The process of interviews was smooth and direct to the point. There could be hundreds and thousands of questions for the interviewer to ask and for the interviewee to explain in more depth. However, the interviewer selected direct and linked questions from Between The World And Me for Coates to answer and guided the interview to flow smoothly by developing on the conversation.
The interviewer tried not to sound improvisational but I believe almost all interviews are improvisational. Only first few questions for opening conversation are well prepared as the conversation develops throughout an interview. For example, in the article/interview “We accept violence against African-Americans as normal”, the interviewer starts off asking a question using a phrase from the book and asks what he meant. This broad yet the direct question is an attention grabber and it narrows to a point as the conversation builds up. It is good to plan ahead and think about what to ask for the interviewee but nobody knows how the conversation is going to develop, so… I felt the interviewer responded to an unexpected development by changing the question topic or by continuously asking questions from different angles so that Coates could slowly and carefully explain what he meant by in the book he wrote.
The interviewer asks about the responses of Between The World And Me from the readers, but Coates answered, he could not tell and he did not know because he is "inside of the work". He continues and says he tried to write as honestly, clearly, and directly as possible. If I were to change this, instead of asking about the responses of the readers, I would have told him my response of how I felt and what I thought about the book and ask him if that was what he wanted to convey.
Kana Maeda
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