A great interview is a wondrous thing, and over the years we have had the good fortune of participating in our fair share. For us an “interview” provides an opportunity for a conversation. It’s not about getting pithy “sound bites” so we can make a video feel authentic. It’s about getting to know someone, and letting our client’s audience in on the ride.
The conversation is wide-ranging and not limited to the immediate subject at hand. We often ask people about their families, or their childhood, where they grew up, what things in their lives have surprised them.
And we get wonderful and surprising results. Leon Fleisher talking about the Hubble Telescope and how he surrounds himself with images from space because they inspire him. Or Alice Pickthall, a fourth grade student at the International School of Paris, who informed us that she is from Scotland, where, “the national dress is kilts and the national drink, for adults, is whiskey.”
Included here are some of our favorites.
(You will need the RealPlayer software.)
 Leon Fleisher (16:00) |
Concert pianist Leon Fleisher is a professor at the Peabody School of Music at Johns Hopkins University. In this clip, Fleisher speaks about such wide-ranging topics as outer space, anatomy, and teaching technique, weaving them seamlessly together in one of our most memorable interviews. Filmed 13 February 2002 in Baltimore, MD |
 Bert Vogelstein (8:52) |
Dr. Bert Vogelstein, Professor of Oncology and Pathology at Johns Hopkins University, is not only a Hopkins alumnus, he was (literally) born there. He discovered the genetic marker for colon cancer and is the most frequently cited medical researcher in all of science. Filmed 13 February 2002 in Baltimore, MD |
 David Getches (7:19) |
David H. Getches is Dean of the University of Colorado Law School. During the 1970s, he was principal attorney for Washington state tribes during the "Fish Wars," leading to the landmark US v. Washington ruling in 1974. This interview is from our forthcoming documentary, The Way to the River. Filmed 23 February 2004 in Boulder, CO |
 Daniel Inouye (2:38) |
The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye is a United States Senator from Hawaii, and is tha Vice Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. This interview is from our forthcoming documentary, The Way to the River. Filmed 25 February 2004 in Washington, DC |
 Charles Wilkinson (1:44) |
Charles Wilkinson is a professor at the University of Colorado Law School and author of several books, including Messages from Frank's Landing (University of Washington Press, 2000). This interview is from our forthcoming documentary, The Way to the River. Filmed 23 February 2004 in Boulder, CO |
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Richard and Virginia Hunsaker, co-chairs of the University of Redlands $100 million Centennial Campaign, have offered a $500,000 matching grant to each million dollar gift given to the Endowed Chairs fund. Filmed 13 May 2004 in Redlands, CA |
| Rich and Ginny Hunsaker (2:49) | ||
 Alice Pickthall (1:07) |
Alice Pickthall attends the International School of Paris, and talks about her friends from all over the world. The interview was filmed in the chaos of the school's annual "International Day" fair. Filmed 20 March 2004 in Paris, France |
You will need software that can read PDF files.
Reed College sent out its "Speaking of Reed" booklets to prospective students, giving a personal perspective on the quality and diversity of Reed faculty and students. The text is drawn entirely from our interviews, and includes black and white portraits by Portland photographer Rick Rappaport. (Each PDF is approximately 3 MB.) |
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 Read the whole PDF |
Lisa Steinman, Professor of English and Humanities "I grew up in Storrs, Connecticut, which is a part of Connecticut most people don't know. It's very rural and in fact I find it amusing, having moved to the Northwest, when people say, 'Oh, you're from the urban East Coast.' The town I grew up in had lots of cows, no movie theatre, no big grocery store, no traffic lights except for one where you had to push a button to get it to turn red. I expect that had something to do with my becoming a poet." |
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Ray
Kierstead, Professor of History and Humanities "I just returned from Maine, where I was visiting my father, and found that I had 200 e-mail messages. I'm on Bird Chat, so I got lots of messages about the bird world, including about 20 related to the death of a pine siskin and how one should respond to the death of a bird. There are two views. One is sentimental, and the other is biological and says we should be concerned about species and not individual birds. So, this death led to a great row over how one deals with the death of a bird. I found that a wonderful commentary on human nature." |
 Read the whole PDF |
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 Read the whole PDF |
Mary James, Professor of
Physics "When I graduated from college, I had a B.A. in physics, and I wasn't sure that I wanted to go on to graduate school. I got a summer internship at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and then was offered a permanent job there. I worked in a building that literally had 200 men and three women, and the other two were secretaries. One day, I was walking down the hall and there was a technician coming from the other direction. When he saw me, his eyes kind of lit up and he said, 'Oh, you. I've heard about you. Are you a secretary or a prodigy?' I remember thinking, what a fascinating choice. If you're in this building, you could have two roles. You could be a scientific person, or you could have a clerical job. But underneath that he was saying, if you're on the scientific side, you have to be at the very top. You're either a prodigy or a secretary." |
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Jay
Ewing,
first-year student "Right now I'm looking down the barrel at a pretty tough schedule, because I want to take a lot of chemistry courses and I plan to major in physics. I had a marginal physics class in high school, so for the first semester here, I was pretty stumped. My high school had a lot of vocational education classes. I took welding and small gas-engine repair and had a great time. I was pretty excited when I found out there was a physics shop here. Now I think of everything in terms of physics — welding and small engines, even paddling a kayak, which I love to do. The turbulence of the water, the movement and torque on bolts, it's all kind of related to physics." |
 Read the whole PDF |
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 Read the whole PDF |
Johnan Kaleeba, senior "I have led a very academic life. I think it has to do with being African. I was telling a friend of mine yesterday why pulling out of school in Africa means such a different thing. Whoever isn't going to school is getting married. If you don't go to school, there's not much else to fall back on. I was brought up to haul myself through difficult academic situations and to make sure I succeeded, with the expectation that at the end of the road there will be an income, a job for me." |
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Lisa
Katleman,
junior "I came to Reed after many years of the Real World. I'm 31, originally from Omaha, Nebraska. Right out of high school, I moved to Dallas, where I got a job at Neiman-Marcus, selling ladies' handbags. I was one of their top salespeople. Now, they're not purses — don't ever call them a purse. I was selling $1500 handbags. Then I moved to L.A. and got involved doing commercials. I said annoying things for money like, 'Welcome to McDonald's, may I help you?' I did commercials for Burger King, for American Airlines (I was a stewardess in training), and I worked for a cut-rate furniture warehouse, the kind where the commercial only comes on late at night. They bouffanted my hair, put me in a silk dress and pearls, and I talked about these cheap couches they were trying to sell. It was during a taping of 'Divorce Court' that I realized there had to be something else. I auditioned for a part on 'Silver Spoons' to play Ricky Schroeder's girlfriend, and I'm thinking, 'I'm 23, I'm supposed to play 14.' I started to read and the phone rang; the producers stopped the audition, and at that moment I decided, I hate this. There is something else inside me. I don't know what it is, but I'm going to find it. I stood up and walked out the door." |
 Read the whole PDF |
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