The Critic and Her Publics

We try to end each season of The Critic and Her Publics with a little twist on our theme, something different and often risky or uncomfortable. A few years ago, our final guest Anna Silman interviewed and profiled me for Business Insider. Back then, when Twitter was still called Twitter, it was possible for a profile of someone in a niche industry to go viral, as Anna's profile of me did. The subject of a profile rarely gets to confront its writer and ask "what were you thinking?" or "why did you do that?" but in this episode, Anna and I finally have an opportunity to compare memories of our conversation, confess what each of us thought the other was after, and debate whether a profile of a woman can ever avoid reproducing the misogyny it aims to critique.
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"I don't understand why people talk to Isaac Chotiner when his reputation precedes him. He's the best interview-assassin at work today, maybe the best ever. I suspect that each guest thinks they'll be the one to finally best Isaac—and Isaac makes good work of that hubris. He calmly and respectfully dismantles arguments that people make about everything from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle east to gerrymandering, genocide denial, and deportation. But he also has an obvious appreciation for deep knowledge, and for each 'gotcha' interview he conducts, there's an expert interview, one where he lets someone who knows their trade inside and out explain it to his large and growing leadership."
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"The philosopher Agnes Callard is one of the most genuinely curious thinkers I have ever met. Whether she’s writing about unrequited love, parenting, politics in the classroom, or the moral failures of people who like to travel, I get a thrill hearing her examine ordinary life from unexpected angles. And I love to disagree with her, which I often do.
Callard teaches at the University of Chicago and is the author of several books, including, most recently Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life, which came out last year. She joined me to talk about perhaps the oldest form of the interview, the Socratic dialogue, and what we might learn about asking questions and seeking the truth from Socrates and other gadflies. " — Merve Emre
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"Rachel Syme has interviewed all the grand dames of New York and Los Angeles: she's had Cosmos with Carol Burnett, she's accompanied Sarah Jessica Parker to the ballet, she's shopped with Parker Posey at Rachel Comey, she's Skyped with Patti LuPone and gabbed with Barbra Streisand on her landline. At a time when the glossy profile feels hopelessly compromised, Rachel uses her deep knowledge of musicals, fashion, and old Hollywood to put meat on the bones of fame and fortune—and Rachel loves a good yarn. Our conversation was full of behind-the-scenes stories, showing how an interview can transform a mere celebrity into an icon." — Merve Emre
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"Couples therapy. The words alone are enough to send many people running for the hills, but Orna Guralnik—star of Showtime's documentary series Couples Therapy—has people running to her office. Orna, a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst, has become a household name: she's a watchful guide for couples as they navigate intimate and sometimes agonizing discussions, and for viewers, as they watch these couples bare their souls or refuse to do so. With her beloved dog Nico on her lap, Orna explained to me how she practices listening for the unconscious, the limits and possibilities of televised therapy, and whether the psychoanalytic interview can teach even the most adversarial pairs (like warring nations) how to make peace."
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