George Stephanopoulos Teaches Purposeful Communication

George Stephanopoulos

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With hundreds of important conversations under his belt, here are some of George's final lessons and takeaways

A Brief History of T.V News

The evolution of a modern industry—and the rise of one of its most trusted and iconic figures, George Stephanopoulos

1925

Scottish inventor and entrepreneur John Logie Baird demonstrates the first mechanical television in London.

1927

Television gets a makeover courtesy of American inventor Phil Taylor Farnsworth, who realizes— purportedly while plowing his family's farm—that an image could be scanned onto a television set row by row.

1944

World War 2 drives an enormous appetite for news coverage, which soon comprises 20 percent of all network television programming in the U.S. Within a decade of the war ending, nearly one-third of all American households own a television set.

1949

On an April afternoon in San Marino, California, a three-year-old girl named Kathy Fiscus falls nine stories into an open well. A local news station, K.T.L.A, shows up to the scene, and rescuers' efforts to save Kathy are—for the first time ever—broadcast live on televisions around the country.

1952

Today, the world's first morning news show, premieres on the American network N.B.C. (Before Today, most stations would only show a test pattern at 7:00 a.m.) The format presages later crack-of-dawn programming: serious news spliced with lighthearted fare, like interviews with animals and eating contests. The show's producer, Sylvester "Pat" Weaver, insists on a "rise-and-shine personality."

1954

N.B.C's chief competitor, C.B.S, jumps on the morning-show bandwagon with the aptly named The Morning Show. The new program features gags like a “disc doggie” puppet named Humphrey, who discusses records with the hosts. The show aims to be a counterpart to Today, though its initial low ratings lead producers to embrace (and then abandon) various formats, including a news-focused show without any silly segments.

1961

George Stephanopoulos is born in Fall River, Massachusetts, to first-generation Greek-American parents. George's father, grandfather, uncle, and godfather were all Greek Orthodox priests, leading to an oratory tradition that will help him learn how to speak clearly and comfortably in public.

Image summary: A photograph of astronaut Buzz Aldrin in a white spacesuit, standing on the lunar surface next to the lunar module's ladder. The image captures the moment he prepares to step onto the moon in 1969, as photographed by Neil Armstrong.

1962

American broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite begins his legendary stint as an anchor for C.B.S Evening News, bringing gravitas and amity to television screens during a time of social and political upheaval. A national opinion poll later names him “the most trusted man in America.”

1969

An estimated six hundred million television viewers watch as U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin take their first steps on the moon.

1974

After undertaking a middle-school assignment on potential careers, George realizes he has no priestly ambition. “I hadn't lost my faith, just my vocation, but I knew the decision was final,” he later writes in his memoir.

1975

Good Morning America, hosted by actors David Hartman and Nancy Dussault, launches on A.B.C, the last of America's "Big Three" television networks to introduce a morning program. After three years, the show surges in ratings, giving N.B.C's Today a run for its money.

1980

American cable and satellite channel C.N.N kick-starts the revolutionary age of the twenty-four-hour news cycle. The network's founder, media mogul Ted Turner, isn't a particularly big fan of news; in fact, his idea comes from his experience at a previous network, where he'd relegated news to the dead of night to comply with U.S. requirements that all stations air "public service" programming. Surprise: Turner soon learns that insomniacs are everywhere, and people will watch the news at any hour.

Image summary: A photograph from 1992 showing George Soros speaking to President-elect Bill Clinton during an economic conference in Little Rock, Arkansas. The image captures a candid moment of political and economic consultation.

1992 – GEORGE SPEAKS TO PRESIDENT - ELECT BILL CLINTON DURING THE ECONOMIC CONFERENCE IN LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS

1982

George graduates summa cum laude from New York's Columbia University with both a B.A. in political science and a budding love of broadcast journalism from working at the college's radio station, W.K.C.R.

1984

George completes a Rhodes Scholarship—a prestigious international postgraduate award—to study theology at Oxford University in England. It's around this time that he has his most intense journalistic experience: reporting on refugee camps in Sudan as a stringer (freelance journalist) for The Christian Science Monitor, a nonprofit news organization based in the U.S. While in Sudan, George finds himself in the middle of a coup, and quickly learns how to do on-the-ground political reporting.

