KPFA - Radio Wolinsky

Susan Faludi talks with host Richard Wolinsky about her book, In The Darkroom, winner of the 2016 Kirkus Prize and a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize. This encore podcast was first posted on October 5, 2016. In The Darkroom remains Susan Faludi’s most recent book to date.

In The Darkroom is about a search for identity … specifically the identity of her father, who moved to Hungary and had a sex-change operation late in his life, and with whom she reconnected. Susan Faludi is the author of Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women and Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man.

In the interview she discusses transgender issues and their relationship to feminism, the history of Hungarian Jews, her own search for identity, the relationship between transgender issues and photography, and the upcoming national election.

Susan Faludi website

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Peter Brook (1925-2022), visionary director, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

Peter Brook was one of the greatest theatrical directors of the twentieth century. Artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company for twenty years from 1962-1982, he transformed how the English speaking world looked at the plays of William Shakespeare. He is perhaps best known, during those years, for his production of “The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade,” also known as “Marat/Sade,” which later became a film and turned Glenda Jackson into an international star. His other films include “Lord of the Flies,” “Meetings with Remarkable Men” and a version of “King Lear” starring Paul Scofield.

His 1985 nine-hour adaptation of the Indian epic Mahabharata is probably his masterpiece. At the age of 92, he and his collaborator Marie Helene Estienne went back to the Mahabharata with a short theatrical piece, “Battlefield,” which played at ACT’s Geary Theater in May, 2017. This interview was recorded on April 24, 2017 in a rehearsal studio in the ACT offices in San Francisco.

Included in the podcast is a brief commentary on Peter Brook by actor and director Simon McBurney.

Peter Brook Wikipedia page

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Encore Podcast: An Interview with Garry Marshall (1934-2016) hosted by Richard Wolinsky. First posted July 20, 2016.

Garry Marshall died on July 19, 2016 at the age of 81. Over the course of his life, he was a comedy writer, actor, director, and television show-runner, creating shows such as Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, The Odd Couple, and Mork and Mindy, and directing such successful films such as Overboard, Pretty Woman, The Princess Diaries and more recently Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve . His last film, released Apri 2016, was Mother’s Day. 

Marshall started out as a joke writer for Jack Paar and Joey Bishop, then came to Hollywood and worked on various shows, including I Love Lucy, Make Room for Daddy and The Dick Van Dyke Show, before creating his own programs. He later moved on to films, created his own theater company, and even directed for the Los Angeles Opera.

Richard Wolinsky interviewed Garry Marshall on May 9, 2012 while he was on a book tour for his memoir, co-written with his daughter Lori Marshall, My Happy Days in Hollywood. The interview was recorded at Book Passage Bookstore, in Corte Madera, California.

This interview covers Marshall’s entire career, from his early days in New York to his work in television and film, including in-depth looks at the process of creating film and television.

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David Sedaris, whose latest collection of essays is titled “Happy Go Lucky,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky.

Originally known for his commentaries on “This American Life” on NPR, David Sedaris has now written 13 books, all of which have become best-sellers, including the early “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” and later “Calypso,” “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls,” and collections of his diaries. He has a home in North Carolina, and lives in England.

In this wide-ranging interview he discusses a wide variety of topics, including the death of his father, his views toward politics and the pandemic, how he creates humor in his essays, and more.

Recorded June 9, 2022 at Book Passage bookstore in Corte Madera. California.

Photos: Richard Wolinsky.

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David Sedaris, whose latest collection of essays is titled “Happy Go Lucky,” is interviewed by Richard Wolinsky. Recorded June 9, 2022 at Book Passage Bookstore in Corte Madera, California.

David Sedaris is author of thirteen books, including Me Talk Pretty One Day, A Carnival of Snackery, The Best of Me, Calypso, Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls and others. He has been a commentator on NPR and CBS.

In this wide-ranging interview he discusses life during the pandemic, his views on talking with Trump supporters, his relationship with his siblings, including his sister Amy Sedaris and her appearance on The Mandalorian, how he molds his essays, and other topics.

