Posted 11:43 AM by Blah blah

Charlie Rose

I always tell people I have a journalist's personality. I guess it's because I enjoy listening as much as talking. Case in point: The Charlie Rose Show on PBS, which I find continually stimulating. In Charlie's minimalist black studio, at his plain round table, you are hearing some of the best conversation on television today. Every weeknight you are coming as close as you ever will to some of the most talented, successful people of our time, in all walks of life---government, theater, science, business, writing, sports, movies, music. Having no studio audience allows Charlie's guests to do what most people on TV have no time or freedom to do: think. I mean truly think. Aloud. Charlie's biography. Another bio. More detailed bio of him.

You get to see Sylvester Stallone as someone you may not imagine---an intellectual. You see both the sadness and conviction on the face of Michael Milken, former junk bond king, as he faces his mortality and new mission in life---dealing with his prostate cancer and trying to cure it for others. You see Jim Carrey talking seriously, for a change, about how lucky he feels to have had this career, of how he can take such emotional risks on camera. You see comics like Roseanne Barr not play for laughs or the camera, talking about her humdrum life before fame. You see diplomat George Mitchell talk about what he learned about how to settle arguments, from his years of negotiating peace in N. Ireland and Bosnia. You hear Tina Brown, flamboyant former editor of the New Yorker and Vanity Fair, tell how she dealt with the failure of her venture backed by Miramax, Talk magazine. You see former basketball greats praising, like a father, their head UCLA basketball coach John Wooden and what he taught them about success. You see U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan talk about how painful it is for him to send peacekeepers into harm's way in the world's neverending war zones. You have German musician Anne-Sophie Mutter talk about her work with conductor Herbert Von Karajan and entice you with some sexy moves on her violin.

Charlie Rose carries an incredible talent for opening people up---famous or prominent people who are normally used to being guarded and speaking OfficialSpeak. You see them as if they have just come home and are kicking up their feet on the sofa and gazing into your eyes with a drink. Your first impression of him is he is a truly nice guy. His show is also heavily focused on biography. Charlie is a master of the profile. He is always fascinated with the drama of people's journey to the top. "How did you fall in love with doing _____?" he always asks. "What drives you? What is it about you that keeps you on top, relevant?" Charlie, though always the polite Southern gentleman he is, continually throws the question back into the faces of his guests. "If you had to sum up your career, you are most proud of---what? You decided to switch gears at that point in your life...because...? You are a person who needs to have people around you. Why is that?" His show is always like this, reaching for the lessons of life, the profundity you can take home with you.

Hear successful people truly reflect on their lives. That's the signature of Charlie Rose. His show is based in Manhattan, and he invites a lot of prominent writers and humanities people. Some recent guests included the following. Listen to them on the web with RealPlayer! (If you get an error message for a link, please keep trying. As of now, all of the links below work.)

New York, February 15, 2002
Actress Judi Dench
Actress Judi Dench talks with Charlie Rose about her Academy Award nomination for best actress in Iris, her acting career and the death of her husband, actor Michael Williams. Iris is based on the life of award-winning novelist and philosopher Iris Murdoch.

New York, February 14, 2002
Floyd Norris and Newsweek's Allan Sloan
The New York Times' Floyd Norris and Newsweek's Allan Sloan talk with Charlie Rose about the collapse of Enron Corp., their reaction to congressional testimony by Enron's Sherron Watkins and public perception of corporate accounting practices.

New York, February 8, 2002
Actor Bruce Willis
Actor Bruce Willis talks with Charlie Rose about his role in the television show Moonlighting his relationship with former wife Demi Moore and the making of the movie Bandits which is scheduled to open on Feb. 15.

New York, February 6, 2002
James Carville and Paul Begala
Political strategists James Carville and Paul Begala talk with Charlie Rose about former president Bill Clinton, Enron Corp. and the Bush administration, and their book Buck Up, Suck Up...and Come Back When You Foul Up.