1988

George begins working for U.S. presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, joining the campaign's "rapid response" team, which is charged with rebutting opposition party attacks.

1989

Two years after U.S. President Ronald Reagan implores U.S.S.R. leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall," it happens on live television. Germans use pickaxes to chip away at the twelve-foot-tall barrier, and hoist each other over as onlookers cheer.

1992

George serves as Deputy Campaign Manager for Bill Clinton's U.S. presidential campaign, a loosely defined role that involves evaluating how pol- icy issues would be received in the media and political worlds. After Clinton wins, George becomes one of the president's most trusted advisors, specializing in public relations, policy expertise, and crisis management.

1994

In a watershed cultural moment, news helicopters follow as superstar American athlete O. J. Simpson leads police on a low-speed car chase through Los Angeles, California. The incident is broadcast live on all major networks to an audience of nearly one hundred million viewers.

1997

George joins A.B.C as a political analyst for This Week, a show featuring interviews with political insiders and commentators, hosted at the time by American journalists Sam Donaldson and Cookie Roberts. In this position, George provides extensive commentary on political and policy-related issues of the day.

1999

George publishes the memoir All Too Human: A Political Education, which centers on the time he spent working in the U.S. capital during the Clinton administration. The book makes The New York Times Best Seller list.

2000

During a prolonged dispute over the results of the U.S. presidential elec- tion, George becomes one of A.B.C's go-to political analysts, appearing on Good Morning America over forty days in a row—from the conclusion of the candidates' campaigns to the final U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Image summary: A photo of a white Ford Bronco on a highway with highway signs for LA Airport, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica overhead. A caption identifies the scene as a 1994 police pursuit of O. J. Simpson. It is a documentary photograph capturing a significant historical event.

2001

Terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11 prompt round-the-clock coverage on all major television networks in America. Because so many stories break throughout the day, cable outlets introduce a scrolling ticker at the bottom of their screens that displays the latest updates—a transfixing (and now ubiquitous) element of the news-watching experience.

2002

George becomes the host of This Week with A.B.C News, starting an eight-year tenure during which viewership surges past C.B.S's Face the Nation (It will land in second place among network public-affairs shows by 2007.) In addition to numerous U.S. politicians and White House advisers, George interviews foreign leaders, including the reclusive Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, then president of Libya, in 2003. George is officially named A.B.C's Chief Washington correspondent three years after his inaugural broadcast.

2004

International wire services are absent when a devastating tsunami hits northern Indonesia. Mainstream news outlets broadcast images and video sourced from social media, marking a major change in journalistic reporting on television.

2009

A.B.C taps George to anchor Good Morning America. In this role (which he still holds to this day), George eventually interviews everyone from U.S. President Joe Biden to famed American actress Meryl Streep—all while covering each day's breaking news stories.

2010

Thirty-three Chilean miners become rapped underground, where they remain for sixty-nine days. Their rescue, broadcast live, breaks viewership records and is described in coverage as “inspirational,” “spectacular,” and “captivating.” More than a thousand journalists cover the story worldwide.

2014

George becomes the chief anchor of A.B.C News, landing exclusive interviews with notable and newsworthy figures, including the first sit-down interview with Darren Wilson—a police officer whose fatal shooting of Michael Brown Junior. sparked weeks of demonstrations that year—and, in 2019, a thirty-hour ride-along with then U.S. President Donald Trump.

2016

A Pew Research Center study finds that 64 percent of adults believe fake news stories cause a “great deal of confusion.” Oxford Dictionaries also selects “post-truth” as the word of the year, which the dictionary defines as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”

2021

George launches a new production company in partnership with A.B.C News, bringing long-form investigative content and interview stories to streaming video services such as Hulu, which boasts more than forty-two million subscribers.

Covering Breaking News

When the situation is uncertain, communicate with clarity, accuracy, and emotional openness

On September 11, 2001, George had just voted in New York City's mayoral primaries when his phone rang. It was Mimi Gurbst, an A.B.C News producer, with shocking information: A plane had hit the World Trade Center in Manhattan. George quickly hopped onto the subway with his producer, Alice Maggin.

“We were actually one block from the towers—when the towers came down,” George says. “That was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.” He remembers the subway going dark and filling with smoke, his fellow passengers growing silent. “We didn't know if we were going to get out.”