Photos by Richard Wolinsky.

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Christine Dwyer, who plays “Mother,” along with characters in the ensemble, in the current production of the musical “Ragtime” at TheatreWorks Mountain View Center for the Arts, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky.

Ragtime is based on the E.L. Doctorow novel, and concerns the changes in music, women’s rights, and the experience of Black Americans at the turn of the 20th Century. In the interview, Christine Dwyer discusses how she came to the role, the various elements that came up during rehearsal, and her life before and during the pandemic. She also discusses how the #MeToo movement and Black Lives Matter has impacted the theatrical community in terms of sensitivity training and behavioral changes.

Christine Dwyer has performed as Elphaba in “Wicked” both on the national tour and on Broadway, has appeared in several off-Broadway productions as well as touring companies of “Finding Neverland” and “Waitress.” She also performed in the ensemble of the 2018 “Jesus Christ Superstar Live” production on NBC.

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James Salter (1925-2015) was what’s known as a writer’s writer. Author of several novels, screenplays (including the Robert Redford film Downhill Racer) collections of essays and short fiction and travel works, he came on tour to Berkeley for his memoir, Burning the Days, which discussed his life as an army pilot and as a writer. He was interviewed at KPFA on October 7, 1997 by Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff. Digitized, remastered and re-edited in 2016 by Richard Wolinsky.

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KJ Sanchez, director and co-adapter (with Karen Zacarias) of “Romeo y Juliet” at Cal Shakes, California Shakespeare Theatre, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded via zencastr on May 20, 2022.

Playwright, actor and director, KJ Sanchez is the head of the MFA Directing Program at the University of Texas in Austin. She is founder and CEO of American Records, a theatre company founded “to make plays that chronicle our time,” focusing on documentary plays based on interviews. She is the director and co-author of “RE-ENTRY,” based on conversations with soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Romeo y Juliet” is an bilingual adaptation of the Shakespeare play set in 1848 Alta California, with the gender of Romeo changed. It plays at California Shakespeare Theatre, the Bruns, in Orinda, May 25 – June 19, 2022.

In the interview, she discusses the origins of the adaptation, how she teaches directors, and the political situation where she works, in the state of Texas.

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Jasson Minadakis, Artistic Director of Marin Theatre Company and director of “The Sound Inside,” by Adam Rapp, which runs May 26 – June 19, 2022, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky.

In his fifteenth year as Artistic Director at Marin, Jasson Minadakis has directed numerous plays both here and elsewhere. In this interview recorded outdoors due to Covid restrictions, he discusses how Marin Theatre Company coped with the pandemic shut-down, the use of streaming, and the difficulties in returning to normalcy. He also talks about his challenges as director of “The Sound Inside,” including the ways in which Covid restrictions impact rehearsals.

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An interview with legendary author J. G. Ballard (1930-2009), conducted for KPFA’s Probabilities radio program on May 8, 1988, digitized and re-edited in 2016 by Richard Wolinsky. This encore podcast was originally posted on May 13, 2016.

J. G. Ballard, who died in 2009 at the age of 78, was one of the greatest of all British speculative fiction writers, and one of the major writers of the period known as the British New Wave. In novels such as The Crystal World and The Drowned World, and in short story collections like Vermillion Sands, he dissected our present world through looking at disaster scenarios. Two of his novels became well-known films. Crash was directed in 1996 by David Cronenberg, and his fictionalized memoir Empire of the Sun, was turned into a film by Steven Spielberg, introducing a young actor named Christian Bale. A filmed version of High Rise, starring Tom Hiddleston and Jeremy Irons, was just released.

On May 8th, 1988, the Probabilities crew (Lawrence Davidson, Richard A. Lupoff and Richard Wolinsky) had a chance to sit down with J. G. Ballard while he was on tour for his novel, The Day of Creation. It turned into a fascinating career retrospective.

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