Interviews don’t have to be boring - my favorite unconventional interview series
By: Abigail Olear
June 4, 2024
Sean Evans and Pedro Pascal for Hot Ones // Screenshot via Youtube
The interview: the most important element of journalism. They can either make or break your piece.
Typically, a journalist will sit down with their subject and ask them their questions one by one. However, in the age of YouTube, journalists have taken creative liberties with how a subject can be interviewed.
Here are some of my favorite unconventional interview series:
Hot Ones - Sean Evans/First We Feast
Sean Evans fires up celebrity interviews in Hot Ones. The show has celebrities indulge in ten chicken wings, each increasing in spice level, as they answer questions. Evans also enjoyed the wings during the interview with virtually no reaction as he is cursed out by his teary eyed and runny nosed guests.
Celebrities break a sweat as both the questions and wings heat up. The last wing is coated in the show’s own “Hot Ones The Last Dab XXX Hot Sauce,” which clocks in at over 2,000,000 scoville heat units (for reference, a jalapeño is around 2,500-8,000 SHU).
Not only is it entertaining to watch your favorite musician or actor dying over a spicy wing, Evans asks incredible and insightful questions as well. You can tell that he and the Hot Ones team take a lot of care into researching their guests and asking them questions they have never heard before.
Chicken Shop Date - Amelia Dimoldenburg
In yet another chicken-centric show, Amelia Dimoldenburg televises an awkward first date in “Chicken Shop Date.” Blending comedy with interviewing, Dimoldenburg dines with celebrities in British chicken shops where her dry, flirtatious humor is enough to make even the quirkiest of guests cringe. The lack of background music mixed with many awkward silences is reminiscent of “The Office.”
Dimoldenburg’s outrageous and specific questions create golden and Instagramable ‘nuggets’ with her guests. She has since taken her interviewing skills to red carpets.
Nardwuar vs. X - Nardwuar
Known for his hyper personality and researching skills, Nardwaur confuses musicians into revealing details about their past.
Nardwuar could give the FBI a run for its money. In his interviews, he will pull out a long forgotten detail about his guest, such as an old high school memory or a song they sang in a school talent show, baffling them. When they ask “how do you know this,” like clockwork, he responds, “You’re X, we have to know!” He is also known for giving deeply personal gifts to his guests.
Nardwuar is a masterclass in music journalism. His wacky demeanor keeps guests on their toes while also revealing unknown and interesting information.
Actors on Actors - Variety
Actors on Actors cut out the middleman and let celebrities interview each other in a long form interview. Because they are constantly being asked questions themselves, the guests usually have very interesting and insightful questions for each other, probably things that they wished they were being asked.
Though there is not a journalist directly involved with the interview, the pairings Variety creates are gold. For example, Margot Robbie and Cillian Murphy interviewed each other in the aftermath of “Barbenheimer.”
The Dogist - Elias Weiss Freidman
The Dogist is a daily dose of wholesome street photography by Elias Weiss Freidman. Friedman walks around New York City with a camera, photographing dogs and their owners. He then asks the owner a few questions about the pup’s personality and story.
From quirky names to tear-jerking adoption stories, The Dogist is one of the cutest corners of the internet.
The Puppy Interview - Buzzfeed
In the same vein, Buzzfeed’s The Puppy Interview has celebrities play with puppies as they answer questions.
Are the questions groundbreaking? No. But is it fun to watch your favorite celebrities play with cute puppies? Yes!
Even better, all of the puppies are available for adoption after the video. You could adopt a Chris Evans-handled puppy!
Last Meal - Josh Scherer/Mythical Kitchen
“Every person has exactly two things in common, we all gotta eat and we all gotta die.”
In Last Meal, Josh Scherer serves celebrities their hypothetical last meal as they ponder existential questions. The meals give us a look into the guests’ favorite indulgences and there is usually an interesting backstory behind each component.
The Mythical Kitchen team goes to great lengths to provide a five star food experience. Everything is cooked exactly as the celebrity would want to eat it on their final day and some items are shipped in from their original source. Though slightly morbid, Last Meal is a great way to get a deeper understanding of your favorite celebrity.