KPFA - Radio Wolinsky

Lisa Ramirez, playwright, “The Book of Sand” at the Oakland Theater Project, November 11 – December 4th, and Associate Artistic Director of the Oakland Theater Project, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Lisa Ramirez is a bi-coastal actor and playwright. She recently appeared in “Water by the Spoonful” at San Francisco Playhouse. Among the plays she has written are “Exit Cuckoo,” a one-person play about nannies, and “To the Bone.” During the pandemic shutdown, she presented a solo version of T.S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland,” in a parking lot in Oakland, using radios. She also works with the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles Oakland Theater Project website. The post Lisa Ramirez, playwright, “The Book of Sand” at Oakland Theater Project, 2022 appeared first on KPFA.

Helen Benedict, co-author (with Eyad Awwadawnon) of “Map of Hope and Sorrow: Stories of Refugees Trapped in Greece,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Helen Benedict is the author of seven novels, including “Wolf Season” and “Sand Queen,” and five books of non-fiction. Her latest book, “Map of Hope and Sorrow,” co-written by Eyad Awwadawnon, a Syrian refugee who was planning to get a law degree in Damascus, is partly an oral history of refugees coming to Greece after escaping from their home countries. Helen Benedict teaches journalism at Columbia University,. In the interview, she discusses how she first came to meet Eyad, and then takes a look at the stories of the refugees in the book, focusing on stories that didn’t quite make it into the book, and then looks at the harsh terrain of life in the camps. The post Helen Benedict, “Map of Hope and Sorrow,” 2022 appeared first on KPFA.

George Saunders, author of the short story collection, Liberation Day, 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 only novel to date, “Lincoln in the Bardo.” This latest collection, “Liberation Day,” contains nine stories, some of which, including the title story, are science fiction. Others delve into the minds of people coping with their lives. There are subtle political implications in several of them, but all of them are stunning works of fiction. The interview was recorded on October 10, 2022 and was edited by Richard Wolinsky October 26-28, 2022. The post George Saunders, “Liberation Day,” 2022 appeared first on KPFA.

Clive Barker, noted horror and dark fantasy author, in conversation with the Probabilities crew, Richard A. Lupoff, Lawrence Davidson and Richard Wolinsky, recorded September, 1987 while he was on tour for his fantasy novel, “Weaveworld.” Digitized, remastered and edited in October 2022. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky. The last quarter of the 20th century was a golden age of horror novels. Leading the pack, of course, was Steven King. But there was also Peter Straub, Anne Rice, Dean Koontz and several others. One of the leading authors of the period was Clive Barker, who burst onto the scene in his early thirties with The Books of Blood, followed by novels and short stories specializing in horror and dark fantasy. He was also the writer and director of what is now a classic in the field, Hellraiser and its villains, Pinhead and the Cenobites. The Probabilities Crew, Richard Lupoff, Lawrence Davidson and myself, we interviewed Clive Barker three times, first in 1987 then a year later, and finally in 1996. This interview was recorded a few months after Clive’s 35th birthday,  was also several months before the release of the original Hellraiser film which premiered the following September. As of 2022, there have been seventeen Clive Barker novels in all, five short story collections, fourteen plays, and a variety of comic books and graphic novels, several screenplays, teleplays and adaptations, and three feature length films he directed. A new version of Hellraiser, based on his original screenplay, now streams on Hulu, along with Books of Blood from 2020. Candyman, from 2021, streams on Amazon Prime, as does the original 1987 Hellraiser. In 2012, Clive Barker he went into a coma following a disastrous visit with a dentist. Since that time, no new novels have been forthcoming, though he is credited with involvement in a number of published works and film and television adaptations. Dario Argento’s horror films are all available on the Criterion app, where you can also find films by Jean Cocteau. After Clive began writing fiction, he stopped writing plays, so his final work for theatre was written before the interview was recorded. A highly edited transcript can be found in a book titled Macabre II: Stephen King and Clive Barker, edited by James Van Hise, and out of print for decades. (Note: The cassette tape says 1/9/87. However, from internal evidence in the interview, the likely date of recording is sometime in September 1987. – RW) Front photo: Clive Barker in 2007. The post From the Probabilities Archive: Clive Barker, “Weaveworld,” “Hellraiser,” 1987 appeared first on KPFA.

