Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Joe Lansdale:Author of the “Hap & Leonard” series of novels, and other genre works Post Views: 24 Joe R. Lansdale, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky f, recorded November 12, 2025, discussing his latest Hap & Leonard book, “Hatchet Girls,” his recent collections, and his life as a writer. Joe R. Lansdale writes a broad spectrum of fiction, from his successful Hap and Leonard series of noir mysteries, to fantasy and horror short fiction, to western novels and short stories, as well as a variety of genre mash-ups. His latest Hap and Leonard mystery, Hatchet Girls, according to Wikipedia, is the 27th in that series. There are forty books in the series, plus over forty short story collections, including the most recent to date, In the Mad Mountains, stories inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. There are five books in his Drive-In series, three in his Ned the Seal series, plus various chapbooks. He’s also written for television and film, including episodes of Love, Death and Robots, and a Hap and Leonard TV three-season series, which ran originally on AMC+ and later on Netflix, starting in 2016. Complete Interview     Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others for shorter periods each week. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended. Book Stores Bay Area Book Festival  See website for highlights from the 110th Annual Bay Area Book Festival, May 31 – June 1, 2025. Book Passage.  Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events. Books Inc.  Mix of on-line and in-store events. The Booksmith.  Monthly Event Calendar. BookShop West Portal. Monthly Event Calendar. Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months. Green Apple Books. Events calendar. Kepler’s Books  On-line Refresh the Page program listings. Live Theater Companies Actors Ensemble of Berkeley.  See website for readings and events. Actor’s Reading Collective (ARC).  See website for upcoming productions. African American Art & Culture Complex. See website for calendar. American Conservatory Theatre A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Jan. 21 – Feb. 1, 2026, Toni Rembe (Geary). Paranormal Activity, Feb. 19 – March 15, Toni Rembe. Awesome Theatre Company. See website for information. Berkeley Playhouse. Once, February 20 – March 22.  Berkeley Rep. An Evening with David Sedaris, .Jan. 3 – 11, Roda Theatre. Berkeley Shakespeare Company See website for upcoming productions. Brava Theatre Center: See calendar for events listings. BroadwaySF: Moulin Rouge! The Musical, December 16-28, Orpheum. See website for complete listings for the Orpheum, Golden Gate and Curran Theaters. Broadway San Jose:  A Beautiful Noise, December 30 – January 4. See website for other events. Center REP: Lost in Yonkers by Neil Simon, March 29 – April 19. Central Stage. See website for upcoming productions, 5221 Central Avenue, Richmond Central Works After Happy by Patricia Milton, Feb. 28 – March 29. Cinnabar Theatre. My Fair Lady, January 23 – February 8, 2026. Club Fugazi. Dear San Francisco ongoing. Check website for Music Mondays listings. Contra Costa Civic Theatre A Chorus Line, June 6 – 21 See website for other events and concerts. Golden Thread  See website for upcoming productions. Hillbarn Theatre: Rogers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, December 4 – 28. What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck, January 22 – February 8. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. Soulful Christmas, December 27-28, Magic Theatre. Los Altos Stage Company. A Christmas Carol, November  28 – December 21.. Lower Bottom Playaz  See website for upcoming productions. Magic Theatre. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre presents Soulful Christmas, December 27-28. Marin Shakespeare Company: See website for events and productions. Marin Theatre: The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov Jan . 29 – Feb. 22, 2026. Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Upcoming Events Page. New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC)  Ruthless,  Dec. 5 – January 11, 2026. New Performance Traditions.  See website for upcoming schedule Oakland Theater Project. See website for upcoming 2026 season. Odd Salon: Upcoming events in San Francisco & New York, and streaming. Palace of Fine Arts Theater.  See website for event listings. Pear Theater. My Fair Lady, Feb 20 – March 8. See website for staged readings and other events. Playful People Productions. Next production: The Play That Goes Wrong. Presidio Theatre. Peter Pan Panto, Nov. 29 – Dec. 28. See website for complete schedule of events and performances. Ray of Light: Mean Girls. May 2026. Ross Valley Players: See website for New Works Sunday night readings and other events. San Francisco Playhouse. Into the Woods. November 30 – January 17, 2026. SFBATCO.  See website for upcoming streaming and in- theater shows. San Jose Stage Company: See website for events and upcoming season Shotgun Players.  Sunday in the Park with George, November 15 – December 30. South Bay Musical Theatre:  Little Women, The Broadway Musical, January 24 – February 14, 2026. SPARC: See website for upcoming events. Stagebridge: See website for events and productions. Storytime every 4th Saturday. The Breath Project. Streaming archive. The Marsh: Calendar listings for Berkeley, San Francisco and Marshstream. Theatre Lunatico  See website for upcoming productions.. Theatre Rhino  Streaming: Essential Services Project, conceived and performed by John Fisher, all weekly performances now available on demand. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Georgiana & Kitty, Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, Dec. 3 – 28, Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto. Word for Word.  See website for upcoming productions. Misc. Listings: BAMPFA: On View calendar for Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Berkeley Symphony: See website for listings. Chamber Music San Francisco: Calendar, 2025 Season. Dance Mission Theatre. On stage events calendar. Fort Mason Center. Events calendar. Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Calendar listings and upcoming shows. San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. See schedule for upcoming SFGMC performances. San Francisco Opera. Calendar listings. San Francisco Symphony. Calendar listings. Filmed Live Musicals: Searchable database of all filmed live musicals, podcast, blog. If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write Richard@kpfa.org   . The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – December 25, 2025: Joe Lansdale, Prolific Genre Writer, 2025 appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Prof. Stephen Greenblatt:  Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival Stephen Greenblatt, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky about his book Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius o Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival, recorded September 11, 2025. Stephen Greenblatt is a literary historian and an expert on Shakespeare and the Elizabethan era. Among his other books are  Shakespearean Negotiations: The Circulation of Social Energy in Renaissance England, Hamlet in Purgatory, Shakespeare’s Freedom, and most recently Tyrant: Shakespeare in Politics. He is Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University.     Review of “Sunday in the Park with George” at Shotgun Players Ashby Stage through January 31, 2026.   The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – December 11, 2025: Fund Drive Special: Stephen Greenblatt on Shakespeare’s World appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Lauren Gunderson: Playwright, the “Christmas at Pemberley” series, The Book of Will Lauren Gunderson, recognized as the most produced contemporary playwright in America four of the last five years, including 2025, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Lauren Gunderson is a prolific playwright whose plays are produced all over North America and in Britain and Europe. She is best known for such plays as “The Book of Will” and the “Christmas at Pemberley” series of three plays (co-written by Margot Malcon). She also worked on the script for the Pixar film “Lightyear,” and her book for the musical version of “The Time Traveler’s Wife” recently played in London. As of the first week in December, two plays are currently being produced in the San Francisco Bay Area. Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley, runs December 5-28 at TheatreWorks Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto, and Ada and the Engine plays at the Pear Theatre in Mountain View through December 7th. A third play, Louisa Alcott’s Little Women played earlier in 2025 at TheatreWorks in Mountain View, and plays at Portland Center Stage through December 21st. In this interview, she discusses those plays and others, with emphasis on Muse of Fire, in which she performs, directed by Evren Odcikin, which wil be produced by the Magic Theatre from September 22nd through October 11th. Among upcoming plays in 2026 are Silent Sky in Bethesda Maryland in February. The Book of Will in Wisconsin in January and Raleigh, North Carolina in April, The Revolutionists in Rhode Island in May and Raleigh in August, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women at the Guthrie in Minnesota next April through June. The Half Life of Marie Curie will be in Eureka California iwill be performed in February, 2026 in Eureka, California. . Alan Furst: Master Spy Novelist Alan Furst, historical spy novelist, discussing his early career and resistance during World War II  in a unaired excerpts from an interview recorded September 26, 2002 in the KPFA studios while he was on tour for Blood of Victory. His latest novel, Under Occupation, was published in 2019. Alan Furst’s career took off with his novel Kingdom of Shadows in 2000, the sixth book in his series of stand-alone novels about heros and villains in Europe in the years leading up to, and including World War II.  Suffused with atmosphere, his books feel as if you’re living with the characters in those haunted times. Of course, there is added resonance as we live through what might be similar times today. These excerpts are from the second of five Bookwaves interviews with Alan Furst. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Alan Furst Wikipedia page     Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others for shorter periods each week. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended. Book Stores Bay Area Book Festival  See website for highlights from the 110th Annual Bay Area Book Festival, May 31 – June 1, 2025. Book Passage.  Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events. Books Inc.  Mix of on-line and in-store events. The Booksmith.  Monthly Event Calendar. BookShop West Portal. Monthly Event Calendar. Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months. Green Apple Books. Events calendar. Kepler’s Books  On-line Refresh the Page program listings. Live Theater Companies Actors Ensemble of Berkeley.  See website for readings and events. Actor’s Reading Collective (ARC).  