When George emerged from the subway station, the cityscape was gray and laced with smoke. Small remnants of buildings were falling from the sky. He was able to begin reporting live thanks to a few students at Pace University Business School, who lent him their dial-up Internet connection; thus began a marathon of round-the-clock anchoring. "It was probably the most intense experience of my life in broadcasting," George says.

Covering breaking news isn't always so gut-wrenching or viscerally painful. But no matter the situation, those closest to the action can struggle to provide viewers with accurate information while remaining empathetic, observant, and alert to the crisis unfolding around them. Here are a few broadly applicable tips for communicating when you're in a new and stressful situation:

You Have to Be Calm. You Have to Be Contained. You Have to Be Controlled. But You Also Have to Communicate That You Know How Difficult This Is for Many People. And Getting That Balance Right Is the Key to the Job.

Admit What You Don't Know

Misinformation can spread rapidly during a crisis, but the way to combat it is simple: In those moments, George says, being up-front with your audience about all that's unknown is vital for retaining trust. "Never say more than you know," George says. "And don't be afraid to tell the audience, 'This is all that we know at this time.' In this situation, admitting ignorance isn't shameful—it's admirable. Be honest, up-front, and make sure your audience is aware that you'll provide more information as soon as you receive it.

Be a Professional...

When crisis stories break, the role of a journalist is to provide clarity, analysis, and perspective to viewers living through a collective trauma. George tries to be extremely intentional about himself—but he also trusts his instincts, energy, and adrenaline. Those are the moments “where I literally have no sense of the passage of time,” he says. George has covered events for twelve hours in a row, and found himself utterly immersed in the immediacy of the situation. “That's where you bring all of your experience as a journalist, as a father, as a former political aide, as a neighbor, as a citizen. That's where you bring all of that to bear in those moments where everyone is experiencing a crisis together.”

... and a Human Being

In George's opinion, transcending the confines of the traditional anchor-subject relationship is key when reporting on events still unfolding. While your instincts might be telling you to find as many facts as possible, he believes that it's essential to maintain your humanity. "You're seeing something, you're experiencing something the same way your viewers — George are at that moment. You have to be calm. You have to be contained. You have to be controlled," George says. "But you also have to communicate that you know how difficult this is for so many people. And getting that balance right is the key to the job." Remaining present with your whole heart can help comfort people in even the most difficult circumstances.

Focus on Key Questions

No matter the type of crisis he's covering, George remains laser-focused on his audience and what they need from him at that moment. Often that means answering fundamental questions like: What are you learning now—and what more can you find out—while taking your audience's emotional state into consideration? How can you put what you've learned into a greater context while also anticipating what your audience is yearning to hear?

4 Types of Interviews

Whether you're interviewing a war criminal or potential babysitter, George says that understanding the dynamic of a one-on-one discussion is key to striking the right tone

#1: Adversarial

Interviewing someone who needs to be held accountable can be a difficult feat. Powerful people, especially, are prone to spouting falsehoods, obfuscating, or repeating the same tired line to protect themselves. In these instances, being assertive (read: pushy) can be an effective way to get an honest answer. As in all interviews, the adversarial kind benefits from solid research beforehand. “I've learned... that you have to have a battle plan for war going in,” George says. “Knowing full well from the first question on, you might have to throw it out the window and go with what you're given in that moment.”

#2: Empathetic

When you're empathizing with someone, you're attempting to understand why they feel and behave the way they do. Getting there involves being non-judgmental and emotionally open. Many interviews require empathy, especially when you're talking to someone who's lived through a traumatic event. "Sometimes it means you have to reach out—whether it's with a touch, or a look, or the tone of your voice, in a way that communicates, 'I'm here with you, I'm sharing this story with you, I understand your pain,'" George says. In these situations, patience is paramount. George tries to telegraph a message to his subjects: "Take your time, slow down, and know that we're in this together."

#3: Investigative

Like a bomb-sniffing dog, an investigative journalist hunts for traces of revelatory (and potentially explosive) secrets. Even the most cautious of sources can end up revealing damning details when carefully questioned by a skilled interlocutor. What allows these interviewers to distinguish fact from fiction?

