Interviewing the Interviewer (vulture.com)

Terry Gross, NPR's The Fresh Air host, on the art of the Q&A: "People are always projecting things. They're hearing things that weren't said or projecting meaning that was not intended and, perhaps, not even implied. I've gotten both insults and compliments for interviews I've never done. What can you do? There's no way of controlling what people think. I do have a bullshit detector and it's something I'll use, but I do think I try and be empathetic to everyone I interview," said Terry Gross.

Comments

Why the quotes?

[Anonymous Coward]

NPR to be informed.

I don't get why folks have a problem with NPR. It's the only news source that I can actually hear both sides without the yelling and other bullshit - they do have many conservatives and Republicans on and let them say what they have to say. As a matter of fact, it's the only source where I can actually hear and understand the conservative side because the NPR folks actually ask decent questions.

And NPR is the news source that keeps me a centrist and not drinking the Leftist Kool-Aid because I can hear the rational versions of the conservative side - unlike Fox News.

I also can hear the rational side of the liberal side.

Re:Why the quotes?

[MightyYar]

It's the best of the "two sides to every story" echo chamber. But as your comment reinforces, we are stuck in a two party mentality and getting a slick spokesman from the Democrat and Republican parties to comment on your show does not illuminate a path to the truth. I listen to NPR all the time, but their bias is sufficient to make me chuckle. Some of the in-depth shows on NPR are excellent - to some extent the news shows are limited by their format. Terry Gross, on topic, once did an interview with Bill O'Reilly. Now, he is a tremendous asshole - but her interview was immediately combative and he ended up walking off the set. During the interview, O'Reilly pointed out that she had just interviewed Al Franken - a fellow political entertainer - and he was given a softball interview. Listening to the Franken interview, it is true - it was a lovefest. I still listen to her and respect her, but her political bias is obvious.

Astute

[DaMattster]

Say what you will about Terry Gross, but she is an astute observer and has a breadth of knowledge about human psychology from the sheer number of years that she has spent interviewing and studying people. I find her personally overbearing and a little annoying but I will give her the credit she is due. However, I do like it when her bullshit-o-meter hits critical mass and she can no longer hold back. People need a good solid dose of reality at times.

Re:The nerd connection

[hey!]

Terry Gross is probably the best in the world at what she does. I find that interesting. How did she get that way? Well it turns out that fear of not being good enough is at least part of what makes her good at her job. I find that interesting too.

How did she end up doing what she does? She failed at something else (being a writer). That's something that resonates in tech.

And she talks about making the trolls angry.

But ultimately being exposed to different information than you're used to isn't tantamount to an injury. It's good for you, just like reading an article on technology would be good for someone who mainly reads about public affairs, or art history.