KPFA - Bookwaves/Artwaves

In-depth interviews with authors of fiction and narrative non-fiction, delving deeply into political and social issues, literary technique, and the life of the author. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.

Susan Sontag (1933-2004) was an essayist, novelist, activist, film-maker, philosopher and teacher. On March 16, 2000, while on tour for what would be her final novel, "In America," she was interviewed by Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff in San Francisco.

From Wikipedia (with links): Among her best known works are  On Photography [1], Against Interpretation [2], Styles of Radical Will [3], The Way We Live Now [4], Illness as Metaphor [5], Regarding the Pain of Others [6], The Volcano Lover [7], and In America [8].

From Wikipedia: "Sontag was active in writing and speaking about, or travelling to, areas of conflict, including during the Vietnam War [9] and the Siege of Sarajevo [10]. She wrote extensively about photography, culture and media, AIDS [11] and illness, human rights [12], and communism and leftist ideology. Although her essays and speeches sometimes drew controversy, she has been described as "one of the most influential critics of her generation."

In her final four years after this interview, Susan Sontag published a long essay, Regarding the Pain of Others in 2003, concerning the visual representation of war and violence. Following her death, a collection of essays and speeches was published in 2007, and her journals and notebooks were published in two volumes, in 2008 and 2012. She died of leukemia on December 28, 2004 at the age of 71. Her illness and death were chronicled in the book Swimming in a Sea of Death by her son David Rieff. Am award-winning 2014 documentary on her life, Regarding Susan Sontag, is now available on Kanopy, the streaming app available free through your local library.

This interview and was digitized and re-edited in 2006 by Richard Wolinsky and has not been aired in thirteen years. An 34-minute extended version can be found as a Radio Wolinsky podcast. [13]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Photography

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_Interpretation

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styles_of_Radical_Will

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_We_Live_Now_(short_story)

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illness_as_Metaphor

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regarding_the_Pain_of_Others

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Volcano_Lover

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_America_(novel)

[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War

[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Sarajevo

[11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS

[12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights

[13] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/from-the-archive-susan-sontag-1933-2004/

Barry Lopez, whose latest book is “Horizon” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

From Barry Lopez’s website [1]:

From the National Book Award-winning author of the now-classic Arctic Dreams, a vivid, poetic, capacious work that recollects the travels around the world and the encounters–human, animal, and natural–that have shaped an extraordinary life.

Taking us nearly from pole to pole–from modern megacities to some of the most remote regions on the earth–and across decades of lived experience, Barry Lopez, hailed by the Los Angeles Times Book Review as “one of our finest writers,” gives us his most far-ranging yet personal work to date, in a book that moves indelibly, immersively, through his travels to six regions of the world: from Western Oregon to the High Arctic; from the Galápagos to the Kenyan desert; from Botany Bay in Australia to finally, unforgettably, the ice shelves of Antarctica.

Special thanks to the Bay Area Book Festival and Cherilyn Parsons.

Extended Radio Wolinsky podcast [2]

[1] http://www.barrylopez.com/

[2] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/barry-lopez/

A special Fourth of July rebroadcast.

Nancy MacLean, author of “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

Duke University Professor Nancy MacLean, in researching the life of libertarian professor James Buchanan, discovered the philosophical underpinnings of what Hillary Clinton (almost unknowingly) called the “vast right-wing conspiracy.” Funded by Charles Koch and other donors, they’ve taken over the GOP and have an agenda, she says, that ultimately will allow minority rule in the United States for the forseeable future.

In this interview, she discusses the role of Buchanan and the Mont Pelerin Society in the underpinnings of this gradual take-over of the state and federal government, and what the goals are, according to her research. “Democracy in Chains” is on the short list for the 2017 National Book Award.

An hour-long version of this interview can be found as a Radio Wolinsky podcast. [1]

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/nancy-maclean-democracy-chains/

In honor of Pride Week in San Francisco: Armistead Maupin, author of the Tales of the City novels and other works, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded June 14, 2007 at KPFA following the publication of "Michael Tolliver Lives," which features one of the key characters from the series.

In the interview, he discusses the origins of the series and how he came to write it, as well as the three miniseries based on the books, two on PBS and one on Showtime, all featuring Laura Linney and Olympia Dukakis as Mary Ann and Mrs. Madrigal, respectively. He also talks about The Night Listener, which became a film with Robin Williams along with the novel Maybe the Moon.

Two more Tales of the City novels were published after Michael Tolliver Lives. Mary Ann in Autumn in 2016 and The Days of Anna Madrigal in 2017, and a musical version of Tales was produced at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre in summer 2011 for a successful two-month run.

