The Ten Best Interviewers In Podcasting: No, Joe Rogan Is Not One Of Them

 What makes an excellent podcast interviewer? What makes an excellent interviewer?

Is there a difference? In a word, yes.

 TV show interviewers have video as their secret ingredient, since video images can communicate so much more than words. Print interviews can be informationally dense but lacking in three-dimensional depth.

Podcast interviews are inherently sound-based, therefore tone of voice and voice cadence can be important clues to the listeners about the tenor of the interview. Sometimes, the silence can be as crucial and full of meaning as the words spoken.

In this article, I've listed my top ten podcast interviewers. In some cases, these podcast hosts may not be known to many listeners. That doesn't mean their podcasts don't have an impressive number of downloads. With hundreds of thousands of active podcasts, it's simply not possible to know every podcast that attract a strong listener base.

 Before we start, let's determine what makes a good podcast interviewer. I can write an entire article on these criteria, but for the sake of your time, let's summarize exceptional podcast interviewers via these traits.

1. Listens well. This is a contradiction because listening isn't asking questions, but a good listener assesses the direction of the interview, forms strong follow-up questions and truly engages with the subject.

2. Asks questions that spotlight the guest's expertise.

3. Keeps the interview focused on the guest, not the host. 

4. Asks follow-up questions that result from the guest's previous comments.

5. Guides the guest through the interview by controlling the flow of information imparted by the guest. For example, less astute interviewers ask a question and then sit back while the guest blurts out all the information they have available before another question is asked.

So why is Joe Rogan, probably the podcaster with the most listeners, not on this list? A responsible interviewer should deal with facts, not misinformation on vaccines, the January 6th insurrection, mammoth bones in the East River, or climate change denialism. Or give a platform to the reprehensible Alex Jones. Did those Sandy Hook families really have to go through that nightmare again?

So here are my top ten best podcast interviewers.

10. Zale Mednick -- The Host of Preconceived podcast -- Born and raised in Toronto, Mednick is a practicing ophthalmologist. As a podcast, Preconceived exists to question the current state of affairs. Why are we groomed to accept norms as they are? Are we all destined to go to school, find a stable job, get married, have kids, then enjoy our retirement and older age? Do we hold certain beliefs because we value them, or because someone else told us to?  

Why is an eye doctor so good at podcast interviews? I can answer that with his own words in an interview I did with him last year.

"I try not to be too regimented in my approach to an interview. After all, a podcast is supposed to be more of a conversation than an interview. I do think there is value in letting the conversation go where it goes, so to speak. By the same token, though, I do think it’s important not to stray too far from the main theme of the episode. There are certain questions that I consider to be the crux of a particular topic, that I want to make sure I get to in a timely manner, so the listener doesn’t lose interest." 

When it comes to podcast interviewers, Mednick has 202/20 vision.

9. Jordan Harbinger -- The Host of The Jordan Harbinger Show -- He's a natural. Harbinger is smart, witty, and respectful of his audience. He always supports his guests so they come off as interesting, impactful, and incisive as possible. He challenges guests but with facts, logic, and thoughtful inquiries, not recycled fringe-y theories. Harbinger's guests tend to explore our shared reality, such as cognitive philosophy professor Andy Clark who discussed how our brains experience and manipulate the reality that surrounds us.

8. Matt Gilhooly -- The Host of The Lift Shift podcast -- This podcast highlights life-altering moments and humanizes the struggles and triumphs through them all.

While that mission is an aggressive goal, The Life Shift podcast has an ace in the hole.   

It's the host, Matt Gilhooly. A Public Relations Graduate from the University of Florida, he possesses the innate ability to interview his guests with the skill of a therapist, an aptitude for active listening, and an empathetic style that soothes the guests and entrances the listeners.

For example, in the April 11th episode, Gilhooly talks with author Wiley Davis about her powerful journey of self-discovery. Growing in a Presbyterian household, Davis harbored a secret. She was an atheist. Struggling with that dissonance, Davis found solace in horse riding with her friends as she navigated life. But it was leaving an abusive marriage that truly tested her strength. 

Gilhooly handles the interview with the delicate and intricate skill of a brain surgeon. He probes. He consoles. He empathizes. Most of all, he allows his guest, Wiley Davis, to take center stage and stay there. Unlike some podcast interviewers who overwhelm their guests and steal the spotlight, Gilhooly intuitively knows that the story, the narrative, and the human drama emanate from the guest on that episode, not from him.

