Épisodes

  • Bookwaves/Artwaves – October 15, 2026: Maureen Gosling, “The Nine Lives of Barbara Dane”
    Oct 15 2026
    Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues Documentary Filmmaker Maureen Gosling Maureen Gosling, director of the films ‘The Nine Lives of Barbara Dane” and co-director, with Chris Simon, of “This Ain’t No Mouse Music: about the late KPFA host Chris Strachwitz, is interviewed by host Richard Wolinsky, recorded October 12, 2026. Maureen Gosling spent twenty years working with award-winning documentarian Les Blank for his many films, including the noted film about the making of “Fitzcarraldo” titled “Burden of Dreams.” Her film about singer activist Barbara Dane, “The Nine Lives of Barbara Dane” was released in 2023, and is now making its commercial theatre debut in various cities around the States. It will be at the Roxie in San Francisco on Sunday October 18th at 3:15 pm, with the audience moving afterward to the Chapel, down the street, for a music festival. Barbara Dane (1927-2024) was a jazz, blues and folk singer, and strong political activist for several decades. In this interview, Maureen Gosling discusses her work with Les Blank and the making of “Burden of Dreams,” the story behind “This Ain’t No Mouse Music” and “Nine Lives…” and talks about the relationship of music, film and politics. Review of “The Fall Show”, at Shotgun Players Ashby Stage through November 1, 2026. The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – October 15, 2026: Maureen Gosling, “The Nine Lives of Barbara Dane” appeared first on KPFA.
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  • Bookwaves/Artwaves – October 22, 2026: Carey Perloff: Directing Pinter and Stoppard
    Oct 22 2026
    Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues Theatre Director Carey Perloff Carey Perloff, author of “Pinter and Stoppard: A Director’s View,” discusses her direction of plays by both master playwrights with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded October 14, 2026. The former Artistic Director of A.C.T. from 1992 until 2018 and a playwright in her own right, Carey Perloff discusses her current direction of plays by Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard. “Betrayal” by Harold Pinter (1930-2008), which Carey is now directing, plays at Marin Theatre October 22 – November 15, 2026. “Leopoldstadt,” the final play by Tom Stoppard (1937-2025) will be directed by Carey at Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre, and plays in 2027 from June 4th through July 11th. Her earlier production of “Leopoldstadt” played at The Writers Theatre near Chicago from June through August, 2026. Carey’s relationship with both playwrights goes back several years. While with New York’s Classic Stage Company, she directed both ‘The Birthday Party” and the American premiere of Pinter’s “Mountain Language,” and worked closely with the playwright both times. Her personal friendship with Tom Stoppard led to the direction of several plays at A.C.T., most notably his masterpiece, “Arcadia,” as well as working with Stoppard on a revised version of “Leopoldstadt” shortly before his death. In this interview, she discusses her approach to both playwrights, and the role of language in their work, as well as her personal history with both. Her book, “Pinter and Stoppard: A Director’s View” was published by Bloomsbury in 2022. Ann Beattie, award winning novelist and short story writer, author of “Chilly Scenes of Winter” and other novels, and several collections of short stories, discusses the relationship of literature to film and theatre, and other issues in this previously unaired archive interview, recorded March 4, 2011, while she was on tour for her collection, The New Yorker Stories. Review of “Every Saturday Night”, an SFBATCO production at ACT Strand Theatre through November 1, 2026. The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – October 22, 2026: Carey Perloff: Directing Pinter and Stoppard appeared first on KPFA.
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  • Encore: George Saunders, “Vigil,” 2026
    Sep 24 2026
    George Saunders, whose latest novel is Vigil, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. George Saunders is the highly acclaimed author of several short story collections, including “Tenth of December,” and “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline,” and others, along with political commentary that has appeared in The New Yorker and other magazines. He won the 2017 Booker Prize for his earlier novel, “Lincoln in the Bardo.” This latest novel, Vigil, takes place in the in-between time before death, when an elderly oil oligarch lies dying, and an angel of mercy, a ghost, named Jill, is on hand to comfort him. The question at hand concerns forgiveness, accountability, grace and several other issues that become involved when someone whose actions were deleterious to humankind and the planet is forced to examine their actions on earth. Justification, remorse, sin? What does it mean, and how do we, the living, deal with these issues when there are so many bad actors doing damage these days on the world and national stages. Recorded by computer on April 15, 2026. The post Encore: George Saunders, “Vigil,” 2026 appeared first on KPFA.
