Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015) • Hacker News Board

Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)

#41

Post by dventimi » Wed, Dec 20, 2023, 4:03 PM UTC

goda90 wrote: post #37

dwater wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, no. That’s my pet peeve about Terry Gross, she often gets things wrong and the guest has to correct her. It often sounds like she didn’t prep for the interview at all.

Getting the guest to correct and expound could be an intentional technique to make it so she isn't just reading off a biography to them while they just affirm each statement.

Could be. "Anything is possible," as they say. Personally, I'd apply Occam's Razor and say it's more likely it's not intentional and these are bona-fide mistakes on her part.

Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)

#42

Post by dventimi » Wed, Dec 20, 2023, 4:07 PM UTC

adamlgerber wrote: post #36

dventimi wrote: post #6

Pet 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…

You might love Conversations with Tyler, the podcast hosted by Tyler Cowen. https://conversationswithtyler.com/ I used to enjoy Terry Gross and many other interviewers, but Tyler Cowen just blows past everyone by getting so much deeper so much faster than anyone else. You can tell that the interviewers are often relieved to finally get asked real questions. Some people are put off by his style but I find it exhilarat…

Thanks! I'll check it out.

Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)

#43

Post by AlbertCory » Wed, Dec 20, 2023, 4:38 PM UTC

mightybyte wrote: post #35

AlbertCory wrote: post #3

I 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…

One person who stands out in my mind for interviewing skill and quality is Sean Evans on Hot Ones. The whole show is a great combination of excellent background research, interviewer preparation, empathy, and the setting of ultra spicy food that makes the guest very vulnerable. These factors combine unusually well to increase the effectiveness of the whole thing.

Thanks, I don't know that one.

Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)

#44

Post by AlbertCory » Wed, Dec 20, 2023, 4:44 PM UTC

dagw wrote: post #7

chongli wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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…

You're talking more about a legal cross-examination. Or a police "interview." They don't want to waste time; in fact, they can't. That's definitely a useful service.

Almost all the other people we're talking about here are "entertainment." You can say "that's not an interview" but I don't think you get much traction with that argument. Perhaps "interrogation" is the term you want.

Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)

#45

Post by justin66 » Wed, Dec 20, 2023, 5:24 PM UTC

Boogie_Man wrote: post #40

dventimi wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect that Terry Gross, like NPR, is a brand that people wear to advertise "I'm smart." That's what's really going on with what her audience feels about her. That in turn explains what's really going on with what NPR and her colleagues there feel about her.

I've recently listened to several Terry Gross interviews, and the David Bowie interview stands out to me as particularly bad. I think she frequently makes "educated guesses" about how her guests will respond about their thoughts, feelings, and motivations, and will have follow up questions prepared based on these anticipated responses. When she's right, things go well. When she's wrong, she just keeps plowing forward…

That's intriguing. I recently heard (and commented here [0] on) the Bowie interview, which I thought was great, and revelatory. Prior to hearing that interview, I wouldn't have believed someone if they told me Bowie would have preferred not to perform live: "Frankly, if I could get away with not having to perform, I'd be very happy."

I am pretty sure provoking small but significant revelations like that are what radio interviews are really good for. A talent for bringing those about, or simply allowing them to come about, is also why Howard Stern is regarded highly as an interviewer, I believe, although the two interviewers use very different techniques. Coincidentally, Gross's interview with Stern was pretty interesting. [1]

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37629932

[1] https://www.npr.org/transcripts/722832463

Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)

#46

Post by justin66 » Wed, Dec 20, 2023, 5:34 PM UTC

adamlgerber wrote: post #36

dventimi wrote: post #6

Pet 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…

You might love Conversations with Tyler, the podcast hosted by Tyler Cowen. https://conversationswithtyler.com/ I used to enjoy Terry Gross and many other interviewers, but Tyler Cowen just blows past everyone by getting so much deeper so much faster than anyone else. You can tell that the interviewers are often relieved to finally get asked real questions. Some people are put off by his style but I find it exhilarat…

What would you consider to be his best interview? Asking because I always found his interviews (I've only heard a few) to be quite dull, and that was a surprise since he is a pretty interesting guy.

Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)

#47

Post by justin66 » Wed, Dec 20, 2023, 5:37 PM UTC

beepbooptheory wrote: post #26

dventimi wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect that Terry Gross, like NPR, is a brand that people wear to advertise "I'm smart." That's what's really going on with what her audience feels about her. That in turn explains what's really going on with what NPR and her colleagues there feel about her.

This is why every large U.S. city is full of people blasting Fresh Air out their car as they drive down the street.

When I was young we signaled our love of Terry Gross by blasting her interviews on large radios when we walked down the street in our baggy pants. These radios were called "boom boxes" and they were wonderful.

Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)

#48

Post by justin66 » Wed, Dec 20, 2023, 5:44 PM UTC

city41 wrote: post #13

dventimi wrote: post #6

Pet 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…

Terry Gross is the worst interviewer I've ever heard. She seems to make a lot of the people she interviews uncomfortable, and not in a good way. Trent Reznor in particular seemed especially annoyed.

Ability to get along with Trent Reznor is certainly one yardstick you could measure people by.

Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)

#49

Post by justin66 » Wed, Dec 20, 2023, 5:49 PM UTC

NewsyHacker wrote: post #33

Loughla wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's interesting. Who would you consider a good interviewer?

For musicians, Rick Beato and Nardwuar the Human Serviette. Nardwuar’s preparatory research is always very deep, and musicians have repeatedly praised him for asking interesting questions outside the repetitive and superficial interviews they normally have to give when promoting a new album or tour. Since Beato made a career on YouTube where he doesn’t have to keep things as accessible to a general public as in legac…

Nardwuar is interesting because he's a litmus test: some people just absolutely don't like him and his persona and his schtick, and the fact that he's clearly done more thorough research than any other interviewer they'll ever talk to doesn't move them. And then other people appreciate right away how unique he is.

It's funny that many of the punk rock types don't like a guy who is as DIY as Nardwuar.

Re: Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)

#50

Post by justin66 » Wed, Dec 20, 2023, 5:57 PM UTC

dventimi wrote: post #6

Pet 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…

> I'm unimpressive

Your comments about Terry Gross seem completely off-base, but I nevertheless think you're being a little hard on yourself.