KPFA - Radio Wolinsky

Film critic Richard Schickel (1933-2017) in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded May 15, 2003 . Originally posted July 17, 2017.

Richard Schickel, who died on February 18, 2017 at the age of 84, spent forty-five years as film critic for Time Magazine. During his lifetime he wrote 36 books, most of them about film, and produced and directed thirty-four documentaries, all about film.

This interview was recorded while he was publicizing his book, ““Good Morning Mr. Zip Zip Zip: Movies, Memory and World War II.” In the book he discusses his early love of movies, and more importantly, the movies as propaganda element during World War II. The interview occurred during the height of the invasion of Iraq, and of course that element came into play.

Notes on the interview: Fourteen years after this interview, a musical version of “Monsoon Wedding” directed by Mira Nair played to large crowds at Berkeley Rep and played at St. Ann’s Warehouse in New York, closing June 25, 2023. Of the two films to look out for, both Veronica Guerin and Mystic River were listed in his top ten of that year While Veronica Guerin never made a mark, Mystic River was nominated for six Oscars including best picture, and won two,, best actor for Sean Penn and best supporting actor for Tim Robbins. He continued to write. Richard Schickel’s final book, published in 2015, was Keepers: The Greatest Films, and Personal Favorites of a Moviegoing Lifetime. He retired from Time Magazine in 2010. His final book, Keepers: The Greatest Films, and personal favorites of a movie-going career, was published in 2015.

The post Richard Schickel (1933-2017), “Good Morning Mr. Zip Zip Zip,” 2003 appeared first on KPFA.

David Grann, whose latest book is “The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded June 14, 2023 at Book Passage bookstore in Corte Madera, California.

David Grann is a long-time staff writer for The New Yorker. Earlier books include Killers of the Flower Moon, soon to be a film directed by Martin Scorsese, The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, a collection of essays, and The Lost City of Z.

The Wager tells the story of the HMS Wager, one of a handful of British ships sent around Cape Horn to harass the Spanish fleet in the Pacific, which went aground near the Strait of Magellan, and of the crew members who survived (and didn’t) during the following year, and of the aftermath back in England.

In the interview, David Grann also discusses the origins of Killers of the Flower Moon, and the relationship between all three of his books. Photos: Richard Wolinsky.

The post David Grann, “The Wager,” 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

Fay Weldon (1931-2023) who died on January 4th, 2023 at the age of 91, published 31 novels during her lifetime, including The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, one of four novels which later became films. She was also a playwright, short story writer, television writer and non-fiction author. Richard A. Lupoff and Richard Wolinsky interviewed her twice in the KPFA studios. This second interview was recorded on January 21, 1992 while she was on tour for two novels, Darcy’s Utopia and Life Force

Fay Weldon’s career continued for the next thirty years after the interview with several novels, including a sequel to She-Devil, more plays, more short stories and several works of non-fiction. Her book about therapists, Affliction, was published in January, 1993 and is not currently in print.

This interview was digitized, remastered, and edited in June, 2023 by Richard Wolinsky. The is the first time the entire interview has seen the light of day.

First Fay Weldon interview, recorded March 1990 while she was on tour for The Cloning of Joanna May.

The post Fay Weldon (1931-2023) II, “Darcy’s Utopia” and “Life Force,” 1992 appeared first on KPFA.

Alan Hollinghurst, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded on October 18, 2005 in the KPFA studios during the tour for the trade paperback edition of “The Line of Beauty,” which won the 2005 Booker Prize for Fiction.

Earlier novels by Alan Hollinghurst include his breakthrough novel, The Swimming Pool Library, along with The Folding Star and The Spell. The Line of Beauty became an acclaimed television miniseries in 2006 (and was being filmed at the time of the interview) starring Dan Stevens, and is currently streaming only in England.

A second interview, recorded in 2011 while Alan Hollinghurst was touring for his novel, The Stranger’s Child, longlisted for the Booker, will be posted at a later date. His latest novel, The Sparshot Affair, was published in 2017.

The post Alan Hollinghurst, “The Line of Beauty,” 2005 appeared first on KPFA.

Martin Amis (1949-2023), in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky for the “Probabilities” program, recorded in the KPFA studios November 26, 1991 while on tour for the paperback edition of “London Fields.” First of five interviews conducted over a 23 year span.

Martin Amis, who died of esophageal cancer on May 19th, 2023 at the age of 73, was a leading English novelist, essayist, memoirist and screenwriter. Known for such novels as London Fields, Money, Time’s Arrow, The Information and The Zone of Interest, his memoir Experience won the Booker Prize, and his essay collection The War Against Cliché is now considered a classic. The son of novelist and essayist Kingsley Amis, Martin Amis was close friends with Christopher Hitchens, Saul Bellow and Philip Larkin, all of whom he wrote about in his final novel, which was actually a memoir, Inside Story, in 2020.

This is the first of five interviews recorded with Martin Amis. and has not been heard in over a quarter century and was digitized, remastered and edited in May, 2023. Front photo by Richard Wolinsky in the KPFA studios in 2014.

The post Martin Amis (1949-2023) I: “London Fields,” 1991 appeared first on KPFA.

