KPFA - Radio Wolinsky

A podcast posted weekly (usually Sunday) featuring extended interviews and discussions from the Bookwaves Artwaves Hour programs on KPFA-FM and the Bookwaves half-hour syndicated program,. Literature, theater, film: in-depth interviews from a progressive and artistic viewpoint, with long-time KPFA/Pacifica host Richard Wolinsky.

KPFA - Radio Wolinsky is a news podcast hosted by KPFA, with 25 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

KPFA hosts KPFA - Radio Wolinsky, a news show with 25 episodes published.

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  KPFA - Radio Wolinsky

  Kazuo Ishiguro, Winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature, 2015

  Sep 28, 20261h 26m

  Kazuo Ishiguro, winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded April 1, 2015 at Book Passage Bookstore in Corte Madera, California, while he was on tour for his novel, “The Buried Giant.” Over the past decades, Kazuo Ishiguro has come to be regarded as one of the titans of modern literature. Author of such novels as “Remains of the Day” and “Never Let Me Go,” he was born in Japan but grew up in Britain, and his sensibility as an author lies somewhere between the two cultures. On winning the Nobel, he said,”It’s a magnificent honour, mainly because it means that I’m in the footsteps of the greatest authors that have lived, so that’s a terrific commendation. The world is in a very uncertain moment and I would hope all the Nobel Prizes would be a force for something positive in the world as it is at the moment. I’ll be deeply moved if I could in some way be part of some sort of climate this year in contributing to some sort of positive atmosphere at a very uncertain time.” His most recent novel, “Klara and the Sun” was published in 2021. Wikipedia lists his next novel, “Miss Lambert Steps Aboard Danger” will be published in 2017. He is the screenplay author for the critically acclaimed 2022 film, “Living.” This podcast was originally posted on October 8, 2017. The post Kazuo Ishiguro, Winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature, 2015 appeared first on KPFA.

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  KPFA - Radio Wolinsky

  Mary Roach: America’s Funniest Science Writer, “Gulp,” 2013

  Sep 21, 20261h 31m

  Mary Roach in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded May 2, 2013 while she was on tour for Gulp: Adventures in the Alimentary Canal. Mary Roach brings a sharp eye and excellent research skills to explain how things work, how they don’t work, and the various things that happen in between. She is the author of eight books devoted to popular science, told in an often humorous vein. She’s been interviewed five times for this program, f the most recent Replaceable You, Adventures in Human Anatomy, which was recorded September 15, 2026 and will be posted shortly. In this book, Mary Roach investigates the science of eating, saliva, stomach mechanics, and elimination, tackling “taboo” questions about how the body processes food. This complete edited interview is posted as a podcast for the first time. The post Mary Roach: America’s Funniest Science Writer, “Gulp,” 2013 appeared first on KPFA.

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  KPFA - Radio Wolinsky

  Sisters in Crime: Margaret Maron (1938-2021), the Judge Deborah Knott and the Sigrid Harald series of mysteries, 1994

  Sep 13, 20261h 21m

  Margaret Maron (1938-2021) in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff on the Probabilities radio program on KPFA, recorded June 6, 1994 while she was on tour for the third Deborah Knott mystery, Shooting at Loons. This is the third in a series of Sisters in Crime interviews conducted in the 1980s and 1990s for the Probabilities radio program on KPFA. Margaret Maron was the fourth president of the Sisters in Crime organization, following Dorothy Salisbury, Sara Paretsky and Nancy Pickard. This podcast was first posted on March 21, 2021. Margaret Maron died of a stroke on February 23, 2021 at the age of 82. At the time of her death she’d written twenty Judge Deborah Knott mysteries, nine Sigrid Harald mysteries, two other novels, and two collections of short stories. Along with writing about complex women characters, her books also focused on her native North Carolina, its life and its politics. Following the interview, her next book was in the Sigrid Harald series, Fugitive Colors, published in 1995. She stayed away from that series until 2017, when she wrote Take Out, which turned out to be her last novel. She won an Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1993 and for Best Short Story in 2002 and was named a Grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America in 2013. After Shooting at Loons, she wrote seventeen more Deborah Knott novels. Also, over the course of her career, she became a major spokeswoman and advocate for the organization Sisters in Crime, and served as its first Vice President, and later its President. Despite the success of her novels, to date none of her books or stories have been adapted for film or television, according to IMDb. The post Sisters in Crime: Margaret Maron (1938-2021), the Judge Deborah Knott and the Sigrid Harald series of mysteries, 1994 appeared first on KPFA.

