The Top 10 Interviews of 2022

What makes a great interview? Or indeed the best interview of 2022? The technique of the interviewer is a good place to start, but this needs to be combined with what’s said: whether that be a new take, a revelation, or that the person being interviewed is so comfortable that as an audience member we understand them on a whole new level.

Each year I collate the best interviews of the year. A ridiculous task considering there are thousands of interviews taking place every day, and although I can’t possibly have seen, read, heard all the best, here is my top 10 of 2022.

10. Eight BBC local radio hosts interview Prime Minister Liz Truss

BBC Radio Leeds, Norfolk, Kent, Lancashire, Nottingham, Tees, Bristol & Stoke

5 min compilation, Full interview compilation

These are a great example of the interviewer not being over-awed by the opportunity, and the interviewee seemingly underestimating them. After delivering a mini-budget to the nation with large tax cuts to the wealthy resulting in the pound plummeting, Liz Truss went underground for four days, emerging to defend her budget on a series of local BBC radio interviews. Possibly thinking she could bluff her way through, and rather than get the soft welcome she was expecting, she was confronted with well researched, tough interviews. What resulted were a series of trainwreck performances.

9. Sam Harris facilitates Peter Zeihan and Ian Bremmer

Making Sense:?The End of Global Order?(podcast)

I would say this is closer to a debate or a dialogue than an interview, featuring Peter Zeihan and Ian Bremmer, facilitated by Sam Harris. I love that in the current media environment these sorts of conversations are happening and available to a global audience. There’s not many laughs here, this interview is serious, discussing the end of globalization and essentially how the earth’s best days are behind us. Despite the dire subject matter, this will make you see the world differently. If you haven’t already, neuroscientist Sam Harris is worth checking out. I was first captured by his idea of spirituality without religion and his debates against God in 2011. His offerings have expanded into all realms of philosophy and big ideas and done in a way that is accessible to everyone.

8. Sarah Kanowski interviews Tony Bull

Conversations, ABC?(podcast)

Conversations?deliver a treasure trove of fantastic interviews each year, and more often than not with people you’ve never heard of. Impressively they publish five interviews a week, with the interviewing role rotating between the consistently excellent Richard Fidler* and Sarah Kanowski. I could have chosen any number of these, but I’m going with Tony Bull.

Tony is a former prisoner that spent three decades in and out of prison. He grew up living opposite the prison he would spend much of his life in.?Conversations?aren’t fact finding interviews. The research is well done and the interview follows a close script. But they are full of respect and done with care, and in the case of Tony Bull, Sarah brings a gentle energy and a true interest in Tony’s life. In return, he relaxes, and you really get a sense of his character and who he is. They only have an hour to play with, so they can’t go everywhere, but even so, you get a full breadth of his life. The show never feels rushed, and regardless of the profile of the guest, each person is treated with the same respect.

*I do want to also briefly mention a Richard Fidler interview. He has been a long time benchmark when it comes to long form interviews. This?one features the author Stephan Walker who recounts the story of Russian Yuri Gagarin who became the first person to journey into space. Stephan is an excellent guest, and RF is in terrific form.

7. Rick Rubin interviews John Frusciante

Broken Records?(podcast)

This interview is a delight. John is the guitarist of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and this is the first of a series of interviews Rick Rubin does with each band member in the lead up to the release of their new record?Unlimited Love, which was also produced by Rubin. John is refreshingly down to earth, honest and has an incredible memory for detail in his stories, from outlining his wide ranging guitar influences as a teenager to how he came to join the band. RR is clearly a good listener. He’s not there to impose himself and keeps his questions clear and short. At times he trades ideas with him, but he clearly enjoys John’s energy and at times lets him know it. Despite having intimate knowledge of the band through working with them, this never feels like a matesy or insider chat. Rather, RR uses this knowledge to go in more interesting directions.

Anthony Kiedis unexpectedly drops in near the end and changes the direction of the interview. RR and John then revist the conversation 6 months later to finish where they left off. RR clearly enjoys these interviews because it ultimately turns into a series of dialogues between the two, totalling in?5 episodes.

6. Ester Perel interviewing an anonymous couple

Where Should We Begin? With Ester Perel: I Don’t Mean To Be Mean, But…(podcast)

I loved?this from Ester Perel. It’s technically 2021, but late Dec, and I didn’t hear it until this year. These aren’t interviews in the style of the rest of this list, but recorded one-off therapy sessions, in most cases with couples where the couples come to her wanting to explore an issue. Ester is a master question asker. It’s worth listening to her just to take in her questions. Her opening this time is, “If this was a helpful conversation and you left here and said, ‘This really made a difference’. What would it be? What needs to happen?”

