''West Coast Live'' (1985—2018) was a weekly two-hour radio

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

hosted by Sedge Thomson. The unscripted program features interviews with world-renowned authors and cultural figures along with performances by musicians, comedians and other entertainers. It is broadcast live-to-satellite each Saturday morning in front of a theater audience from one of several

San Francisco Bay area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

venues. The show was carried on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

stations from coast-to-coast, and in Paris, France until 2018. Occasionally, the show traveled to theaters, music festivals and film festivals throughout the northwest. The ''Biospherical Digital-Optical Aquaphone'' (container of water sloshed for microphone), is the "trademarked signature" of Sedge Thomson.

Past guests

Writers include:

Diane Ackerman Diane Ackerman (born October 7, 1948) is an American poet, essayist, and naturalist known for her books and films. Education and career Ackerman received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Arts, Mas ...

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credi ...

Julian Barnes Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with ''The Sense of an Ending'', having been shortlisted three times previously with ''Flaubert's Parrot'', ''England, England'', and ''Arthu ...

, T. C. Boyle,

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury ( ; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...

, A. S. Byatt,

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels ''Black ...

Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, D.C., he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, ...

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (Birth name#Maiden and married names, née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for having brought French cuisine to the American pu ...

, Billy Collins,

Junot Díaz Junot Díaz ( ; born December 31, 1968) is a Dominican American writer, creative writing professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a former fiction editor at '' Boston Review''. Central to Díaz's work is the immigrant experience ...

Jennifer Egan Jennifer Egan (born September 7, 1962) is an American novelist and short-story writer. Her novel, ''A Visit from the Goon Squad,'' won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. From 2018 to 2020, she ...

Dave Eggers Dave Eggers (born March 12, 1970) is an American writer, editor, and publisher. His 2000 memoir, '' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius'', became a bestseller and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Eggers is a ...

Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti (March 24, 1919 – February 22, 2021) was an American poet, painter, social activist, and co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers. An author of poetry, translations, fiction, theatre, art criticism, and ...

Jonathan Safran Foer Jonathan Safran Foer (; born February 21, 1977) is an American novelist. He is known for his novels '' Everything Is Illuminated'' (2002), '' Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'' (2005), '' Here I Am'' (2016), and for his non-fiction works '' Eat ...

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ear ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

Daniel Handler Daniel Handler (born February 28, 1970) is an American author, musician, screenwriter, television writer, and television producer. He is best known for his children's book series ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' and '' All the Wrong Question ...

Robert Hass Robert L. Hass (born March 1, 1941) is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. He won the 2007 National Book Award John Irving John Winslow Irving (born John Wallace Blunt Jr.; March 2, 1942) is an American and Canadian novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of his fourth novel '' Th ...

Jamaica Kincaid Jamaica Kincaid (; born Elaine Cynthia Potter Richardson on May 25, 1949) is an Antiguan–American novelist, essayist, gardener, and gardening writer. Born in St. John's, the capital of Antigua and Barbuda, she now lives in North Bennington, ...

, Anne Lamott,

Gregory Maguire Gregory Maguire (born June 9, 1954) is an American novelist. He is the author of ''Wicked (Maguire novel), Wicked'', ''Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister'', and several dozen other novels for adults and children. Many of Maguire's adult novels are ...

Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (né Gerstley; born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. Biogra ...

, Armistead Maupin,

Michael McClure Michael McClure (October 20, 1932 – May 4, 2020) was an American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist. After moving to San Francisco as a young man, he found fame as one of the five poets (including Allen Ginsberg) who read at the famo ...

Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan (born 21 June 1948) is a British novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of the ...

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist and editor. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically accl ...

, Susan Orlean, P. J. O'Rourke,

Raj Patel Rajeev "Raj" Patel (born 1972) is a British academic, journalist, activist and writer who has lived and worked in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and the United States for extended periods. He has been referred to as "the rock star of social justice w ...

