Episodes

  • Joe R. Lansdale, Prolific Genre Author (Part One: 1994 Interview)

    Joe R. Lansdale, Prolific Genre Author (Part One: 1994 Interview)
    Nov 9 2025
    From the Probabilities Archive: Joe R. Lansdale, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded August 2, 1994 during the author tour for the Hap and Leonard novel, “Mucho Mojo,” recorded in the KPFA Studios. 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 non-series novels, 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 series, which ran on AMC+ for three seasons, starting in 2016. A new interview coming soon. The post Joe R. Lansdale, Prolific Genre Author (Part One: 1994 Interview) appeared first on KPFA.
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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • The Probabilities Archive: Clive Barker, Master of Horror and Fantasy, “Hellbound: Hellraiser II,” 1988

    The Probabilities Archive: Clive Barker, Master of Horror and Fantasy, “Hellbound: Hellraiser II,” 1988
    Nov 2 2025
    Clive Barker in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, Richard A. Lupoff and Lawrence Davidson, recorded at Dark Carnival Bookstore in Berkeley October 21, 1988 while promoting the film “Hellbound: Hellraiser II.” Digitized, remastered and lightly edited October 25-26, 2025 and not heard for over thirty-five years. Clive Barker burst on the horror scene in 1985 with his collection of short stories, Books of Blood. He cemented his reputation in the years that followed with horror and fantasy novels, and with the films Hellraiser and Candyman and their sequels. His career stopped dead in its tracks in 2012 after a visit to his dentist’s office resulted in a coma. While he recovered and is still alive, no new books have seen the light of day since a novella, Chiliad, a Meditation was published in a limited edition in 2014. The Probabilities crew, Richard A. Lupoff, Lawrence Davidson and Richard Wolinsky interviewed Clive three times. The first interview, conducted in the KPFA studios in September 1987 was digitized and uploaded to Radio Wolinsky in October 2022. This, the second interview, was recorded on October 21, 1988 in front of a small audience at Dark Carnival Bookstore in Berkeley. Clive was in town to promote his film Hellbound: Hellraiser II, and the interview, which feels more like a modern day podcast, focuses on his troubles avoiding an X rating for his film, along with discussing his most recent book, Cabal, which featured a novella of the same name plus a handful of short stories. No complete version of this interview has ever aired. The third interview with Clive Barker, from 1992, has yet to be digitized. 1987 interview with Clive Barker NOTES: Clive Barker’s film Hellbound: Hellraiser II was followed by Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, several video games and eventually a remake in 2022, in which he is listed as producer. Several of his other stories were later adapted. His book The Art was eventually published as the two volume Books of the Art, The Great and Secret Show, often considered his finest work, and Everville. The film Nightbreed came out in 1989 and flopped, so no sequels were made. While no books have been published since 2014, he was interviewed in 2024 saying that he was working on several projects that are still forthcoming. IMDb says that a Nightbreed television series is in the works. The post The Probabilities Archive: Clive Barker, Master of Horror and Fantasy, “Hellbound: Hellraiser II,” 1988 appeared first on KPFA.
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    1 hr and 40 mins
  • Bebe Moore Campbell (1950-2006), Novelist focusing on Racism and Mental Health, “What You Owe Me,” 2001

    Bebe Moore Campbell (1950-2006), Novelist focusing on Racism and Mental Health, “What You Owe Me,” 2001
    Oct 26 2025
    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 podcast is the first time the entire edited interview has been heard. The interview itself has not aired since 2002. The post Bebe Moore Campbell (1950-2006), Novelist focusing on Racism and Mental Health, “What You Owe Me,” 2001 appeared first on KPFA.
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Roger Kahn (1927-2020): The Boys of Summer