In short: endless curiosity, attention to detail, and a thirst for knowledge. Great investigative interviewers know that asking deeply informed questions can show they mean business. They notice subtle changes in tone and body language.

They also know when to ask pointed questions and when to be silent, allowing their interview subject to fill the dead air.

#4: Informative

When George is interviewing someone with the goal of informing the public, he tries to act as a neutral, fair, and clarifying arbitrator. He'll often say little, facilitating the flow of information as unobtrusively as possible. “Being a bit more concise can actually elicit more information,” George says. That maxim held true during the interview with U.S. President Biden about the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan: After analyzing the president's cadence and body language, George realized Biden had more to say. By asking a single-word question—“And?”—George was able to get him to reveal that troops would remain in Afghanistan until all American citizens were evacuated.

George's Career by the Numbers

1

A Rundown of Time, Commitment, and Consideration

Number of questions George says you should ask at a time-asking more than one is a mistake because “it gives the person you're interviewing the chance to pick whichever question they wanted to answer,” George says.

Number of hours A.B.C dedicates to Good Morning America every day 2

Number of hours George dedicates each workday to reading the news

12

Number of consecutive hours George has stayed on camera while covering a breaking news event

20

Average number of minutes George has to interview a president 30

Number of hours George spent with President Trump for his 2019 special

20+

Number of years George has worked at A.B.C

8

Number of years George worked in politics prior to his anchoring career

Interview Prep101

While most Americans are still in their pajamas, George is getting ready to talk shop with the biggest names in politics and culture. How does he manage to stay ahead of the game?

Read Everything

After waking up at 2 30 AM, George likes to meditate and shower before arriving at A.B.C News. There, he spends the first two hours of his day devouring a slate of ideologically diverse newspapers and websites. (In other words: If it's a news source, George probably has a subscription to it.) This gives him a chance to understand the stories and perspectives that will shape the day's news cycle. He's also preparing for the unexpected: "You don't have a lot of warning before an interview," George explains. "Sometimes, you get a phone call." To wit, he only had a few days to prepare for an interview with President Biden. But by reading a bit more every day, George is more or less prepared for whatever might come his way.

the Takeaway: When it comes to any potentially difficult conversation, the more prepared you are, the more likely that the exchange will be smooth.

Define Your Goals

No matter the conversation, think like a detective: What information is absolutely essential? For George, that sometimes means whittling down a stack of questions, eliminating any queries that he could do without. When preparing for an interview with a president, for example, George reads transcripts of every recent interview. Then he works with his direct staff, as well as A.B.C's political teams, to get a sense of how they believe the president should be held to account in the upcoming exchange. In the end, he comes up with around five questions that are essential to the integrity of the interview—what George calls "must-dos."

the Takeaway: Whether you have fifteen minutes to chat with someone or an entire afternoon, set objectives for your talk and then try your hardest to stick to them.

Start With The Basics

You might think an interviewer won't be taken seriously unless every question they ask is dense and verbose. But sometimes the most concise, streamlined questions can lead to surprising, fascinating answers. "What I learned over the course of trial and error, and over the course of many years, is that the best questions are often the most simple ones," George says. "Know what you're talking about. But you don't have to show it every time you open your mouth."

the Takeaway: Asking clear, open-ended questions gives your subject more time to talk, and ensures the Identify an awkward or difficult conversation you've been putting off. Can you approach it like a journalist would? Try mapping out the order of the questions you'd like to ask, beginning with lighter queries that can help you understand the other person's current emotional state.

When the time comes to ask hard-hitting questions, make sure you don't raise your voice or reveal your feelings. Remember to empathize and actively listen throughout, and always keep in mind the goals you have for the conversation.

conversation revolves around them, not you.

Imagine the Dialogue

We've all seen (or experienced first-hand) an exchange in which an interviewer stumbles, awkwardly pivots, or tries to fill dead air with prosaic concerns ("How about this weather?"). It's possible the interviewer was caught off guard by a subject's answer, or hadn't thought through the order of their questions. Regardless, it helps to imagine the contours of your conversation beforehand. That way, you can structure the interview in a way that flows naturally.

the Takeaway: Use what you've learned in your research to anticipate how the other person might respond, then order your questions accordingly.