See website for upcoming productions. African American Art & Culture Complex. See website for calendar. American Conservatory Theatre Judy Garland, We Need A Little Christmas with Debbie Wileman, Strand, Dec. 6-7. Rudolph & Scrooge, A YC Double Feature, December 18-20, Strand. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Jan. 21 – Feb. 1, 2026, Toni Rembe (Geary). Paranormal Activity, Feb. 19 – March 15, Toni Rembe. Awesome Theatre Company. See website for information. Berkeley Playhouse. Annie. November 7- December 21. Once, February 20 – March 22.  Berkeley Rep. The Hills of California .by Jez Butterworth, Oct. 31 – Dec. 7, Roda Theatre. Mother of Exiles by Jessica Huang, World Premiere, Nov. 14 – Dec. 21, Peets Theatre. Berkeley Shakespeare Company See website for upcoming productions. Brava Theatre Center: See calendar for events listings. BroadwaySF: The Golden Girls Live,  December 4-21, Curran. Moulin Rouge! The Musical, December 16-28, Orpheum. See website for complete listings for the Orpheum, Golden Gate and Curran Theaters. Broadway San Jose:  A Beautiful Noise, December 30 – January 4. See website for other events. Center REP: A Christmas Carol, Dec. 10 – 21.. Central Stage. See website for upcoming productions, 5221 Central Avenue, Richmond Central Works See website for information on the 2026 season. Cinnabar Theatre. Holiday Songbook, Dec. 19-21. My Fair Lady, January 23 – February 8, 2026. Club Fugazi. Dear San Francisco ongoing. Check website for Music Mondays listings. Contra Costa Civic Theatre Ebenezer Scrooge, an adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” by Joel Roster, December 6 –  21. . See website for other events. Golden Thread  See website for upcoming productions. Hillbarn Theatre: Rogers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, December 4 – 28. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. Soulful Christmas, December 19-21, Magic Theatre. Los Altos Stage Company. A Christmas Carol, November  28 – December 21.. Lower Bottom Playaz  See website for upcoming productions. Magic Theatre. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre presents Soulful Christmas, December 19-21. Marin Shakespeare Company: See website for events and productions. Marin Theatre: The Gift of Nothing  by Patrick McDonnell, Aaron Posner and Erin Weaver, Dec. 13 – 23. .The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov Jan . 29 – Feb. 22, 2026. Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Upcoming Events Page. New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC)  Ruthless,  Dec. 5 – January 11, 2026. New Performance Traditions.  See website for upcoming schedule Oakland Theater Project. Cabaret, November 21 – December 14. Odd Salon: Upcoming events in San Francisco & New York, and streaming. Palace of Fine Arts Theater.  See website for event listings. Pear Theater. Ada & The Engine  by Lauren Gunderson, November 21 – December 7. See website for staged readings and other events. Playful People Productions. See website for upcoming productions. Presidio Theatre. Peter Pan Panto, Nov. 29 – Dec. 28. See website for complete schedule of events and performances. Ray of Light: Mean Girls. May 2026. Ross Valley Players: See website for New Works Sunday night readings and other events. San Francisco Playhouse. Into the Woods. November 30 – January 17, 2026. SFBATCO.  See website for upcoming streaming and in- theater shows. San Jose Stage Company: See website for events and upcoming season Shotgun Players.  Sunday in the Park with George, November 15 – December 30. South Bay Musical Theatre:  Let It Snow: A Broadway Holiday Celebration, December 20-21, Little Women, The Broadway Musical, January 24 – February 14, 2026. SPARC: See website for upcoming events. Stagebridge: See website for events and productions. Storytime every 4th Saturday. The Breath Project. Streaming archive. The Marsh: Calendar listings for Berkeley, San Francisco and Marshstream. Theatre Lunatico  See website for upcoming productions.. Theatre Rhino  Pirates! by John Fisher, December 4 – 13. Streaming: Essential Services Project, conceived and performed by John Fisher, all weekly performances now available on demand. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Georgiana & Kitty, Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, Dec. 3 – 28, Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto. Word for Word.  See website for upcoming productions. Misc. Listings: BAMPFA: On View calendar for Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Berkeley Symphony: See website for listings. Chamber Music San Francisco: Calendar, 2025 Season. Dance Mission Theatre. On stage events calendar. Fort Mason Center. Events calendar. Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Calendar listings and upcoming shows. San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. See schedule for upcoming SFGMC performances. San Francisco Opera. Calendar listings. San Francisco Symphony. Calendar listings. Filmed Live Musicals: Searchable database of all filmed live musicals, podcast, blog. If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write Richard@kpfa.org   . The post December 4, 2025: Lauren Gunderson, Oft-Produced Contemporary Playwright appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Malcolm Margolin (1940-2025): Legendary Berkeley Publisher Malcolm Margolin (1940-2025), the long-time publisher of Heyday Books in Berkeley, who died on August 20, 2025 at the age of 84, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky in the KPFA Studios on November 21, 2014. Malcolm Margolin founded Heyday Books, the renownedy non-profit publishing house located in Berkeley, in 1974 and stayed until he retired in 2015. He was the author and editor of several books, most notably The Ohlone Way: Indian Life in the San Francisco – Monterey Bay Area, along with magazines and other periodicals. This interview was recorded November 21, 2014 upon the publication of his memoir/history, The Heyday of Malcolm Margolin: The Damned Good Times of a Fiercely Independent Publisher.  Malcolm Margolin retired in 2015 but continued to work until his death. His final book, Deep Hanging Out: Wanderings and Wonderment in Native California. was published by Heyday in 2021.   Azar Nafisi: Best-selling Author of “Reading Lolita in Tehran” Azar Nafisi,author of the best-selling memoir, “Reading Lolita in Tehran,”  in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded in the KPFA studios on January 12, 2009 while on tour for the memoir, “Things I’ve Been Silent About.” Azar Nafisi burst on the literary scene in 2003 with her memoir, Reading Lolita in Tehran in 2003, which remained on the New York Times best seller list for 117 weeks. Born in Tehran, Iran, she came to the United States in 1997 and became an American citizen in 2008. A professor of literature, she’d previously written a critical study of the works of Vladimir Nabokov. There would be a second interview with Azar Nafisi  in 2015 for her book about the importance of literature, The Republic of the Imagination. Azar Nafisi Wikipedia page     Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others for shorter periods each week. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended. Book Stores Bay Area Book Festival  See website for highlights from the 110th Annual Bay Area Book Festival, May 31 – June 1, 2025. Book Passage.  Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events. Books Inc.  Mix of on-line and in-store events. The Booksmith.  Monthly Event Calendar. BookShop West Portal. Monthly Event Calendar. Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months. Green Apple Books. Events calendar. Kepler’s Books  On-line Refresh the Page program listings. Live Theater Companies Actors Ensemble of Berkeley.  See website for readings and events. Actor’s Reading Collective (ARC).  Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by Amy Kossow, November 6 – 30, Magic Theatre, Fort Mason. African American Art & Culture Complex. See website for calendar. American Conservatory Theatre Judy Garland, We Need A Little Christmas with Debbie Wileman, Strand, Dec. 6-7. Rudolph & Scrooge, A YC Double Feature, December 18-20, Strand. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Jan. 21 – Feb. 1, 2026, Toni Rembe (Geary). Paranormal Activity, Feb. 19 – March 15, Toni Rembe. Awesome Theatre Company. See website for information. Berkeley Playhouse. Annie. November 7- December 21. Once, February 20 – March 22.  Berkeley Rep. The Hills of California .by Jez Butterworth, Oct. 31 – Dec. 7, Roda Theatre. Mother of Exiles by Jessica Huang, World Premiere, Nov. 14 – Dec. 21, Peets Theatre. Berkeley Shakespeare Company See website for upcoming productions. Brava Theatre Center: See calendar for events listings. BroadwaySF: The Golden Girls Live,  December 4-21, Curran. Moulin Rouge! The Musical, December 16-28, Orpheum. See website for complete listings for the Orpheum, Golden Gate and Curran Theaters. Broadway San Jose:  Kinky Boots, Nov. 28-30. See website for other events. Center REP: A Christmas Carol, Dec. 10 – 21.. Central Stage. See website for upcoming productions, 5221 Central Avenue, Richmond Central Works See website for information on the 2026 season. Cinnabar Theatre. Holiday Songbook, Dec. 19-21. My Fair Lady, January 23 – February 8, 2026. Club Fugazi. Dear San Francisco ongoing. Check website for Music Mondays listings. Contra Costa Civic Theatre Ebenezer Scrooge, an adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” by Joel Roster, December 6 –  21. . See website for other events. Golden Thread  See website for upcoming productions. Hillbarn Theatre: Rogers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, December 4 – 28. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. Soulful Christmas, December 19-21, Magic Theatre. Los Altos Stage Company. A Christmas Carol, November  28 – December 21.. Lower Bottom Playaz  August Wilson’s King Hedley II, November 8 -30. BAM House, Oakland. Magic Theatre. Actors Reading Collective: Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by Amy Kossow, November 6 – 30, See website for other events and productions. Marin Shakespeare Company: See website for events and productions. Marin Theatre: The Gift of Nothing  by Patrick McDonnell, Aaron Posner and Erin Weaver, Dec. 13 – 23. .The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov Jan . 29 – Feb. 22, 2026. Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Upcoming Events Page. New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC)  Ruthless,  Dec. 5 – January 11, 2026. New Performance Traditions.  See website for upcoming schedule Oakland Theater Project. Cabaret, November 21 – December 14. Odd Salon: Upcoming events in San Francisco & New York, and streaming. Palace of Fine Arts Theater.  See website for event listings. Pear Theater. Ada & The Engine  by Lauren Gunderson, November 21 – December 7. See website for staged readings and other events. Playful People Productions. See website for upcoming productions. Presidio Theatre. Peter Pan Panto, Nov. 29 – Dec. 28. See website for complete schedule of events and performances. Ray of Light: Mean Girls. May 2026. Ross Valley Players: See website for New Works Sunday night readings and other events. San Francisco Playhouse. Into the Woods. November 30 – January 17, 2026. SFBATCO.  