The following remarks have been condensed and edited.
Charlamagne Tha God Co-host, syndicated radio show The Breakfast Club
Sometimes my style is to come right out of the gate with it. Like when [rapper] Tyga came in when he was dating Kylie Jenner, it was, “There’s no need to talk about your music. You know why you’re here. Are you f---ing Kylie or not?”
I’m just a fan who wants to understand things. When I sit down with Kanye West, I’m a fan. So I’m wondering why his behavior is so weird, why he’s such a conceited, arrogant a--hole now. I have to say that to him, because I’ve been saying that about him when he wasn’t here.
I don’t get star-struck. A celebrity did the same things this morning that I did. He brushed his teeth. He kissed his kids. He ate his breakfast. As long as you realize you’re talking to humans, you’re able to get a good conversation.
You have to know how to humanize people. There’s nothing political you’re going to ask Hillary Clinton that she doesn’t have a talking point for. I told my co-hosts: “We are going to talk to Hillary Clinton like we in the barbershop, and we kickin’ it, and we smokin’ weed, and we drinkin’.” I said, “Let’s talk to Hillary like she’s a normal freakin’ person.” She started coughing, and I said, “You sound like you’re hitting that medicinal [marijuana],” and she said, “I need to.” That’s just real conversation.
Anna Sale Managing editor, WNYC’s Death, Sex & Money
The show is called Death, Sex & Money, yes, but I’m not asking questions to be gratuitous. I’m asking them for a larger purpose, which is to bring big things out of the shadows. The intention is to create a safe space and say, “We can pretend that we don’t have anxieties around death, sex, and money, but we do, so let’s talk about it.”
The question about death I often ask is, “Has there been a death that’s left you with regret?” The question I often ask about sex is based on whatever age the person is: “How is the sex at this point in your life, compared to previously?” And then I ask, “Are you making more this year than last year?”
Phrasing is important. If you’re bringing up something that you know will make the person you’re talking to tense up the minute there’s a mention of it, you want to say, “I know this happened.” And then say, “This is why I want to know about this.” Explain why you’re asking the person to go there—embed it in the question.
If I ask a question, and someone pauses, there’s an inclination to restate it. If I fill that space, they’re not going to elaborate. But if I sit with them in the quiet, they may add more. Someone will fill that space.
Cal Fussman Writer-at-large, Esquire
I prepare. But Esquire has sent me to interview people where I couldn’t. They wanted to see what would happen.
Gerard Butler was about to put out a new movie. I don’t follow pop culture that much, so they knew that I wouldn’t know who he was. They set up with him that Esquire is going to do a cover story, and the writer’s going to come over. And then they told me, “Cal, we want you to go meet some guy named Gerry.” And I said, “Well, what’s his last name? Who is he?” They wouldn’t tell me.
I went to Gerry’s house, and Gerry comes out to greet me. I have to explain I have no idea who he is. His eyes are squinting, as if to say, “Oh, man, I’m not going to fall for this.” It took about an hour for me to convince him that I had no idea who he was or what he did.
I told him, “Look, I learned to interview riding around on trains and buses when I traveled the world for 10 years without a home.” I would take an empty seat next to somebody and get to know them. So that’s how we approached the interview. And it went great. It was an example of being able to go into an interview as if you were just meeting somebody when you travel. That’s pretty much my style.
Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow Co-hosts, Call Your Girlfriend
Friedman: We talk about pop culture and politics and what’s in the news and what’s annoying us and what’s delighting us. I remember Amina being like, “If all these dudes are doing podcasts, it can’t be that hard.”
Sow: We added this phone-a-friend component that was mostly about showcasing the awesome friends we have. We also stumbled into interviewing people who were not friends, like Huma Abedin, Melinda Gates, Valerie Jarrett, and Carrie Fisher. We do it with a glass of wine and sit in our closets.
Friedman: We interview powerful ladies. We always ask about the women in their lives who support them and the kind of network that surrounds them.
Sow: The beauty, the fashion—that’s the stuff that has been covered ad nauseam in profiles and interviews.
Friedman: It’s not, “What’s your exercise routine?” I’m thinking of my least-favorite interview tropes.
Sow: Mine is what they’re eating at the moment. Maybe we’ll interview men, and all we’ll do is ask them these soft questions. “How do you do your hair every morning?”
Friedman: “How did you get your pre-baby body back? Have you ever eaten five almonds for breakfast?”
Cheryl Strayed Memoirist
I met the husband of a student of mine at dinner, and he was telling me about how he spent time on fishing boats with his father when he was a boy. A flash of melancholy came over his face. I said, “Was your father an alcoholic?” He said, “Yes. What made you ask that?”
Part of asking good questions is paying attention. You have to tap into more than what is said—what is meant, what is felt. I use the phrase “unconditional positive regard”—no matter what people tell you, you’re not going to judge them. I meet this guy, and then we’re talking about our childhoods with fathers who are alcoholics. How is it that I go from being a stranger to somebody with whom he’s having a conversation that he’s only had with a few people in his life?
What that’s about is being open. Having the ability to say, “This is a weird thing to say, but I’m going to ask anyway.” He could have said, “No, he was great.” But I’ve always been more willing to get that reprimand than to sit quietly.
To contact the author of this story: Jada Yuan in at jadabird@gmail.com.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bret Begun at bbegun@bloomberg.net.
©2016 Bloomberg L.P.