Communicating & Listening

Being a great conversation partner means listening and communicating with purpose and intention

On Communicating: Body Language

What is your physicality telling others?

Odds are, you've had this experience: You're mid-conversation, speaking in a way that's pleasant, and unencumbered by the darker thoughts you've been having. Suddenly, the other person interrupts you to ask: Is everything okay?

This intuitive soul was probably picking up on your body language, tone, or facial expression, which convey far more information than the sentences you speak. According to the work of Albert Mehrabian, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, human communication is 7 percent words, 38 percent tone and 55 percent nonverbal/facial.

This explains how you can telegraph your inner state to others, whether or not you intend to do so. Raising your eyebrows can signal discomfort or concern in the subject at hand; tapping your fingers can project boredom or impatience; tilting your head might mean that you're listening intently or focusing very hard. Someone who's self-conscious about their body may tug down their shirt or smooth their pants, while someone who's feeling defensive may cross their arms or legs (or both). The muscles in our faces also comprise a complex communication tool: The pioneering American anthropologist Ray Birdwhistell estimated that humans can make and recognize around 250,000 facial expressions.

For George, awareness of body language is crucial to a successful interview, as is the positioning of both interviewer and interviewee during the exchange. If one person is sitting and the other is standing, for example, it creates a power imbalance that's easy to exploit. One such moment occurred during a tense back-and-forth with President Trump about Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. election; George stood over the (literally) sitting president, who was at his desk in the Oval Office, and asked him whether he would accept damaging information from a foreign nation about an opponent. Trump said yes.

“He should've never let me question him while I'm standing and he's sitting behind the desk,” George says. “It's a complete imbalance of power.”

George recommends paying attention to a subject's body language throughout the entire interview. "Only by putting all that information together can you be an effective interview," he says.

The same goes for your own body language. For example, you can signal that you're paying attention to an interviewee by sharing their posture, standing or sitting close, and moving slowly and confidently. When he's all business and holding a subject accountable, George might lean in to convey it. But be careful not to allow your posture to reveal your disagreement with something that's just been said (unless you want it to). If your gestures seem accusatory, your conversation partner may clam up.

On Listening

Turn the sound off on an interview or short news clip and see if you can guess the intricacies of what the subjects are saying (or the interview dynamic and mood) by analyzing their facial expressions and body language. Then watch the clip again with sound to see if your inferences were correct.

You might be missing out on valuable information

What does it mean to truly listen? According to American writer and journalist Kate Murphy, author of the book You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters, "listening is about the experience of being experienced." It's when someone takes an active interest in understanding who you are and what's on your mind. A good listener uses all their mental energy to understand and intuit what you're attempting to communicate, rather than simply waiting for their turn to talk.

Active listening is so powerful it's recognizable in brain scans. Research from Princeton University neuroscientist Uri Hasson used functional magnetic resonance imaging (or f.M.R.I scans) to track how different brain regions changed in response to stimuli, like spoken narratives, films, and television shows. He found that when we really listen to stories, our brain activity aligns with the speaker.

- Other studies have shown that listening to strangers can improve our well-being. Researchers at the University of Chicago found that train commuters typically reported a positive experience as both speaker and listener when connecting and chatting with fellow passengers.

Even though it can enrich your life, genuine, active listening is a skill that most of us can practice with more regularity. Many find themselves talking over each other, spacing out, or monologuing when they could be trying to engage, cooperate, and empathize. You can perform attentiveness—nodding your head vigorously, furrowing your brow—but your conversation partner will likely resent the charade. To really listen is an active process that requires genuine empathy and effort.

Clear Your Head

If you're listening in a self-interested fashion—for example, to elicit a specific quote, or to make a sale—chances are high that others will see right through you. Same goes if you're listening with a bias—perhaps you've fit the speaker into a stereotype, like a theory you have about folks in their line of work. These ways of listening diminish your ability to understand, and they can distort the way you perceive others responding to you. (This phenomenon, called expectancy bias, refers to the subconscious influence a predisposition has on someone connecting with others.) Instead, try to consciously rid your mind of agendas and preconceived notions prior to talking with someone.