7. Evan Stern -- The Host of the Vanishing Postcards podcast -- This  podcast is billed as a "podcast for backroad wanderers." In the podcast's first season, which began in April 2022 and ended in October, creator and host Evan Stern traveled the backroads of Texas, his home state.In the second season in 2023, Stern followed the famous Route 66.

A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the British American Drama Academy, whether acting Shakespeare, or charming audiences with the turn of a Cole Porter phrase, Stern is first and foremost a storyteller, with a sincere love and appreciation for history, travel and the art of raconteurship. During his travels, Stern excelled at interviewing people from different walks of life, divergent worldviews, disparate life expeiences, and diverse backgrounds.

6. Mike Carruthers -- The Host of Something You Should Know -- Long-time host of Something You Should Know (either via radio or podcast) Mike Carruthers has been interviewing guests for more than 20 years.

“The toughest part of a podcast interview is keeping it interesting,” explains Carruthers in an interview we did two years ago. “I have a little voice in my head that keeps asking me right from the start of every interview ‘Is this really interesting?’ Or ‘Is this going on too long?’ Or ‘Is he/she really answering the question?’ I try to assume the mindset of the listener. And in my view, a listener wants every interview to get interesting – FAST. It would be easy to let people talk in the beginning about how they got interested in the topic or what is their background. But I don’t think that’s what an audience wants to hear first. They want to hear why this is interesting to them and why they should be listening. Then once they care about someone, then they might be interested in their background.”

Carruthers goes on, “that’s why I think editing is so important. I’ve done interviews where the first several minutes are edited out because the guest was just warming up. They didn’t get interesting until six or seven minutes into the interview. So in the show, that’s where the interview starts.”

Carruthers on Something You Should Know asks all guests to watch a short video that tells people exactly what is expected from them.

5. Robert Peterpaul -- The Host of The Art Of Kindness --

In every episode, host Robert Peterpaul elicits tales from Broadway people about how they sprinkle kindness throughout their world. Peterpaul always asks each guest, "What does kindness mean to you?" He also asks guests how they react to people praising them.

Robert Peterpaul is one of those rare hosts who can be so engaging that, as a listener, you say, "I could listen to him for the entire episode."

Peterpaul could probably carry a one-man show on Broadway. I'd call it, "Peterpaul on Kindness."

As a host, Peterpaul exudes flamboyant energy, crackling with enthusiasm, passion, and a desire to please. As an interviewer, Peterpaul channels a gossipy, chatty vibe that relaxes his guests and delights the listeners. Peterpaul bathes in sincerity, and when you hear his life story, you quickly understand that focus on kindness and giving back

4. Elaine Appleton Grant -- The Host of Sound Judgment -- Grant is  is in a tough spot hosting this podcast. Sound Judgment is about being a better podcast host, so you need an excellent podcast host to legitimatize that point.

Thankfully, Grant is superb. She possesses excellent cadence, a smidgen of earnestness, a touch of empathy, a dash of clarity, and a heaping of good humor.

3. Audie Cornish -- The host of CNN's The Assignment With Audie Cornish -- She is one of those interviewers who have an intuitive sense of what to ask, how to ask it, and how to follow-up. Cornish isn't an in-your-face interviewer, but a "force you to face the facts" type of inquisitor. Without directly challenging her subject, Cornish can prod, nudge, encourage, and energize while she searches for unplumbed truths. 

2. David Pogue -- The Host of Unsung Science -- The secret weapon of Unsung Science is the creator / host David Pogue. You've probably seen him on TV on CBS Sunday Morning, perhaps the best morning show on television. 

Pogue can handle narrative storytelling like Tom Brady could throw a football. He's master-class good at keeping listeners interested. Pogue also doesn't take himself or the subject matter too seriously. There's that sense of good-natured cynicism and raised-eyebrow humor that keeps the show from becoming too science-geeky. 

Pogue has superb narrative balance, explaining science, and then waggishly pointing out the idiosyncratic tale surrounding the breakthrough.

1. Michael Barbaro -- The Host of the New York Times's The Daily podcast -- The master. He has it all --preparation, listening skills, questions that knife through platitudes and prevarications, and the remarkable ability to summarize anytopic, no matter how complex.

 If I could add to this list, it would include Stephen Dubner, Kim Masters, Sean Rameswaram, and Mo Rocca.

So now that you have a list to tear apart, I suggest two courses of action. First, let me know your top ten list. Remember it's not a podcast host but a podcast host who interviews guests. For example, I think John Dickerson of Slate's Political Gabfest is one of the most perceptive and insightful co-hosts in podcasting. But he doesn't typically interview guests in his role on the podcast (He does on TV).

Second, what qualities do you think are required to be an effective podcast interviewer?