Steve Levitt

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

are stories.

The only good stories are about people and personalities, and you have to make it very personal and build up the character of them, and there's got to be tension and whatnot.

And so what was interesting as I read his amazing book, Sapiens, there is not a character in the entire book.