, Michael Pollan,

Tom Robbins Thomas Eugene Robbins (July 22, 1932 – February 9, 2025) was an American novelist. His most notable works are "seriocomedies" (also known as "comedy dramas"). Robbins had lived in La Conner, Washington, since 1970, where he wrote nine of his ...

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

David Sedaris David Raymond Sedaris ( ; born December 26, 1956) is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay " Santaland Diaries". He published his first col ...

, Eric Schlosser,

Zadie Smith Zadie Smith (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She became a tenured professor in the ...

Gary Snyder Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate ...

Calvin Trillin Calvin Marshall Trillin (born December 5, 1935) is an American journalist, humorist, food writer, poet, memoirist and novelist. He is a winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor (2012) and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts ...

Chris Van Allsburg Chris Van Allsburg (born June 18, 1949) is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He has won two Caldecott Medals for U.S. picture book illustration, for ''Jumanji'' (1981) and '' The Polar Express'' (1985), both of which he al ...

, Tobias Wolff,

Alice Walker Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awa ...

Alice Waters Alice Louise Waters (born April 28, 1944) is an American chef, restaurateur, food writer, and author. In 1971, she opened Chez Panisse, a restaurant in Berkeley, California, famous for its role in creating the farm-to-table movement and for ...

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist and short story writer. His 1993 novel ''Trainspotting (novel), Trainspotting'' was made into a Trainspotting (film), film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, ...

Edmund White Edmund Valentine White III (January 13, 1940 – June 3, 2025) was an American novelist, memoirist, playwright, biographer, and essayist. A pioneering figure in LGBTQ and especially gay literature after the Stonewall riots, he wrote with ra ...

Jacqueline Winspear Jacqueline Winspear (born 30 April 1955) is a mystery writer, author of the '' Maisie Dobbs'' series of books exploring the aftermath of World War I. She has won several mystery writing awards for books in this popular series. Personal life an ...

Jeanette Winterson Jeanette Winterson (born 27 August 1959) is an English author. Her first book, '' Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'', was a semi-autobiographical novel about a lesbian growing up in an English Pentecostal community. Other novels explore gender ...

Naomi Wolf Naomi Rebekah Wolf (born 1962) is an American feminist author, journalist, and conspiracy theorist. After the 1991 publication of her first book, '' The Beauty Myth'', Wolf became a prominent figure in the third wave of the feminist movemen ...

, Tobias Wolff,

Carlos Ruiz Zafón Carlos Ruiz Zafón (; 25 September 1964 – 19 June 2020) was a Spanish novelist known for his 2001 novel ''La sombra del viento'' ('' The Shadow of the Wind''). The novel sold 15 million copies and was winner of numerous awards; it was included ...

. Musicians include: The Blind Boys of Alabama, Greensky Bluegrass, Tim Bluhm,

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...

The Neville Brothers The Neville Brothers were an American R&B/soul/funk group, formed in 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana. History The group notion started in 1976, when the four brothers of the Neville family, Art (1937–2019), Charles (1938–2018), Aaron (b. 19 ...

, Greg Brown, Sam Bush,

David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...

Bruce Cockburn Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to folk- and jazz-influenced rock to soundscapes accompanying spoken stories. His lyrics reflect interests in spirit ...

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning nearly seven decades. An Academy Awards, Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award-winning rec ...

Ramblin' Jack Elliott Ramblin' Jack Elliott (born Elliott Charles Adnopoz; August 1, 1931) is an American folk singer, songwriter and story teller. Life and career Elliott was born in 1931 in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Florence (Rieger) and Abraham Adno ...

Tommy Emmanuel William Thomas Emmanuel (born 31 May 1955) is an Australian guitarist. Originally a session player in many bands, he has released many award-winning recordings as a solo artist. In June 2010, Emmanuel was appointed a Member of the Order of Aus ...

, Michael Franti, Béla Fleck & The Flecktones,

David Grisman David Jay Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acousti ...

Arlo Guthrie Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk music, folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing protest song, songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his fa ...

