Even though the makers tend to balk at being called news, Jon Stewart is probably one of the best interviewers I have seen when it comes to interviewing politicians and authors.
Fareed Zakaria is also pretty good, I try to catch GPS on my podcast list.
I really don’t like Charlie Rose since he interrupts his guests all the time. I stopped watching meet the press after Russert died. Rachel Maddow has an informative show, and she is good at catching interview subjects in tricky situations, but I wouldn’t say she is ‘great’ as an interviewer (although she is an extremely good investigative journalist). Although part of that is probably because most people aren’t willing to be interviewed by her.
Are there other interviewers who people find are good at producing informative interviews and dialogues?
I love Jon Stewart’s political interviews, because he will really go after them and call them on their bullshit. But his interviews with actors are beyond abysmal.
I like Diane Rehm and Neal Conan. Terry Gross annoys the hell out of me because she consistently fails to ask really obvious follow-up questions. It makes me think that her side of the interview is fully scripted and she is incapable of deviating from the script at all.