Steve Levitt

Because I had interviewed Jared Diamond before I had talked to

And Jared Diamond, I think, fell more into that other camp where I felt like if you had read his books, then when you talk to him, he would tap into chapter seven, page 38, and he would just da-da-da-da-da-da.

And it was really interesting to me the difference in the way those two, who ostensibly are the same person in a public sense.

Their books have a lot of similarities, and yet talking to them was a completely different experience.

No.

It was interesting for me to see it.

I've always cared a lot more about process than outcome.

And so when I do an interview and it turns into an amazing episode, that feels good.

But I'm also almost equally as intrigued when I do an interview and it's bad because

I feel awful when it's me.

I feel such a tremendous obligation to my guests.

And if I do a bad job, it's very hard for me to shake.

It really haunts me.

A bunch of times I missed the boat.

I'll tell you one where I didn't miss the boat, but it would eventually cause me to miss a boat on a later occasion.

It was with Richard Dawkins.

Richard Dawkins was an interesting interview for me, first because he's legendary and he's such a huge thinker.

The other problem is that he has written, what, 20 books?

It was really hard to try to tackle his whole canon of knowledge that he had created.

And the easiest and the best interview is always one.