Ben Harper Benjamin Charles Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music, and he is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, liv ...

Richie Havens Richard Pierce Havens (January 21, 1941 – April 22, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk music, folk, soul music, soul (both of which he frequently cover song, covered), and rhythm and b ...

, Sean Hayes, Dan Hicks, Jolie Holland, Zakir Hussain,

The String Cheese Incident The String Cheese Incident (SCI) is an American jam band from Crested Butte and Telluride, Colorado, formed in 1993. The band is composed of Michael Kang (acoustic/electric mandolin, electric guitar, and violin), Michael Travis (drums and percu ...

Leo Kottke Leo Kottke (born September 11, 1945) is an American acoustic guitarist. He is known for a fingerpicking style that draws on blues, jazz, and folk music, and for syncopated, polyphonic melodies. He has overcome a series of personal obstacles, i ...

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

Ladysmith Black Mambazo Ladysmith Black Mambazo are a South African male choral group singing in the local vocal styles of ''isicathamiya'' and ''mbube (genre), mbube''. They became known internationally after singing with American Paul Simon on his 1986 album ''Grace ...

Ray Manzarek Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr. ( Manczarek; February 12, 1939 – May 20, 2013) was an American keyboardist. He is best known as a member of the rock band the Doors, co-founding the group in 1965 with fellow UCLA School of Theater, Film and Te ...

Country Joe McDonald Joseph Allen "Country Joe" McDonald (born January 1, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who was the lead vocalist of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Country Joe and the Fish.Richard Brenneman"Country Joe McDonald Revives Anti ...

Tuck & Patti Tuck & Patti are an American jazz duo consisting of guitarist William Charles "Tuck" Andress (born October 28, 1952, in Tulsa, Oklahoma) and singer Patricia "Patti" Cathcart Andress (born October 4, 1949, in San Francisco). Music career Guitaris ...

, U. Utah Phillips,

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical musi ...

Jonathan Richman Jonathan Michael Richman (born May 16, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970, he founded the Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key acoustic an ...

, Peter Rowan,

Blame Sally Blame Sally is a collaboration of four solo female singer-songwriters from San Francisco, United States, who have recorded and performed together frequently over the past decade. The members of the group include Pam Delgado (percussion and vocal ...

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

Merl Saunders Merl Saunders (February 14, 1934 – October 24, 2008) was an American multi-genre musician who played piano and keyboards, favoring the Hammond B-3 console organ. Biography Born in San Mateo, California, United States, Saunders attended Poly ...

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who founded the rock band the Lovin' Spoonful in 1964 with Zal Yanovsky. During his time in the Lovin Spoonful, Sebastian wrote and sang some of the ban ...

, Chris Smither,

Allen Toussaint Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, descr ...

, Charlie Hunter Trio, Trance Mission,

Hot Tuna Hot Tuna is an American blues rock band formed in 1969 by former Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen (guitarist/vocals) and Jack Casady (bassist). Although it has always been a fluid aggregation, with musicians coming and going over the ...

McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet from 1960 to 1965, and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Masters, NEA J ...

, The Devil Makes Three,

Vetiver ''Chrysopogon zizanioides'', commonly known as vetiver and khus, is a perennial bunchgrass of the family Poaceae. Vetiver is most closely related to sorghum while sharing many morphological characteristics with other fragrant grasses, such as ...

Loudon Wainwright III Loudon Snowden Wainwright III (born September 5, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor. He has released twenty-six studio albums, four live albums, and six compilations. Some of his best-known songs include "The Swimmin ...

. Actors include:

Carrie Fisher Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016) was an American actress and writer. She played Princess Leia in the Star Wars original trilogy, original ''Star Wars'' films (1977–1983) and reprised the role in'' Star Wars: The F ...

Peter Gallagher Peter Killian Gallagher (born August 19, 1955) is an American actor. Since 1980, he has played roles in numerous Hollywood films. He is best known for starring as Sandy Cohen in the television drama series '' The O.C.'' from 2003 to 2007, and ...

