Today Will Doig interviews George Saunders. According to Will’s introduction, “it's with no small amount of fanfare than The Braindead Megaphone, Saunders' first collection of nonfiction, arrives on the scene. Happily, his incisive wit survived the transition intact. The book opens with the titular essay, a commentary on the twenty-four-hour news cycle in which Saunders manages a fresh take on a topic that's been rehashed a million times before. Other stories depict the insane concentration of wealth in Dubai and the total minimalism of a Nepalese boy who's been meditating under a tree for six months. But the central theme of media coverage — its ridiculous relentlessness, its relentless ridiculousness — recurs as an amplified squawk that gives the collection its name.”
“I honestly wasn't super familiar with his work,” Will told us. “I'd read some of his magazine articles, but to prepare for the interview I had to go out and buy three of his books and read all three in a week. (For the record, I loved them). I basically just wanted to get him talking about media, since that's what his new collection of essays is largely about, and I'm really into TV news (though not because I think it's good).
He talked really fast, and went off on lots of tangents. He's a professor at Syracuse, so I could see him being one of those professors who's all exuberant and hyper and tells lots of stories. About halfway through the interview he apologized for acting so crazy and said he'd had "like, seven pots of coffee." This was a late-afternoon interview, so that seemed reasonable.”
Here's something that didn't make it in the piece.
Will: “It’s mostly me babbling incoherently, but I guess what I kind of like about it is that I’m trying to get Saunders to go off on some big media theory by positing my own grand, rambling, complex theory about cable news, and then in the end he's like, ‘dude, just relax and enjoy.’”
WD: Just to bring it back to news, and to media for a second, I mean, it’s sort of amazing to watch a movie like Broadcast News, have you ever seen Broadcast News? With Holly Hunter?
GS: Yeah. Is that, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not—“
WD: No, that’s Network.
GS: I haven’t seen Broadcast News
WD: Okay, basically it’s about, you know, this TV news station, it’s similar to Network and William Hurt ends up getting this TV anchor job because he’s better looking than Albert Brooks even though Albert Brooks is the better reporter. The movie has all sorts of little concerns like that, about the state of television media, that today just seem totally prosaic, because you’re like, ‘Of course the pretty person gets the anchor job.’ Like, I mean, would there be any question about that today? So I think, I don’t know, it’s interesting that like uh, I guess, like um, I’m sorry, I’m kind of, I’m not getting to the point—
GS: Oh believe me, I have no grounds on which to criticize—
WD: Like I remember when CNN got in trouble because a couple years ago they put this ad on for Paula Zahn’s show, and there was the sound of a zipper unzipping and there was a voiceover that said something like, “What other morning show is Brilliant, Super-Smart and Sexy?” Other that just the idea of advertising as news program as "brilliant and super-smart," which i love, um, I mean, I guess, is it weird, or is it bad, that basically it’s like Aryan Nation out there on cable news? it’s like all blonde women. With blue eyes. Is it bad that they’re doing this, or does it not matter do you think? Cause I figure if it gets people to watch news, not the dumb news, but like actually get information, maybe having pretty people as anchors isn’t such a bad idea. You know?
GS: Yeah, you know I really don’t have much opinion about it, except sort of to say…You know, this idea that you’re describing is actually funny. This special race of Aryan, beautiful people who are smart enough to have gotten that far. You know, they might come off a little vapid, but to be, you know, even in that rank, you’ve got to be pretty sharp. Got through journalism school and all. Honestly, like 95% of my personality just sits back and kind of enjoys it.
Full interview here.