Flip the Script

Even well-meaning people can get into the habit of conversation as assessment. Maybe you unconsciously pepper your subjects with questions that relate to their social status. (“So, where'd ya go to school?” is one such Use these tips to strike up a conversation with an acquaintance. See if you can consciously turn down the volume on your own inner monologue and really listen. Instead of asking evaluative, comparative, or status-oriented questions, introduce open-ended questions that could elicit thoughtful responses. (For more examples of these types of queries, look online for The New York Times's exercise "The 36 Questions That Lead to Love.")

classic.) Thing is, people can tell when you're sizing them up, and they tend to either shut down or regurgitate familiar answers in defense. Try to become more aware of the times when you're asking questions about superficial status markers; instead, work to consciously ask questions that reveal who someone is as an individual.

Go Deep

On that note, it can help to have a few solid questions in your back pocket. "Tell me about yourself" may seem overly broad, but it allows someone else to lead you to their essence— what they view as the most important information to provide. Asking other people what excites or aggravates them is another way of understanding their psyche. Research indicates that when people are asked open-ended, expansive questions—like “What would constitute a perfect day for you?”—they feel closer to the questioner than if they spent time together making small talk. In other words: Focus on questions that point to someone's hopes, frustrations, and areas of genuine enthusiasm.

In the Interview

You're prepped, coiffed, and you've got a list of questions you've already practiced in the mirror. Now it's time to make sure your high-stakes interview is revealing and consequential

Set Ground Rules

It's possible that your source has never been formally interviewed before. (Lots haven't!) Or they're wary of answering potentially dicey questions. In any case, put your interviewee at ease by floating a few ground rules before your chat formally begins. The award-winning American radio interviewer Terry Gross recommends telling a subject, "If I ask something that's too personal, just tell me and I'll move on." In other words: Ensure your source knows that, while you're there to get the information you need, they're still allowed to establish boundaries that you'll respect.

Improvise as Needed

Say you enter the interview with a list of twenty questions, but, early on, it becomes clear there won't be enough time to ask all of them. Think about what you really need answered, then add in conversational versions of other questions around them. Your goal should always be to establish a naturalistic exchange that allows sources to give information in interesting ways. Sound bites get a bad rap, but a beautiful quote that succinctly captures the story can be a service to all parties (chiefly, your audience).

GEORGE INTERVIEWING SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN AT GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Embrace the Quiet

Silence can be a tool for advancing and deepening a conversation. You may be uncomfortable with pregnant pauses—but silence often allows your source the time and space to work through their discomfort to figure out what they need to communicate in the moment. “Sometimes you do have to fill the space, sometimes you do have to move on to the next subject,” George says. “But it's important to watch the other person, to read them, and to use silence in moments to advance a conversation.”

Play Dumb

Don't worry about performing the role of Smartest Interviewer Alive. Sometimes you'll get the best answers by (ostensibly) obvious prompts, like asking someone who's been accused of financial crimes, "Can you give me your personal definition of fraud?" or asking an environmental scientist, "Why should we avoid outdoor activities when the air is polluted?" As George says, "You don't have to share everything you know every moment, and if you simply ask simple, direct questions, you can often get the best answers."

Interesting (And Impactful) Interviews

Six examples of conversations that changed the course of culture over the past six decades

Sir David Frost and

Richard Nixon (1977)

This bombshell interview—the result of months of preparation by English journalist Sir David Frost—contains one of the most extraordinary exchanges in the history of broadcast news. After eight-plus days of taping (resulting in nearly twenty-nine hours of footage), Frost finally, respectfully, asks former U.S. President Richard Nixon if he would go further than using the word “mis- takes" when describing his involvement in Watergate—the political espionage scandal that led to Nixon's resignation. "The word, it seems, is not enough for people to understand," Frost says.

Because of the rapport Frost had built with Nixon, the former president flashes a smile before responding with his own question: “What word would you express?” After Frost gives his suggestions—including “there was probably more than mistakes, there was wrongdoing”—he closes with, “I think that people need to hear it, and I think unless you say it you're going to be haunted for the rest of your life."

In a stunning moment, Nixon apologizes for putting the American people through what Frost calls “two years of needless agony.” He adds: “I let the American people down and I have to carry that burden with me for the rest of my life.”