Elliott Gould Elliott Gould (; né Goldstein; born August 29, 1938) is an American actor. Gould's breakthrough role was in the film ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1969), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The ...

Gene Hackman Eugene Allen Hackman (January 30, 1930 – ) was an American actor. Hackman made his credited film debut in the drama ''Lilith (film), Lilith'' (1964). He later won two Academy Awards, his first for Academy Award for Best Actor, Best Actor for ...

Larry Hankin Lawrence Alan Hankin (born December 7, 1937) is an American character actor. He has had major film roles as Charley Butts in '' Escape from Alcatraz'' (1979), Ace in '' Running Scared'' (1986), and Carl Alphonse in '' Billy Madison'' (1995). H ...

Bill Irwin William Mills Irwin (born April 11, 1950) is an American actor, choreographer, clown, and comedian. He began as a vaudeville-style stage performer and has been noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. ...

Eddie Izzard Suzy Eddie Izzard ( ; born Edward John Izzard, 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomi ...

Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh actor, comedian, director, historian, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones a ...

Rita Moreno Rita Moreno (born Rosa Dolores Alverío Marcano; December 11, 1931) is an American actress, dancer, and singer. With a career spanning eight decades she is known for her roles on stage and screen, and is one of the last remaining stars from t ...

Adam Savage Adam Whitney Savage (born July 15, 1967) is an American special effects designer and manufacturer, fabricator, actor, educator, television personality, and producer, best known as the former co-host, with Jamie Hyneman, of the Discovery Channe ...

Jamie Hyneman James Franklin Hyneman (; born September 25, 1956) is an American special effects expert who was co-host of the television series ''MythBusters'' alongside Adam Savage, where he became known for his distinctive beret and walrus moustache. He ...

, Richard Lewis,

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...

Debra Winger Debra Lynn Winger (born May 16, 1955) is an American actress. She starred in the films '' An Officer and a Gentleman'' (1982), '' Terms of Endearment'' (1983), and '' Shadowlands'' (1993), each of which earned her a nomination for the Academy Awa ...

, Geoff Bolt, Michael O'Brien Others include:

Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 101 ...

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

, Wavy Gravy,

Spalding Gray Spalding Gray (June 5, 1941 – ) was an American actor, novelist, playwright, screenwriter and performance artist. He is best known for the autobiographical monologues that he wrote and performed for the theater in the 1980s and 1990s, as well ...

Guerrilla Girls Guerrilla Girls is an anonymous group of Feminist movements and ideologies, feminist, female artists devoted to fighting sexism and racism within the art world. The group formed in New York City in 1985, born out of a picket against the Museum of ...

Garrison Keillor Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (; born August 7, 1942) is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show ''A Prairie Home Companion'' (called ''Garrison Keillor's Radio ...

Craig Newmark Craig Alexander Newmark (born December 6, 1952) is an American internet entrepreneur and philanthropist best known as the founder of the classifieds website Craigslist. Before founding Craigslist, he worked as a computer programmer for IBM, Bank ...

Peter Sellars Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he teaches ...

Steve Wozniak Stephen Gary Wozniak (; born August 11, 1950), also known by his nickname Woz, is an American technology entrepreneur, electrical engineer, computer programmer, philanthropist, and inventor. In 1976, he co-founded Apple Inc., Apple Computer with ...

