Who are Your Favorite Interviewers?
 

A good interviewer has to know relevant material, do what it take to get good answers out of a guest -be it making someone comfortable or calling out a guest on avoiding a question, and on their feet enough to read their guest and the conversation.

Who are your favorite interviewers? What makes them great? Is there a discussion that you remember?

My number 2. Bob Costas
I was listening to Costas on the Radio a couple Sunday mornings ago. Russell Simmons was on his show to promote his book and the conversation went to hip hop culture and raising media standards. Costas wanted to get Simmons' take on rapper's accountability for demanding women, glorifying violence, and gangsta-ass shit. Simmons danced around the question and talked about people contributing to charitable organizations, but never touching what responsibility rappers have. A Costas interview is usually subdued, but this time I saw him buck up and fight for that answer.

My number 1 is Charlie Rose He devours newspapers and books daily. He has insightful questions as diverse as Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France (a candidate at the time) to Warren Buffet to Jasper Johns. Since I started using Tivo, I've recorded his show (which airs around 1am in my city) and enjoyed the breadth and depth of his discussions which have helped me get a better grasp of foreign policy, current affairs, art, academia, and entertainment. I'm told that his website contains many past interviews to view for free.

Honorable mention: Bill Moyers

Amy Goodman.

She has interviewed hundreds of people, but the most memorable were the ones where you could tell she was particularly loving her job. Noam Chomsky on Democracy Now sticks out in my mind. I think the John Perkins interviews are really good, too.

I have several, and I'm admittedly biased because I either know all these people well, or at the least have met and talked to them.

Helen Thomas. This woman is a legend. She's been putting the screws to the presidents as a member of the white house press corps for longer than most of us have been alive. Presidents fear her because they know she won't back down, and she knows exactly what she's talking about.

Steve Hartman. This is the guy that did "Everybody has a Story" for CBS for many years. The premise was, he'd throw a dart at a map, and go to the town it hit. He'd grab a phonebook, flip through it, and put his finger on a page with his eyes closed. Whoever answered the phone, he had to interview and do a story on. Every single story he came away with was amazing. He could get people to tell him *anything,* even though they'd only known him for a couple hours. Incredible interviewer, incredible storyteller. And a shoutout should go out to the other half of the team, his cameraman Les Rose (we photogs have to stick together ;) )

Mike Schuh of WJZ Baltimore. He puts a mic on his subject and lets them do what they do while he talks to them. The interviews he gets are natural, and he's sharp enough to be able to get not only the facts, but the feelings, of the subject.

Kathy Wurzer of Minnesota Public Radio (Morning Edition) and TPT (Almanac). She's just plain good. She can interview someone for hours and never run out of questions. She'll get information out of people that no one else even thinks to ask about.

Ray Farkas. He interviews without interviewing. He'll stick a microphone in the middle of a table at a diner or wherever, tell the people there that he's doing a story on such and such, then go *outside* the diner with his camera, point it through the glass, and record their conversation about it (Yes, they know he's still there, no invasion of privacy ;) ). That's a trick I picked up from him and it makes for some freaking incredible stories. He's a living legend amongst TV types.

There are several more, but these guys are the standouts.

Terry Gross ...I think she's a great interviewer.

Charlie Rose is one of the best ever.

Thinking back at who else was good, I'm remembering how much I enjoyed Jack Paar interviewing people. Then that reminded me how much I also liked Dick Cavett's style.

Already been said, but Helen Thomas is awesome, and I enjoy Terry Gross as well (NPR). I miss American radio news sometimes... even though we get BBC World here, and that's decent enough. I don't know any of their interviewers' names, though they have some good ones on staff.

I wouldn't classify Helen Thomas as an interviewer, all she does these days is throw incendiary questions at Shrub during White House press conferences. that hardly counts as an interview by even the lamest standards.

Maybe you're right, but hey, at least someone's doing it... I admire incendiary question-throwers in this day and age.

I feel Howard Stern should be mentioned. I

I *strongly* disagree. One of the reasons I stopped listening to Howard Stern several years ago was _not_ because he offended me or any of the numerous other reasons people give for not listening to him...

It was because I realized I had never, ever heard an interviewee finish a sentence in Howard's presence. He was so into himself, he couldn't even let his guests talk.

Howard: So what do you think about _________?
Guest: Well, I was at the mall the other day and I saw _____, and I thought to myself, ...
Howard: You know what mall I *really* like? I really like going to XYZ Mall.
Guest: Yeah, that's a good mall. So about _____...
Howard: And you can always get such good sales at that mall! It's fantastic! And there are always naked chicks there! It's great! Do you like naked chicks?
Guest: I do like naked chicks. In fact...
Howard: Me too, I love naked chicks.

Etc.

Very obnoxious.

Isn't Ron Paul supposed to be on Howard Stern soon? Can you imagine a libertarian being faced with nympho little people stripping for cash?

Not in any order:

Thom Hartman
Rachel Maddow
Amy Goodman
Bill Moyers

You've got the wrong thread. This is the one for best interviewers, not worst interviewers.

All Stern cares about is fart and dick jokes and whether or not his female guests have had lesbo experiences, and if not, would they care to have one right now in the studio.

How enlightening.:shakehead: :rolleyes: :orly:

How about Brian Lamb?

The bulwark of C-SPAN. + He talks to authors and stuff+

People who read books and stuff tend to like him.

For some reason I am Transfixed when I see this guy on the tube...maybe it's the very non-judgmental nature of his interview.

not singling you out, but if that's what the listener thinks is the most important thing in knowing about someone, who are you to say they aren't a good interviewer? I mean, no one else's choice is being critiqued.

Personally I think all the interviewers suck, because no one asks the difficult questions. I don't think there are any interviewers that are good so I have no favorites.

Everyone follows the softball list of what's allowed to be asked. Fuck that.

You know, his interviews are intentionally sort of fluffy, given the context, but I've seen Jon Stewart come through with some really hard-hitting stuff with his guests. When he's got somebody in the chair that is talking crap, he doesn't hesitate to call them on it--and he does so in an affable, likable way that ends up being informative and humorous at the same time.

Yup. In that he's just like Katie Couric. She absolutely sucks.

Yeah, that's kinda what journos are supposed to do - toss out the questions that are hard for a politician to answer. Although so few of us have the intestinal fortitude to do it anymore that I'm not surprised you've forgotten.

Another vote for the awesome Terry Gross. Also Tom Ashbrook is pretty cool also.

Terry Gross - You can see her preparation and poise best in her interview with Uta Hagen, the legendary and aloof acting teacher. Also she demonstrates remarkable class in her famous interview with Gene Simmons (of Kiss). Listen to both if you can find them.

Terry Gross is awesome, as others have mentioned. As for other NPR interviewers...Diane Rehm often has amazing interviews. Even though her voice has a tendency to curdle milk.

While not necessarily news interviewing, I find Mike Rowe to be a very good interviewer--the work he has done on both "Deadliest Catch: After the Catch" and "Dirty Jobs" is excellent--he is great at getting regular people to tell extraordinary stories.

Additionally, I really enjoy the interviews Stephen Colbert does. I love the touch of satire he gives to everything.