A Quote by Harrison Barnes

To me, I'm honored to be able to talk to and interview people like Dr. Harry Edwards and Emmitt Smith, and just to be able to ask them questions is an unbelievable opportunity. I'm not a journalist. I have no idea about that. My wife is 10 times the writer that I am. I'm not going to be on that level.
I was spurred by the fact that having worked for women's magazines myself as a journalist, if you go off and interview a female celebrity, I'd just go in and interview them like I'd interview any human being and talk about the things that interested me. And you'd come back, and you'd file your copy. And then my editor would read through my copy and go, why haven't you asked them if they want kids? And I'd be like, well, I don't know, I interviewed Aerosmith last week. And I didn't ask them that.
Between me and my wife, there's this joke where I'll be doing some fun interview, and I'll get off the phone and be like, "That guy was an idiot." A lot of times, interviews are like being asked a list of questions. Invariably, there will be this part where they think you're a writer for Letterman: "Just off the top of your head, tell me the 10 most influential bands on you." And you're actually asked to come up with a spontaneous list. It's like, "Dude, I'm not living in High Fidelity."
Most people ask me questions based on a previous interview. That's not an interview. It's like they're just saying my quotes back to me.
A lot of times, going into the interview, you have an idea of maybe what you want to talk about. And the people you are interviewing have an idea of what they want to talk about.
When you are organizing a group of people, the first thing that we do is we talk about the history of what other people have been able to accomplish - people that look like them, workers like them, ordinary people, working people - and we give them the list: these are people like yourself; this is what they were able to do in their community.
The thing is, people only care about their selfie. I am a fan of artists, and if I have 30 seconds with an artist, I am not going to take a photo just to prove on social media that I was with the artist. I am going to enjoy every single second of those 30 seconds, ask questions, talk, actually make something of the moment, thank them.
For the most part, if somebody approaches me and says, 'I'd like to interview you,' who am I to say no, when I spend all my days going, 'Hello, you don't know me. I'd like to ask you some questions. Do you have a little time?'
I wanted to be a journalist because I like to ask questions. And I like the idea that someone might feel responsible for answering them.
The Hubble Space Telescope is more than remarkable. It has answered just so many of those fundamental questions that people have been asking about the cosmos since people were able to ask questions.
It's important to be able to simply ask the questions. Every single advance in science comes about because of courage to ask a question, an outrageous question. Like "Can a large heavy metal object fly if it goes fast enough with the right design?" People's worldviews are changed when they see that something unbelievable is possible. Airplane flight is now taken for granted. And so all wonderful advances start with an outrageous question.
There are a lot of people who talk about a formula for being able to start a fan base. But for me, it's been about songs and just being hard on myself as a writer, feeling like there is a purpose to it all.
Being able to tour and experience all of the stuff that comes from touring, and then being able to come back to Nashville, it's almost like therapy to be able to get into a session and talk about all of the things that I'm going through. It's so much more real to me.
I'd like the campaigning to be about all the things they're not going to do. Just tell me what you're not going do! Don't tell me what you're going to do. Just say "I'd really like to do solar energy but I'm not going to be able to. I really want to dig holes everywhere in the country but I really won't be able to do it because people seem to think that maybe my water will be screwed up."
I just want people to remember me a hundred years from now. I don't care that they're not able to quote any single line that I've written. But just that they can say, "Oh, he was a writer." That's sufficiently an honored position for me.
I feel like a lot of people involved with celebrity journalism have interesting ideas about the people they want to write about going into the interview. Then as soon as they actually sit down with that person, they basically ask the questions they think journalists are supposed to ask, and they start viewing themselves almost as a peer of the subject. Like they're going to become friends. That's why most celebrity journalism is so terrible.
I give people on my team the opportunity to excel as well, and I think that's what continues to keep me ahead. I may not be able to show or do an interview; I give them the opportunity to run the show, and that has been working.
This site uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. More info...
Got it!