New York, February 5, 2002
New York Times' Floyd Norris
Floyd Norris, chief financial correspondent at the New York Times, talks with Charlie Rose about his views on the impact of Enron Corp.'s collapse on corporate America, what questions were not asked about accounting practices, and the role of Arthur Andersen LLP in the company's bankruptcy.

New York, February 5, 2002
Sen. Dorgan About Enron and Lay
Senator Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, talks with Charlie Rose via satellite about the subpoena served on former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay to force him to testify next week before the Senate Commerce Committee and the goals of congressional hearings on the Enron collapse.

New York, February 4, 2002
Interviews Israel's Shimon Peres
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres talks with Charlie Rose about his informal talks with the Palestinians, his view of the structure needed to facilitate the peace process and Yasser Arafat's inability to stop Palestinian terrorists.

New York. Jan 24, 2002
Actress Kate Winslet
Actress Kate Winslet talks with Charlie Rose about her role in the new film Iris and her acting career. Winslet plays the young award-winning novelist Iris Murdoch before her decline into Alzheimer's disease.

New York. Jan 23, 2002
Former Disney President Ovitz
Michael Ovitz, founder of Artists Management Group, a Hollywood talent agency, talks with Charlie Rose about his professional career, his experience as president of the Walt Disney Co., and public perceptions of his personal character.

New York. Jan 22, 2002
Vivendi CEO Jean-Marie Messier
Jean-Marie Messier, chief executive of Vivendi Universal SA, talks with Charlie Rose about Messier's strategy for Vivendi's growth and expansion, Vivendi's media content and distribution, and the outlook for media industry consolidation.

New York. Jan 21, 2002
Nets' Byron Scott, Jason Kidd
New Jersey Nets head coach Byron Scott and guard Jason Kidd talk with Charlie Rose about the team's success, Kidd's play and his approach to basketball. Kidd is averaging 13.8 points and 10.1 assists this season, and New Jersey is in first place in the Atlantic Division.

New York. Jan 17, 2002
Author Elie Wiesel on Terrorism
Nobel Peace Prize winner and author Elie Wiesel talks with Charlie Rose about his new book Conversations With Elie Wiesel, his views on terrorism and the death penalty, and surviving the Holocaust.

New York. Jan 17, 2002
Gossip Columnist Liz Smith
Liz Smith, syndicated New York Post gossip columnist, talks with Charlie Rose about her career as a writer, the impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the world of gossip and her writing style, and her appreciation of journalism in America today.

New York. Jan 16, 2002
Newsweek's Lorch on Afghanistan
Donatella Lorch, Washington correspondent for Newsweek magazine, talks with Charlie Rose via satellite about her recent trip with U.S. special forces troops to Afghanistan, her attraction to covering wars around the world and the outlook for the Taliban.

New York. Jan 15, 2002
Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill
U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill talks with Charlie Rose about the Treasury Department's handling of the demise of Enron Corp., Congress's handling of the federal economic stimulus bill and the criticism that has followed his public service tenure.

New York. Jan 14, 2002
Filmmaker Ridley Scott
Filmmaker Ridley Scott talks with Charlie Rose about his new film Black Hawk Down, the significance of U.S. military action in Somalia and the challenges of producing such a film. Scott is the director of Gladiator, Thelma & Louise, Blade Runner and Hannibal.

New York. Jan 9, 2002
NBC's Katie Couric, Matt Lauer
Katie Couric and Matt Lauer, co-anchors of the NBC television network's Today show, talk with Charlie Rose about working on Today, how morning television shows handle news, and the chemistry between them.

New York. Jan 8, 2002
U.S. Foreign Policy Expert Mead
Walter Russell Mead, a senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, talks with Charlie Rose about his new book Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World, U.S. foreign policy, and U.S. relations with Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

New York. Dec. 26, 2001
Actress Michelle Pfeiffer
Actress Michelle Pfeiffer talks with Charlie Rose about her personality traits, career development and role as an attorney in the new film I Am Sam. The movie co-stars Sean Penn as a mentally challenged father.