See website for upcoming streaming and in- theater shows. San Jose Stage Company: See website for events and upcoming season Shotgun Players.  Sunday in the Park with George, November 15 – December 30. South Bay Musical Theatre:  Let It Snow: A Broadway Holiday Celebration, December 20-21, Little Women, The Broadway Musical, January 24 – February 14, 2026. SPARC: See website for upcoming events. Stagebridge: See website for events and productions. Storytime every 4th Saturday. The Breath Project. Streaming archive. The Marsh: Calendar listings for Berkeley, San Francisco and Marshstream. Theatre Lunatico  See website for upcoming productions.. Theatre Rhino  Pirates! by John Fisher, December 4 – 13. Streaming: Essential Services Project, conceived and performed by John Fisher, all weekly performances now available on demand. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Georgiana & Kitty, Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, Dec. 3 – 28, Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto. Word for Word.  See website for upcoming productions. Misc. Listings: BAMPFA: On View calendar for Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Berkeley Symphony: See website for listings. Chamber Music San Francisco: Calendar, 2025 Season. Dance Mission Theatre. On stage events calendar. Fort Mason Center. Events calendar. Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Calendar listings and upcoming shows. San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. See schedule for upcoming SFGMC performances. San Francisco Opera. Calendar listings. San Francisco Symphony. Calendar listings. Filmed Live Musicals: Searchable database of all filmed live musicals, podcast, blog. If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write Richard@kpfa.org   . The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – November 27, 2025: Malcolm Margolin – Azar Nafisi appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Francine Prose: Reflections on 1974 and the Pentagon Papers Francine Prose, author of “1974, A Personal History” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. The author of twenty novels and ten books of non fiction, Francine Prose is best known for such novels as “Lovers at the Chameleon Club, 1932,” “The Vixen,” “Household Saints” and “Mister Monkey,” and non-fiction such as “Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, The Afterlife,” Francine Prose has also written two short story collections , and a picture book. Two of her novels have become films, and one, “The Glorious Ones,” became a Broadway musical. In this book, she recalls her time hanging out with Anthony Russo, who along with Daniel Ellsberg, was responsible for The Pentagon Papers, in San Francisco in 1974 and then a few months later, in New York, capturing the vibe of what it was like to live in that time and place, and differences between then and now. Complete Interview.   Wes Craven (1939-2015): Master of Horror Movies. Wes Craven (1939-2015), noted director of horror and genre films, interviewed by Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff on October 13, 1999 while on tour for his one novel, “Fountain Society.” Wes Craven, who died at the age of 76 on August 30, 2015, was considered one of the masters of cinema’s horror genre. Best known for The Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream films, ,He was best known for two series of films, the Nightmare on Elm Street films, and the Scream series, which also served as an academic deconstruction of the genre. Starting life as a humanities professor, Wes Craven moved over to film as first a sound editor, and then film editor before turning to writing and directing with The Last House on the Left. Along with the first Nightmare film (and the deconstruction last New Nightmare entry), he directed all four Scream films, along with Red Eye, Cursed, The Serpent and the Rainbow, and the non-genre Meryl Streep vehicle, Music of the Heart. His first and only novel, “Fountain Society,” was published in 1999, and it was during his book tour that he stopped by KPFA where he was interviewed by Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff. That interview was digitized and re-edited in 2017 by Richard Wolinsky. Complete interview       Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others for shorter periods each week. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended. Book Stores Bay Area Book Festival  See website for highlights from the 110th Annual Bay Area Book Festival, May 31 – June 1, 2025. Book Passage.  Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events. Books Inc.  Mix of on-line and in-store events. The Booksmith.  Monthly Event Calendar. BookShop West Portal. Monthly Event Calendar. Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months. Green Apple Books. Events calendar. Kepler’s Books  On-line Refresh the Page program listings. Live Theater Companies Actors Ensemble of Berkeley.  See website for readings and events. Actor’s Reading Collective (ARC).  Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by Amy Kossow, November 6 – 30, Magic Theatre, Fort Mason. African American Art & Culture Complex. See website for calendar. American Conservatory Theatre  Stereophonic (in association with BroadwaySF, at the Curran), Oct 28 – Nov 23. Awesome Theatre Company. See website for information. Berkeley Playhouse. Annie. November 7- December 21. Once, February 20 – March 22.  Berkeley Rep. The Hills of California .by Jez Butterworth, Oct. 31 – Dec. 7, Roda Theatre. Mother of Exiles by Jessica Huang, World Premiere, Nov. 14 – Dec. 32, Peets Theatre. Berkeley Shakespeare Company See website for upcoming productions. Brava Theatre Center: See calendar for events listings. BroadwaySF: Stereophonic (in association with ACT), Oct 28 – Nov 23, Curran. See website for complete listings for the Orpheum, Golden Gate and Curran Theaters. Broadway San Jose:  Kinky Boots, Nov. 28-30. See website for other events. Center REP: The Woman in Black, U.S. Tour, November 5-23.. Central Stage. See website for upcoming productions, 5221 Central Avenue, Richmond Central Works See website for information on the 2026 season. Cinnabar Theatre. Young Rep: Disney’s The Little Mermaid, November 14-23, Studio Space, Petaluma Outlet Mall. Club Fugazi. Dear San Francisco ongoing. Check website for Music Mondays listings. Contra Costa Civic Theatre Ebenezer Scrooge, an adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” by Joel Roster, December 6 –  21. . See website for other events. Golden Thread  See website for upcoming productions. Hillbarn Theatre: Rogers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, December 4 – 28. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. Soulful Christmas, December 19-21, Magic Theatre. Los Altos Stage Company. A Christmas Carol, November  28 – December 21.. Lower Bottom Playaz  August Wilson’s King Hedley II, November 8 -30. BAM House, Oakland. Magic Theatre. Actors Reading Collective: Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by Amy Kossow, November 6 – 30, See website for other events and productions. Marin Shakespeare Company: See website for events and productions. Marin Theatre: Sally and Tom by Suzan-Lori Parks. October 30 – November 23. The Lightning Thief, MSC Teen Company, November 7 -9. Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Upcoming Events Page. New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC)  Spanish Stew by Marga Gomez, October 17 – November 23. New Performance Traditions.  See website for upcoming schedule Oakland Theater Project. Cabaret, November 21 – December 14. Odd Salon: Upcoming events in San Francisco & New York, and streaming. Palace of Fine Arts Theater.  See website for event listings. Pear Theater. Ada & The Engine  by Lauren Gunderson, November 21 – December 7. See website for staged readings and other events. Playful People Productions. See website for upcoming productions. Presidio Theatre. Peter Pan Panto, Nov. 29 – Dec. 28. See website for complete schedule of events and performances. Ray of Light: Mean Girls. May 2026. Ross Valley Players: See website for New Works Sunday night readings and other events. San Francisco Playhouse. Into the Woods. November 30 – January 17, 2026. SFBATCO.  See website for upcoming streaming and in- theater shows. San Jose Stage Company: See website for events and upcoming season Shotgun Players.  Sunday in the Park with George, November 15 – December 30. South Bay Musical Theatre:  Let It Snow: A Broadway Holiday Celebration, December 20-21, Little Women, The Broadway Musical, January 24 – February 14, 2026. SPARC: See website for upcoming events. Stagebridge: See website for events and productions. Storytime every 4th Saturday. The Breath Project. Streaming archive. The Marsh: Calendar listings for Berkeley, San Francisco and Marshstream. Theatre Lunatico  See website for upcoming productions.. Theatre Rhino  The Break-Up written and performed by Tina D’Elia, November 6-23. Streaming: Essential Services Project, conceived and performed by John Fisher, all weekly performances now available on demand. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. A Driving Beat by Jordan Ramirez Puckett, Oct 29 – Nov. 23, . Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts Second Stage.Georgiana & Kitty, Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, Dec. 3 – 28, Lucie Stern Theatre. Word for Word.  See website for upcoming productions. Misc. Listings: BAMPFA: On View calendar for Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Berkeley Symphony: See website for listings. Chamber Music San Francisco: Calendar, 2025 Season. Dance Mission Theatre. On stage events calendar. Fort Mason Center. Events calendar. Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Calendar listings and upcoming shows. San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. See schedule for upcoming SFGMC performances. San Francisco Opera. Calendar listings. San Francisco Symphony. Calendar listings. Filmed Live Musicals: Searchable database of all filmed live musicals, podcast, blog. If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write Richard@kpfa.org   . The post November 20, 2025: Francine Prose – Wes Craven appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Amy Bloom: Award-Winning Literary Novelist, 2007 Amy Bloom, award-winning novelist and short-story writer, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky in the KPFA studios, on October 4, 2007 while on tour for her second novel, “Away.” Amy Bloom, says the New Yorker, gets more meaning into individual sentences than most authors manage in whole books. The author of five short story collections and two works of non-fiction, including a memoir, she has only written five novels since she debuted in 1997 with Love Invents Us.  She would be interviewed again on Bookwaves for her third novel, Lucky Us,  Her most recent novel, I’ll Be Right Here, was published in June 2025.     