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The Playboy Interview: The Essentials
About the Series: In mid-1962, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner was given a partial transcript of an interview with Miles Davis. It covered jazz, of course, but it also included Davis’s ruminations on race, politics and culture. Fascinated, Hef sent the writer—future Pulitzer Prize–winning author Alex Haley, an unknown at the time—back to glean even more opinion and insight from Davis. The resulting exchange, published in the September 1962 issue, became the first official Playboy Interview and kicked off a remarkable run of public inquisition that continues today—and that has featured just about every cultural titan of the past half century.
To celebrate the interview’s 50th anniversary, the editors of Playboy have assembled 13 compilations of the magazine’s most (in)famous interviews—from big mouths and wild men to sports gods and literary mavericks. Here is our collection of the 50 most essential interviews.
To celebrate the interview’s 50th anniversary, the editors of Playboy have assembled 13 compilations of the magazine’s most (in)famous interviews—from big mouths and wild men to sports gods and literary mavericks. Here is our collection of the 50 most essential interviews.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
1401 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 22, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 6, 2014
This is one heck of book for anyone that loves the art form of the interview and I do highly recommend it. 50 interviews, 1400 plus pages, as someone that is lucky to get 15 minutes a day to read, it is quite a commitment but well worth it.
One of the things that makes it so interesting is that you have history on your side to think about what the subjects are saying and to contemplate how their lives have unfolded compared to their thoughts at that moment in time.
It is especially fun when you catch a subject being a hypocrite in view of how they have since lived their life or to read them say things that you know now they would probably be embarrassed about.
May 5, 2021
This is a monumental collection of dozens interviews published by Playboy magazine, dating from 1962 through to 2009, and it is a sizeable testament to both the personalities who spoke to the numerous interviewers and to the credibility of Playboy as a barometer of the social, political and cultural currents of the era covered. At its best the Playboy interview could offer insights into the thinking and character of some of the most important men and women who stood tall during nearly 50 years of world history. Some of the interviews reproduced herein, such as those with Martin Luther King Jnr and Jimmy Carter capture the essence of political beliefs that are free from the bullshit and spin we invariably deal with today. The interviews with major sports identities (e.g. Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong), icons of popular intelligentsia (Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman, Stephan Hawking), writers of note (Hunter S Thompson, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King), cinema (Stanley Kubrick, Marlon Brando, John Wayne, Bette Davis), major musicians (Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Miles Davis, John Lennon and Yoko Ono), business magnates (Bill Gates, Richard Branson) and popular culture (Matt Groening, Howard Stern, Seth MacFarlane) are stellar documents for those wanting to understand the zeitgeist of the period from the rise of the Berlin Wall to the 2008 Crash.
However, the nature of this text is that it is not a book that one can read eagerly. It also is aimed squarely at a mostly Baby Boomer audience who have an affinity for the personalities and trends covered by the interviews. Perhaps most importantly, the interviews also represent the rise and decline of public discourse during the years covered, including the curtailing of Playboy's own journalistic value. It doesn't take too long for the reader with any appreciation of what is said herein and the wider cultural, political and/or social context to see that the more intelligent, provocative, dare I say 'real' interviews are those from the 1960s and 1970s.
Whilst there are examples of later interviews bucking the trend, the earliest ones republished in this compendium are the ones where both interviewer and subject seem to be tackling concrete issues, problems and experiences. Perhaps this is a result of the extent to which those subjects from this earlier period of Playboy's history had more space to speak on a wider range of issues, encouraged and/or compelled by more provocative questions. Perhaps space in the magazine is also an issue. The events and public experiences of the last 40-odd years may be just as important as those from the Sixties and Seventies, yet those that are interviewed after these decades seem to be more obsessed with their internal world. The Playboy interviewers possibly facilitate this, or are maybe captives of slick PR machines that handle the politicians, sports identities and celebrities that give less substantial insights from the Eighties onward. One has to only contrast the indulgent advertisement that passes for Richard Branson's interview in 2009 versus Timothy Leary's 1966 psychedelically charged discussion to see how the Playboy interview loses its bite over time.
There are occasions in the book when the words of the interviewees have a certain poignancy, power or unwitting hubristic element. John Wayne speaks like the political dinosaur that he already had become by the early 1970s. Betty Friedan speaks cogently about the challenges facing feminism, but more importantly the hazards of neo-liberalism in a manner that seems prescient. The Lennon/Ono interview is of course coloured by the assassination of the ex-Beatle not long after they spoke with Playboy. Lance Armstrong's talk of his drug-free cycling victories is one long bad joke.
This title does have some notable features; for example, it is (obviously) biased towards the American readership of Playboy. There are hardly any figures of note from outside the US's domestic world. The second half of the book is dominated by entertainers, including TV personalities, comedians, actors and animators. They do have stories worth reading, but it is a shame that no international intellectuals or politicians from more recent years get a run after the 1985 interview with Fidel Castro. Oh, and the sports identities that get a run in this book are almost all, to a man, parochial and self-absorbed, without much to recommend as subjects worthy of serious consideration because of their personalities, careers and arrogance.
