Why You Should Never Interview Anyone

Reviving the lost art of conversation

Photo credit: “Fellowship of the Rich.”

Once upon a time, I interviewed people. I interviewed politicians, heads of state, religious leaders, and ordinary people, too. I interviewed Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistani Prime Minister, who was later assassinated. I interviewed Jimmy Carter. I interviewed Taliban leaders in Afghanistan and sex workers in the Persian Gulf. No more. For the past decade, I’ve had an ironclad policy: no interviews.

I still talk to people, converse with them, but I no longer interview them. There is a world of difference, and one that is more than semantic.

An interview is transactional. The interviewer wants something from the interviewee — in my case, a compelling audio cut for one of my NPR stories. The interviewee (usually) wants something too: publicity for a cause, worthy or not, spin on a political story, or simply the frisson of hearing their voice on the radio. There’s almost always a quid pro quo, even if it remains unspoken.

An interview is often one-sided, with one party (the interviewer) lording it over another (the interviewee). The interviewer asks the questions and the interviewee answers — or, in the case of politicians, dodges — the questions. An interview smacks of aggression. A CEO interviewing a prospective employee, trying to trip them up. Detectives interviewing a person of interest. An…