An interesting component in Ester’s podcast is that she will interject her sessions with her own analysis, to give you an understanding of why she decided to go in the direction she did, her breakdown of the particular people she is working with, and critique her own methods. In this episode, Ester really struggles with one of her clients and finds the way she interacts with her partner frustrating. In her analysis she explains what’s going on for her:

“And as I listen to this myself, I realise that I was doing to her what I was telling her, she was doing to him. And that’s when I knew I’m inducted in the system. I was talking to them in the same tone as they were talking to each other. This is where I felt that I had lost some of my therapeutic stance. That said, therapy is filled with surprises. Sometimes I think I have done the most beautiful intervention and it falls completely flat. And sometimes I cringe at my voice or my tone or at my own intervention, thinking that was so not helpful and then I find out, that landed exactly when it needed to land. And that is an unknown that every therapist lives with.”

Ester has great insight into her own strengths and weaknesses, and gives the gift of visibility to an interviewer’s thought process mid-interview.

5. Zohar Cohen interviews her mum

Listen To My Voice, independent documentary film

I discovered Zohar Cohen’s film?Listen To My Voice?when she won best documentary at a small film festival called Cinema South, in the south of Israel near the Gaza strip.?This is a highly personal film about being sexually assaulted by her father when she was a child. Over a series of interviews with her mum, ZC ultimately confronts her about why she still lives with her father after he was convicted and served six years for childhood sexual assault. The premise of this series of interviews is massively courageous, let alone shooting it and putting it out to the world.

The subject, her mother, is grappling with what happened under her watch, and goes between denial, heartbreak, disgust with her husband and herself, often flipping the subject of conversation to irrelevant topics. ZC listens, keeps her on track, slowly questioning and trying to understand the complex, contradictory emotions the mother has.

I love her technique of interviewing her mother while she is doing a task — folding washing or going through clothes. It’s a great way to get someone to forget they’re being interviewed.

The film climaxes with a series of emotionally charged questions, accusations and an offer of forgiveness if her mother will ultimately be truly honest with her. Powerful stuff from a student film maker.

4. Ben Fordham interviews former Prime Minister Scott Morrison

Ben Fordham Live, 2GB radio

Ben would say that this isn’t his best interview of the year. As a daily primetime news radio host he did some crackers, including this one with NSW Trade Minister?Stuart Ayres, who would ultimately resign the evening of the same day.

But the interview isn’t just about the interviewer’s technique on show, it’s also about the revelation. It is former PM Morrison’s first interview after breaking news that he had held secret ministries while PM. BF doesn’t push on whether taking those extra roles was right or wrong, instead he empathises with Morrison for having to make extraordinary decisions during the pandemic. What BF hones in on is the secrecy of it all. And it’s here that the cracks in Morrison’s story start to show. So much so, that Ben instinctually asks whether Morrison has any other secret ministries:?“Were there any other portfolios that you assumed any control over?”

Morrison:?“Not to my recollection… but happy for that to be disclosed”.

BF:?“When you say “if there are others” and “you’re happy for them to be disclosed”. Now this is a pretty significant thing to assume powers involving other portfolio areas as Prime Minister, they don’t jump out at you? What they could have been?”

Revelations throught the following days catch Morrison in that lie. This interview is a great example of how to focus on a specific angle rather than nailing someone on every point. In this instance, the secrecy. BF’s role is to play the voice of the people, asking the questions we wish that we could. Then, amongst the spin of Morrison’s answers, BF finds a new, previously unasked question and angle to explore. This is not an antagonistic interview, it’s a “I just don’t quite understand, can you please clear this up for me”?angle, which is a trademark of Ben’s style. When you know what unfolds in the following days, that Morrison had secretly sworn himself into even more ministries, this is fun listening back to.

3. Howard Stern interviews Bruce Springsteen

The Howard Stern Interview: Bruce Springsteen, HBO Max

As an Aussie, Howard Stern is not someone I have a particular affection for or even an opinion on. He doesn’t have impact here. But from what I can gather, he likes to be shocking or a bit of an arsehole, has a massive listenership and has been doing his show for a long time. So I was somewhat surprised that a number of people recommended this Bruce Springsteen interview. But they were right, it’s great. I’m a fan of The Boss. I’ve seen him in concert and be interviewed however-many times on talk shows, so I get the way he tells stories. HS gets beyond that. He premises that he has a huge list of questions (this is a 2 hour interview), but where HS excels is in the follow-ups, his genuine curiosity, and really digging into and unpacking ideas. In doing so, he gets Bruce to speak outside of his traditional “stories”, so it doesn’t feel like he’s doing material. HS has also done his research — and some of this is from his personal history. He draws on memories from Bruce’s concerts he’s been to, his thoughts after reading his book and he references moments in his own life that feature Bruce (playing a particular song on an old 70s radio show of his for example). HS is entertaining but doesn’t make the interview about him. He very much keeps the focus on Bruce and asks some fun stuff, stuff we all think at home, such as this opener,?”You won endless amounts of Grammys, at the end of the day, is that important to you?”?This interview goes all over — there’s fun and laughs and yet at times intimate and emotional.

