The Bat Segundo Show

As someone who has done a bunch of interviews, I always try to go for good questions. Not the same 20 questions that have been asked and re-tread in a thousand other interviews someone has done. As someone who also loves to read and is eternally fascinated with artist’s creative the process (almost more-so than the product) but is completely turned off by high-brow, self absorbed, intellectual babble, I think Bat Segundo is perfect. The show consists of extremely well researched, astute and insightful interviews by Edward Champion.

The Bat Segundo Show is a cultural and literary podcast that involves very thorough long-form interviews with contemporary authors and other assorted artists.

I stumbled across it when looking for interviews with WTV (here and here), and now I am pouring through the catalog of podcasts. The selection of people is amazing. It sounds like the interviews take place in a cafe, and there is great ambient (but not distracting) background noise. Champion knows not only who he is interviewing inside and out, but their body of work as well, so he is able to ask pointed questions.

Standard questions that have been asked of guests over and over are avoided, whenever possible.

Not only is this appreciated by the listener, but many of his guests seem surprised (I’m sure after suffering a litany of boring interviews) as well. Champion is also not afraid to ask tougher questions, or try and elicit an answer if the guest seems squirrely. Not that he is trying to blindside them or it is in an aggressive manner, but it certainly is not only softball questions either. All of which make for an interesting interview, as opposed to simply an interview. Not only is this the aim or sound like a nice blurb on his About page, but Champion succeeds with an extensive collection of interviews. I often find myself googling his guests, so it’s a great way to also find new authors and new books.

There’s a lot to take away from Champion’s interviews. Not only about his subjects, but stylistically how to do a great interview, and the result.

Ed also does a companion blog that is full of jewels too.

Some Thoughts on the Value of Writing During Wartime

While reading the WTV reader Expelled from Eden, I came across this piece. It is taken from Vollmann’s Iraq chapter from Rising Up and Rising Down and from a speech he gave in Sacramento in 2002. I searched online to see if I could find this particular section, the three suggestions that he offers to writers writing about war, but I also think it has a broader appeal and applies when trying to write about any group that is well-known and often misunderstood or misrepresented.

“My advice to the writers among you would be as follows:

1.) Never forget the other point of view. No matter how you judge it, try to see it fairly and try to describe it accurately. Failing this, you will remain unable to evaluate the ideological claims to which you will be subjected for the rest of your life. Whatever you write about, let your subjects teach you in their own way, and show them that you have learned it and respect it. Let them be round characters always. The most anti-American Taliban officials were kind to me when I showed them my own copy of the Koran.

2.) Never forget your own point of view. If extremists convince their neighbors in the Muslim world that we are all pawns of Israel, maybe you can unconvince them. If our government presents our next archenemy as a flat character, lern enough to present him as a round character. If you become a reporter, you will have to live with dumbing down your message, but please never, ever allow the fundamental essence of that message be distorted. Remember, we writers are among the few who enjoy the privelge of presenting and standing by our own independant position to the world. We are beholden to no one.

3.) In these times, any one of you who feels inclined to risk a little and earn a lot should travel to an Islamic country to make friends and learn, not to teach. I can promise you that the mere fact of your interest will make a difference in a world where most Americans are seen as ignorant bullies. You should consider it an honor and a duty to keep those friends for life. You should get to know them well enough to understand why what they elieve is plausible to them, and you should explain their views to other Americans as sympathetically and as accurately as you can.”

More books

With free time, I have been doing a lot of reading. Something long overdue and sorely missed.Amazon is the truth for cheap, used books. I have been picking books up for a penny. Three dollars for shipping, but they are gems.I posted before about Terry Southern. He was one of the writers of Easy Rider and Dr. Strangelove. I ordered Red-Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes, which had the short story I posted below. I also ordered Now Dig This: The Unspeakable Writings of Terry Southern, 1950-1995. When it came I got two surprises. One, it was hardcover. Two, it was autographed. What a come up. I am trying to get my Flikr account up and working so I can upload a pic. Terry died in 1995.
I also got turned on to William T. Vollmann and Nathan Englander.
I have probably gotten six books, including the autographed one, for under $20.

Not bad.

Terry Southern

The Night the Bird Blew for Doctor Warner

My favorite thing I have read from Southern so far.