Short & Succinct

Some blog I read suggested that I (among other readers) might enjoy watching this video of Richard Dawkins being interviewed for the BBC by one Matthew Stadlen, who seems agreeable enough but it otherwise unknown to me.

Although I enjoyed Dawkins' answers, it was not the answers as such that impressed me so much as his succinctness and his willingness not to run on at the mouth but simply to stop when he'd answered the question. Quite a bit more information got conveyed in the short time alloted.

Out of curiosity I clicked on a number of the other 5-minute interviews by Mr. Stadlen, not exactly for comparison but to see what people had to say. A remarkable number were surprisingly inarticulate. However, there were interviews with two others that I watched that did impress me and that I enjoyed watching and hearing just to see what they would say: one was with Stephen Fry, the other was with Micheal Gambon.

Oddly, the BBC wouldn't let me embed the two interviews above so you'll have to click through if they interest you enough. My impression is that the Dawkins interview is the more recent, so perhaps this shows a willingness on the part of the BBC to join in the fun of sharing.

One other thing I wanted to point out: their embedded flash player has a volume control that goes all the way to eleven.


Posted on May 18, 2009 at 23.13 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Music & Art, The Art of Conversation

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