Steve Levitt

Which sometimes happens when you interview people, you get this deluded feeling that you're really close to them, even though they walk out and never think of you again.

But then when I reached out to Wendy later, she said the same thing back.

Somehow we really connected in a deep way.

A lot of preparation.

And again, I learned that from you.

When you first interviewed me back 20-some years ago, you showed up at my door and you had read, or at least could credibly convey to me that you had read all 60 or 70 of my papers.

It was shocking.

And we had amazing conversations because you had invested so much.

And I think that's one thing that you just can't get around.

If you show someone that you care about their work, they want to talk about it.

They do.

There's no substitute for hard work.

You can have very little talent for interviewing, but I think if you've really prepared, it can still go pretty well.

I'll tell you another interview that was really special for me was with Yuval Noah Harari.

And I really, again, I stole it from you.

It was an observation you had made many years ago.

Yuval, in general, Yuval Noah Harari is a tough nut to crack.

I'd watched a lot of interviews with him and he plays it very close to the vest and he's really serious and sometimes argumentative.

You had taught me something many years ago.

You had said the only thing that anyone ever likes to read