WIRED: Hey.
Katie: Hey … ?
WIRED: That’s us. The collective consciousness of the WIRED editorial team, here to help you talk about The Big Interview series.
Katie: Is this AI?
WIRED: Katie, what makes a great interview?
Katie: Is it weird that I’m being interviewed in my own publication?
WIRED: Hey, you created this monster. Answer the question.
Katie: This is a conversation with someone we care about (you and I, who are apparently the collective consciousness of WIRED), who we find interesting, and who is somehow shaping our shared future. That doesn’t necessarily mean a tech executive or a world-famous scientist; these conversations span everything WIRED covers.
WIRED: Like what?
Katie: Aren’t they? you WIRED? Didn’t you know that already? Like the tech industry and science, sure, but also internet culture, politics, digital security, celebrities, innovation in its many forms. We cover all of it, and we love meeting the geeks, freaks, weirdos, and rock stars—both literally and figuratively—who are at the forefront of its creation.
WIRED: WIRED’s collective conscience would like to remind you that we don’t do PR for famous people.
Katie: These interviews aren’t PR. They’re not adversarial by definition, either. And we’re not trying to trick anyone into saying something stupid or something newsworthy — though I can’t stop them if they do either or both! I like to think of WIRED as a pretty thoughtful place, and these are meant to be thoughtful conversations between two smart people who make sense as a couple. We want people to come away from there feeling like they’re really together. know the topic of the interview, their hopes and dreams, their deepest fears, what they ate for breakfast, and whether they’ve ever hallucinated extended interactions with their employees after taking nitrous oxide at the dentist’s office.
WIRED: Are you okay, boss?
Katie: It’s been a long year.
WIRED: Speaking of the existential stress inherent in running a media business these days, anyone up for it? read Why do we post a lot of interviews when everyone is watching TikToks these days?
Katie: Some people still read, yes. Good for them. But we’re not just publishing the Big Interview series in text anymore (as we’ve been doing since 2022). We’re also releasing a bunch of these conversations as episodes of a new YouTube series. And we’re introducing a one day eventcalled The Big Interview, in San Francisco this December. Mira Murati will be there. So will Jensen Huang. And Olympic gold medalist Phil Wizard.
WIRED: Oh, they’re all big business.
Katie: I know.
WIRED: So what kind of important interviews are being posted here and on YouTube?
Katie: Did any of you commission and edit these interviews?
WIRED: Try to play along, Katie, we’re having fun here.
Katie: Okay, fine. We talked to a bunch of amazing people. We talked to Mark Cuban about his new pharmaceutical “revolution.” We talked to Josh Johnson of The daily programabout politics and the future of comedy. We spoke to Signal Foundation President Meredith Whittaker about surveillance and artificial intelligence. That’s great news. We even spoke to Secretary of State Antony Blinken about cybersecurity. And there’s much more in the works. We’re even publishing a special print edition.
WIRED: How exciting! We look forward to chatting again in a few months to see how it all went.
Katie: Will we be… talking again?
WIRED: Your next dental cleaning will be in mid-February. We assume you’ll be back to enjoying the nitrous oxide comfort menu at the dentist’s office?
Katie: After this interaction, I’m honestly not so sure.
WIRED: Happy editing, boss. Until we meet again.
