Howard Stern names his favourite interview of all time
Howard Stern has never prided himself on being the easiest interviewer in the world. Whenever any celebrity gets into the hot seat with ‘The King of All Media’, chances are Stern will ask them something that’s outside of their normal comfort zone or play with the parameters of what happens in a normal interview. Stern has changed a lot since his “shock jock” days, and his favourite interview isn’t too far away from the persona that he tries to cultivate every single day.
When promoting his book, Howard Stern Comes Again, Stern mentioned that his all-time favourite interview was with Conan O’Brien, who was hosting on the small screen around the same time. As opposed to the normal interview questions, Stern said that he felt like he got the most out of his interview with O’Brien. He admitted on his show, “I went home after the interview, and I said, ‘For the first time in my life, I feel like I asked everything I wanted to ask”.
Throughout the interview, Stern praised O’Brien for his work on his series Conan, continuing, “On his TV show, I don’t think he can reveal all sides of him, and I don’t think people understand how super funny he is and insightful and bright. In my delusion, I thought, ‘This guy, we’re going to become best friends.'”
While it might seem strange to have two men known for interviews list each other as personal favourites, there’s much more in common between Stern and O’Brien than what meets the eye. Although Stern has been known for his wild antics in the 1990s, which catered to the adolescent male most of the time, his growth as a host has made him one of the most sincere conversationalists in the business. Even when appearing on pop machines like America’s Got Talent, Stern made a surprising leap as one of the most genuine people on the panel, being more concerned about the act’s success than most of his fellow judges.
O’Brien also possesses a similar charisma whenever he has guests on his show. Regardless of what network he was on, O’Brien was always about the human interaction between guests and trying to make some sort of magic moment happen organically rather than trying to recreate lightning in a bottle during every show.
Each host also possessed a great love for music, as evidenced by Stern’s numerous musical guests and O’Brien pioneering new rock artists throughout his show, including major performances from heavier acts like Slipknot and At The Drive-In. Ever the gentleman, O’Brien played down the accolades when Stern mentioned him, replying, “I think it’s a mistake … I think you’re gonna regret this”.
O’Brien would also mention that he liked the format that Stern brings to his interviews and tries to incorporate that onto his shows as well, recalling, “I just talk to the person, and if I’m having a good time, I talk to them for half an hour or 35 minutes, and then we cut it down to a ten-minute interview for TBS, but everything else goes online. And that’s where people see late-night stuff”.
Both Stern and O’Brien may be approaching their medium through entirely different moments, but both are chasing after the humanity in interviews that so often gets lost.
