KPFA - Radio Wolinsky

Chris Hedges is the author of several books on politics and dissent. In May, 2015, he gave a speech in Berkeley as a benefit for KPFA, discussing his latest book at the time,Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt.  . Afterward, he was joined by host Richard Wolinsky for a Q&A that included questions by the host as well as by the audience. The Q&A is featured on today’s program, and is remarkable for its prescience. Shortly thereafter, Donald Trump announced his candidacy, and not even Chris Hedges could have predicted how quickly America changed.

Special thanks, of course, to Bob Baldock.

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Ralph Steadman is an illustrator and artist best known for his collaborations with the late Hunter S. Thompson in the two “Fear and Loathing” books. His latest work is a collection of his artwork, “Ralph Steadman: A Life in Ink,” published by Chronicle Books. He is interviewed from England by host Richard Wolinsky.

Ralph Steadman got his start using a correspondence course before moving on to art school. After his first book, when he came to America, he was enlisted to work with Hunter S. Thompson and Rolling Stone magazine, and continued to work with Thompson over several years until Thompson’s suicide. He’s also worked on album jackets, and has illustrated several works, including “Alice in Wonderland,” “”Treasure Island and even a collection of Breaking Bad portraits.

He is, of course, also known for his trenchant political cartoons, as above.

Both illustrations copyright Ralph Steadman and used by permission.

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​​​​​Neil Sheehan, who died on January 7, 2021 at the age of 84, was one of the great American journalists. Known for having broken the Pentagon Papers in the New York Times, he was also the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winning author of A Bright Shining Lie, a history of the American involvement in Vietnam, as told through the life of Lt. Col. John Paul Vann.

This interview with Neil Sheehan, conducted by host Richard Wolinsky, was conducted on October 12, 2009 while he was on tour for his book A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon, which focused on the nuclear stalemate between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the history of the Cold War.

While the central theme of the interview is  A Fiery Peace in a Cold War, Neil Sheehan also discusses American involvements in Vietnam, both Iraq wars, and Afghanistan, and of course, the Pentagon Papers.

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Barry Lopez (1945-2020) in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded November 30, 2000 while on tour for the collection of short stories, Light Action in the Caribbean.

Barry Lopez, who died on December 25, 2020 at the age of 75, was a master of the short form, both fiction and non-fiction. His non-fiction, collected in such books as Arctic Dreams and his last published work, Horizon, and his fiction in collections such as Light Action in the Caribbean and Resistance, focused on exploration, biology, morality, transcendence, biology, politics, philosophy and much more.

In this first of three Cover to Cover/Bookwaves interviews with Barry Lopez, he discusses in detail how he works on short fiction, as well as the politics and politicians of the era. There are points where it sounds as if he’s speaking of the events of 2020, and the prescience is uncanny.

While initial reports indicated that Barry Lopez died from prostate cancer, the Washington Post revealed that there was more to it. In September of 2020, his beloved home in the Cascade Moujntains between Bend and Eugene, Oregon was destroyed in the massive fires that ravaged Oregon. Lost were all his original manuscripts, his artwork, and all that he’d collected from his journeys over the years. Shortly thereafter, he began developing cardiac issues that contributed to his death.

This interview was digitized and edited during the last week of December, 2020, and the entire recording has never seen the light of day until now.

Barry Lopez Wikipedia page

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Eddie Muller, dubbed the “Czar of Noir” has written three books on film noir and hosts a weekly Noir film festival on Turner Classic Movies every weekend. He also is part of the team publicizing a 1951 film version of Richard Wright’s classic novel, “Native Son,” fllmed in Argentina and recently restored, which will be available on demand in January at kinonow.com and will be seen on Eddie’s program on TCM in February, Black History Month.

In this interview with host Richard Wolinsky, he discusses the film, as well as noir film and international noir, with sidetracks into the French New Wave and other topics.

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