2. Jon Stewart interviews Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas Attorney General

The Problem With Jon Stewart: The War Over Gender, AppleTV+

This interview is an absolute masterclass in doing your homework and taking no bullshit. In a larger episode unpacking gender and gender rights, Jon interviews Leslie Rutledge, the Arkansas Attorney General, about why her state has banned gender-affirming care for anyone under the age of 18. It is the only state in America to do so, rejecting the guidelines of major American organisations including the American Medical Association. JS comes prepared with facts and is not afraid to call out her spin or untruths. In response to Rutledge’s claim that 98% of children with gender dysphoria, if given help, will ‘get over it’, he says,?“Wow, that’s an incredibly made up figure. That doesn’t comport with any of the studies or documentation that exists from these medical organisations (AMA, etc). What medical association are you taking about?”?This is one of many moments where she is caught out unable to back up her claims, and within the same sentence, contradict herself. It’s entertaining stuff, and one of the rare times this topic is discussed with genuine care (from JS) and truth.

1. Tracey Grimshaw interviews Prime Minister Scott Morrison

A Current Affair, Channel 9

It’s hard to rattle the then Prime Minister Scott Morrison, but Tracy Grimshaw gives it a good crack days out from the federal election in May. To ask questions in this manner takes courage and preparation. Morrison, an expert in brushing off allegations, appears taken by surprise with the antagonistic questioning. Was he expecting a soft interview given it was?A Current Affair? Perhaps. But perhaps he should have been prepared, given TG’s?tough treatment?in a prior?interview?regarding Brittany Higgins’ allegations that she was raped by a staffer in Australian Parliament (a 2021 interview-of-the-year candidate). By going with the theme of “bulldozer”, a title that Morrison had embraced himself, it allowed TG to throw all sorts of scenarios at him, rather than base her questions around policy. It made it difficult for Morrison to stay on message. Armed with three years of material, TG’s questions were newsmakers in themselves. This is up there as the question of the year:

“You don’t hold a hose, you weren’t in your tinnie plucking people off rooftops, you weren’t doing 16-hour days in PPE on COVID wards, you didn’t get enough vaccines soon enough, you didn’t get enough RATs so that we could finally have a holiday interstate for Christmas, and China is set up, based in the Solomons. Do you think maybe you slightly over egged the part about saving the country?.”

Morrison’s arrogant demeanor evidently ruffled, this is likely to have been one of many public moments contributing to his downfall.

*It was a big year for Scomo on the interview front, it’s also worth remembering his?Ukulele moment?in Karl Stefanovic’s interview on?60 minutes. Yet another interview that played out badly for him. Mainly for letting his partner take many of the pointy questions.

Honourable mentions

Mike Wallace Is Here

Feature documentary directed by Avi Belkin

This?film?is from a couple of years ago, but I only caught it this year. It focuses on the fearsome?60 Minutes?frontman Mike Wallace. This film is about the interviews he did and the interviews he faced. What I love about this film, apart from the actual content itself (which if you want to learn about the interview process is a must watch) is that Mike Wallace is asked 10 questions, sourced from archive interviews he’d done throughout his life. Things like,?“Do you remember the first time you saw television cameras?” “Your son died in 1962, do you ever get over that?” “What do you think of investigative journalism today?”?He answers these questions in the form of an interspliced mashup of answers from all those different interviews. The film maker Avi Belkin has crafted a beautiful interview with him but never asked a single question himself.

1341 Frames Of Love And War

Feature documentary?directed by Ran Tal

I only discovered this Israeli film director this year. His style and subject matter reminds me of the more eclectic films by Errol Morris. He doesn’t interview his subjects on camera — only on tape, and then paints in the film with overlay or photos. In his 2022 film?1341 Frames Of Love and War, RT interviews storied Israeli war photojournalist Micha Bar-Am. What starts out as a serious interview is suddenly injected with humour, as Micha’s wife chips in with her thoughts, contradicting Micha’s version of events. A strong theme of the film is how memory distorts facts. But for me, it was the irreverence mixed in with the seriousness that I really loved.

Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes & Will Arnett interview President Joe Biden

SmartLess?(podcast)

I’m late to this podcast, but apart from being very funny, what was great about their interview with President Joe Biden was they focused on him, it wasn’t about themselves. Their relaxed vibe relaxed him and they asked questions you don’t ever get to hear someone ask a sitting president, resulting in some really unfiltered answers — from his sporting prowess to his daily routines and hours on the job to his relationship with his grandkids.

David Wenham interviews Sarah Ferguson

The ABC of…Sarah Ferguson, ABC TV

Sarah Ferguson gives some of the best interview moments each year, so as an interviewer, it was fun to see her on the other side. David Wenham is new to the interviewing game, but what’s interesting about this interview was the device of using a number of historical pieces of footage (12 in total) of moments Sarah has appeared on the ABC. These pieces of footage, in a way, substitute for the question — or at the least, act as a opening to each new topic. DW also had Jon Casimir in his corner, a master when it comes to crafting a question, as the show’s creator.