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  KPFA - Radio Wolinsky

  Kate Christensen, Novelist, Essayist, Memoirist, “Good Company,” 2026

  Sep 6, 20261h 46m

  Kate Christensen, whose latest novel is titled “Good Company,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Kate Christensen is the author of ten novels, including “The Great Man,” which won the PEN/Faulker Award for fiction, Trouble, and Welcom Home, Stranger. She’s also written two memoirs along with essays published in a wide variety of publications and anthologies. She has also written a mystery under a pseudonym.. A graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, her books focus on contemporary issues such as homophobia, climate change, and specifically in “Good Company,” on misogyny. In thjis interview, she focuses on her writing process, on political issues that find their way into the novel, and on specifics inside the novel. Kate Crhistensen was interviewed on “Bookwaves” in 2009 and this interview picks up where that one left off. This interview was recorded in August, 2026. The post Kate Christensen, Novelist, Essayist, Memoirist, “Good Company,” 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

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  KPFA - Radio Wolinsky

  Probabilities Archive: Gene Wolfe (1931-2019), Science Fiction Grandmaster, 1982

  Aug 30, 202659 min

  Gene Wolfe, from a 1982 video. Gene Wolfe (1931-2019), author of several science fiction novels and short stories, including “The Book of the New Sun,” interviewed by Richard Wolinsky, Lawrence Davidson and Richard A. Lupoff at Bay Con, Thanksgiving weekend, 1982. The noted fantasy and science fiction writer Gene Wolfe died on April 14, 2019, one month shy of his 88th birthday. By the time of his death, he’d achieved a lifetime achievement award from the World Fantasy Convention, he’d been acclaimed a science fiction Grand Master from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, had won several awards from various organizations in the field, and was considered a writer’s writer. That last designation is important because unlike writers like Ursula K. LeGuin or Isaac Asimov or Stephen King or Terry Pratchett, Wolfe’s fame never spread beyond these genres, despite writing in a literary style, and focusing on philosophical and moral issues in his work. Wolfe started publishing late in life. His first novel, Operation Ares, was published just before his fortieth birthday, in 1970. But after that, his collection of short stories, The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories, and other Stories, and his multi-volume Book of the New Sun skyrocketed his career inside the science fiction fantasy field. By 1982, his reputation had sufficiently cemented to be named a Guest of Honor at the first Bay Con convention over Thanksgiving weekend, 1982, and it’s there that Richard A. Lupoff, Lawrence Davidson and Richard Wolinsky had a chance to interview him about his work and career. The first two of the four volume Book of the New Sun – The Shadow of the Torturer and The Claw of the Conciliator had been published to great critical acclaim, and it seemed he was on the verge of a super-stardom that never moved outside his chosen field. The next two volumes of Book of the New Sun, The Sword of the Lictor and The Citadel of the Autarchwere published in 1983 and 1984. A fifth book, The Urth of the New Sun, was published in 1987, and a collection of essays about the series, The Castle of the Otter, was published by a small press shortly after this interview was recorded. He would go on to write several multi-book novels, including The Book of the Long Sun, The Book of the Short Sun and The Wizard Knight, along with other novels, short stories, and essay collections. His last novel, A Borrowed Man, was published in 2015. A film version of The Death of Doctor Island was partially filmed in 2008 but has never been released. There’s also a short called Doctor island from 1999 that may or may not be the same film. Digitizing, remastering & re-editing by Richard Wolinsky in 2019. This podcast was first posted on November 3, 2019. Updated in 2026. The post Probabilities Archive: Gene Wolfe (1931-2019), Science Fiction Grandmaster, 1982 appeared first on KPFA.

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