2015

Nick Papadopoulous, CropMobster - December 19, 2015

Steve Silberman, ''NeuroTribes'' - October 3, 2015

2014

A. Scott Berg, ''Wilson'' - September 27, 2014

Eric Schlosser, ''Command and Control'' - September 27, 2014

Charles Saumarez Smith, Royal Academy of Arts - February 1, 2014

2013

Dave Barry, ''Insane City'' - February 9, 2013

Mo Willems - February 9, 2013

2012

Claire Peaslee - December 22, 2012

Anne Lamott, ''Help Thanks Wow'' - December 15, 2012

Raymond Offenheiser, Oxfam America - July 21, 2012

Raj Patel, ''Stuffed and Starved'' - July 21, 2012

Alice Waters, Owner of Chez Panisse Restaurant - July 21, 2012

Raj Patel, Raymond Offenheiser & Alice Waters - July 21, 2012

Howard Rheingold, ''Netsmart: How to Thrive Online'' - June 16, 2012

Dhaya Lakshminarayanan - June 16, 2012

Juliet Bell (aka Sylvia Brownrigg), ''Keplers Dream'' - May 12, 2012

Edmund White, ''Jack Holmes and His Friend'' - February 4, 2012

Barbara Babcock, ''Woman Lawyer'' - February 4, 2012

Maira Kalman, ''Why We Broke Up'' - February 4, 2012

Ellis Avery, ''The Last Nude'' - January 14, 2012

Nicholas de Monchaux, ''Fashioning Apollo'' - January 14, 2012

Julia Flynn Siler, ''Lost Kingdom'' - January 7, 2012

2011

Thomas Steinbeck, ''The Silver Lotus'' - December 10, 2011

Mark Bowden, ''Worm: The First Digital World War'' - October 22, 2011

Courtney E Smith, ''Record Collecting for Girls'' - September 10, 2011

Rita Moreno, ''Life WIthout Makeup'' - September 10, 2011

Adam Hochschild, ''To End All Wars'' - April 30, 2011

Eric Greitens, ''The Heart and The Fist'' - April 30, 2011

Daniel Clowes - April 23, 2011

Donovan Hohn, ''Moby Duck'' & Susan Freinkel, ''Plastic'' - April 23, 2011

Jacques dAmboise, ''I Was a Dancer ''- April 9, 2011

Joyce Carol Oates, ''A Widows Story'' - April 2, 2011

2010

Judy Chicago, ''Frida Kahlo: Face to Face'' - December 11, 2010

Coleman Barks, ''Rumi the Big Red Book'' - December 11, 2010

Armistead Maupin, Mary Ann in Autumn - December 11, 2010

Daniel Handler AKA Lemony Snicket, ''13 Words'' - November 13, 2010

Terry McMillan, ''Getting to Happy'' - November 13, 2010

Alice Walker, ''Hard Times Require Furious Dancing''- October 30, 2010

Alexander McCall Smith, ''The Lost Art of Gratitude'' - October 23, 2010

Julia Butterfly Hill, ''The Legacy of Luna'' - April 17, 2010

Zachary Mason, ''The Lost Books of Odysseus'' - March 6, 2010

TC Boyle, ''Wild Child'' - February 20, 2010

2009

Andre Agassi, ''Open: An Autobiography'' - November 21, 2009

Jonathan Safran Foer, ''Eating Animals'' - November 7, 2009

John Irving, ''Last Night in Twisted River'' - November 7, 2009

Ben Fong Torres - August 8, 2009

Ruth Reichl, ''Not Becoming my Mother'' - May 9, 2009

Geoffrey Masson - May 2, 2009

Jane E Smith - May 2, 2009

Jane Vandenburgh - April 25, 2009

Lynn Freed - April 25, 2009

Alva Noe - April 11, 2009

Brenda Webster - April 11, 2009

RuthReichl_2009_05_09

Alan Boss - March 14, 2009

Zoe Heller, ''The Believers'' - March 7, 2009

Barry Jenkins, ''Medicine for Melancholy'' - March 7, 2009

Joe Gores, ''Spade and Archer'' - February 28, 2009

Jacqueline Winspear, ''Among the Mad'' -

February 28
2009
Stacey DErasmo, ''The Sky Below'' - January 17, 2009

Robert Roper, ''Now'' the Drum of War - January 17, 2009

Wes Nisker - January 10, 2009

2008

Spain Rodriguez, ''CHE, A Graphic Biography ''- December 13, 2008

Maxine Hong Kingston - November 29, 2008

Toni Morrison, ''A Mercy'' - November 22, 2008

Eoin Colfer, ''The Worst Boy in the World'' - May 24, 2008

Sylvia Brownrigg

''Morality Tale'' - May 10, 2008

Rabih Alameddine, ''Hakawati'' - May 10, 2008

Robert Bly and Eavan Boland - May 3, 2008

Elizabeth McKenzie, ''McGregor Tells the World'' - May 3, 2008

Richard Price, ''Lush Life'' - March 29, 2008

Gene Hackman and Daniel Lenihan, ''Wake of the Perdido Star'' - February 16, 2008

