KPFA - Radio Wolinsky

Mary Roach discusses her latest book, “Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law” with host Richard Wolinsky.

The author of several non-fiction works that examine specific areas of life that are rarely covered elsewhere, Mary Roach brings a sharp eye and excellent research skills to explain how things work, how they don’t work, and the various things that happen in between.

“Fuzz” deals with such issues as animals killing humans, pests in the fields, attempts to control invasive species, animal burglaries (watch out, Yogi Bear!) and even birds destroying flowers in the Vatican.

In this interview, she discusses many of these issues, plus adds some information that never found its way into her book. Toward the end, she talks about her research, and offers advice on how to research on your own.

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Frank Herbert, author of Dune and other works, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, Lawrence Davidson and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded July, 1981 at Westercon in Sacramento.

During the July 4th weekend of 1981, the Probabilities crew, Richard Lupoff, Lawrence Davidson and Richard Wolinsky, went to the Westercon Science fiction convention in Sacramento.

One of the guests that weekend was Frank Herbert. By that point, he’d written several novels, including what had become known as the Dune trilogy – Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune. Earlier that year, a sequel to the trilogy had been published, God Emperor of Dune.

The three managed to corral the author for an interview that lasted, including some socializing, to just under a half hour. Back at KPFA, it turned out that the tape had screwed up, and the final portion of the interview had speed variations that made it unlistenable. Perhaps ten minutes were aired at the time. Digitizing it in 2021, it became clear that at least some more of the interview could be manipulated sufficiently to allow listeners to follow the conversation.

The final question in the interview did not survive. Here’s what happened:

In 1977, Ballantine Books published a novel called Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. After reading the novel, Richard Wolinsky drew up a long list of plot points the book shared with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so many in fact that the publisher, Judy-Lyn Del Rey, also the publisher of the Tolkien books, admitted with a nodthat any other publisher could have been sued for plagiarism. What turned Sword of Shannara into a best-seller, however, was a very positive review by Frank Herbert that appeared in the New York Times. Dick Lupoff became obsessed with the review, and how it ignored the similarities between the two books. In that final question, he asked Herbert about the review. At first, Herbert admitted that he overlooked the Tolkienesque prose style because most new authors copy others. When Dick pressed him further about the content, Herbert finally said that he had never read Lord of the Rings. After that answer, he said abruptly, “times up.”

After 1981, Frank Herbert wrote two more Dune sequels, Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune before dying at the age of 65. After his death, his son Brian Herbert along with Kevin J. Anderson used Herbert’s notes for several other novels and one collection of short stories, which at this point stands at 15 additional books set in the universe of Dune. The chronological history of Dune concluded with Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune (2007)  based on Frank Herbert’s original chronology and outlines for the final books in the series.

The David Lynch version of Dune came out in 1984 and is streaming on HBO Max. The story of the Dune movie that was never made, Jodorowsky’s Dune, was released as a documentary in 2013 and can be rented on various streaming services. A new version of Dune, (first of two parts) directed by Denis Villeneuve, opens in theaters and on HBO Max on October 22, 2021.

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Stephen Greenblatt, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky about his book Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare, recorded in 2005.

Stephen Greenblatt is a literary historian and an expert on Shakespeare. Among his other books on Shakespeare are  Shakespearean Negotiations: The Circulation of Social Energy in Renaissance England, Hamlet in Purgatory, Shakespeare’s Freedom, and most recently Tyrant: Shakespeare in Politics, set in motion by his feelings about the Trump presidency.

Host Richard Wolinsky interviewed Stephen Greenblatt twice afterward, for his award-winning best-seller, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, and in 2016 for The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve.

Will in the World focuses on William Shakespeare’s life, and how that life and the events in his world affected his work. The interview looks at, among other plays, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, MacBeth and Richard III and gives a brief overview of London in the waning days of the 1500s.

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Mick LaSalle, author of Dream State: California in the Movies, and film critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Recorded as a Zoom event for KPFA, edited for audio. Link to complete 81-minute video.

A wide-ranging discussion that includes a look at the work of French director Eric Rohmer, movie viewing during the pandemic, the rise of long-form television, and the real reason why Dorothy should never have gone back to Kansas.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

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Kitty Carlisle Hart (1910-2007), in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded by phone. This interview has never been heard via radio or podcast.

Created for an unfinished radio documentary on the life of George Gershwin, this interview was the final of seven interviews recorded for the program before it was abandoned, recorded in 2001 or 2002.

Best known for a long stint as panelist on a popular television quiz show, To Tell the Truth, from 1956 to 1978, with cameos in a handful of films late in life, Kitty Carlisle was born in 1910 and died in 2007.  She came of age as an opera singer and Broadway performer, moving to Hollywood for a handful of  films, including the Marx Brothers A Night at the Opera.

She dated George Gershwin from 1933 until he moved to Hollywood six months before his death. After that, she married playwright Moss Hart, a marriage that lasted until his early death in 1961. She was a leading advocate for the arts and arts funding, serving on the New York State Arts Council for twenty years. In the interview, she mentions going out with George, accompanied by a friend, a “piano player.” Most likely, that person was composer Burton Lane (Finian’s Rainbow, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever).

George Gershwin was born in 1898 and his brother Ira two years earlier. At the age of 15 he took a job as a song-plugger, playing other people’s songs on a piano for Remick Music Publisher for the sale of their sheet music. His first composed song was published when he was 17, and at 21 he scored his first big hit, Swanee. But it wasn’t until 1924 when he teamed up with his brother Ira as lyricist that George Gershwin became, what we might call a superstar, which he remained until his untimely death from a brain tumor in 1937. Ira Gershwin, who went on to work with other composers until he retired in the early 1960s, died in 1983.

Previous Gershwin Project podcasts:

Image from “A Night At The Opera,” Alamy stock photo available for non-profit use.

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