A new Netflix miniseries, Tales of the City, featuring actors who had appeared in earlier television adaptations, premiered in early June, 2019, and uses various elements and characters from these later works.

A documentary on Armistead's life, The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin, can also be found on Netflix. His memoir, Logical Family, was published in 2017.

An interview with Armistead concerning Mary Ann in Autumn can be found on the bookwaves.com website.

Extended 40-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast. [1]

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[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/armistead-maupin-2007-tales-of-the-city-michael-tolliver-lives/

Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22 and its sequel, Closing Time, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded in San Francisco on October 17, 1994.

Since its original publication in 1961, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller has become a classic of anti-war literature, gaining fame during the Vietnam era for its dark and satirical look at American military life. Filmed to middling results by Mike Nichols in 1970, a new miniseries on Hulu has brought the novel back into the spotlight, where its focus on circular reasoning and insanity seems a propos to life during the current American regime. Catch-22 was Joseph Heller’s first novel. In the 1970s he wrote the novels Something Happened and Good as Gold, and in the 1980s God Knows and Picture This, and the non-fiction No Laughing Matter about his struggle with Guillan-Barre Syndrome

In 1994, Joseph Heller came out with a sequel to Catch-22, titled Closing Time, which deals with what happened to Yossarian and other characters after the end of World War II. This interview was recorded during that book tour and deals with both books, as well as other aspects of his career, along with comparisons to the works of Kurt Vonnegut.

Despite respectful reviews and a good reputation, Closing Time is mostly forgotten today, though it is easily available on-line in both paper and e-book. Joseph Heller published a memoir, Now and Then, in 1998, and another novel, Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man, an autobiographical work about an author who is unable to shake the success of his very first novel, was published posthumously in 2000. The film of Catch-22 is available streaming thru Amazon Prime subscription; and the mini-series is available streaming on Hulu.

Extended 54-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast. [1]

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/from-the-archive-joseph-heller-1923-1999/

Patricia Marx and Roz Chast, co-authors of the humor book, "Why Don't You Write My Eulogy Now So I Can Correct It?: A Mother's Suggestions," talk about their work and life with host Richard Wolinsky.

Roz Chast is a legendary New Yorker cartoonist with several books to her credit. Patricia Marx was the first woman working at the Harvard Lampoon, and spent a year in the writers' room of Saturday Night Live. These days she writes Talk of the Town and other pieces, along with assignments, for the New Yorker magazine.

Together they've created a book based upon the words of Patricia Marx's mother, illustrated by Roz Chast. In this interview, they talk about the book; Patricia Marx discusses her career in comedy and humor writing, and the two authors take out the ukulele's for a couple of parody songs.

Photo on program page: left to right: Roz Chast, Patricia Marx. Photo: Richard Wolinsky.

Extended 40-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast. [1]

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/patricia-marx-roz-chast/

Tony Horwitz (1958 – May 27, 2019) discusses his most recent book, “Spying on the South” with host Richard Wolinsky. Recorded May 17, 2019.

The author of several books that combine scholarship, history and travel, Tony Horwitz was a one of a kind author. In “Confederates in the Attic,” he looked at Civil War re-enactors in the Deep South. In “Blue Latitudes,” he followed the path of explorer James Cook, visiting islands in the Pacific Ocean. And in “Spying on the South,” now his final book, he follows the path of the young Frederick Law Olmstead, later to design Central Park, as he went down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers all the way to the Mexican border, seeing how a century and a half has changed the landscape and the people.

Ten days after this interview was conducted, Tony Horwitz died of a heart attack in Washington D.C., in the middle of his book tour.

An extended 49-minute version of this interview can be found as a Radio Wolinsky podcast. [1]

 

Photos: Richard Wolinsky.

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/tony-horwitz/

Lisa See, whose latest novel is “The Island of Sea Women,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

The author of several historical and mystery novels, and a memoir, Lisa See’s novels usually focus on the relationship of two women, mother-daughter, sisters, best friends, and how they cope with their lives over the years. “The Island of Sea Women” takes place on South Korea’s Jeju island, where gender roles were traditionally reversed, with the women divers serving as breadwinners, while the men stay home and raise the children.

In the interview, Lisa See discusses her focus on relationships, on the nature of forgiveness, and of the violent history of Jeju Island, and its relationship to United States foreign policy.

Extended 41-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast [1]

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/lisa-see/

In-depth interviews with authors of fiction and narrative non-fiction, delving deeply into political and social issues, literary technique, and the life of the author. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.