In conclusion, this is a worthy read but the limitations identified and discussed beforehand weaken the value of the book. 'The Playboy Interviews: The Essentials' is perhaps just that little bit too shallow, too celebrity-oriented, too subjective to be what it could've been.
However, the nature of this text is that it is not a book that one can read eagerly. It also is aimed squarely at a mostly Baby Boomer audience who have an affinity for the personalities and trends covered by the interviews. Perhaps most importantly, the interviews also represent the rise and decline of public discourse during the years covered, including the curtailing of Playboy's own journalistic value. It doesn't take too long for the reader with any appreciation of what is said herein and the wider cultural, political and/or social context to see that the more intelligent, provocative, dare I say 'real' interviews are those from the 1960s and 1970s.
Whilst there are examples of later interviews bucking the trend, the earliest ones republished in this compendium are the ones where both interviewer and subject seem to be tackling concrete issues, problems and experiences. Perhaps this is a result of the extent to which those subjects from this earlier period of Playboy's history had more space to speak on a wider range of issues, encouraged and/or compelled by more provocative questions. Perhaps space in the magazine is also an issue. The events and public experiences of the last 40-odd years may be just as important as those from the Sixties and Seventies, yet those that are interviewed after these decades seem to be more obsessed with their internal world. The Playboy interviewers possibly facilitate this, or are maybe captives of slick PR machines that handle the politicians, sports identities and celebrities that give less substantial insights from the Eighties onward. One has to only contrast the indulgent advertisement that passes for Richard Branson's interview in 2009 versus Timothy Leary's 1966 psychedelically charged discussion to see how the Playboy interview loses its bite over time.
There are occasions in the book when the words of the interviewees have a certain poignancy, power or unwitting hubristic element. John Wayne speaks like the political dinosaur that he already had become by the early 1970s. Betty Friedan speaks cogently about the challenges facing feminism, but more importantly the hazards of neo-liberalism in a manner that seems prescient. The Lennon/Ono interview is of course coloured by the assassination of the ex-Beatle not long after they spoke with Playboy. Lance Armstrong's talk of his drug-free cycling victories is one long bad joke.
This title does have some notable features; for example, it is (obviously) biased towards the American readership of Playboy. There are hardly any figures of note from outside the US's domestic world. The second half of the book is dominated by entertainers, including TV personalities, comedians, actors and animators. They do have stories worth reading, but it is a shame that no international intellectuals or politicians from more recent years get a run after the 1985 interview with Fidel Castro. Oh, and the sports identities that get a run in this book are almost all, to a man, parochial and self-absorbed, without much to recommend as subjects worthy of serious consideration because of their personalities, careers and arrogance.
In conclusion, this is a worthy read but the limitations identified and discussed beforehand weaken the value of the book. 'The Playboy Interviews: The Essentials' is perhaps just that little bit too shallow, too celebrity-oriented, too subjective to be what it could've been.
September 3, 2019
What an absolutely amazing read
Full disclosure - I realized early on that I wasn't going to get through all the interviews (Kindle estimates 53 reading hours). This is going to be a book I pick up every once in a while to read an interview or two at random.
I started with possibly the longest interview with Dr Martin Luther King and was teary eyed through a lot of it. As eloquent as always, he talks candidly about the mistakes he made, his philosophy of non-violence and his strong, strong condemnation of both politicians propogating Jim Crow laws, and moderates who plead with the Black community for patience.
In another interview from the 60's is a different, facinating perceptive on integration from Miles Davis (of all people). He talks about the casual racism he has faced, Jim Crow, segregation and what it is like to be one of the highest earning musicians (black or otherwise) alive.
Sandwiched between Miles Davis and Ian Fleming is an interview with Ayn Rand, which is essentially a TLDR; version of Objectivism. It's is about as hard to read as her books are - especially for someone who skipped through John Galt's 90 page speech. Aside from some interesting perspectives on sex and religion, I would have personally enjoyed a more personal interview, with insights into what drives her, and how she thinks of Objectivism in her everyday life. Every now and then she drops some esoteric gems like these: Any system of ethics is based on and derived, implicitly or explicitly, from a metaphysics. The ethic derived from the metaphysical base of Objectivism holds that, since reason is man’s basic tool of survival, rationality is his highest virtue. Sure it is, Ayn.
Another interview that really stuck with me (even though it was a bit of crazy talk) was Stanley Kubrick's in 1968. The interviewer tries his best to get a Dummy's Guide to 2001: Space Odyssey, but Kubrick isn't biting.
Playboy: What was the metaphysical message of 2001?
Kubrick: It’s not a message that I ever intend to convey in words. 2001 is a nonverbal experience.