Jesse Green, New York Times theatre critic, and co-author of “Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Mary Rodgers (1931-2014) was the daughter of composer Richard Rodgers, and is best known as the composer of the hit musical “Once Upon a Mattress” and the novel, “Freaky Friday,” which has been adapted into various media. But she is also known as the best friend of composer Stephen Sondheim, as well as for knowing, as the book points out, pretty much everyone in the Broadway universe. The memoir tells the story of her life from her perspective, with additional material created by Jesse Green, who is the New York Times chief theatre critic. The interview covers elements of her life, and focuses on the nature of criticism. Recorded September 8, 2022. The post Jesse Green, NY Times theatre critic, “Shy.” 2022 appeared first on KPFA.

Cory Doctorow, science fiction author and internet activist, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded February 9, 2013  while on tour for the novel “Home Land, ” a sequel to “Little Brother.” The author of several novels, short stories, graphic novels, essays and non-fiction works, Cory Doctorow is probably best known for his advocacy for liberalizing copyright law, and digital rights management. He served as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing until 2020, though he remains co-owner. His current blog, Pluralistic, contains links to articles on a variety of subjects. In this interview, he discusses his fiction as well as his views at the time on copyright, on politics, and on the role of technology in society. The post Cory Doctorow, “Home Land”, 2013 appeared first on KPFA.

Glenn Frankel, author of “The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend,” recorded on April 10, 2013, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. “The Searchers,” as Glenn Frankel explains at the start of the interview, is one of America’s iconic movies. Directed by John Ford, and starring John Wayne, it explores several themes in this country’s life, including racism and so-called manifest destiny. Since that time, Glenn Frankel has written two additional in-depth books about iconic American films, High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic in 2017, and Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic in 2021. Glenn Frankel served as the Washignton Post bureau chief in London, Jerusalem and Southern Africa, and won an international reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for International Reporting. The post Glenn Frankel, “The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend,” 2013 appeared first on KPFA.

Vauhini Vara, author of the novel,  “The Immortal King Rao,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Recorded via zencastr September 8, 2022. Vauhini Vara studied at the Iowa Writers Workshop, worked as tech reporter at The Wall Street Journal and wrote for the business section of The New Yorker. She is a contributing writer at Wired. Her upcoming collection of short stories, This is Salvaged, will be published in 2023. The Immortal King Rao tells two stories, that of a fictional tech billionaire who grew up in humble beginnings in the 1950s in southern India and eventually came to the United States, and during the novel flashes forward a hundred years to a dystopia in which algorithms determine the success or failure of any individual.  Vauhini Vara webpage. The post Vauhini Vara, “The Immortal King Rao,” 2022 appeared first on KPFA.

Stephen King, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Lawrence Davidson, while on tour for The Dead Zone, recorded September 8, 1979 at Dark Carnival Bookstore in Berkeley, and posted in honor of his 75th birthday on September 21, 2022. At the time of this recording, Stephen King had only written a handful of books — Carrie, Salem’s Lot, The Shining and the Stand preceding The Dead Zone. There were also two novels under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, which was still a secret at the time. Since then, Stephen King has become a literary institution with over 300 credits for television and film adaptations at IMDb. He also has 64 novels, 11 collections of stories, and 5 non-fiction books. This interview was transcribed and can be found in both Feast of Fear: Conversations with Stephen King, edited by Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller, and Stephen King and Clive Barker: Macabre II, edited by James Van Hise. Photo: Stephen King during the era of the interview. Photo by Marty Reichenthal/AP/Shutterstock. The post Stephen King, “The Dead Zone,” 1979 appeared first on KPFA.

Peter Straub (1993-2022), in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded April 4, 1993 while on tour for his novel, “The Throat,” third in a thematic trilogy that included “Koko” and “Mystery.” Peter Straub, who died on September 4th, 2022 at the age of 79, was a master of horror and supernatural fiction whose work erased any distinction between genre and the literary world. Among his best known novels were Ghost Story, Shadowland, Floating Dragon, The Hellfire Club, and his collaboration with Stephen King, The Talisman.   He was also a poet and short fiction author. Three years after the interview, Peter Straub’s novel The Hellfire Club was published to great acclaim, followed in 2001, with Black House, a sequel to The Talisman, written with Stephen King, and four later novels, the last one, A Dark Matter, published in 2010. A third book in The Talisman series was announced, but never written. A television series based on The Talisman for Netflix and created by The Duffer Brothers of Stranger Things fame, was announced in 2021 and is apparently still on track. The post Peter Straub (1943-2022), 1993 appeared first on KPFA.