Ira Glass is a few minutes late for our interview by video chat, and when he does arrive, he turns on the camera before he’s settled down, so I watch as he removes his cycling detritus, blows his nose and tidies his desk. When he finally speaks, he forgets to turn off the mute button. Despite being one of the most revered interviewers in the US, winner of every award from a Peabody to a George Polk, Glass is not a very smooth interviewee.
“I feel like I’m giving you too many answers to your questions. I know you’ll just pick whichever ones you want but, of course, I’m editing as I’m speaking to you so I’m thinking: ‘OK, that was good. No, that was pointless … ’” he says at one point, with a laugh that is equal parts angst and amusement.