John Banville: Irish Literary Master John Banville, Booker Prize winning novelist, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky in the KPFA studios, on March 19, 2007 while on tour for the novel, “Christine Falls,” written under the pseudonym Benjamin Black. John Banville is a giant of Irish literature, winner of the Booker Prize for his novel, The Sea, and the Franz Kafka Prize in 2011. A literary novelist of the first order, he took a turn in 2007 with a mystery novel, Christine Falls, featuring a detective named Quirke, under the pseudonym Benjamin Black. Since that time there have been ten Quirke mysteries, three written under his own name, and four novels under the pseudonym. He continues to write literary and noir fiction. His most recent novel is “Venetian Vespers,” published in October, 2025.   Review of “A Driving Beat” at TheatreWorks Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts Second Stage, through November 23, 2025.   Review of “Sally and Tom” at Marin Theatre through November 23, 2025   Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others for shorter periods each week. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended. Book Stores Bay Area Book Festival  See website for highlights from the 110th Annual Bay Area Book Festival, May 31 – June 1, 2025. Book Passage.  Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events. Books Inc.  Mix of on-line and in-store events. The Booksmith.  Monthly Event Calendar. BookShop West Portal. Monthly Event Calendar. Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months. Green Apple Books. Events calendar. Kepler’s Books  On-line Refresh the Page program listings. Live Theater Companies Actors Ensemble of Berkeley.  See website for readings and events. Actor’s Reading Collective (ARC).  Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by Amy Kossow, November 6 – 30, Magic Theatre, Fort Mason. African American Art & Culture Complex. See website for calendar. American Conservatory Theatre  Stereophonic (in association with BroadwaySF, at the Curran), Oct 28 – Nov 23. Awesome Theatre Company. See website for information. Berkeley Playhouse. Annie. November 7- December 21. Once, February 20 – March 22.  Berkeley Rep. The Hills of California .by Jez Butterworth, Oct. 31 – Dec. 7, Roda Theatre. Mother of Exiles by Jessica Huang, World Premiere, Nov. 14 – Dec. 32, Peets Theatre. Berkeley Shakespeare Company See website for upcoming productions. Brava Theatre Center: See calendar for events listings. BroadwaySF: Stereophonic (in association with ACT), Oct 28 – Nov 23, Curran. See website for complete listings for the Orpheum, Golden Gate and Curran Theaters. Broadway San Jose:  Kinky Boots, Nov. 28-30. See website for other events. Center REP: The Woman in Black, U.S. Tour, November 5-23.. Central Stage. See website for upcoming productions, 5221 Central Avenue, Richmond Central Works Dada Teen Musical: The Play by Maury Zeff, Oct. 18 – Nov. 16, Cinnabar Theatre. Young Rep: Disney’s The Little Mermaid, November 14-23, Studio Space, Petaluma Outlet Mall. Club Fugazi. Dear San Francisco ongoing. Check website for Music Mondays listings. Contra Costa Civic Theatre Ebenezer Scrooge, an adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” by Joel Roster, December 6 –  21. . See website for other events. Golden Thread  See website for upcoming productions. Hillbarn Theatre: Rogers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, December 4 – 28. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. Soulful Christmas, December 19-21, Magic Theatre. Los Altos Stage Company. A Christmas Carol, November  28 – December 21.. Lower Bottom Playaz  August Wilson’s King Hedley II, November 8 -30. BAM House, Oakland. Magic Theatre. Actors Reading Collective: Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by Amy Kossow, November 6 – 30, See website for other events and productions. Marin Shakespeare Company: See website for events and productions. Marin Theatre: Sally and Tom by Suzan-Lori Parks. October 30 – November 23. The Lightning Thief, MSC Teen Company, November 7 -9. Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Upcoming Events Page. New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC)  Spanish Stew by Marga Gomez, October 17 – November 23. New Performance Traditions.  See website for upcoming schedule Oakland Theater Project. Cabaret, November 21 – December 14. Odd Salon: Upcoming events in San Francisco & New York, and streaming. Palace of Fine Arts Theater.  See website for event listings. Pear Theater. Ada & The Engine  by Lauren Gunderson, November 21 – December 7. See website for staged readings and other events. Playful People Productions. Newsies, November 8-16. Presidio Theatre. Peter Pan Panto, Nov. 29 – Dec. 28. See website for complete schedule of events and performances. Ray of Light: Mean Girls. May 2026. Ross Valley Players: See website for New Works Sunday night readings and other events. San Francisco Playhouse. Into the Woods. November 30 – January 17, 2026. SFBATCO.  See website for upcoming streaming and in- theater shows. San Jose Stage Company: See website for events and upcoming season Shotgun Players.  Sunday in the Park with George, November 15 – December 30. South Bay Musical Theatre:  Let It Snow: A Broadway Holiday Celebration, December 20-21, Little Women, The Broadway Musical, January 24 – February 14, 2026. SPARC: See website for upcoming events. Stagebridge: See website for events and productions. Storytime every 4th Saturday. The Breath Project. Streaming archive. The Marsh: Calendar listings for Berkeley, San Francisco and Marshstream. Theatre Lunatico Frankenstein, October 11 – November 2. Theatre Rhino  The Break-Up written and performed by Tina D’Elia, November 6-23. Streaming: Essential Services Project, conceived and performed by John Fisher, all weekly performances now available on demand. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. A Driving Beat by Jordan Ramirez Puckett, Oct 29 – Nov. 23, . Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts Second Stage.Georgiana & Kitty, Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, Dec. 3 – 28, Lucie Stern Theatre. Word for Word.  See website for upcoming productions. Misc. Listings: BAMPFA: On View calendar for Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Berkeley Symphony: See website for listings. Chamber Music San Francisco: Calendar, 2025 Season. Dance Mission Theatre. On stage events calendar. Fort Mason Center. Events calendar. Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Calendar listings and upcoming shows. San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. See schedule for upcoming SFGMC performances. San Francisco Opera. Calendar listings. San Francisco Symphony. Calendar listings. Filmed Live Musicals: Searchable database of all filmed live musicals, podcast, blog. If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write Richard@kpfa.org   . The post November 13, 2025: Amy Bloom – John Banville appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (1942-2025) Tanith Lee (1947-2015) This program honors two master practitioners of horror, fantasy and science fiction, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Tanith Lee, with two interviews back to back. In the first, in 1983, Tanith Lee is interviewed by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. In the second, in 1979, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro is interviewed by Richard Wolinsky.  Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, who died on August 31, 2025 at the age of 82, was best known for her historical horror novels featuring the vampire the Count Saint.-Germain. Along the way, she wrote in several genres, including science fiction and westerns, and wrote over seventy novels, along with several short stories. Along with her writing, which includes a series of books about a channeler,  titled Messages from Michael, she was a cartographer, palm reader, and composer. In 2009, she received the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writers Association. She also wrote novels under several pseudonyms. In this podcast, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro joins Richard A. Lupoff to speak with Tanith Lee. In the second interview, she talks about her vampire hero. Count Saint-Germain, and about writing historical horror fiction. It was recorded shortly after her second San Germain novel, The Palace, was published, which would put it in late 1978 or early 1979..   Tanith Lee, who died of breast cancer in 2015 at the age of 67, also wrote fantasy, science fiction and horror, and her work is considered to be similar and a forerunner of the work of Neil Gaiman. She received a lifetime achievement award from the World Horror Convention in 2013. Nominated for several awards for her novels and short stories, she won the 1980 British Fantasy Award for her novel, Death’s Master. In this first undated tnterview from Probabilities, most likely recorded at BayCon in San Jose in November 1983, Tanith Lee is interviewed by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Richard A. Lupoff. This is the only interview conducted by Quinn Yarbro for Probabilities. Tanith Lee’s novel set during the French Revolution was eventually retitled The Gods Are Thirsty, and was finally published in 1996. You’ve been listening to an interview with Tanith Lee, conducted by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Richard A. Lupoff for the Probabilities radio program on KPFA. It was digitized, remastered and edited on September 24. 2025. Review of “Stereophonic” at BroadwaySFCurran Theatre through November 23, 2025   Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others for shorter periods each week. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended. Book Stores Bay Area Book Festival  See website for highlights from the 110th Annual Bay Area Book Festival, May 31 – June 1, 2025. Book Passage.  Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events. Books Inc.  Mix of on-line and in-store events. The Booksmith.  Monthly Event Calendar. BookShop West Portal. Monthly Event Calendar. Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months. Green Apple Books. Events calendar. Kepler’s Books  On-line Refresh the Page program listings. Live Theater Companies Actors Ensemble of Berkeley.  See website for readings and events. Actor’s Reading Collective (ARC).  Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by Amy Kossow, November 6 – 30, Magic Theatre, Fort Mason. African American Art & Culture Complex. See website for calendar. American Conservatory Theatre  Stereophonic (in association with BroadwaySF, at the Curran), Oct 28 – Nov 23. Awesome Theatre Company. See website for information. Berkeley Playhouse. Annie. November 7- December 21. Once, February 20 – March 22.  Berkeley Rep. The Hills of California .by Jez Butterworth, Oct. 31 – Dec. 7, Roda Theatre. Mother of Exiles by Jessica Huang, World Premiere, Nov. 14 – Dec. 32, Peets Theatre. Berkeley Shakespeare Company The Tempest, Oct. 24 – Nov. 2,  Immersive theatre. Point Montara Lighthouse. Brava Theatre Center: See calendar for events listings. BroadwaySF: Stereophonic (in association with ACT), Oct 28 – Nov 23, Curran. See website for complete listings for the Orpheum, Golden Gate and Curran Theaters. Broadway San Jose:  Kinky Boots, Nov. 28-30. See website for other events. Center REP: The Woman in Black, U.S. Tour, November 5-23.. Central Stage. See website for upcoming productions, 5221 Central Avenue, Richmond Central Works Dada Teen Musical: The Play by Maury Zeff, Oct. 18 – Nov. 16, Cinnabar Theatre. Young Rep: Disney’s The Little Mermaid, November 14-23, Studio Space, Petaluma Outlet Mall. Club Fugazi. Dear San Francisco ongoing. Check website for Music Mondays listings. Contra Costa Civic Theatre Ebenezer Scrooge, an adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” by Joel Roster, December 6 –  21. . See website for other events. Golden Thread  Pilgrimage by Humaira Ghilzal and Bridgette Dutta Portman, a co-production with Z Space, October 24 – November 8, Z Space’s Steindler Stage. Hillbarn Theatre: Murder for Two, a musical comedy, October 9 – November 2, 2025. