Friday, May 09, 2008

"I think you have to stake out a territory and deliver this really unique perspective"

I love this Greg Gutfeld interview not because I agree or disagree with anything Gutfeld says but because what he says is thoughtful, unpredictable and so concisely stated: "'Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares is awesome. He's the most hypnotic, magnetic character on television. He goes into a restaurant and he looks how things have gone wrong and he gives them three pieces of advice: Simplify the menu, fresh ingredients, affordable. These three things are integral in everything you do in life, whether it's a magazine or a meal.'"

Is that vaguely Godinesque?

And does this remind you at all of working in advertising: "Prevention was my first writing gig, and I did nothing but serious health news, generally focused on women problems: estrogen, endometriosis....And I knew that the only way I could do that, I had a picture of my mom on the desk, because you have to write for your audience. How do you write health stuff for a 70-year-old lady? So every time I'd look at her and go, 'Okay how do I explain hemoglobin? It's this stuff in your veins.' You actually have to write like that. It was an amazing way how to learn to write concisely."

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