I was so, so glad to see your comments on Ann Curry’s interview with Ingrid Betancourt.

It was so awkward, so uncomfortable to even watch. Ann Curry seems like a nice lady, but she’s an awful interviewer. She leans forward, she bugs her eyes out, and she becomes overly dramatic – “So, tell me, Ingrid Betancourt, what did they do to you?” I think, as you pointed out so well, that Ann undertook the interview as though she and Ingrid were having coffee together.

Ingrid is clearly trying to acclimate herself to her new life but Ann kept pressing and geez, it was so uncomfortable when Ingrid finally said, “I don’t want to talk about this…” and Ann said, “OK, OK, OK…” and went through her notes trying to find something else to talk about. It was kind of insensitive of her.

On another note, I have to say about Ingrid: if she doesn’t want to talk about it, going on the talk-show circuit is not the best game plan. What does she expect interviewers to ask her about?? She’s been living in the jungle for 6 years – they’re not going to ask her what she thinks of NAFTA or anything else BUT the jungle and what happened to her there.

I think she should take time off and get deep psychological therapy. I’ve been very, very surprised that her family has allowed her to do this. She’s been through too much to now accept every, single interview to every paper, magazine, cable station. It’s a bit much.

I really wish her all the best and hope she can move forward happily with her life.

You’re right- we should just give up on networks altogether. That’s why I’m a PBS/NPR nerd. I like Charlie Rose, too.
And Playboy interviews! Yes, you’re right on the money there. Over the years, they’ve interviewed Fidel Castro, Martin Luther King, and many more folks, and all of the interviews were always spectacular. Do they have them still?

I forget her name, but this one author recommended to never start with broad questions but lead up to it. This was after she’d appeared at a radio station and the interviewer asked, “I’ve one question for you: how would you summarize your life/books into one single lesson?” She sat there speechless and defenseless. I myself sat in one interview where the host asked a question, than ran around the studio arranging CDs and then coming back to the mic for her next question, then taking off again.

I like Moyers. Like Charlie Rose too. Don’t like interviewers who talk more than interviewees. Whether people agree with me or not, Playboy has the best group of interviewers.

In your case, I’d blame the group of asses who interviewed Joe before you; he’d probably had had enough. You knew when to fold. Ann Curry needs to give you a call.

Now I’m trying to think about interviews I’ve actually seen where I felt similarly uncomfortable – both are much less weighty examples, but I’ll share them anyhow.

1) Tyson Beckford on Oprah, talking about a hit-and-run car accident that almost killed him. He got to the point where he was left trapped in a burning vehicle while the truck that hit him sped away, and then broke down, barely getting out “how could someone do that… I have a son…” and I just wanted to shout at the TV that some things are private and Oprah should stop the cameras or something.

2) A pro hockey player who fell head over heels, slitting a teammate’s throat with his skate blade in the process (the teammate’s carotid artery was severed, but a trainer performed an on-ice emergency tracheotomy and he lived). After the game, a reporter asked the player how he felt when he realized it was his skate that had cut his teammate’s throat open. To his credit, the hockey player gave the reporter the dirtiest look ever, and said “What kind of a fucking question is that?”

I dunno where I’m going with this… Only that I guess I feel there’s a line, and it’s one thing if the interviewee voluntarily steps over it, and another when the reporter tries to drag them over it. Am I making sense?