I’ll be putting up a tab soon for Frequently Asked Questions, to answer the sorts of things people tend to ask me right off the bat when I tell them about this project: Where are you getting the money? Where are you staying? How do you find people to talk to? Do you record the interviews? etc.
But this thought occurred to me.
A lot of people have asked me what questions I ask people to draw out the kind of material that’s useful for the play I’m writing… and come to think of it, what kind of material is useful for the play I’m writing? What kind of play are you writing anyway, Josh?
Now, I have a pretty good list of common questions that I adapt and augment for each individual interview, and I can generally get some pretty great character revealing moments and political information out of interviews that last, on average, about an hour and a half. (I’ll put those interview questions up here somewhere soon.) But I’m not omniscient about this thing. I have a really close view of what I’m doing, which can make it hard to see the big picture. And I have blind spots that are just my own darn blind spots.
So this is the thought that I had:
What would you want to know if you were me? What would you ask?
I would be fascinated to know what (if anything) compels you about this project, and what would make the most interesting interviews to you.
No question is too stupid. Ask it!
I would like to know what people think of Sarah Palin. I guess it’s too late for that, now. Do you think she’s heroic for keeping her Down Syndrome (DS) baby, or do you think she was stupid for having a child that late in life (which increases the probability for having a DS baby)? Does her pregnant 17-year-old make conservatives more supportive of her, or does it make them look down on her? Do they think she can handle the Oval Office if John McCain doesn’t make it through the term?
And, who else thinks that McCain/Palin look a little like Obama/Biden? Old white guy with white hair next to younger non-typical gender/race politician.