    Roger Kahn (1927-2020): The Boys of Summer
    Oct 19 2025
    With the World Series coming up, a look back at baseball with one of the great baseball writers of the Twentieth Century. This podcast was originally posted on August 23, 2020, and hadn’t been heard in over twenty five years. Roger Kahn, who died on February 6, 2020 at the age of 92, was one of the icons in the world of baseball writing. His classic “The Boys of Summer,” about his relationship with his father and their united love for the Brooklyn Dodgers, is one of the greatest baseball books of all time. He started his career in journalism in 1948 as a copyboy for the New York Herald Tribune and within four years was covering the Dodgers for that newspaper. He moved over to Newsweek in 1956 and the Saturday Evening Post in 1963 as he revved up his career writing both fiction and non-fiction books, mostly but not exclusively about baseball, and the ups and downs of his own life. On October 13, 1993, Richard A. Lupoff and Richard Wolinsky sat down for an extended interview with Roger Kahn about his book, “The Era: 1947-1957, when the Yankees, the Giants and the Dodgers Ruled the World. “ It turned out he was a marvelous raconteur, as well as a keen historian of racism in the sport. In fact, his final book, published in 2014, was titled “Rickey and Robinson: The True, Untold Story of the Integration of Baseball.” (Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson). Dick Lupoff and Richard Wolinsky would interview Roger Kahn once more, in 1998, but that interview focused not on baseball but on a biography of boxer Jack Dempsey. After this interview, Roger Kahn would go on to write six more books, including not only the history of the early days of integration, and the biography of Dempsey, but a memoir of the people he met, a book about the view from the pitching mound, and a history of the New York Yankees improbable run for the pennant in 1978. Digitized, remastered and edited in 2020 by Richard Wolinsky. The post Roger Kahn (1927-2020): The Boys of Summer appeared first on KPFA.
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    2 hrs and 18 mins
  • Edmund White (1940-2025), The Patron Saint of Gay Literature, “The Farewell Symphony,” 1997

    Edmund White (1940-2025), The Patron Saint of Gay Literature, “The Farewell Symphony,” 1997
    Oct 12 2025
    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. In the interview, he discusses various books he plans to write, including one about his Paris years. That book, “Inside a Pearl,” was published in 2014. He also said he’d never write another biography, but “Rimbaud: The Double Life of a Rebel” was published in He discusses returning to the character of Brice from “The Farewell Symphony.” He did return to the character, who was renamed and appears in the novel “The Married Man” in 2000. He also wonders if he will return to historical fiction. He did, with the novel “Fanny,” published in 2003. The three novels in his trilogy are A Boy’s Own Story, The Beautiful Room is Empty and The Farewell Symphony. The post Edmund White (1940-2025), The Patron Saint of Gay Literature, “The Farewell Symphony,” 1997 appeared first on KPFA.
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Thomas Perry (1947-2025), Award Winning Mystery & Thriller Novelist

    Thomas Perry (1947-2025), Award Winning Mystery & Thriller Novelist
    Oct 5 2025
    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. The complete 35-minute interview is heard for the first time. The post Thomas Perry (1947-2025), Award Winning Mystery & Thriller Novelist appeared first on KPFA.
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    1 hr and 15 mins
  • The Probabilities Archive: Chelsea Quinn Yarbro & Tanith Lee: Virtuosos of Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction

    The Probabilities Archive: Chelsea Quinn Yarbro & Tanith Lee: Virtuosos of Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction
    Sep 28 2025
    Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (1942-2025) Tanith Lee (1947-2015) This podcast 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. The post The Probabilities Archive: Chelsea Quinn Yarbro & Tanith Lee: Virtuosos of Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction appeared first on KPFA.
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    1 hr and 51 mins
  • Susan Orlean, “Rin Tin Tin” and “The Orchid Thief,” 2011

    Susan Orlean, “Rin Tin Tin” and “The Orchid Thief,” 2011
    Sep 21 2025
    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 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. This is the first time the entire interview has been heard. (Photo: Susan Orlean website) The post Susan Orlean, “Rin Tin Tin” and “The Orchid Thief,” 2011 appeared first on KPFA.
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    1 hr and 51 mins