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  • Bookwaves Artwaves, July 2, 2026: Vauhini Vara, Tech Journalist Discussing AI
    Jul 2 2026
    Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues Vauhini Vara, AI and the Search for Self in the Digital World Vauhini Vara, Pulitzer Prize finalist for her novel, “The Immortal King Rao,” and former tech journalist for the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere, discusses her book, “Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age” with host Richard Wolinsky, just out in trade paperback. “Searches” is an exploration of how the internet and digital technologies influence and reshape our personal identities and self-perception, and the quest for meaning in contemporary society. The interview focuses on various aspects of her book, most notably the relation of the tech giants and corporations to politics, and specifically, the ins and outs of the corporate product known as “A.I.” Michael Cunningham, Pulitzer Prize Winning Novelist, 2005 Michael Cunningham in the KPFA studios, 2010. Photo: Richard Wolinsky. Michael Cunningham in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded while on the book tour for “Specimen Days,” recorded in the KPFA studios, June 24, 2005. This is the conclusion of a previously aired interveiw. Michael Cunningham is a celebrated author of eight novels, along with several short stories, and two produced screenplays to date. His novel The Hours, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1999, was adapted into an award winning film in 2003. The post Bookwaves Artwaves, July 2, 2026: Vauhini Vara, Tech Journalist Discussing AI appeared first on KPFA.
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  • Bookwaves/Artwaves – July 9, 2026: Lisa See, Best Selling Novelist, “Daughters of the Sun and Moon,” 2026
    Jul 9 2026
    Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues Lisa See, author of “Daughters of the Sun and Moon” Lisa See, whose latest novel is “Daughters of the Sun and Moon,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded in Culver City, California on June 28, 2026. Lisa See’s best-selling books include Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, China Dolls, The Island of Sea Women more recently, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women. Each novel, thus far, focuses on the role and lives of women of East Asian descent in various countries, including Korea, Japan, China and the United States. Some of the novels focus on a mystery, others take place within the context of historical events. Daughters of the Sun and Moon takes place in 1870, from China to Los Angeles, California, and focuses on the lives of three women, Moon, the wife of a doctor, Dove, the bound-foot daughter of a lesser bureaucrat, and Petal, the daughter of farmers. Moon has come to the United States with her husband, whom she’s known since childhood. Dove was married off to an older man she’s never met, and Petal was sold into sexual slavery and would find herself in a small brothel in the Chinese neighborhood, in what is now downtown L.A. The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – July 9, 2026: Lisa See, Best Selling Novelist, “Daughters of the Sun and Moon,” 2026 appeared first on KPFA.
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  • Bookwaves/Artwaves – July 16, 2026: From the Archive: Sara Paretsky – Ian Watson
    Jul 16 2026
    Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues Sara Paretsky: author of the V.I. Warshawski Mysteries Sara Paretsky in 2019. Sara Paretsky, author of the V.I. Warshawski mysteries, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff as part of the “Probabilities” radio series, recorded in the KPFA s studio on March 16, 1991 following the publication of “Burn Marks” and before the publication of “Guardian Angel.” In the late 1980s, crime and mystery fiction by women skyrocketed. Even so, awards were still being given to mostly male writers, and in 1987, the organization Sisters in Crime was formed. In Berkeley, at KPFA, Richard Lupoff and Richard Wolinsky, the hosts of the Probabilities radio program, having drifted from science fiction into mysteries and later into general fiction and narrative non-fiction, noticed the trend pretty early on, and began interviewing these pioneer writers, one by one, local writers like Marcia Muller and Sue Dunlap, and writers from out of town, such as Sue Grafton, or from overseas, such as P.D. James. These interviews, the Sisters in Crime interviews, were all conducted in the 1980s and 1990s, and because of the switch from analog tape to digital, have not been heard since the new century began. Until now. It is appropriate to begin this series of interviews with the first president of Sisters in Crime, Sara Paretsky, recorded March 16, 1991 while she was in the Bay Area for a mystery conference. At the time, six V.I. Warshawski novels had been published, and a film starring Kathleen Turner would be released a few months later. It would turn out to be the only time V.I. Warshawski stories were adapted for film or television.

