In class last week we got to meet Deborah Solomon. She handles the public lives column for the New York Times magazine every week. She has definitely mastered the fine art of interviewing.
It was a laid back class and I definitely enjoyed it. It reminded me of the one Q & A session I did with Kalle Lasn of Adbusters.
The most interesting aspect was her process of timing. She has a Friday deadline and usually gets a list of possible subjects to interview. Apparently she tends to schedule the interview on Thursday, allowing her to read up on whomever the lucky person is.
As for me, this would drive me nuts. I hate waiting to the last minute. But somehow she stays cool on Fridays when she edits down 7,000 or so words down to 600 and fact checks the whole thing.
My hat is off.
I was also happy to see how personable she was, but I guess that is an important tool to have when your job is interviewing a different person every week.
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