James McBride, ''Song Yet Sung ''- February 9, 2008

Roy Blount Jr, ''Long Time Leaving'' - February 2, 2008

Calvin Trillin - February 2, 2008

Ricki Lake & Abby Epstein, ''The Business of Being Born'' - January 19, 2008

Michael Pollan, ''In Defense of Food'' - January 19, 2008

2007

Robert Hass, ''Time and Materials'' - December 8, 2007

Alice Waters, ''The Art of Simple Food'' - November 24, 2007

Bill Pullman - September 8, 2007

Michael Chabon - June 16, 2007

Josh Waitzkin, ''Searching for Bobby Fisher'' - June 16, 2007

Mal Sharpe - May 26, 2007

Helen Simpson, ''In the Drivers Seat ''- May 26, 2007

Julia Whitty - May 26, 2007

Bill Bryson - May 12, 2007

2006

Craig Newmark - November 4, 2006

Mark Childress, ''One Mississippi ''- August 19, 2006

Carolyn Cooke - August 12, 2006

Sylvia Brownrigg, ''The Delivery Room'' - July 8, 2006

Ben Fong Torres, ''Almost Famous'' - June 10, 2006

Gary Shteyngart, ''Absurdistan'' - May 13, 2006

John Baxter, ''Well Always Have Paris'' - April 1, 2006

Julian Barnes, ''Arthur and George ''- February 11, 2006

Mary Roach, ''Spook''- February 4, 2006

Ayelet Waldman, ''Love and Other Impossible Pursuits'' - February 4, 2006

Allan Zweibel, ''The Other Shulman'' - February 4, 2006

Matthew and Terces Anglehart, ''The Abounding River'' - January 28, 2006

2005

Doris Kearns Goodwin, ''Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln'' - December 3, 2005

Michael Recchiuti and Fran Gage - November 26, 2005

Will Durst - October 22, 2005

Howard Junker, ''Zyzzyva'' - October 15, 2005

Gus Lee, ''China Boy'' - October 15, 2005

Terry McMillan, ''The Interruption of Everything'' - August 20, 2005

Melissa Bank, ''The Wonder Spot''

- June 11, 2005

David Sedaris, ''Dress your Family in Corduroy and Denim'' - June 11, 2005

Robert Bly - May 14, 2005

Marc Ian Barasch, ''Field Notes on the Compassionate Life ''- May 7, 2005

SARK, ''Sarks New Creative Companion: Ways to Free Your Creative Spirit'' - May 7, 2005

Les Barker - February 19, 2005

Irvin Yalom - February 19, 2005

2004

Nigella Lawson, ''Feast: Food to Celebrate'' - November 20, 2004

Maya Angelou - October 16, 2004

Guy Johnson- October 16, 2004

Carl and Karl- October 2, 2004

Annie Somerville, Greens Restaurant Chef - August 28, 2004

David Sedaris - June 19, 2004

Isabel Allende, Adventure Stories, ''My Invented Country: A Memoir ''- May 15, 2004

