recorded December 1980, with Richard Wolinsky and Lawrence Davidson.
Theatre Review: Gem of the Ocean, at TheatreWorks Mountain View through May 1, 2022.
The April 21, 2022 show that aired was a repeat of the April 14 program due to technical issues. This program was prepared for April 21 and was inserted into the KPFA website the following week.
Ursula K. LeGuin (1929-2018), author of The Earthsea Trilogy, The Dispossessed, The Left Hand of Darkness and other novels. Interviewers: Richard Wolinsky/Richard A. Lupoff. Recorded in 1983 and 2000.
Gene Wolfe (1931-2019), author of The Book of the New Sun trilogy and other novels.Interviewers: Richard Wolinsky/Richard A. Lupoff/Lawrence Davidson. Recorded November 1982.
Jane Smiley, author of Perestroika in Paris. Perestroika is a real horse, nicknamed Para, but this is a fantasy about how a horse much like the real one escapes from a racetrack in Paris, France and hides out with other animals in a large mansion near the Eiffel Tower. Escapism that somehow seems necessary during the non-travel era of a world pandemic.
Brian Garfield (1939-2018), author of western fiction, Death Wish and Hopscotch. Brian Garfield, who died on December 29, 2018 wrote westerns under several pseudonyms, worked in Hollywood, wrote thrillers and cautionary tales, and wrote non-fiction as well. This interview was recorded in 1983. Interviewers are Richard Wolinsky, Richard A. Lupoff and Lawrence Davidson. Remastered & re-edited in 2019 by Richard Wolinsky.
Robert Macfarlane, author of Ghostways: Two Journeys in Unquiet Places, written in collaboration with artist Stanley Donwood and writer Dan Richards. The noted naturalist writer examines two disquieting places in England, Orford Ness, a spit of land near Cambridge, and the Holloways of Dorset, in images, prose and poetry.
Miranda July, author of The First Bad Man, recorded in November 2015. Known as a film-maker, Miranda July has also published this one novel, which to date is still her most recent, about a strange relationship between two women.
Margo Hall, Artistic Director, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, noted actor and director
Jan Hunter, director, Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage, Lorraine Hansberry Theater at the Magic in Fort Mason through April 16, 2022.
Wayne Wang, film director, Chan is Missing, The Joy Luck Club, Smoke (Part Two) A retrospective of his work is now at BAMPFA. Second of two parts.
Susan Oxtoby, curator, Fellini at 100 Retrospective conclusion at BAMPFA (the retrospective began in 2020 but was discontinued due to the Covid shutdown).
Theatre Review: Passing Strange, at Shotgun Players through April 23, 2022.
Paul Gordon, composer/lyricist/librettist, Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility: A New Musical, at TheatreWorks Palo Alto Lucie Stern Theater through April 3, 2022.
Wayne Wang, film director, Chan is Missing, The Joy Luck Club, Smoke. (Part One) A retrospective of his work is now at BAMPFA. First of two parts, concludes March 24, 2022.
Theatre Review: Dot, at New Conservatory Theatre Center through April 3, 2022.
Wil Haygood, author of Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World, an in-depth look at how the black community viewed Hollywood and the way Hollywood's view of race evolved, and did not evolve.
Bill English, Artistic Director, San Francisco Playhouse. Director, Heroes of the Fourth Turning. In the interview he discusses this play, and looks forward to the rest of the Playhouse season.
Joseph Hansen (1923-2004), author of the Dave Brandstetter mystery series, the first featuring a gay detective. Recorded June 14, 1990 recorded while he was on tour for the penultimate Brandstetter novel, The Boy Who Was Buried This Morning. Interviewers: Richard Wolinsky/Richard A. Lupoff.
Janis Ian, singer/songwriter. Recorded June 14, 2008 while on tour for her memoir, Society's Child, an excellent look at the impact of early success and coming to terms with adulthood and maintaining balance.
Art Spiegelman, author of Maus, aired originally on December 7, 2000. Legendary comic book artist whose graphic memoir about his parents was banned from classrooms in a school district in Tennessee in January, 2022. Interviewer: Richard A. Lupoff.
Octavia Butler (1947-2006), noted science fiction author. Interviewed by Richard Wolinsky/Richard. A. Lupoff. Recorded 1983. At the time of the interview, Octavia Butler was still an unknown writer, though Kindred had been making waves.
Andrew Vachss (1942-2021), noted noir author and child abuse activist, recorded June 22, 199, while on tour for the novel Sacrifice. His early books featured a protagonist named Burke, who ran outside the law and focused his efforts on crimes against children. Excellent and fast-paced novels, a bit over the top.
Interviewers: Richard Wolinsky/Richard A. Lupoff.
Charles Yu, author of the novel Interior Chinatown, winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction. A mix of prose, screenplay, teleplay, and polemic, Interior Chinatown deconstructs the stereotypes of Asian actors and actresses in Hollywood over the course of the past half-century.
Kathy Geritz, film curator at BAM/PFA discussing the films of Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambety.
Joan Didion (1934-2021), noted novelist and essayist, recorded October 23, 2003, while she was on tour for her memoir/essay collection, Where I Was From.
Complete Interview
Bookwaves/Artwaves Hour, January 20, 2022
Itamar Moses, playwright, librettist, The Band's Visit, at BroadwaySF Geary Theater through February 6, 2022.
Anne Rice (1941-2021) author of The Vampire Chronicles , the Mayfair Witches series, and other novels, recorded December 2, 2016.
