Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)
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Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)
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Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)
#2Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)
#3I used to think she was the gold standard of interviewing, and I still do, in general.
> Barbara Walters was once our national interviewer, in a flashier style defined by a desire for spectacle.
Baba Wawa (can't ever not think of her as that, after Gilda Radner) was all "Look at me, look at me! Oh yeah, you're here, too."
However, Rick Beato beats Terry out, in the category of certain musicians at least. He's not afraid to just let them talk.
Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)
#4I used to think she was the gold standard of interviewing, and I still do, in general. > Barbara Walters was once our national interviewer, in a flashier style defined by a desire for spectacle. Baba Wawa (can't ever not think of her as that, after Gilda Radner) was all "Look at me, look at me! Oh yeah, you're here, too." However, Rick Beato beats Terry out, in the category of certain musicians at least. He's not afr…
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Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)
#5I used to think she was the gold standard of interviewing, and I still do, in general. > Barbara Walters was once our national interviewer, in a flashier style defined by a desire for spectacle. Baba Wawa (can't ever not think of her as that, after Gilda Radner) was all "Look at me, look at me! Oh yeah, you're here, too." However, Rick Beato beats Terry out, in the category of certain musicians at least. He's not afr…
"Look at me, look at me! Oh yeah, you're here, too."
I find interviewers like that almost unwatchable. Sorry, I’m here to see the guest, not the interviewer. It’s unbelievably arrogant for an interviewer to behave like that.
The best interviewers say almost nothing at all, yet manage to get their guests to really open up and talk about many interesting things. It’s like some kind of superpower, the ability to say just a few, carefully chosen words and have the guest talking for hours.
Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)
#6Pet peeves:
- interviewers who ramble on when asking a question
- interviewers who rely on declarative sentences (i.e. they don't even ask a question)
- interviewers who rely on imperative sentences (e.g. "Talk about the time that such and such happened.")
- interviewers who say "Um..." often.
Terry Gross commits all of these interviewing mistakes, in my view. She's good at booking guests, but beyond that I'm unimpressive and am suspicious of the fawning over her.
That's just my "two cents" on the topic.
Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)
#7I used to think she was the gold standard of interviewing, and I still do, in general. > Barbara Walters was once our national interviewer, in a flashier style defined by a desire for spectacle. Baba Wawa (can't ever not think of her as that, after Gilda Radner) was all "Look at me, look at me! Oh yeah, you're here, too." However, Rick Beato beats Terry out, in the category of certain musicians at least. He's not afr…
"Look at me, look at me! Oh yeah, you're here, too." I find interviewers like that almost unwatchable. Sorry, I’m here to see the guest, not the interviewer. It’s unbelievably arrogant for an interviewer to behave like that. The best interviewers say almost nothing at all, yet manage to get their guests to really open up and talk about many interesting things. It’s like some kind of superpower, the ability to say jus…
There are two fundamental types of interviews that have entirely different goals. One is the interview as entertainment and the other is interviewing someone to get important information about a specific thing on the public record. And the styles are very different. Sure, sometimes it's fun to listen to a random famous person reminisce for hours about random stuff that's happened to them in an unstructured way, but I don't really consider that an interview. Most of the time I'm not there to see the interviewer or the guest for their own sake, but to try to learn something about an important question.
To me a great interviewer is someone who can get to the heart of the issue at hand and elicit an interesting and enlightening answer to an important question as efficiently as possible, especially when it is a question person really doesn't want to answer. Sometimes it does take hours to get there and that is fine, but if you can get answers you are looking for in 15 minutes then there is not no need to waste anybodies time and just let your guest ramble about whatever is one their mind.
Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)
#8Pet peeves: - interviewers who ramble on when asking a question - interviewers who rely on declarative sentences (i.e. they don't even ask a question) - interviewers who rely on imperative sentences (e.g. "Talk about the time that such and such happened.") - interviewers who say "Um..." often. Terry Gross commits all of these interviewing mistakes, in my view. She's good at booking guests, but beyond that I'm unimpre…
The reason people like her is that she gets them interested in the guest. Not many interviewers can do that. She'll interview some blues artist you've never heard of and the next thing you know you're looking them up on Youtube.
Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)
#9Pet peeves: - interviewers who ramble on when asking a question - interviewers who rely on declarative sentences (i.e. they don't even ask a question) - interviewers who rely on imperative sentences (e.g. "Talk about the time that such and such happened.") - interviewers who say "Um..." often. Terry Gross commits all of these interviewing mistakes, in my view. She's good at booking guests, but beyond that I'm unimpre…
The reason people like her is that she gets them interested in the guest. Not many interviewers can do that. She'll interview some blues artist you've never heard of and the next thing you know you're looking them up on Youtube.
Perhaps a difference in what people are looking for. I don't listen to interviews for content discovery -- there is already a glut of content. Rather, I expect interviews to tell me substantially more about a figure I am already familiar with.
Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)
#10Pet peeves: - interviewers who ramble on when asking a question - interviewers who rely on declarative sentences (i.e. they don't even ask a question) - interviewers who rely on imperative sentences (e.g. "Talk about the time that such and such happened.") - interviewers who say "Um..." often. Terry Gross commits all of these interviewing mistakes, in my view. She's good at booking guests, but beyond that I'm unimpre…
The reason people like her is that she gets them interested in the guest. Not many interviewers can do that. She'll interview some blues artist you've never heard of and the next thing you know you're looking them up on Youtube.
I've never listened to Terry Gross... but taking your and parent's comment together, it sounds like she's someone who has researched the guest well and actively directs the interview in a particular direction - ie. tries to craft a compelling narrative.