Gillian Flynn, author of "Dark Places," talks about why she thought it was important to write about a different type of woman than the ones often portrayed on many novels. The full interview from a 2009 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts. Photo: gillian-flynn.com…

Doug Fine, author of "Farewell, My Subaru: An Epic Adventure in Local Living," talks about how he exchanged his Subaru for a 'roat' and the surprising smell that came from the exhaust of the new vehicle. The full interview from a 2008 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts. Photo: dou…

Marie Lawson Fiala, author of "Letters from a Distant Shore," talks about how a prayer group was formed organically after all medical solutions had been exhausted in an effort to help her young son Jeremy recover from a sudden medical event. The full interview from a 2010 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wher…

Jared Farmer, author of "Trees in Paradise: A California History," talks about why eucalyptus and palm trees became such a large part of the California landscape and what has changed in recent decades. The full interview from a 2013 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts. Photo: Rober…

James Fallows, author of "China Airborne," talks about who the Klapmeier brothers are and how China came to own their revolutionary aircraft manufacturing company. The full interview from a 2012 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts.By Jim Foster: Conversations On The Coast

Harold Evans, the late author of "They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators," talks about how A.P. Giannini helped change the banking industry by expanding services to the middle-class, and also speaks on what he did for the San Francisco Bay Area. The full interview from a 2004 episode of "Conversat…

T.J. English, author of "Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost It to the Revolution," talks about the entertainment scene in 1950s Cuba and the revolution that destroyed it toward the end of the decade. The full interview from a 2008 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podca…

James Ellroy, author of "Blood's a Rover," talks about what makes the way he writes about American History so unique. The full interview from a 2009 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts. Photo: jamesellroy.net.By Jim Foster: Conversations On The Coast

Joseph J. Ellis, author of "American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies in the Founding of the Republic," talks about why John Adams wanted more credit for writing the Declaration of Independence. The full interview from a 2007 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts. Photo: josephellish…

Barry Eisler, author of "Fault Line," talks about how two brothers who don't get along find a way to come together and rely upon each other anyway. The full interview from a 2009 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts. Photo: Douglas Sonders/barryeisler.com.…

Gretel Ehrlich, author of "Facing The Wave," talks about how she went about learning the truth of what happened when a tsunami hit Japan in 2011, with the help of her interpreter guides, and the aftermath for the many people affected by the natural disaster. The full interview from a 2013 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can …

Jennifer Egan, author of "The Keep," reads an excerpt from the novel and gives her answer to the question "Can the imagined become the reality?" The full interview from a 2006 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts. Photo: jenniferegan.com/Pieter M. van Hattem…

On this special episode, host and producer Jim Foster speaks with technical producer Robert Costa about how "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" became a long-running program airing on various radio stations in the San Francisco Bay Area for several decades, and also speaks about how the book publishing world has changed over the years, whe…

In "The Whole World Over," author Julia Glass writes a novel about all the little accidents in life that come together to determine our choices in love and connections to others in the world. This second discussion about the book took place on a 2007 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" originating in San Francisco, California. P…

In "Perfidia," author James Ellroy writes a historical novel and the first volume of his second L.A. Quartet series, set in Los Angeles in 1941 that follows the story of several very different people who come together to investigate the murder of a Japanese family as America is at the brink of World War II. This discussion with the author took plac…

In "The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions," author Sister Helen Prejean talks about her first-hand experiences witnessing the execution of Dobie Gillis Williams in 1999 and Joseph Roger O'Dell in 1997, how poor people are primarily affected by wrongful executions, and why the execution of Michael Morales was postponed…

In "Dorchester Terrace: A Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Novel," the late author Anne Perry writes the next novel in a series in which Thomas Pitt is now the head of Britain's Special Branch, and follows the story of him and his wife trying to get information from two women in order to prevent an international catastrophe. This conversation took place o…

In "Her Wild Oats," the late author Kathi Kamen Goldmark writes a novel about two people at very different points in their lives who develop an unlikely friendship, a thirteen-year-old boy who plays the harmonica, and a young woman who recently discovered her husband was having an affair. In this discussion, the late author's husband Sam Barry talk…

In "And the Dark Sacred Night," author Julia Glass writes a novel about a man's quest to find his biological father and what he discovered along the journey about himself and the world. This discussion took place on a 2014 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" originating in San Francisco, California. Photo: Robert Costa.…

In this episode, Jim Foster shares his thoughts on the publishing scandal surrounding James Frey's memoir "A Million Little Pieces" and why a memoir by Heather King entitled "Parched" is more meaningful surrounding the subject of alcoholism and addiction, especially considering the fact that many things written as personal experiences in Frey's mem…