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. See website for upcoming productions. Los Altos Stage Company. Freaky Friday, The Musical. October 24 – November 2. A Christmas Carol, November  28 – December 21.. Lower Bottom Playaz  August Wilson’s King Hedley II, November 8 -30. BAM House, Oakland. Magic Theatre. Actors Reading Collective: Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by Amy Kossow, November 6 – 30, See website for other events and productions. Marin Shakespeare Company: See website for events and productions. Marin Theatre: Sally and Tom by Suzan-Lori Parks. October 30 – November 23. The Lightning Thief, MSC Teen Company, November 7 -9. Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Upcoming Events Page. New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC)  Spanish Stew by Marga Gomez, October 17 – November 23. New Performance Traditions.  See website for upcoming schedule Oakland Theater Project. Cabaret, November 21 – December 14. Odd Salon: Upcoming events in San Francisco & New York, and streaming. Palace of Fine Arts Theater.  See website for event listings. Pear Theater. Ada & The Engine  by Lauren Gunderson, November 21 – December 7. See website for staged readings and other events. Playful People Productions. Newsies, November 8-16. Presidio Theatre. Peter Pan Panto, Nov. 29 – Dec. 28. See website for complete schedule of events and performances. Ray of Light: The Rocky Horror Show. October 9 – November 1, The Oasis. Ross Valley Players: See website for New Works Sunday night readings and other events. San Francisco Playhouse. Noises Off by Michael Frayn. September 25 – November 8. SFBATCO.  See website for upcoming streaming and in- theater shows. San Jose Stage Company: See website for events and upcoming season Shotgun Players.  Sunday in the Park with George, November 15 – December 30. South Bay Musical Theatre:  Let It Snow: A Broadway Holiday Celebration, December 20-21, Little Women, The Broadway Musical, January 24 – February 14, 2026. SPARC: See website for upcoming events. Stagebridge: See website for events and productions. Storytime every 4th Saturday. The Breath Project. Streaming archive. The Marsh: Calendar listings for Berkeley, San Francisco and Marshstream. Theatre Lunatico Frankenstein, October 11 – November 2. Theatre Rhino  The Break-Up written and performed by Tina D’Elia, November 6-23. Streaming: Essential Services Project, conceived and performed by John Fisher, all weekly performances now available on demand. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. A Driving Beat by Jordan Ramirez Puckett, Oct 29 – Nov. 23, . Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts Second Stage.Georgiana & Kitty, Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, Dec. 3 – 28, Lucie Stern Theatre. Word for Word.  See website for upcoming productions. Misc. Listings: BAMPFA: On View calendar for Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Berkeley Symphony: See website for listings. Chamber Music San Francisco: Calendar, 2025 Season. Dance Mission Theatre. On stage events calendar. Fort Mason Center. Events calendar. Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Calendar listings and upcoming shows. San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. See schedule for upcoming SFGMC performances. San Francisco Opera. Calendar listings. San Francisco Symphony. Calendar listings. Filmed Live Musicals: Searchable database of all filmed live musicals, podcast, blog. If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write Richard@kpfa.org   The post November 6, 2025: Tanith Lee & Chelsea Quinn Yabro, Virtuosos of Horror and Fantasy appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Susan Hill: Master of Ghost Stories and Noir Susan Hill, author of “The Woman in Black” and other novels, in conversation by phone with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded November 29, 2021. The Woman in Black, a play by Stephen Mallatratt and directed by Robin Herford is playing in Walnut Creek at The Lesher Center under the auspices of CenterREP from November 5th through November 23, 2025. Susan Hill has written over thirty novels, most of them stand-alones in the gothic ghost story genre, and eleven crime novels featuring her detective Simon Serrailer, the most recent being The Benefit of Hindsight, published in 2020, with A Change of Circumstance published in March 2022. She’s also written six collections of short stories, an autobiography among nine non-fiction works, five plays, and 13 Children’s Books. She became a Dame of the British Empire in 2020. Complete 48-minute interview.   Rita Moreno: Broadway and Hollywood Legend Richard Wolinsky and Rita Moreno, Sept. 16, 2011 at KPFA. Rita Moreno, legendary Hollywood star, actress, dancer and singer, in conversation about her career and her one-woman show, “Rita Moreno: Life Without Make-up,” recorded September 16, 2011 in the KPFA studios. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky. The talented winner of the big four awards, Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony, Rita Moreno continues to work in film and television. In this interview recorded during previews of her one-woman show at Berkeley Rep ten years ago, she discusses not only her work on the show, but her time in Hollywood, her five year relationship with Marlon Brando, her work on the film The King and I, working with Morgan Freeman on PBS, and other stories. Complete 35-minute interview. Review of “Suffs” at BroadwaySF Orpheum Theatre through November 9, 2025   Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others for shorter periods each week. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended. Book Stores Bay Area Book Festival  See website for highlights from the 110th Annual Bay Area Book Festival, May 31 – June 1, 2025. Book Passage.  Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events. Books Inc.  Mix of on-line and in-store events. The Booksmith.  Monthly Event Calendar. BookShop West Portal. Monthly Event Calendar. Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months. Green Apple Books. Events calendar. Kepler’s Books  On-line Refresh the Page program listings. Live Theater Companies Actors Ensemble of Berkeley.  See website for readings and events. Actor’s Reading Collective (ARC).  Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by Amy Kossow, November 6 – 30, Magic Theatre, Fort Mason. African American Art & Culture Complex. See website for calendar. American Conservatory Theatre  Stereophonic (in association with BroadwaySF, at the Curran), Oct 28 – Nov 23. Awesome Theatre Company. See website for information. Berkeley Playhouse. Annie. November 7- December 21. Once, February 20 – March 22.  Berkeley Rep. The Hills of California .by Jez Butterworth, Oct. 31 – Dec. 7, Roda Theatre. Mother of Exiles by Jessica Huang, World Premiere, Nov. 14 – Dec. 32, Peets Theatre. Berkeley Shakespeare Company The Tempest, Oct. 24 – Nov. 2,  Immersive theatre. Point Montara Lighthouse. Brava Theatre Center: See calendar for events listings. BroadwaySF: Stereophonic (in association with ACT), Oct 28 – Nov 23, Curran. See website for complete listings for the Orpheum, Golden Gate and Curran Theaters. Broadway San Jose:  Kinky Boots, Nov. 28-30. See website for other events. Center REP: The Woman in Black, U.S. Tour, November 5-23.. Central Stage. See website for upcoming productions, 5221 Central Avenue, Richmond Central Works Dada Teen Musical: The Play by Maury Zeff, Oct. 18 – Nov. 16, Cinnabar Theatre. Young Rep: Disney’s The Little Mermaid, November 14-23, Studio Space, Petaluma Outlet Mall. Club Fugazi. Dear San Francisco ongoing. Check website for Music Mondays listings. Contra Costa Civic Theatre Ebenezer Scrooge, an adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” by Joel Roster, December 6 –  21. . See website for other events. Golden Thread  Pilgrimage by Humaira Ghilzal and Bridgette Dutta Portman, a co-production with Z Space, October 24 – November 8, Z Space’s Steindler Stage. Hillbarn Theatre: Murder for Two, a musical comedy, October 9 – November 2, 2025. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. See website for upcoming productions. Los Altos Stage Company. Freaky Friday, The Musical. October 24 – November 2. A Christmas Carol, November  28 – December 21.. Lower Bottom Playaz  August Wilson’s King Hedley II, November 8 -30. BAM House, Oakland. Magic Theatre. Actors Reading Collective: Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by Amy Kossow, November 6 – 30, See website for other events and productions. Marin Shakespeare Company: See website for events and productions. Marin Theatre: Sally and Tom by Suzan-Lori Parks. October 30 – November 23. The Lightning Thief, MSC Teen Company, November 7 -9. Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Upcoming Events Page. New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC)  Spanish Stew by Marga Gomez, October 17 – November 23. New Performance Traditions.  See website for upcoming schedule Oakland Theater Project. Cabaret, November 21 – December 14. Odd Salon: Upcoming events in San Francisco & New York, and streaming. Palace of Fine Arts Theater.  See website for event listings. Pear Theater. Ada & The Engine  by Lauren Gunderson, November 21 – December 7. See website for staged readings and other events. Playful People Productions. Newsies, November 8-16. Presidio Theatre. Peter Pan Panto, Nov. 29 – Dec. 28. See website for complete schedule of events and performances. Ray of Light: The Rocky Horror Show. October 9 – November 1, The Oasis. Ross Valley Players: See website for New Works Sunday night readings and other events. San Francisco Playhouse. Noises Off by Michael Frayn. September 25 – November 8. SFBATCO.  See website for upcoming streaming and in- theater shows. San Jose Stage Company: See website for events and upcoming season Shotgun Players.  Sunday in the Park with George, November 15 – December 30. South Bay Musical Theatre:  Let It Snow: A Broadway Holiday Celebration, December 20-21, Little Women, The Broadway Musical, January 24 – February 14, 2026. SPARC: See website for upcoming events. Stagebridge: See website for events and productions. Storytime every 4th Saturday. The Breath Project. Streaming archive. The Marsh: Calendar listings for Berkeley, San Francisco and Marshstream. Theatre Lunatico Frankenstein, October 11 – November 2. Theatre Rhino  The Break-Up written and performed by Tina D’Elia, November 6-23. Streaming: Essential Services Project, conceived and performed by John Fisher, all weekly performances now available on demand. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. A Driving Beat by Jordan Ramirez Puckett, Oct 29 – Nov. 23, . Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts Second Stage.Georgiana & Kitty, Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, Dec. 3 – 28, Lucie Stern Theatre. Word for Word.  See website for upcoming productions. Misc. Listings: BAMPFA: On View calendar for Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Berkeley Symphony: See website for listings. Chamber Music San Francisco: Calendar, 2025 Season. Dance Mission Theatre. On stage events calendar. Fort Mason Center. Events calendar. Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Calendar listings and upcoming shows. San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. See schedule for upcoming SFGMC performances. San Francisco Opera. Calendar listings. San Francisco Symphony. Calendar listings. Filmed Live Musicals: Searchable database of all filmed live musicals, podcast, blog. If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write Richard@kpfa.org   The post October 30, 2025: Susan Hill – Rita Moreno appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Richard Powers: Playground, a novel about Big Tech and AI Richard Powers discusses his latest novel, “Playground” with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded in the KPFA studios October 31, 2024. Richard Powers won the Pulitzer Prize i 2019 for “The Overstory,” and the National Book Award in 2006 for “The Echo Maker.” He is also the author of “The Time Of Our Singing,” “Orfeo,” and “Bewilderment.” He has been a Booker Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist multiple times. “Playground” brings together the history of Silicon Valley and the growth of A.I. with a look at deep ocean diving and the notion of floating cities in a story that circles back on itself, and was possibly written by an artificial intelligence. Complete interview     Bebe Moore Campbell (1950-2025), Best Selling Novelist Bebe Moore Campbell (1950-2006), in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded August 23, 2001 while on tour for her novel, “What You Owe Me.” In her books, she explored racial justice, childhood obesity and the tensions in friendships between Black and white people; she shared the stigma of mental illness and memories of the summers she spent with her father in North Carolina. Bebe Moore Campbell died of brain cancer on November 27, 2006 at the age of 56,  and was on the verge of recognition as a major African American novelist and journalist at the time of her death. Her first novel, published in 1992, Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine, won the NAACP Image Award for Literature that year, and was a notable book in both the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. Her second novel, Brothers and Sisters, hit the New York Times best seller list after two weeks. Along the way, she became a regular commentator on NPR’s Morning Edition. I interviewed Bebe Moore Campbell on August 23, 2001 while she was on the publicity tour for her fourth novel, What You Owe Me. Most of the interview focuses on that book. Bebe Moore Campbell would only write one more novel before her untimely death 72 Hour Hold. As for October, 2025, none of her works have been adapted for film or television. This was one of the final Bookwaves interviews recorded on analog tape, and was digitized and edited on October 20, 2025. This interview has not aired since 2002. . Bebe Moore Campbell Wikipedia page   Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others for shorter periods each week. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended. Book Stores Bay Area Book Festival  See website for highlights from the 110th Annual Bay Area Book Festival, May 31 – June 1, 2025. Book Passage.  Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events. Books Inc.  Mix of on-line and in-store events. The Booksmith.  Monthly Event Calendar. BookShop West Portal. Monthly Event Calendar. Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months. Green Apple Books. Events calendar. Kepler’s Books  On-line Refresh the Page program listings. Live Theater Companies Actors Ensemble of Berkeley.  See website for readings and events. Actor’s Reading Collective (ARC).  Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by Amy Kossow, November 6 – 30, Magic Theatre, Fort Mason. African American Art & Culture Complex. See website for calendar. American Conservatory Theatre  Stereophonic (in association with BroadwaySF, at the Curran), Oct 28 – Nov 23. Awesome Theatre Company. See website for information. Berkeley Rep. The Hills of California .by Jez Butterworth, Oct. 31 – Dec. 7, Roda Theatre. Mother of Exiles by Jessica Huang, World Premiere, Nov. 14 – Dec. 32, Peets Theatre. Berkeley Shakespeare Company The Tempest, Oct. 24 – Nov. 2,  Immersive theatre. Point Montara Lighthouse. Brava Theatre Center: See calendar for events listings. BroadwaySF: Stereophonic (in association with ACT), Oct 28 – Nov 23, Curran. See website for complete listings for the Orpheum, Golden Gate and Curran Theaters. Broadway San Jose:  Some Like It Hot, Oct. 21-26. See website for other events. Center REP: The Woman in Black, U.S. Tour, November 5-23.. Central Stage. See website for upcoming productions, 5221 Central Avenue, Richmond Central Works Dada Teen Musical: The Play by Maury Zeff, Oct. 18 – Nov. 16, Cinnabar Theatre. Young Rep: Disney’s The Little Mermaid, November 14-23, Studio Space, Petaluma Outlet Mall. Club Fugazi. Dear San Francisco ongoing. Check website for Music Mondays listings. Contra Costa Civic Theatre Ebenezer Scrooge, an adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” by Joel Roster, December 6 –  21. . See website for other events. Golden Thread  Pilgrimage by Humaira Ghilzal and Bridgette Dutta Portman, a co-production with Z Space, October 24 – November 8, Z Space’s Steindler Stage. Hillbarn Theatre: Murder for Two, a musical comedy, October 9 – November 2, 2025. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. See website for upcoming productions. Los Altos Stage Company. Freaky Friday, The Musical. October 24 – November 2. A Christmas Carol, November  28 – December 21.. Lower Bottom Playaz  August Wilson’s King Hedley II, November 8 -30. BAM House, Oakland. Magic Theatre. Actors Reading Collective: Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by Amy Kossow, November 6 – 30, See website for other events and productions. Marin Shakespeare Company: See website for events and productions. Marin Theatre: Sally and Tom by Suzan-Lori Parks. October 30 – November 23. The Lightning Thief, MSC Teen Company, November 7 -9. Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Upcoming Events Page. New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC)  Spanish Stew by Marga Gomez, October 17 – November 23. New Performance Traditions.  See website for upcoming schedule Oakland Theater Project. Cabaret, November 21 – December 14. Odd Salon: Upcoming events in San Francisco & New York, and streaming. Palace of Fine Arts Theater.  See website for event listings. Pear Theater. Ada & The Engine  by Lauren Gunderson, November 21 – December 7. See website for staged readings and other events. Playful People Productions. Disney’s Moana JR., Oct 17-19; Newsies, November 8-16. Presidio Theatre. Peter Pan Panto, Nov. 29 – Dec. 28. See website for complete schedule of events and performances. Ray of Light: The Rocky Horror Show. October 9 – November 1, The Oasis. Ross Valley Players: See website for New Works Sunday night readings and other events. San Francisco Playhouse. Noises Off by Michael Frayn. September 25 – November 8. SFBATCO.  See website for upcoming streaming and in- theater shows. San Jose Stage Company: See website for events and upcoming season Shotgun Players.  Sunday in the Park with George, November 15 – December 30. South Bay Musical Theatre:  Let It Snow: A Broadway Holiday Celebration, December 20-21,Little Women, The Broadway Musical, January 24 – February 14, 2026. SPARC: See website for upcoming events. Stagebridge: See website for events and productions. Storytime every 4th Saturday. The Breath Project. Streaming archive. The Marsh: Calendar listings for Berkeley, San Francisco and Marshstream. Theatre Lunatico Frankenstein, October 11 – November 2. Theatre Rhino  The Break-Up written and performed by Tina D’Elia, November 6-23. Streaming: Essential Services Project, conceived and performed by John Fisher, all weekly performances now available on demand. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. A Driving Beat by Jordan Ramirez Puckett, Oct 29 – Nov. 23, . Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts Second Stage.Georgiana & Kitty, Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, Dec. 3 – 28, Lucie Stern Theatre. Word for Word.  See website for upcoming productions. Misc. Listings: BAMPFA: On View calendar for Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Berkeley Symphony: See website for listings. Chamber Music San Francisco: Calendar, 2025 Season. Dance Mission Theatre. On stage events calendar. Fort Mason Center. Events calendar. Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Calendar listings and upcoming shows. San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. See schedule for upcoming SFGMC performances. San Francisco Opera. Calendar listings. San Francisco Symphony. Calendar listings. Filmed Live Musicals: Searchable database of all filmed live musicals, podcast, blog. If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write Richard@kpfa.org   The post October 23, 2025: Richard Powers – Bebe Moore Campbell appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Thomas Perry (1947-2025), Award Winning Mystery Novelist Thomas Perry (1947-2025) who died on September 15, 2025 at the age of 78, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded on June 21, 2006 in the KPFA studios while promoting Nightlife in hardover and Pursuit and Dead Aim in trade paperback. In the career of Thomas Perry, which began in 1982 with the novel The Butcher’s Boy, which won the Edgar Award that year for Best First novel, thirty two books have been published, nine in the Jane Whitfield series, four in the Butcher’s Boy series and two in the Jack Till series. A final novel in the Jane Whitfield series will be published in February 2026. Vanishing Act, in the Whitfield series, published in 1995, was voted one of the hundred favorite mysteries of the 20th century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. The TV series The Old Man with Jeff Bridges was based on his novel of the same name, published in 2017, and ran for two seasons on Hulu. The upcoming Russell Crowe film, Bear Country, was based on Thomas Perry’s 2010 novel, Strip.   Edmund White (1940-2025), Patron Saint of Gay Literature Edmund White (1940-2025), who died on June 3, 2025, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded while on tour for “The Farewell Symphony,” the third volume of his autobiographical trilogy, recorded September 15, 1997. Digitized, remastered and edited on October 10, 2025 and heard for the first time in over a quarter century. Edmund White wrote novels, memoirs, plays, essays, biographies, and various hybrids. He was the co-author of The Joy of Gay Sex, and worked extensively in the gay community during the AIDS crisis and later. This interview, the second of four conducted with Edmund White between 1993 and 2014, was recorded on September 15, 1997 while he was on tour for “The Farewell Symphony” the third volume of his semi-autobiographical trilogy about his early year and the effect of the AIDS crisis. Complete Edmund White Interview   Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others for shorter periods each week. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended. Book Stores Bay Area Book Festival  See website for highlights from the 110th Annual Bay Area Book Festival, May 31 – June 1, 2025. Book Passage.  Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events. Books Inc.  Mix of on-line and in-store events. The Booksmith.  Monthly Event Calendar. BookShop West Portal. Monthly Event Calendar. Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months. Green Apple Books. Events calendar. Kepler’s Books  On-line Refresh the Page program listings. Live Theater Companies Actors Ensemble of Berkeley.  See website for readings and events. Actor’s Reading Collective (ARC).  Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by Amy Kossow, November 6 – 30, Magic Theatre, Fort Mason. African American Art & Culture Complex. See website for calendar. American Conservatory Theatre  Kim’s Convenience by Ins Choi, Sept 18 – Oct 19, Toni Rembe Theatre. Stereophonic (in association with BroadwaySF, at the Curran), Oct 28 – Nov 23. Awesome Theatre Company. See website for information. Berkeley Rep. The Hills of California .by Jez Butterworth, Oct. 31 – Dec. 7, Roda Theatre. Mother of Exiles by Jessica Huang, World Premiere, Nov. 14 – Dec. 32, Peets Theatre. Berkeley Shakespeare Company The Tempest, Oct. 24 – Nov. 2,  Immersive theatre. Point Montara Lighthouse. Brava Theatre Center: See calendar for events listings. BroadwaySF: Stereophonic (in association with ACT), Oct 28 – Nov 23, Curran. See website for complete listings for the Orpheum, Golden Gate and Curran Theaters. Broadway San Jose:  Some Like It Hot, Oct. 21-26. See website for other events. Center REP: The Woman in Black, U.S. Tour, November 5-23.. Central Stage. See website for upcoming productions, 5221 Central Avenue, Richmond Central Works Dada Teen Musical: The Play by Maury Zeff, Oct. 18 – Nov. 16, Cinnabar Theatre. Young Rep: Disney’s The Little Mermaid, November 14-23, Studio Space, Petaluma Outlet Mall. Club Fugazi. Dear San Francisco ongoing. Check website for Music Mondays listings. Contra Costa Civic Theatre Ebenezer Scrooge, an adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” by Joel Roster, December 6 –  21. . See website for other events. Golden Thread  Pilgrimage by Humaira Ghilzal and Bridgette Dutta Portman, a co-production with Z Space, October 24 – November 8, Z Space’s Steindler Stage. Hillbarn Theatre: Murder for Two, a musical comedy, October 9 – November 2, 2025. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. See website for upcoming productions. Los Altos Stage Company. Freaky Friday, The Musical. October 24 – November 2. A Christmas Carol, November  28 – December 21.. Lower Bottom Playaz  August Wilson’s King Hedley II, November 8 -30. BAM House, Oakland. Magic Theatre. Actors Reading Collective: Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by Amy Kossow, November 6 – 30, See website for other events and productions. Marin Shakespeare Company: See website for events and productions. Marin Theatre: Sally and Tom by Suzan-Lori Parks. October 30 – November 23. The Lightning Thief, MSC Teen Company, November 7 -9. Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Upcoming Events Page. New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC)  The Hot Wing King by Katori Hall, September 19 – October 19. New Performance Traditions.  See website for upcoming schedule Oakland Theater Project. Cabaret, November 21 – December 14. Odd Salon: Upcoming events in San Francisco & New York, and streaming. Palace of Fine Arts Theater.  See website for event listings. Pear Theater. The Art of Murder by Joe DiPietro, October 3-19. See website for staged readings and other events. Playful People Productions. Disney’s Moana JR., Oct 17-19; Newsies, November 8-16. Presidio Theatre. Peter Pan Panto, Nov. 29 – Dec. 28. See website for complete schedule of events and performances. Ray of Light: The Rocky Horror Show. October 9 – November 1, The Oasis. Ross Valley Players: See website for New Works Sunday night readings and other events. San Francisco Playhouse. Noises Off by Michael Frayn. September 25 – November 8. SFBATCO.  See website for upcoming streaming and in- theater shows. San Jose Stage Company: See website for events and upcoming season Shotgun Players.  The Motion by Christopher Chen, September 13 – October 18 (extended) South Bay Musical Theatre:  The Sound of Music, September 27 – October 18. SPARC: See website for upcoming events. Stagebridge: See website for events and productions. Storytime every 4th Saturday. The Breath Project. Streaming archive. The Marsh: Calendar listings for Berkeley, San Francisco and Marshstream. Theatre Lunatico Frankenstein, October 11 – November 2. Theatre Rhino  Streaming: Essential Services Project, conceived and performed by John Fisher, all weekly performances now available on demand. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. A Driving Beat by Jordan Ramirez Puckett, Oct 29 – Nov. 23, . Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts Second Stage.Georgiana & Kitty, Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, Dec. 3 – 28, Lucie Stern Theatre. Word for Word.  See website for upcoming productions. Misc. Listings: BAMPFA: On View calendar for Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Berkeley Symphony: See website for listings. Chamber Music San Francisco: Calendar, 2025 Season. Dance Mission Theatre. On stage events calendar. Fort Mason Center. Events calendar. Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Calendar listings and upcoming shows. San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. See schedule for upcoming SFGMC performances. San Francisco Opera. Calendar listings. San Francisco Symphony. Calendar listings. Filmed Live Musicals: Searchable database of all filmed live musicals, podcast, blog. If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write Richard@kpfa.org   The post October 16, 2025: Thomas Perry – Edmund White appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues FUND DRIVE SPECIAL: Nora Ephron (1941-2012) in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded November 21, 2010, while on tour for her book, “I Remember Nothing.” Known as one of the finest screenplay writers Hollywood ever saw, she is best known for such films as Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally, and Sleepless in Seattle. Her final film was Julie & Julia. A playwright and essayist, her influence is still felt in the entertainment business.         The post September 25, 2025: Nora Ephron (1941-2012), Influential Director and Screenplay Writer appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Prof. Stephen Greenblatt:  Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival Stephen Greenblatt, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky about his book Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius o Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival, recorded September 11, 2025. Stephen Greenblatt is a literary historian and an expert on Shakespeare and the Elizabethan era. Among his other books are  Shakespearean Negotiations: The Circulation of Social Energy in Renaissance England, Hamlet in Purgatory, Shakespeare’s Freedom, and most recently Tyrant: Shakespeare in Politics. He is Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. In this interview, recorded the day after Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the day before the capture of his murderer, when the American right wing had declared war on Democrats and “the left,” Stephen Greenblatt discusses political violence in Elizabethan times and today, along with his op-ed in the New York Times, “We Are Watching a Scientific Superpower Destroy Itself.” Guest Link The focus of the interview, though, is on the life and work of Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), the playwright (Doctor Faustus, The Jew of Malta, Edward II), intellectual and spy, whose work influenced William Shakespeare and who could be called the Bard’s “rival.”   Review of the national touring production of  “Shucked”  at the Curran Theatre through October 5, 2025. . The post September 18, 2025: Stephen Greenblatt: “Dark Renaissance,” the life and times of Christopher Marlowe appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Robert Jay Lifton (1926-2025), “Destroying the World to Save It,” 1999 Robert Jay Lifton, who died on September 4, 2025 at the age of 99., was a psychiatrist and author who studied the psychological causes and effects of wars and political violence. In the 1960s, he was part of a group that applied psychology and psychoanalysis to the study of history. By the 1980s and 1990s, he’d began exploring the survivors of atrocities and war in such books as The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide, and moved on to the study of cults and what he called “totalism,” a term for the characteristics of ideological movements and organizations that desire total control over human behavior and thought. At the time of his death, he’d written or co-authored 23 books. On November, 2, 1999, Richard A. Lupoff and Richard Wolinsky had the opportunity to speak with Robert Jay Lifton about his book, Destroying the World To Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism, which focuses on the Japanese Cult that released sarin nerve bas into the Tokyo Subway System. While the interview serves as a time capsule for pre-9/11 America and the world, it also gives insight into the present day and how we’e gotten from there to here. Regarding Donald Trump, in Losing Reality: On Cults, Cultism, and the Mindset of Political and Religious Zealotry, published in 2019, Dr, Lifton wrote this: “Donald Trump is a special kind of cultist. He is in no way totalistic—his beliefs can be remarkably fluid—nor is he the leader of a sealed-off cultic community. Rather, his cultism is inseparable from his solipsistic reality.A considerable portion of his base can be understood as cultist, as followers of a guru who is teacher, guide, and master. From my studies of cults and cultlike behavior, I recognize this aspect of Trump’s relationship to his followers, Trump does not directly express an apocalyptic narrative, but his presence has an apocalyptic aura. He tells us that, as not only a “genius” but a “very stable genius,” he alone can “fix” the terrible problems of our society. To be sure these are bizarre expressions of his extreme grandiosity, but also of a man who would be a savior to a disintegrating world.” This interview was digitized, remastered and edited in September 2025 by Richard Wolinsky and is heard in its entirety for the first time.   Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (1942-2025)  was an award-winning horror and fantasy writer who died at the age of 82 on August 31st, 2025. She is best known for her series featuring a vampire hero, Count Saint-Germain, which began with the novel Hotel Transylvania, which was published in 1978. These are excerpts from an undated interview that was likely recorded in late 1978 or early 1979.   