Robert Anton Wilson (1932-2007), interviewed by Richard Wolinsky in February 1983, recorded in a car in the Santa Cruz mountains during a rainstorm. Digitized, remastered and edited in May, 2023.

Robert Anton Wilson had a remarkable career. Starting as a writer of comic science fiction based on historical stories of conspiracy, his work soon turned in the direction of physics, psychology, and futurism, and described himself as an agnostic mystic. In the religion or philosophy known as discordianism, he is considered both pope and saint.

A journalist in his early career, he co-edited the Playboy Magazine forum, and covered the work of both Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, later known as Ram Dass. Most of his best known works were written in the 1970s and 1980s, though he continued to write non-fiction into the 21st century. These include The Illuminati Trilogy, co-written with Robert Shea, The Schrodinger’s Cat and Cosmic Trigger trilogies, and Prometheus Rising. His early works were published by large commercial presses; his later by small presses. Most, of not all, of his books still remain in print. The three books mentioned toward the end of the interview were all published and are all available.

The post The Probabilities Archive: Robert Anton Wilson (1932-2007), The Illuminati Trilogy, 1983 appeared first on KPFA.

Russell Banks (1940-2023), who died on January 7, 2023, in conversation with Richard A. Lupoff and Richard Wolinsky, recorded in the KPFA studios on June 7, 2000 while on tour for his short story collection, The Angel on the Roof. First of two interviews.

Russell Banks, who died on January 7th, 2023 at the age of 82 was a master of long and short form fiction. In a career that began in 1975 and continued to his death, there were 14 novels, six collections of short stories, two volumes of poetry, and three works of non-fiction. Among his novels were Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter, both of which became critically acclaimed films, plus Continental Drift and Cloudsplitter. His most recent novel, The Magic Kingdom, was published in 2022. The interview was digitized, remastered and edited in January 2023

Russell Banks Wikipedia page

The post Russell Banks (1940-2023) I, “The Angel on the Roof,” 2000 appeared first on KPFA.

Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) Excerpts from various sources, including KPFA, of Philip K. Dick discussing his career, his books, and his life, originally created as a memorial program by Richard Wollnsky, Richard A. Lupoff and Lawrence Davidson in the spring of 1982. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.

When science fiction writer Philip K. Dick died of a stroke on March 2, 1982 at the age of 53, most of the literary world shrugged and the entertainment world barely took notice. The film Blade Runner, based on his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, was still a few months from its release.

Today, IMDb lists nearly fifty adaptations for film, TV and other media, which includes twelve feature films and a handful of television series, from Total Recall to A Scanner Darkly to Minority Report to The Man in the High Castle and Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams.

The science fiction world, though, knew it had lost one of the all time greats. Between the time the KPFA show Probabilities started in the February of 1977 until Phil Dick’s death five years later, Dick Lupoff, Lawrence Davidson, and Richard Wolinsky never did get a chance to fully interview him for the program, though over the years they’d collected several excerpts to use in a two-part memorial program  which was aired some time in the spring of 1982.

The show consisted of commentary and explanations from all three of us interspersed with these excerpts. As is pointed out a couple of times in the program, the sound quality of the excerpts is very uneven, and even with digital tweaking, some of it may be unintelligible.  This is the two-part show that originally aired, minus a few musical segments along with an outro from part one, and intro and outro from part two. The program was never rebroadcast, and the cassette sat in a closet for the next forty years, until it was digitized, remastered and edited in 2023.

The post Philip K. Dick (1928-1982), Memorial 1982 appeared first on KPFA.

Norah Piehl, who is the Director of Literary Programs at the Bay Area Book Festival, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky.

The Bay Area Book Festival is in its 9th season and runs Saturday and Sunday May 6th and 7th in various venues around Berkeley, including the Berkeley Public Library and Freight & Salvage. Among the guests are singer and activist Joan Baez, novelist and cyber-expert Cory Doctorow, playwright V (Eve Ensler), historian Adam Hochschild, and novelists Dave Eggars and Jane Smiley.

Norah Piehl has been the Director of LIterary Programs since November, 2021 and before that served as the Executive Director of the Boston Book Festival. She is a freelance writer, and the author of a series of books titled “Social Issues Firsthand.

Website for the Bay Area Book Festival.

The post Norah Piehl, Bay Area Book Festival 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

Don Winslow, author of “City of Dreams,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded via zencastr on April 12, 2023

Don Winslow is the author of 22 novels, many of which focus on crime and the criminal underworld, including The Cartel, The Force, Savages (which became an Oliver Stone film), and The Border. His latest novel,  “City of Dreams”, continues the saga of “City on Fire,” which told of a mob war using as a template the story of the Trojan War, The Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid and other works. In this latest novel, we follow the character of Danny Ryan, (Aeneas) as he finds himself in Hollywood, and falling in love with one of filmdom’s biggest stars, which tells the story of Aeneas and Dido, with forays into the Odyssey and the greek tragedies of Aeschylus and Europides.  The third volume, which shifts the locale to Las Vegas, is scheduled to be published in April, 2024. Don Winslow has stated that these will be his final novels.

Don Winslow also produces political videos aimed at saving the American democracy from insurrectionists and fascists, and is a vital force on Twitter.

Photos: Richard Wolinsky.

The post Don Winslow, “City of Dreams,” 2023 appeared first on KPFA.