KPFA - Radio Wolinsky

A Conversation with Don Winslow, author of The Cartel, hosted by Richard Wolinsky.

Don Winslow is the author of several successful novels. His most recent work, The Cartel, a follow-up to his earlier novel The Power of the Dog, is a thinly disguised history of the Mexican drug wars. In this interview recorded July 23rd, 2015, Winslow discusses the drug wars and their relationship to American politics and economics, along with such topics as marijuana legalization and the true cost of the fight against drugs. Winslow is also the author of Savages, which became a film directed by Oliver Stone, and its sequel Kings of Cool as well as other works of fiction. The two drug wars books are scheduled to be filmed by director Ridley Scott.

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A conversation with Hanya Yanagihara, author of the best-selling novel, A Little Life, hosted by Richard Wolinsky.

Hanya Yanagihara’s 2015 novel, A Little Life, has made a huge splash in the literary world. This story of a group of friends in New York , this long narrative received terrific reviews and was one of six finalists for the prestigious Man Booker Prize. A former editor for Conde Nast Traveler, Hanya Yanagihara is currently an editor for T, the style magazine of the New York Times. She’s lived in Los Angeles, New York and Honolulu, and spent far too much time eating granola bars in overpriced hotels (listen to the interview for more details).

This interview was conducted on February 22nd, 2016, and a shorter version has been edited for the Bookwaves radio program.

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A conversation with Yann Martel, author of Life of Pi and The High Mountains of Portugal, hosted by Richard Wolinsky.

Yann Martel became an international figure with the publication of his novel, Life of Pi, and the subsequent award-winning film by director Ang Lee. His follow-up novel, Beatrice and Virgil, hit the best seller lists in 2010. Yann Martel’s latest novel, The High Mountains of Portugal, consists of three sections, set in three different time periods, and is a philosophical investigation into the natue of faith. This interview was recorded on February 9th, 2016. A shorter version has been edited for the Bookwaves radio program.

In this 43-minute interview, Canadian author Yann Martel discusses the themes in his works, particularly in his latest book, the film version of Life of Pi, and his strange correspondence with Stephen Harper, the former Prime Minister of Canada.

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Aubergine, a play by Julia Cho about family, food, and forgiveness, is having its world premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Tim Kang, who plays the lead character, joined C.S. Soong in-studio to discuss the play and also his perspective as an Asian American actor.

More information about Aubergine, which runs through March 27, can be found at Berkeley Rep’s website.

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Radio Wolinsky 11: A conversation with the creators of The Unfortunates, playing at ACT’s Strand Theater through April 10, 2016.

Jon Beavers, Ian Merrigan, Ramiz Monsef and Casey Lee Hurt, co-creators of The Unfortunates, a theatrical piece at A.C.T.’s Strand Theatre through April 10, 2016, join Richard Wolinsky for an in-depth look at the creation of this musical play, from its inception at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival through its subsequent production in San Francisco. They also discuss the themes of the piece, which revolve around anti-war concepts, triumph over adversity, and acceptance of death.

Conceived by performers indebted to all kinds of music, ranging from country to rock to hip-hop to American folk melodies, the piece also owes a great debt to the world of comic books, early 1930s cartoons, and the graphic novel. A graphic novel of The Unfortunates is even available in the lobby of the Strand Theatre. This interview was recorded in a rehearsal room at ACT’s headquarters on Grant Street in San Francisco.

More information about The Unfortunates can be found at the ACT website.

A shorter version of this interview airs on Monday, March 7th at 3 pm as part of Arts-Waves.

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Radio Wolinsky 10: A conversation with Umberto Eco (1932-2016), author of Name of the Rose, Foucault’s Pendulum, and other novels.

Umberto Eco, who died on February 19, 2016 at the age of 84, was one of the world’s leading semiologists, studying the relationship of signs and symbols to meaning and language. He was also a well-known and well respected novelist. The Name of the Rose, a detective novel set in the middle ages, became a surprise best-seller, and he followed it up with Foucault’s Pendulum, which dealt with world conspiracies, and five later novels.