Review of “Eureka Day”  at Marin Theatre extended through September 28, 2025. The post September 11, 2025: Robert Jay Lifton (1926-2025) on Cults and Apocalyptic Violence appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Two from the Bookwaves Archive   Jim Harrison (1927-2016), “Returning to Earth,” 2007 Jim Harrison, who died on March 26th, 2016 at the age of 78, was one of those figures people call “larger than life.” A novelist, essayist, poet, screenplay writer and master of the novella, Harrison dealt in his work with issues such as mortality, illness, living the solitary life, redemption and absolution, work that, as the NY Times obituary said, captured the resonant, almost mythic soul of 20th-century rural America. Among his best known novels were Legends of the Fall and Wolf, both of which became major Hollywood films. This interview was recorded while he was on tour in 2007 for his novel, Returning to Earth, which revisits characters from his 2005 novel, True North. The conversation was wide-ranging, touching on not only his work but also life in New York after 9/11, the columnist David Brooks, the education system, and life in Hollywood in the ’90s.     Susan Orlean, “Rin Tin Tin,” 2007 Susan Orlean has been a staff writer for the New Yorker since 1992. Along the way she’s written for Rolling Stone, the Boston Globe, Esquire, Vogue and other magazines. Her book, The Orchid Thief became the acclaimed Oscar-nominated film Adaptation. This interview, which was recorded in October 2011 during her tour for Rin Tin Tin, The Life and the Legend. The Library Book, which dealt with a fire at the Los Angeles Public Library, was published in 2018., and her most recent book, On Animals, was published in 2021. She has also been a staff writer for the HBO show, How To with John Wilson. Over all, to date, she’s written ten books and one Kindle single. Her memoir, Joyride, will be published in October 2025. (Photo: Susan Orlean website)   The post September 4, 2025: The Bookwaves Archive: Jim Harrison – Susan Orlean appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Carl Hiaasen is a novelist best known for writing humorous and satiric crime thrillers set in Florida. His latest novel, Fever Beach, satirizes the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, corrupt nepo Florida Congress-critters, and rich right-wing geriatric  billionaires. Until 2021, he was a regular columnist for The Miami Herald, appearing every Sunday to discuss political and social issues. He is interviewed by host Richard Wolinsky. In this in-depth interview, he discusses the writing of “Fever Beafch and how difficult it has been to create satire during the Trump years, his views on what’s happening in Washington and Florida, the adaptation of his novel “Bad Monkey” for Apple Plus, and his process of writing. Recorded August 13, 2025. The post August 28, 2025: Carl Hiaasen, Master of the Comic Thriller appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Erik Larson, “The Demon of Unrest,” 2024 ​​Erik Larson, author of “The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded at Book Passage Bookstre on May 31, 2024. Erik Larson is the author of several bestsellers of non-fiction narrative, including The Devil in the White City, The Splendid and the Vile, and In The Garden of Beasts. His latest book, just out in trade paperback, concerns the days and months preceding the start of the Civil War, focusing on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, along with what life was like in the antebellum South at the time, the march to war, the election of Abraham Lincoln, and the various triggers that led to the Civil War. In this interview he discusses how he came to write the book, some of the more interesting facts about the time of the Civil War, and how he became an author of these best-sellling narratives. Photos: Richard Wolinsky. Complete Interview. The post August 21, 2025: Erik Larson: The Start of the Civil War appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   John Barth (1930-2024) John Barth (1930-2024), who died on April 2, 2024 at the age of 93, was America’s leading writer of metafictional and post-modern fiction. This interview was conducted by Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff on November 12, 2001 in the KPFA studios, while on the book tour for the novel Coming Soon. John Barth began to receive notice for his two earliest novels, The Floating Opera and End of the Road in the late 1950s, but burst on the scene with his epic comic novel about colonial life in Maryland, The Sot-Weed Factor, and his allegory of the Cold War, set on a university campus, Giles Goat-Boy. His short story collection, Lost in the Funhouse and novella collection Chimera cemented his reputation as a writer of meta-fiction, as the stories zoom back on themselves and on the writing of those stories. From Wikipedia: “In his epistolary novel LETTERS (1979), Barth corresponds with characters from his other books. Later novels such as The Tidewater Tales (1987) and The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor (1991) continue in the metafictional vein, using writers as protagonists who interact with their own and other stories in elaborate ways. His 1994 Once Upon a Time: A Floating Opera casts Barth himself as the protagonist who on a sailing trip encounters characters and situations from previous works.” After the 2001 interview, he continued to work in the same vein with a triptych of novellas, Where Three Roads Meet in 2005, interrelated short stories set in a retirement community, The Development: Nine Stories in 2008, and Every Third Thought: A Novel in Five Seasons in 2011. A, book of collected stories was released in 2015 and Postscripts (or Just Desserts): Some Final Scribbling came out in 2022. This interview was both the last interview conducted with Richard Lupoff as co-host, and the final interview recorded and edited on analog tape. This program was digitized and edited in July 2024 by Richard Wolinsky. Complete 46-minute Interview   Lorrie Moore is a celebrated short story writer and novelist. In this excerpt from an interview recorded April 8, 2014 while on tour for her collection, Bark, she discusses her writing and research process. Complete 40-minute Interview.   Review of “The Return”  a Golden Thread production at The Garret in ACT’s Toni Rembe Theatre through August 24, 2025. The post August 14, 2025: John Barth, Master of Metafiction appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Robert Macfarlane: “Is A River Alive?” Robert Macfarlane, whose latest book is “Is a River Alive,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. The best-selling nature writer, and author of “Underland” and “The Old Ways” discusses the relationship of the human race to nature in the context of the rights of natural phenomena, specifically rivers. What rights does the earth have in terms of man’s hegemony? Where do we fit in nature? In this interview, recorded recorded June 11, 2025, he talks about his journey to three rivers: a cloud forest in South America, a dying river in India, and a river that runs through eastern Canada, along with a look at the spring near his home in England, and puts them all in context of environmentalism and politics. He is the author of several books, including “”Mountains of the Mind” and “Ghostways,” Robert Macfarlane teaches at Cambridge University.     The post August 7, 2025: Nature Author Robert Macfarlane, “Is A River Alive?” appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded in New York City on August 10, 1983. Isaac Asimov, who died at the age of 72 in 1992, was considered, along with Ray Bradbury and Robert Heinlein, one of the three great masters of American science fiction in the 20th century. Isaac Asimov began sending in stories and getting published in science fiction magazines at the age of nineteen, and at the age of 21, with the publication of the short story “Nightfall” in John W. Campbell’s Astounding Stories magazine. moved into the first ranks of science fiction writers. That status was confirmed a year later with the publication of the short story, “Foundation,” later renamed “The Encyclopedists,” which would be the first of several short stories and novellas republished as the three volumes of the Foundation trilogy. In the 1940s, he turned to a series of stories focused on robots, which became the collection I Robot and then in the 1950s turned to novels, including Pebble in the Sky, The Caves of Steel and The End of Eternity. Along the way, through his entire career, he wrote dozens of non-fiction books on a wide variety of topics, along with young adult novels, and mystery novels and short stories. In the end, the number of books he wrote or edited exceeded 500, not counting separate short stories and articles. This interview was conducted in a New York City bookstore Asimov was visiting to sign copies of a new collection, The Union Club Mysteries, a year after his return to the world of the Foundation trilogy, Foundation’s Edge, was published. Because his two –volume autobiography had come out a couple of years earlier and dealt with the plots and themes of his fiction, the interview focused instead on his life as a writer and his work with editors and publishers.. Complete 47-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast.   Ray Bradbury Ray Bradbury, the legendary author who passed away in 2012, sat down for an interview with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff in 1992 at his home in Los Angeles. Though called a science fiction or fantasy writer, Ray Bradbury spanned all genres, from poetry to mystery to mainstream fiction. Among his works include The Martian Chronicles, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Farenheit 451 and The Illustrated Man. This interview has been digitized and re-edited by Richard Wolinsky. Complete 38-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast.         The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – July 31, 2025: Isaac Asimov – Ray Bradbury appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Gore Vidal (1925-2012): “The Golden Age” Gore Vidal, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded on October 5, 2000 in San Francisco, California. Over a period of sixteen years from 1990 to 2006, Richard Wolinsky conducted four interviews with Gore Vidal, two of which involved co-host Richard A. Lupoff. This is the third chronologically of those interviews, conducted on October 5, 2000 while Gore Vidal was on tour for his novel The Golden Age, the final in his series of seven novels exploring American history and titled “Narratives of Empire.” The other novels in the series are Burr, 1876, Lincoln, Empire, Hollywood and Washington D.C. This conversation mostly concerns the period of The Golden Age, which encompasses the World War II and post-war era, focusing on the war itself, Roosevelt and Truman, Stalin, and the institution of the Cold War and the National Security State. The interview also tackles the Bush v Gore election season, and was conducted a month before Election Day. Digitized, remastered and re-edited in August, 2017 by Richard Wolinsky. The complete interview can be found as a Radio Wolinsky podcast. The post July 24, 2025: Gore Vidal Fund Drive Special appeared first on KPFA.