As of July, 2026, Sara Paretsky has published 22 novels in the V.I. Warshawski mystery series, and two non-series novels, along with three short story collections and two works of nonfiction. The most recent V.I. novel, Pay Dirt, was published in 2024. Ian Watson (1943-2025) Iconic Science Fiction and Fantasy Author Ian Watson. Photo: Glenn Hall. Wikipedia Commons Ian Watson (1943-2026), unconventional British science fiction and fantasy writer, who died on April 13, 2026 at the age of 82, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff for the Probabilities radio program, recorded in Oakland at Westercon 40 on July 2, 1987. Ian Watson (1943-2026) who died on April 13, 2026 at the age of 82, was an unconventional author whose works brimmed with ideas and philosophical turnings. Author of over thirty one novels, not including several written in the world created by the Warhammer 40,000 game, there were also eleven collections of short stories, plus a catalogue of poems. An avowed socialist, he also stood in elections as a Labour Party candidate in the days before Tony Blair. His novel, The Power, discussed in the interview, was published later in 1987, and can now be found, along with many of his novels, as Kindle book through Amazon. In early 1990, Ian Watson received a call from the assistant to legendary film-maker Stanley Kubrick to work on a science fiction film based on a story about a robot boy written by Brian Aldiss. For the next several months, he and Kubrick hammered out a screenplay treatment until Kubrick, in December of that year, said it was what he wanted, barring some changes, but shortly thereafter began work on what would be his final film, Eyes Wide Shut. Kubrick died on March f7, 1999 at the age of seventy. Shortly afterward, Steven Spielberg, using Watson’s treatment, wrote a screenplay which became his film, A.I. Artificial Intelligence. You can find Ian Watson’s essay about his work with Kubrick by going to this link. This interview was digitized, remastered and edited on May 2, 2026. Sound quality (speed) is variable. Review of “The Employee Dharma Handbook” at TheatreWorks Palo Alto through August 2, 2026. The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – July 16, 2026: From the Archive: Sara Paretsky – Ian Watson appeared first on KPFA.
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  • Bookwaves/Artwaves – July 30, 2026: Nature Writer Robert Macfarlane, “Is A River Alive?”
    Jul 30 2026
    Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues Robert Macfarlane: “Is A River Alive?” Robert Macfarlane, whose book “Is a River Alive,” was just released in trade paperback, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. The best-selling nature writer, and author of “Underland” and “The Old Ways” discusses the relationship of the human race to nature in the context of the rights of natural phenomena, specifically rivers. What rights does the earth have in terms of man’s hegemony? Where do we fit in nature? In this interview, recorded recorded June 11, 2025, he talks about his journey to three rivers: a cloud forest in South America, a dying river in India, and a river that runs through eastern Canada, along with a look at the spring near his home in England, and puts them all in context of environmentalism and politics. He is the author of several books, including “”Mountains of the Mind” and “Ghostways,” Robert Macfarlane teaches at Cambridge University. His most recent book, co-authored with Jackie Morris, is “The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss,” commentary and drawings about our avian friends. Review of “Hairspray” at San Francisco Playhouse through September 12, 2026 The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – July 30, 2026: Nature Writer Robert Macfarlane, “Is A River Alive?” appeared first on KPFA.
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  • Bookwaves/Artwaves – August 6, 2026: Robert Bloch (1917-1994), Author of “Psycho”
    Aug 6 2026
    Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues The Probabilities Archive: Robert Bloch (1917-1994), Pulp Magazine Writer and Novelist Robert Bloch (1917-1994), who died on September 23, 1994 at the age of 77, began his career writing fantasy and horror for the pulp magazines, and graduated after World War II to writing psychological thriller novels, often focusing on serial killers. He is best known today for having written the novel “Psycho,” which was adapted into the classic 1959 film by Alfred Hitchcock. From the 1950s through 1970s, he also wrote for episode television (most notably “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”) and made for television films. In all, there were countless short stories, over thirty published novels, and several non-fiction articles. On March 4, 1982, the late Probabilities co-host Richard A. Lupoff (1935-2020) ninterviewed Robert Bloch before an audience. There were no major science fiction conventions at the time, so it’s not clear exactly where this interview took place). In the first part of the interview, Bloch discusses his friendship with H.P. Lovecraft, his work with the legendary Fictioneers writing group, and the creation of his Lefty Feep series of short stories. The second part of the interview takes him to his novel-writing days, with a look at the creation of his most famous character, Norman Bates of “Psycho.” Digitized and edited August 1-2, 2026 and introduced by host Richard Wolinsky. Portions of this interview found their way into “Space Ships! Ray Guns! Martian Octopods: Interviews with Science Fiction Legends,” edited by Richard Wolinskky and published by Tachyon Books in 2025. The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – August 6, 2026: Robert Bloch (1917-1994), Author of “Psycho” appeared first on KPFA.
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