Terry Gross

“My show is not a news show. It's a show about culture and ideas.”

“I always feel like the art of interviewing is to be interested. If you're not interested, you can't fake it.”

“I'm a very private person. I don't go to premieres. I don't go to parties. I don't covet the Oscar gold.”

“What you're really trying to do in an interview is to get a sense of the person's interior life.”

“You have to be willing to be a little bit of a pest. You have to be willing to ask the follow-up question.”

“I think the best interviews are conversations. It's not about me; it's about the person I'm talking to.”

“I don't think of myself as a celebrity. I'm a working journalist.”

“I think humor is a great way to get to the truth.”

“I've always been interested in people who are outsiders, who are on the margins.”

“A good interviewer is a good listener. You can't be planning your next question while you're listening to the answer.”

“I'm interested in how people become who they are.”

“I'm always terrified before an interview. I have a lot of anxiety. It's a very stressful job.”

“The great thing about radio is that it's a one-on-one medium. It's just you and me.”

“I really want to understand the world, and I think that the best way to do that is to talk to people who are in it.”

“The most important thing I've learned is to be prepared and to be curious. If you're not curious, you're not going to ask good questions.”