George Stephanopoulos

and Alec Baldwin (2021)

Sometimes, an interview cracks open a celebrity, revealing a side you've never seen before. Such is the case when George sits down with award-winning American actor Alec Baldwin, still in a raw state after being involved in a horrific accident on the set of an independent film, which resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

In the interview—his first since the incident—Baldwin cries when describing the day's events, still seemingly in shock that an antique revolver had discharged in his hand, killing Hutchins and wounding the film's director, Joel Souza.

George deftly holds back during much of the interview, allowing the actor to explore his grief, while also keeping the focus on the timeline of events that led to the gun's firing. He's neither hard nor soft on Baldwin—when he reads criticism that's been lobbed at the actor and gives Baldwin a chance to respond, it feels as if he's after nothing more nor less than the truth.

Magic Johnson and

Guest Panel (1992)

In 1991, basketball superstar Earvin “Magic” Johnson shocked the public when he announced that he'd tested positive for H.I.V (human immunodeficiency virus) and would be immediately retiring from pro sports. The following year, he appeared on the children's television station Nickelodeon for a forum-style interview with a panel of kids, moderated by noted American journalist Linda Ellerbee.

The groundbreaking, humanizing discussion that followed radically altered the public's perception of people living with H.I.V. From the start, the children seated around Johnson prove to be adept, compassionate interviewers, asking the basketball player what it felt like to discover that he'd tested positive for what was, at the time, a terminal disease. "The hardest part was trying to prepare myself to tell my wife," Johnson replies.

But the most emotionally impactful moment comes later in the interview, as Johnson—and the television audience—learn that at least one of the children interviewing him is living with H.I.V, too. “I want people to know that we're just normal people,” a girl named Hydeia Broadbent remarks through tears. “Aw, you don't have to cry,” Johnson tells her, “Because we are normal people. Okay? We are. You just want to be treated like that, right? You just want your friends to play with you, and call you up and come by, and still have sleepovers and things like that.”

For her part, Ellerbee makes the program's intentions clear from the onset, leading the broadcast by remarking that "ignorance is not bliss, you don't go to heaven if you die dumb." She largely takes a back seat and allows the kids to engage in a discourse with Johnson, offering a maxim about talking to children: “Don't lie to them.” Still, at the time, the exchange seemed especially risky, given the stigma attached to the illness; Nickelodeon even trained a hundred staffers to answer phone calls from angry parents.

In the end, Nickelodeon reportedly received only a single negative response—from someone who hadn't seen the show but objected to the premise. Clips of exchanges between Johnson and his guest interviews circulated on other television shows. Ted Koppel, one of America's most respected broadcast journalists, aired the Johnson special in place of that night's episode of his own hit show Nightline, calling the Nickelodeon program "a remarkable piece of television."

Jonathan Swan And

Donald Trump (2020)

When it comes to holding the powerful to account, few interviews can match Axios reporter Jonathan Swan's testy exchange with former U.S. President Donald Trump.

The interview, set against the backdrop of a roiling pandemic, sees Swan repeatedly press Trump on his COVID-19 policies. He's especially adept at asking simple follow-up questions that reveal his subject's innermost feelings.

When Trump says the pandemic is “under control,” Swan immediately follows up with “How? One thousand Americans are dying a day.” Trump then says, “They are dying. That's true.

And you have—it is what it is. But that doesn't mean we aren't doing everything we can. It's under control as much as you can control it."

In another exchange, Swan presses Trump for an analysis of systematic racism, Trump boldly states that he's done "more for the Black community than anybody with the possible exception of "Abraham Lincoln"—a reference to the nineteenth-century U.S. president who signed legislation to abolish slavery.

In addition to going viral for its surreal qualities (as well as for Swan's incredible, meme-worthy facial expressions), the interview may even have impacted the 2020 U.S. presidential election: Trump's apparent lack of concern about American deaths was later used by opposition parties as evidence that the president had been negligent in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Martin Bashir and Lady

Diana Spencer (1995)

This much-scrutinized—yet revelatory—B.B.C interview changed the way the public perceived the Princess of Wales. Conducted by the English journalist Martin Bashir, it delves into Lady Diana Spencer's difficult relationship with the royal household, as well as her struggles with bulimia and postpartum depression.

