KPFA - Radio Wolinsky

Todd Haynes, independent filmmaker, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Recorded February 27, 2025. The director of ten feature length films, Todd Haynes is an independent film-maker with his roots in New Queer Cinema. After coming to the attention of the film community with his short film, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, in which the “actors” were Barbie Dolls, he achieved fame with his first feature, Poison, which told three stories in different ways, all of which commented on the AIDS epidemic. He followed that with the much-lauded Safe, and then moved on to mainstream success with the lush melodrama, Far from Heaven. His later films include Velvet Goldmine, focusing on the glam rock era, I’m Not There, in which several actors portrayed Bob Dylan, Carol, Dark Waters, Wonderstruck, and his latest film, May December (Netflix). His documentary, Velvet Underground, is available on Apple Plus. Along the way there was a miniseries, Mildred Pierce, starring Kate Winslet, on HBO (streaming on MAX). All his films are available streaming. The films of Todd Haynes will be shown in a retrospective, “Todd Haynes: Far From Safe,” beginning March 8th and continuing through April 12th at BAMPFA, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Todd Haynes will be introducing some of his films (sold out). Special thanks to AJ Fox and the staff at Pacific Film Archive. The post Todd Haynes, Award-Winning Independent Filmmaker appeared first on KPFA.

Margaret Atwood, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded in the KPFA studios in October 2009 while on tour for the novel “The Year of the Flood.” One of the most distinguished authors writing today, Margaret Atwood is best known for her novel “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and well as several other novels, short stories, poems, essays and political commentary. In this interview which originally aired October 15, 2009 but never heard in its entirety, she discusses her science fiction novel “The Year of the Flood,” second of what later became a trilogy including ‘Oryx and Crake” and “Maddadam,” along with her short novel, The “Penelopiad.” Along the way, she talks about her website for the book, her view on the names of tech companies, the nature of science fiction as prediction, and other topics. This is the seventh of eight interviews with Margaret Atwood conducted between the years 1989 and 2013. Margaret Atwood I, 1989: Cat’s Eye, The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood II, 1993: The Robber Bride Margaret Atwood III, 1997: Alias Grace Margaret Atwood IV, 2000: The Blind Assassin Margaret Atwood V, 2003: Oryx and Crake Margaret Atwood VI, 2006: Moral Disorder, Writing with Intent The post Margaret Atwood, “The Year of the Flood,” 2009 appeared first on KPFA.

Tom Robbins (1932-2025, author of the classic novels “Another Roadside Attraction” and “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues”, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff in the KPFA studios on May 15, 2000 while on tour for the novel “Fierce Invalids, Home from Hot Climates.” Tom Robbins, who died on February 9, 2025 at the age of 92,  was the considered the leading chronicler of the sixties vibe. Over the course of his long life, he only wrote eight novels, one collection of short stories and a memoir over the course of his long life, but he is recognized as one of the most important voices of mid to late twentieth century America. Among his novels are Another Roadside Attraction, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, which became a film by Gus Van Sant, Still Life with Woodpecker and Jitterbug Perfume. Tom Robbins would only write one more novel after Fierce Invalids, Titled Villa Incognito, it was published in 2003. A collection of his short writings, Wild Ducks Flying Backwards, was published in 2003, and a memoir, Tibetan Peach Pie: A true Account of an Imaginative Life, was published in 2014. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues is the only one of his books to be adapted for film. This interview has never been heard in its entirety, until now. The post Tom Robbins (1932-2025), Master of Seriocomic Novels appeared first on KPFA.

Mickey Spillane (1918-2006), author of the classic crime novels, “I, The Jury” and “Kiss Me Deadly,” in conversation in 2003 with Richard A. Lupoff, introduced by Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff. In this recently discovered recording, best-selling crime/noir novelist Mickey Spillane discusses his career as a professional writer and gives advice to writers. In the introduction, Richard A. Lupoff, the late co-host of KPFA’s Probabilities, details how the interview came to be. This was the last interview conducted by Richard A. Lupoff for KPFA. The post Mickey Spillane, Tough Guy Novelist, 2003 appeared first on KPFA.

Lance Gardner,  Artistic Director of Marin Theatre since October, 2023, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. A long-tme Bay Area actor, Lance Gardner came to Marin Theatre after a stint as a live event producer at KQED, and as Chair of the Board of Aurora Theatre. In this interview, he discusses the theatre’s fiscal health, how he hopes to increase the audience, along with details of the various upcoming shows. Lance Gardner has earned dozens of theatre credits over the last 20 years, including six mainstage shows and a school tour at Marin Theatre Company. He has also performed in multiple shows at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, Magic Theatre, TheatreWorks, and more. The post Lance Gardner, Executive Artistic Director of Marin Theatre appeared first on KPFA.

