# You Get 1 Hour to Interview Anyone... Who do you pick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 21, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728 "2012-11-21T16:29:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chargerrich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chargerrich/32/5399_2.png) [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/1 "2012-11-21T16:29:24Z")
Living or Dead, one hour to talk/interview any person known to history. The only other rule is that the interview is for you personally, not for a book or to monetize 😃 I will go with two, one for modern era and one for antiquity: Modern: Carl Sagan - Man was a genius and died too young. Cosmos. Pale Blue Dot. Voyager Golden Record. SETI. Antiquity: Leonardo da Vinci - Was he really so far ahead of his time? If he lived in our time would he still dwarf the intellect of today’s great minds? The Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, The Flight of Birds Codex. Amazing man. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/2 "2012-11-21T16:32:26Z")
Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/3 "2012-11-21T16:41:57Z")
Antiquity: Socrates Modern: Lincoln (I’m dividing modern/antiquity into new world/old world). ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/4 "2012-11-21T16:48:40Z")
[Dotzauer.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Dotzauer) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/5 "2012-11-21T16:57:35Z")
Groucho Marx. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/6 "2012-11-21T21:00:54Z")
Hitler. Mostly to ask “What The Fuck were you thinking?” ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/7 "2012-11-21T21:19:59Z")
Kennewick Man ---
**Author:** ![Mgalindo13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea5d25/32.png) [@Mgalindo13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mgalindo13)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/8 "2012-11-21T21:38:53Z")
Are we assuming a translator will be present? Many I wish to interview don’t speak English. Seems like it could be one of those genie wishes that backfires because of some mundane detail. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/9 "2012-11-22T22:34:26Z")
[The living one.](http://stephanpastis.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/living-or-dead.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/10 "2012-11-22T23:31:25Z")
Kurt Vonnegut. ---
**Author:** ![dimmy\_derko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/43a26b/32.png) [@dimmy\_derko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dimmy_derko)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/11 "2012-11-22T23:39:14Z")
I’d like a hour with the Count of St. Germain or Alastair Crowley. I’d like to see if they really did come across as having access to some arcane knowledge and generate a kind of magnetism, or whether they were just capable bullshitters. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/12 "2012-11-23T00:25:06Z")
Jon Coulton ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/13 "2012-11-23T01:49:41Z")
Ancient: Heron of Alexandria Modern: My grandmother in her youth. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/14 "2012-11-23T02:34:46Z")
The Dalai Lama (current incarnation) Dead: Genghis Khan ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/15 "2012-11-23T12:24:18Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Dead: Genghis Khan But he was just on TV yesterday afternoon, trashing the mall with Bill & Ted! ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/16 "2012-11-23T12:28:29Z")
Ancient : Lord Nelson Modern : Bill Clinton ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/17 "2012-11-24T14:48:23Z")
The distant past: Aristotle. The more recent past: Vincent Van Gogh (I want to tell him how much his paintings are going for). ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/18 "2012-11-24T17:10:51Z")
Hitler. Hopefully it’s 1938. I ask one question, “WTF is wrong with you?”, then I put two bullets to his chest, then one in his cranio-ocular cavity. I learned that at [Front Sight](http://www.ignatius-piazza-front-sight.com/2008/07/28/terminal-ballistics-shot-placement-and-tough-adversaries/). Not very Christian of me, I know. So be it. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/19 "2012-11-24T17:44:59Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > The more recent past: Vincent Van Gogh (I want to tell him how much his paintings are going for). That’d cheer him up no end. 😉 I’d like to spend an hour with Euclid. I’m not very great at maths, but I could have given him some pointers I think. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728/20 "2012-11-24T17:52:27Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Hitler. Mostly to ask “What The Fuck were you thinking?” A waste of time… he wrote an immense book explaining his thinking in sickening detail. Antiquity…Da Vinci Older… Sir Richard F Burton Now… maybe W, with your question. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-1-hour-to-interview-anyone-who-do-you-pick/641728.md?page=2)