The frank conversation between Bashir and Spencer also explores her marriage to Prince Charles, and her reaction to his affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles, eliciting the famous quote: “Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”

Spencer is forthcoming, earning sympathy from viewers (at least, according to a later poll). She describes her sense of alienation from the royal family in profound terms: "There's no better way to dismantle a personality than to isolate it," she says at one point. Twenty-three million people in England tune in to watch, with so many of them boiling water for tea afterward that a surge afflicts the national power grid.

More than twenty-five years later, it's public knowledge that Bashir came into the interview under false pretenses: He'd asked a graphic designer to create counterfeit bank statements—which he'd then presented to Spencer's brother—purporting to show payments to Rupert Murdoch's News International. The documents gave Spencer the impression that associates of the royal family were selling stories about her to newspapers, a situation that might have prompted her to agree to the interview.

But Spencer, allegedly, did not regret sitting down with Bashir. She is reported to have told the former B.B.C royal correspondent Jennie Bond: "Suddenly it seemed right, particularly with a divorce on the horizon. I thought that would mean a gagging clause. And I felt it was then or never."

Dick Cavett and

James Baldwin (1969)

Some conversations are so insightful they feel timeless. A prime example is the wide-ranging, televised talk between two experts in American culture: the writer and activist James Baldwin and the journalist Dick Cavett. Together, they explore the ways systemic racism pervades every aspect of modern American life.

Cavett is earnest and humble in his approach, though his questions reveal some ignorance of race relations and the causes of Black liberation. (In that sense, he serves as a kind of avatar of white society in the U.S. circa 1969, when this interview takes place.) He seems genuinely perplexed that Baldwin would see the police as “a menace” and points to the rising number of Black Americans in sports, politics, and entertainment as a sign that things are “getting better.”

But Baldwin rejects the very premise that he, or any others, should aspire to success as it has been defined by those in power. “Insofar as the American public wants to think there has been progress, they overlook one very simple thing: I don't want to be given anything by you,” he says. “I just want you to leave me alone so I can do it myself.”

The writer's eloquence and his interviewer's mild manner create a healthy conversation, which, despite the charged subject matter, continues to feel like it's taking place between friends in a smoky bar. (It helps that Baldwin smokes a cigar toward the end of the interview.) Even though the two are not arguing, there are stark differences in their perceptions.

Baldwin has a keen sense of the implicit assumptions society makes about individuals, and the ways people and systems in power erase narratives that don't fit their goals. He sees aspects of forced integration as a euphemism for white supremacy, and questions whether America has the moral credibility to accurately judge others' liberation.

“When any white man in the world says, 'Give me liberty, or give me death,' the entire white world applauds,” Baldwin points out. “When a Black man says exactly the same thing, word for word, he is judged a criminal and treated like one...”

It's observations like these that make the Cavett and Baldwin conversation feel so vital. No wonder, then, that the interview continues to make the rounds on social media today.

Anytime You Can Make Some Kind of Human Connection In A Conversation, it's Valuable... You Are Engaged In A Shared Enterprise."

—George

George's Words of Wisdom

With hundreds—if not thousands—of important conversations under his belt, here are some of George's final lessons and takeaways

Onhonesty

“If you're willing to admit your own weaknesses, if you're willing to talk about your own vulnerabilities, if you're willing to cop to some mistakes, I think that establishes a human connection with everybody who's listening.”

On Asking Tough Questions

“I do my best not to make it personal—do my best not to question someone's motivations, but to question their actions and to talk about the consequences of their actions, and to compare what they're doing now to what they said they would do. All of that is fair game, and if it's done in a respectful manner, it gets the job done.”

On Silence

“The silence you allow in a conversation can be as important as the words you speak.”

On Objectivity

“It's your job to give people your insight, your analysis, your reporting, but not to make up their minds for them.”

On Confrontations

“Before you challenge someone, know what you want to get out of it. Is it catharsis? Is it an actual answer? Is it understanding?... Unless you know what you're looking for, the confrontation won't necessarily work.”

On Conveying Traumatic News to Viewers

“You have to be calm. You have to be contained. You have to be controlled. But you also have to communicate that you know how difficult this is for so many people. And getting that balance right is the key to the job.”

On Good Conversations

“There are so many signs to a good conversation. One, you don't notice how much time is passing. Two, you end up finishing each other's sentences. And three, you're smiling and laughing a lot. That's when you know you're clicking.”

Credits