AI: The Art of the Interview

Send us a textThe World's Most Famous Atheist… Can't Stop Crying at Poetry Famous biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins built his reputation on cold, hard logic. He's also the author of bestsellers The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion, destroys creationists on Twitter, and thinks prayer is a waste of time. But here's the twist: the high priest of reason is actually a passionate, emotional paradox who weeps at poetry, dreams about his dead father, and muses about going "temporarily insane" every night.In this episode, we dive into an interview that journalist Malte Herwig conducted with Dawkins. Join Malte and his two AI co-hosts as they reflect on and debate Dawkins’s unshakable faith in reason, his surprising vulnerabilities, and his offbeat insights on reality, atheism, and even odd socks. Featuring plenty of original Dawkins audio, this episode blends a classic conversation with fresh AI-powered analysis. From his bizarre sock-matching optimization hack (yes, really) to why pain has to be *so* painful, Dawkins reveals what happens when pure logic confronts the messy, irrational reality of being human. Spoiler: his final answer to "What's the meaning of life?" isn't a formula—it's a hug.www.publicorum.com

Send us a textWhat if the most human thing you can make is something that serves no purpose at all? Malte and AI hosts Alex and Isabel plunge into the exhilarating world of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, where national monuments disappear under oceans of fabric, red tape becomes a stage, and the end result can’t be bought, ticketed, or sponsored. Our conversation tracks how a refugee’s hunger for independence evolved into a blueprint for freedom: self-financing through preparatory drawings, banning ads, and embracing temporary works that force presence over permanence.We press into the logic of “weaponized inefficiency,” debating with our AI co-hosts whether millions spent on short-lived art is waste or a radical revaluation of meaning. From literal cowboy standoffs to congressional wrangling, Christo turned bureaucracy into performance, inviting the public to wrestle with scale, patience, and wonder. The detour into environmental review yields an unforgettable twist: pink polypropylene tarps correlating with manatee mating, a case study in how irrational creativity catalyzes unforeseen ecological effects. We also unpack the wrapped Brigitte Bardot portrait, where story and secrecy eclipse the object itself, proving provenance can outbid surface.Christo’s daily rigor—long hours on foot in the studio, ritual garlic-and-yogurt breakfasts, relentless organization—reveals how strict discipline births controlled chaos. He refused repeats, protected pure experience, and paid governments to keep commerce away from his work. Most of all, he bet on memory. Instead of marble, he trusted metadata: detailed documentation as a gift to future archaeologists who will parse images, logistics, and testimony rather than ruins. The takeaway is clear and urgent: the live moment matters more than the replay, and freedom thrives where usefulness ends.If this episode sparks something in you, follow the show, leave a review, and share it with a friend who loves big ideas. Tell us in the comments: what’s the most gloriously useless thing you’ve ever done?Original interview: https://sz-magazin.sueddeutsche.de/kunst/interview-christo-kuenstler-80864 www.publicorum.com

Send us a textWhat if the path out of media’s crisis is play, not panic? We sit down with author and journalist Malte Herwig to unpack how Rainer Esser took Germany’s stuffy weekly, Die Zeit, and turned it into a modern, multi-platform powerhouse—without gutting the newsroom. Instead of chasing shortcuts, Esser built a “dolphin culture” where curiosity is the norm, failure is data, and investment in journalists drives sustainable growth.We explore the leadership choices that mattered: expanding the editorial team sixfold, quadrupling revenue, and betting early on podcasts that led to 20 million monthly downloads and paid subscriptions. You’ll hear how a candid understanding of readers powered disciplined brand extensions—from magazines and e-learning to travel and yes, limited-edition watches—while staying true to quality and intellectual curiosity. We also get into the tough stuff: working with big tech on pragmatic terms, prioritizing digital subscriptions as the königsweg, and holding the line on editorial independence and data control.Then we zoom into AI with a clear-eyed lens. Malte explains how Die Zeit’s AskZeit („Fragen Sie Zeit Online“) tool uses retrieval-augmented generation to answer questions from a fact-checked archive with full citations—an approach that builds trust instead of eroding it. We dig into concrete workflows that help reporters reclaim hours—transcription, research synthesis, angle generation—while keeping human judgment at the center. If you lead a local newsroom or a lean team, you’ll get a practical playbook for adopting AI incrementally, measuring outcomes, and protecting core values. The takeaway is simple and bold: stay curious, experiment in public, show your work, and keep asking whether each tool helps you serve your audience better.If this conversation sparks ideas, follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a quick review—what’s the one experiment you’ll try this week?www.publicorum.com

Send us a textFrançoise Gilot was the only woman who ever left Pablo Picasso. She shared her remarkable story with Malte Herwig in many interviews, which became a book: "The Woman Who Says No". Hers is a story of passion, creativity, and courage in the face of artistic genius. In this episode, Malte and his two AI-Hosts Alex and Isabel explore her unique position as both an accomplished painter and the partner of the 20th century's most famous artist. • Françoise Gilot was the only woman who said "no" to Picasso after a decade-long relationship• Picasso exhibited intense jealousy when Matisse expressed interest in painting Gilot• Gilot maintained her own artistic vision despite living in Picasso's shadow• She characterized their relationship as "a catastrophe worth living"• Gilot's fearlessness and quick intellect allowed her to challenge Picasso's attempts at control• Her work is now featured in the Musée Picasso in Paris, a recognition of her artistic significance• Even at 101 years old (before her death in 2023), Gilot maintained that taking risks is essential to truly livingIf you don't take risk in life, it's not worth anything, in my opinion, because if you take risk, you have bad moments, but you also learn a lot of things and you are alive and you understand more and more. You don't understand less and less and you don't become dull, which is the worst you know to become dull.Original interview (published in Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin): https://sz-magazin.sueddeutsche.de/kunst/picasso-war-wie-ein-taliban-79086www.publicorum.com

Send us a textHosts Alex and Isabel talk about a remarkable interview with the legendary pianist and writer, Alfred Brendel, conducted by Malte Herwig eleven years before Brendel's death in 2025. Join us as we discover the surprising wit and wisdom of an extraordinary musical mind and talk about how Malte managed to get the famously cantankerous pianist to open up. • Brendel discusses his hearing loss with remarkable candor, explaining how he continued to work on music mentally even when he could no longer enjoy listening• Retiring after 60 years was "a relief" for Brendel, who contrasts himself with colleagues who pursue performing "like addicts their morphine"• His fierce resistance to fate and refusal to accept the injustice of Schubert's early death reveals passionate conviction beneath his disciplined exterior• The story of walking a baby tortoise through Vienna's Musikverein showcases Brendel's mischievous protest against overly solemn concert atmospheres• For Brendel, the piano is "a vessel for all sorts of musical ideas" - some pianists "play the piano," while others "play the rainbow"• His practical performance advice includes starting immediately rather than "fiddling around" and simply waiting silently when audiences applaud between movements• The profound observation that "music comes from silence and leads into silence" underscores his reverence for the concert experience• Brendel succinctly identifies the two things that made his life worth living: art and loveOriginal interview (German language): https://sz-magazin.sueddeutsche.de/musik/musik-kommt-aus-der-stille-und-fuehrt-in-die-stille-80650www.publicorum.com