Interview Resources

[RevTim]

Hey, does anyone have some books to recommend or a "Top 5 or 10" ways to conduct a good interview?

Web links, books, ideas would all be a great thread here.

Thanks, RevTim

Oh, yeah, take a second to vote. It will help me stay in the top 50 :wink:

[bazookajoeshow]

I've been interviewing people for 17 years but rather than spend an hour writing up tips and techniques Tod maffin has done it for me.

You can listen Tod interview Michael Enright about interviewing at http://todmaffin.com/blogs/radio/?p=864

Tod used to have a section on his web site (http://todmaffin.com) about interview techniques that I found were very useful, even as a long time veteran of the art. Unfortunately, since he's moved his web site ver to a new service provider I can't find it. If you stumble actoss it, let me know.

eric from Vox Monitor also interviewed me about interviewing. You can listen to it at http://www.voxmonitor.com/media/vox_monitor_special_report_02_with_bazooka_joe.mp3 Be warned, the audio is a bit cruddy.

I hope this helps.

Bazooka Joe


Hey, does anyone have some books to recommend or a "Top 5 or 10" ways to conduct a good interview?

[bazookajoeshow]

One of the questions that Tod asked Michael Enright was what was one of the worst interviews he had ever done. Michael said he did one about how to bake bread, which he found incredibly boring and apparently let it show.

One of my worst interviews was with a band that had just perfromed at the station I used to work at. They were coked to the gills and were at the nasty, truculent stage of the high. The were reluctant to answer any my questions and when they did they were surly and monosyllablic.

More recently, my interview with Gallagher (http://smallworldpodcast.com/?p=266). Looking back, what made the interview so excruciating was not that I pissed him off but that I allowed his reactions to throw me off track and make me lose my composure.

I've done a lot of interviews that I consider favorites but for different reasons.

I interviewed a drunken sandwich maker (http://smallworldpodcast.com/?p=118) when I first started my podcast. It remains one of my favorites because it was so spontaneous and he was so honest in his drunkeness that it made me realize the potential of what podcasts could be because it would have never have flown on radio. Plus, it was funny as hell.

I've interviewed composer Glenn Branca (http://smallworldpodcast.com/?p=43) and scifi writer Vernor Vinge (http://smallworldpodcast.com/?p=240) and those are tow of my favorties simply because I'm a big fan of their work. Having the excuse that i was a podcaster gave me the opportuity to talk to two people I would ordinarlly never have a reaosn to talk with.

My current favorite interview actually goes out tomorrow. It's with a singer/songwriter named Vera Beren. We're aboutt he same age and have similar backgrounds and taste that we hit iff immediately. The interview was a joy to do and we talked for a hour before and after the interview.

Bazooka Joe