Lots of great stuff, here. I especially enjoyed the discussion of the definition of "athlete" -- I was quite surprised that you were actually able to make some progress on that in such a forum. Being able to watch you both struggle to articulate it was worth a lot more than just reading the end result.
Also this was my first exposure to Mr. Staley (aside from reading his posts on this board) and I was impressed with his centered, intelligent, humble style. I will definitely check him out further based on this interview.
I know Rip's interview style has been discussed/criticized before and I think he said something to the effect of his intention being a certain amount of "learning by doing" -- I'm quite torn: on the one hand I've learned a lot by watching this series of videos -- and it's hard to judge how much of that is due to Mark's style... On the other hand, I somehow found myself growling several times when Charles (can't decide if the Internet puts me on a first name basis with you guys, or not
) would be just beginning to expand on a point and Mark would interrupt with his own interpretation. Is there somebody off-camera trying to follow the flow of the conversation and signaling whether Mark should shut up and listen or circle back to a topic or move on or not forget to mention something in particular? I wish I was speaking from a position of experience with these sorts of productions -- I'm not -- but there's something in there that seems like it could be improved. And, hell, it's the Internet, so you get to hear from everybody who can type...
Thanks for doing these interviews and giving us access!
- Tom