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Why frustrating?
Well, when I hire an interpreter I always try to get someone who is interesting, or who has some
connection or interest in the story. Since I don’t do many standard, sit-down interviews, I need
someone who can kind of act as me. I want someone who will explain that world to me, and not
simply translate. But sometimes I just have to get someone from an agency.
My problem is that when I know the precise question I want to ask, I probably already know the
answer as well. I pose questions in order to prod someone, to learn the things I wouldn’t even know
to ask about. And I can’t do that when I’m doing it all through an interpreter.
How do you pace yourself when you’re reporting a long piece?
It’s hard because no amount of time seems like the right amount of time. I don’t know what I’m
going to need, so I always try to give myself more time than I anticipate needing.
Reporting always has a lot of downtime for me. I always try to set up a few things before I get
there, if only to keep my existential nausea at bay. If I’ve set up a few interviews it’s a little less
distressing. Cell phones have made a huge difference in the way I pace my reporting. I used to sit
around in my hotel room watching CNN, waiting for people to return my calls.
How much of a distance do you think is important to maintain with someone you’re reporting
on?
I don’t feel I need to keep much of a distance. If I can get invited into someone’s home, all the
better. The more I find out that isn’t exactly on topic, the better. All of that enriches and enlarges my
sense of the person and the story.
So many of your subjects are not public figures. Do you worry about the impact of your
reporting on your subjects?
A journalist, by definition, invades and stirs up people’s lives. We don’t wreck or change them
substantially, but the fact is that we are invaders. I don’t think a lot about the effect my work has on
someone’s life. It is hard for writers to imagine their work out in the world. It is good to stay humble
and not be overimpressed with the power of your readership and reach. It is always a surprise to me
when a piece does have an effect. For anyone who is a public, press-savvy character, the impact will
be almost zero. And for the kinds of private people I tend to write about, few people in their worlds
read The New Yorker, so it isn’t usually a problem.
How do you prefer to approach someone once you’ve decided you want to interview him? Is it
more advantageous to be an outsider or an insider?
I almost always just go in as the outsider, unless it is someone well-known who has to be
approached through others. But going direct is the most natural approach for me. Obtaining an
introduction would probably be helpful, but I prefer to go straight to the source and lay myself out in