New York. Dec 26, 2001
AIG's Chairman Hank Greenberg
Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, chairman and chief executive of American International Group Inc. (AIG), talks with Charlie Rose about the impact of the Sept. 11 attacks on the insurance industry and the need for regulatory changes allowing the U.S. government to share future losses from terrorist attacks.

New York. Dec 21, 2001
Author Michael Steinhardt
Michael Steinhardt, a former hedge-fund manager and author of No Bull: My Life In and Out of Markets, talks with Charlie Rose about his career, decision to retire and goal of preserving Jewish-based values and culture.

New York. Dec 20, 2001
World Economic Forum's Schwab
Klaus Schwab, president and founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF), talks with Charlie Rose about the decision to move the WEF from Davos, Switzerland, to New York City next year. The annual conference of international political and business leaders will be held Jan. 31 to Feb. 4, 2002.

New York, Dec. 11, 2001
NY Times Publisher Sulzberger
Arthur Sulzberger Jr., chairman of New York Times Co. and publisher of the New York Times, talks with Charlie Rose about the "mission" of the newspaper and its response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The New York Times celebrated its 150th anniversary this year.

New York, Dec. 5, 2001
Writer Auletta on AOL's Levin
Author and journalist Ken Auletta talks with Charlie Rose about Gerald Levin's decision to retire in May as chief executive of AOL Time Warner Inc. and the company's choice of co-chief operating officer Richard parsons to replace him.

New York, Dec. 4, 2001
Israel's Ehud Barak
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak talks with Charlie Rose about Israel's air strikes against Palestinian targets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip following a number of suicide bombings in Israel and his view of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's response to the attacks.

New York, Dec. 4, 2001
Former President Jimmy Carter
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter talks with Charlie Rose about his latest book, Christmas in Plains, the Iran hostage crisis of 1980 and the main issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

New York, Dec. 3, 2001
Tom Cruise and Cameron Crowe
Actor Tom Cruise and film director Cameron Crowe talk with Charlie Rose about their new film Vanilla Sky, which is An American adaptation of Alejandro Amenabar's 1997 Spanish film Abre Los Ojos. Crowe and Cruise also worked together on Jerry Maguire.

New York, November 19, 2001
Senator George Mitchell
Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell talks with Charlie Rose about U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's speech on U.S.-Middle East relations, the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians and conditions necessary for a cease-fire to last in the region.

New York, Nov. 15, 2001
Intel's Andrew Grove
Andrew Grove, chairman and co-founder of Intel Corp., talks with Charlie Rose about his book Swimming Across: A Memoir, the trauma of his past and his success. Grove was born in Budapest, Hungary and narrowly escaped the Holocaust.
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Here is part of a transcript of Charlie's interview with David Letterman (2/16/1996). As usual, the guest shows a side of himself we are not used to seeing, and the show is riveting and revealing:

Rose: Do you enjoy the interviews?

Letterman: Some of them I do. Some of them I actually do. If there is some kind of legitimate interchange, some kind of legitimate exchange, yeah, sometimes I really do, I get a kick out of them. If somebody says or does something that genuinely makes me laugh, I just think, this is great, you know, I get paid a lot of money and somebody is actually entertaining me, so that's fun.

Rose: Somebody said to me today -- we were talking about what you do and what I do is a very different spectrum -- they said, "When somebody comes on David's show, they are expected to perform."

Letterman: That's right.

Rose: "And when someone comes on your show, what you want to do is for them not to perform so you can find out who they are."

Letterman: Yeah, probably so, and maybe that actually works against us a bit, because we have found that people in show business are hugely successful people. Some of them don't get that this is an opportunity for them to demonstrate why people should spend money on their movies, why people should buy their records, why people should watch them on television. Some of these people seem to be oblivious to that. Some nights I want to get out the sphygmomanometer and see, "Let's see if there's a pulse. Let's see if there's blood in the veins," because I can't begin to tell you the number of times somebody has just taken the opportunity to come out and have about a 12-minute nap on the air, and I just think, well, now, wait a minute here. Are we both in show business here?

