David Remnick

This time from the Boston Globe:

Q: As a writer, you show a great deal of interest in the working methods of your subjects. What is your own working method?

A: I do a lot of reading. Before going to London to interview Tony Blair, I'll have read half a dozen books — on New Labour, on Gladstone — and I'll do some phoning around, though not the kind that will scare the subject and make him think, "Aha, here comes the missile." You spend as much time as you can in as many different circumstances as you can. You want something to look at, you want people in movement doing what they do. With Blair, for example, watching him humbling himself in a campaign and watching him being interviewed by two [wiseacre] 10-year-olds is not only comedic, it also tells you something about running for prime minister.