On June 15, 2005, Richard Wolinsky sat down with Umberto Eco in the KPFA studios while the Italian writer was on tour for his latest novel, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. It would be the last time Umberto Eco reached the West Coast to speak about his work.

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Radio Wolinsky 8: A conversation with Paul Kantner, hosted by Richard A. Lupoff and Richard Wolinsky, recorded in Marin County, February 9, 1984.

Paul Kantner, who died on January 28, 2016 at the age of 74, was one of the founding members of the great San Francisco band, Jefferson Airplane, and later one of the founders of Jefferson Starship. A legendary vocalist and songwriter, Kantner was known for his melding of rock and roll and science fiction in his lyrics.

On February 9th, 1984, science fiction author Richard A. Lupoff was hired by Heavy Metal magazine to interview Paul about the relationship of science fiction and rock and roll, accompanied by Richard Wolinsky, his co-host for the Probabilities radio program on KPFA.

The interview was recorded in a barn, and the microphone was set on a tree stump halfway between the three. The interview was not meant for airplay, and the conversation was more free-ranging than focused.

For the remastering, the recording used noise reduction, and the flanging re-filtered if the dialogue remained audible. Levels were reformulated and filters were added using Cool Edit 2000 and Adobe Audition. Special thanks to Charlie Cockey and Dennis Weiner. Of the 70 minutes of recording, 32 minutes survived the first edit, and this edit comes to 19 minutes.

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Radio Wolinsky 8: A Conversation with David Gans and Blair Jackson,

David Gans and Blair Jackson talk with Richard Wolinsky about how they came to write and edit the book, how they became Deadheads, what the Haight was during the Summer of Love, and why the Grateful Dead endure two decades after the death of Jerry Garcia. Richard Wolinsky’s college newspaper review of the Grateful Dead in Binghamton, New York in May, 1970 appears in the CD notes for Dick’s Picks Volume 8: the Grateful Dead at Harpur College. Blair Jackson is editor of Classical Guitar magazine and managing editor at Acoustic Guitar, and author of previous books on the Grateful Dead; David Gans is a musician, and host of several radio programs featuring music by the Grateful Dead, along with previous books about the band and its members.

David Gans website

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Radio Wolinsky 7: A Conversation with Armistead Maupin.

Armistead Maupin is the author of the legendary “Tales of the City Series.” The final book in the series, “The Days of Anna Madrigal” was published in 2014. In this interview, Maupin talks about the entire Tales series, about the musical version that played in San Francisco, about the TV series, and about the various characters. The interview was recorded in January 2015 and aired once on KPFA in February, 2015 in a shorter version. The podcast runs 40 minutes.

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Radio Wolinsky 6: A Conversation with Miranda July

The latest book by Miranda July, The First Bad Man has now popped up on several best of the year lists. She is a multi-talented artist, working in film, fiction, monologue, digital media presentations, and live performance art. This extended version of an interview while on tour for that novel and recorded in January, 2015 runs fifteen minutes longer than the show that originally aired. The First Bad Man is now available in trade paperback. You and me and Everyone We Know is available streaming on Netflix, and The Future is available on DVD.

From Miranda July’s webpage: Miranda’s collection of stories, No One Belongs Here More Than You, won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award and has been published in twenty-three countries. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, Harper’s, and The New Yorker; It Chooses You was her first book of non-fiction.  She wrote, directed and starred in The Future and Me and You and Everyone We Know — winner of the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and a Special Jury Prize at Sundance. July’s participatory art works include the website Learning to Love You More (with artist Harrell Fletcher), Eleven Heavy Things (a sculpture garden created for the 2009 Venice Biennale), New Society (a performance), and Somebody (a messaging app.)  Raised in Berkeley, California, July lives in Los Angeles.

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