Rose: Go to commercial.

Letterman: Well, we do, and sometimes I get a little ragged with them, and then people say, (gay accent) "Oh, he's mean. He's being mean again," but then you have people like Bill Murray, like Steve Martin, like Tom Hanks, like Bruce Willis, Demi Moore. There's about a dozen of these people, top stars who really get it.

Rose: They understand what is expected of them.

Letterman: Sure, and Tom Hanks comes on like a first-time comedian, and he works on it and works on it and works on it. We have a piece on the prime time show that we did with Steve Martin. He had a play in production and a play opening the week he was with us. He came in three days in a row to pretape this for us and came in the morning of his appearance to work on this piece, and he's always been like that, and Bill Murray has always been like that and Bruce Willis has always been like that, and I just wish, you know, everybody -- and even when I used to be on The Tonight Show, I would spend six, eight weeks making sure, because what you wanted to do was make Johnny laugh. You didn't want to come out there and just sort of, you know, all of a sudden Johnny's talking to Ed. You don't want that happening....

Rose: Celebrity doesn't mean a damn to you, and in fact it's a distraction.

Letterman: The first thing that kind of got my attention years and years ago when I was first on the Tonight Show, I recognized almost immediately that people, strangers in all walks of life that I would come in contact with were friendlier to me, friendly, nice, considerate and behaved kind of the way you think people behave to people, but it was a dramatic change, and it was literally overnight, and it has been that way ever since. That part of it I just think is wonderful, because instead of being part of just a faceless group of people struggling with and against one another, it invokes again some humanity. People are nice to me, I'm nice to them, and sadly, I don't think real life is like that, and this is to me the great benefit and luxury of being well-known.

So I enjoy it, I try not to abuse it, and I do my best to be nice to people who are always nice to me, and I count myself really being lucky for that, because I can remember, and I think everybody who is not fortunate enough to be well-known understands what this struggle is, you know, people for no good reason sometimes just go out of their way to make your life unpleasant, but that all changed about 20 years ago, and I just think, man, if this was really the world, that would just be keen, wouldn't it?

Rose: We could all be celebrities.

Letterman: Everybody happy, everybody nice. "Nice to see you." "Well, nice to see you." And it's contagious. When they're nice to you, you're just nice back to them.

Rose: One of the great things, in addition to that about being a broadcaster, is you get to see your work product every night.

Letterman: Right.

Rose: Think of the people who work every day who don't get a chance to see -- I mean, you build every day to 5:30. I build every day to 6:00 o'clock.

Letterman: That's right, that's right.

Rose: I tape 30 minutes later than you do, and you get to see that night what you have crafted that day.

Letterman: But there are many other pursuits in the world that are like that. I have always kind of likened our operation to a small restaurant. You come in; you go to the market; you see what's available; you see what's fresh, you put it together; you get a menu, and then you can see if people like it, and then the next day you look through the cash receipts and you know how you did. So it's not unique, but it is satisfying, very satisfying.

Rose: They also say about you that you are enormously self-critical, that when things don't go right, you don't blame anybody but Dave.

Letterman: Well, that's being generous. Sometimes I --

Rose: That you're impossible to live with but --

Letterman: Ultimately I accept the responsibility for everything that goes wrong, and it's like a guy driving a race car, you know, they build the car, they put the engine in it, they tune it, they fine tune it, they adjust the aerodynamics, they adjust the fuel flow or whatever, and then I go out there and put it in the wall. I mean, every day I'm given the elements of a great car, and some days, because I'm human, I just stack it up, and there's nothing more discouraging than --

Rose: Stack it up against a wall.

Letterman: Exactly, and knowing that this staff of 50 or 60 people have done their best every day, and then they put me in the damn car, and, oh my gosh, he's tapped the wall in turn four. So I feel like I'm responsible, and I should be responsible. My name's on the credits. I get the big paychecks. It's me, I can take it, and I screw it up more than anybody else in the production.