China Mieville, author of the Hugo Award winning novel, “The City and the City,” and the classic “Perdido Street Station,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky in this archive interview recorded September 1, 2002. China Mieville is a British author of weird fantasy and science fiction, and a leftist political activist in Britain. Born in 1972, he began his literary career with an urban fantasy novel, King Rat, and followed it up with a novel considered now one of best fantasy works of the 20th Century, Perdido Street Station in 2000. This interview with China Mieville at the 60th World Science Fiction Convention in San Jose on September 1, 2002, shortly after the publication of his follow-up to Perdido Street Station, The Scar. Since then, China Mieville wrote a third novel set in that same Bas Lag universe as Perdido Street Station, Iron Council, published in 2004, and then moved on to other worlds with six stand alone novels, the most recent being a collaboration with Keanu Reaves titled The Book of Elsewhere, set in the BRZRKR comic book universe, published in 2024. A new novel is expected some time in 2025. his novel, The City and the City, which tied for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2010, was adapted for television by the BBC in 2018 and is now available streaming on Amazon Prime. This interview has previously never been heard in its entirety. Remastered and edited in January 2025 by Richard Wolinsky. The post China Mieville, “Perdido Street Station,” 2002 appeared first on KPFA.

Susanna Clarke, author of the classic fantasy novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, interviewed September 12, 2005 in the KPFA studios. ​​​​​Back in the fall of 2004, a new fantasy novel, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by a newcomer, Susannah Clarke, hit the stands and became an instant classic, finding its way to best-seller lists in England and the United States, and winning the Hugo Award for 2004’s best novel at the World Science Fiction convention in 2005. This interview with Susannah Clarke was recorded while on tour for the paperback edition of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. The interview was originally edited down to fit a half-hour KPFA slot, and no edit of the complete interview was ever made, until now. Both Christopher Hampton and Julian Fellowes took stabs at writing a film adaptation of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, but both were unable to translate the very long novel into a screenplay, and then New Line cancelled the project. It was eventually developed into a seven -part miniseries for the BBC, and aired in both the United States and Britain in 2015. It is now streaming on Amazon Prime. After the publication of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and the awards, Susannah Clarke continued to work on the sequel, set in the same universe a few years later, but became bogged down, almost sentence by sentence, as chronic fatigue syndrome took its toll. By 2015, after visiting the set of the BBC production, she decided to go another route, and went back to another manuscript that likely pre-dated her best-seller. That novel, Piranesi, was published to mostly favorable reviews in 2020. She is now working on a third novel. The post Susanna Clarke, “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell”, 2005 appeared first on KPFA.

Vernor Vinge (1944-2024), in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded in the KPFA studios, May 7, 1992 while on tour for his novel, “A Fire Upon the Deep,” which would be a co-winner of the Huge Award for Best Novel at the 1993 World Science Fiction Convention. ​​​​​Vernor Vinge, who died on March 20th, 2024 at the age of 79 was one of the masters of late twentieth century and early 21st century science fiction. He won five Hugo Awards, three for Best Novel and two for best novella, and is credited as the first science fiction writer to offer a fictional cyberspace, a few years before William Gibson and Neal Stephenson. Over all, Vernor Vinge wrote eight novels and had five published collections of his writings. His final novel, The Children of the Sky, was published in 2011. A prequel to A Fire Upon the Deep titled A Deepness in the Sky, was published in 1999, and a sequel, The Children of the Sky, his last novel, was published in 2011. To date, none of his stories have been adapted for either television or film. Vernor Vince retired from teaching in 2000 to become a full-time writer. In this interview, he discusses university-level mathematics, and goes into detail about what are now the early days of life on the internet, and ways in which communications are shared using minimal bytes, and discusses his early writing about cyberspace, and about singularities. There are also comments about what the future holds, a future we now are experiencing. This interview has not aired in over thirty years, and was digitized, remastered and edited in January 2025 by Richard Wolinsky. The post Vernor Vinge (1944-2024), Science Fiction Master, 1992 appeared first on KPFA.

Michael Crichton (1942-2008), recorded December 5, 1990, while on tour for his novel “Jurassic Park,” interviewed by Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff in the KPFA studios. In this interview, he talks about his career and about the science behind “Jurassic Park.” Michael Crichton died in 2008 at the age of 66. (Radio Wolinsky page photo: Jon Chase/Harvard University). First posted May 3, 2020. The post Michael Crichton (1942-2008), “Jurassic Park,” 1990 appeared first on KPFA.

Mary Higgins Clark (1927-2020), who died on January 31st, 2020 at the age of 92, was the best-selling author of 51 books, most of them suspense novels featuring women in jeopardy, with four theatrical films and over thirty other books adapted for television. Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff interviewed  Mary Higgins Clark for the Probablitiles radio program on May 24, 1989 while she was on tour for her 13th novel “While My Pretty One Sleeps.” The interview was conducted in her San Francisco hotel room. Digitized, re-mastered, and re-edited by Richard Wolinsky in April, 2020. First posted April 17, 2020. The post Mary Higgins Clark (1927-2020), Queen of Suspense Novels appeared first on KPFA.