Lang Lang, pianist and raconteur - Nov. 13, 2004

2003

Amy Tan - December 13, 2003

Kathy Kamen Goldmark - August 9, 2003

Sarah Jones - May 17, 2003

Paul Disco - May 3, 2003

Norman Fisher - May 3, 2003

Noah Levine - May 3, 2003

Paul Collins - April 12, 2003

Po Bronson - February 8, 2003

William Gibson - February 8, 2003

Sarah Jones - February 1, 2003

AS Byatt - January 25, 2003

2002

Salman Rushdie - September 28, 2002

Alan Bennett- August 8, 2002

Margaret Cho - July 13, 2002

Anne Packer - July 13, 2002

Eric Schlosser - January 26, 2002

Steve Wozniak - January 26, 2002

Lily Tomlin - January 12, 2002

Rebecca Walker - January 12, 2002

2001

Lawrence Ferlinghetti - October 13, 2001

Dave Eggers & Zadie Smith - July 21, 2001

Doris Haddock "Granny D" - May 5, 2001

2000

David Sedaris - June 17, 2000

Eddie Izzard - June 10, 2000

1999

Spalding Gray - January 2, 1999

1998

Joe Quirk - March 28, 1998

1997

Alice Walker - May 10, 1997

Francesco Rosi - May 3, 1997

Marilyn Yalom - March 1, 1997

Oliver Sacks - February 22, 1997

Dean Koontz - February 22, 1997

Robert Girardi - February 8, 1997

Diane Johnson - February 8, 1997

Diane Ackerman - February 8, 1997

Rigo97 - February 8, 1997

1996

Gary Snyder - December 14, 1996

Julia Child - November 16, 1996

Hettie Jones - October 10, 1996

Dennis Hopper - October 5, 1996

Ruth Weiss - October 12, 1996

Charles Schultz - September 7, 1996

Jennifer Egan - May 9, 1996

Gus Lee - March 30, 1996

Jamaica Kincaid - February 10, 1996

Anne Lamott - January 6, 1996

1995

Tobias Wolff - November 11, 1995

Gregory Maguire - October 14, 1995

David Byrne - October 7, 1995

John Berendt - September 23, 1995

Anne Lamott - June 3, 1995

Ray Bradbury & Robert Watson - June 3, 1995

Paulo Coelho - May 27, 1995

Thomas Keneally - May 6, 1995

Oliver Sacks - March 4, 1995

Helen Palmer - January 21, 1995

1994

Sylvia Earl - December 12, 1994

Anne Lamott - December 12, 1994

Karl and Carl - December 12, 1994

Meredith Tromble - December 12, 1994

Ian Frazier - December 3, 1994

Lucy Grealy - December 3, 1994

Howard Rheingold - December 10, 1994

Josh Kornbluth - October 15, 1994

Naa Kahidi - October 15, 1994

Terry Jones - October 22, 1994

George Takei, ''To the Stars'' - September 24, 1994

Allen Ginsberg - September 17, 1994

Michael McClure - August 6, 1994

James Houston - July 9, 1994

Bill Barich - July 2, 1994

Whitfield Diffie - July 2, 1994

Paul Theroux - March 19, 1994

1991

Sedge Thomson, Total Solar Eclipse, Baja California - July 11, 1991

Venues

* The Freight and Salvage * Yoshi's (jazz club) *

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern art, modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art ...

San Francisco Ferry Building The San Francisco Ferry Building is a terminal station, terminal for ferry, ferries that travel across the San Francisco Bay, a food hall and an office building. It is located on Embarcadero (San Francisco), The Embarcadero in San Francisco, Ca ...

* 142 Throckmorton Theatre * The Chapel * The Empire Plush Room * Cowell Theater at Fort Mason * Venetian Room at the Fairmont Hotel *

Oregon Shakespeare Festival The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is a regional Repertory, repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1935 by Angus L. Bowmer. The Festival now offers matinee and evening performances of a wide range of classic and conte ...

High Sierra Music Festival High Sierra Music Festival is a multi-day music festival held in Quincy, California, United States, a mountainous area about 80 miles northwest of Reno, Nevada. History The first High Sierra Music Festival was in 1991 at Bear Valley in Alpine ...

* Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival

References

External links

''West Coast Live'' official webpage

where to hear ''West Coast Live''
{{Clear American public radio programs American talk radio programs 1992 radio programme debuts