He talks instead his idea of the form alien life would take, UFOs, and the future of science. It's a bit odd to imagine anyone in the 60's (or today) talking about UFOs as if they have been irrevocably proven to exist and contact with alien life as if it is a imminent probability. And boy does he get some of the timelines wrong. "Within a few years," he claims, "it should be possible to freeze astronauts or induce a hibernatory suspension of life functions for the duration of an interstellar journey." It's a lot of science fiction fodder for philosophical debate.
Skipping forward to the 2000's I read Richard Branson's interview. It reads like an HBS case study. It's peppered with sharp, smart insights about surviving in the airline industry, global warming and corporate responsibility, how to enter new markets with legacy incumbents, how to build a brand that cuts across industries and his vision of space tourism - all with his characteristic swagger and self aggrandisement. It's a lot less honest than some of the other interviews though. And less willing to accept any mistakes or shortcomings.
Towards later years are more interviews with comedians - Tina Fey, John Stewart, Seth McFarlane. A young John Stewart in 2000, unfortunately loses a lot in print. Young, cocky, and trying much too hard, he comes off as immature, self absorbed, and nothing like the Stewart we know and love today. The last interview with Seth McFarlane is pure fun, and bitingly funny. He says about his comedy: There’s a lightness in the tone that deliberately works against the dark, politically incorrect humor on the show. You could say the same about Seth.
And that's about 5% of the book. Get this Kindle, and keep reading a little now and again - it's worth it.
Full disclosure - I realized early on that I wasn't going to get through all the interviews (Kindle estimates 53 reading hours). This is going to be a book I pick up every once in a while to read an interview or two at random.
I started with possibly the longest interview with Dr Martin Luther King and was teary eyed through a lot of it. As eloquent as always, he talks candidly about the mistakes he made, his philosophy of non-violence and his strong, strong condemnation of both politicians propogating Jim Crow laws, and moderates who plead with the Black community for patience.
In another interview from the 60's is a different, facinating perceptive on integration from Miles Davis (of all people). He talks about the casual racism he has faced, Jim Crow, segregation and what it is like to be one of the highest earning musicians (black or otherwise) alive.
Sandwiched between Miles Davis and Ian Fleming is an interview with Ayn Rand, which is essentially a TLDR; version of Objectivism. It's is about as hard to read as her books are - especially for someone who skipped through John Galt's 90 page speech. Aside from some interesting perspectives on sex and religion, I would have personally enjoyed a more personal interview, with insights into what drives her, and how she thinks of Objectivism in her everyday life. Every now and then she drops some esoteric gems like these: Any system of ethics is based on and derived, implicitly or explicitly, from a metaphysics. The ethic derived from the metaphysical base of Objectivism holds that, since reason is man’s basic tool of survival, rationality is his highest virtue. Sure it is, Ayn.
Another interview that really stuck with me (even though it was a bit of crazy talk) was Stanley Kubrick's in 1968. The interviewer tries his best to get a Dummy's Guide to 2001: Space Odyssey, but Kubrick isn't biting.
Playboy: What was the metaphysical message of 2001?
Kubrick: It’s not a message that I ever intend to convey in words. 2001 is a nonverbal experience.
He talks instead his idea of the form alien life would take, UFOs, and the future of science. It's a bit odd to imagine anyone in the 60's (or today) talking about UFOs as if they have been irrevocably proven to exist and contact with alien life as if it is a imminent probability. And boy does he get some of the timelines wrong. "Within a few years," he claims, "it should be possible to freeze astronauts or induce a hibernatory suspension of life functions for the duration of an interstellar journey." It's a lot of science fiction fodder for philosophical debate.
Skipping forward to the 2000's I read Richard Branson's interview. It reads like an HBS case study. It's peppered with sharp, smart insights about surviving in the airline industry, global warming and corporate responsibility, how to enter new markets with legacy incumbents, how to build a brand that cuts across industries and his vision of space tourism - all with his characteristic swagger and self aggrandisement. It's a lot less honest than some of the other interviews though. And less willing to accept any mistakes or shortcomings.
Towards later years are more interviews with comedians - Tina Fey, John Stewart, Seth McFarlane. A young John Stewart in 2000, unfortunately loses a lot in print. Young, cocky, and trying much too hard, he comes off as immature, self absorbed, and nothing like the Stewart we know and love today. The last interview with Seth McFarlane is pure fun, and bitingly funny. He says about his comedy: There’s a lightness in the tone that deliberately works against the dark, politically incorrect humor on the show. You could say the same about Seth.
And that's about 5% of the book. Get this Kindle, and keep reading a little now and again - it's worth it.
June 9, 2017
A few interviews were outstanding, in the sense the interviewees were not just ruminating for several paragraphs about themselves or their professions, but also expressed interesting opinions on other issues of their time and day that kept me engaged. Miles Davis, Martin Luther King, Marlon Brando, John Lennon with Yoko Ono, Milton Friedman, Richard Branson, and Stanley Kubrick, to name a few of those gems.
Apart from that, I passed over American football and baseball athletes, being unaccustomed to the vagaries of both American sports, and also one or two actors. I found both Muhammad Ali & John Wayne's interviews to be a bit disconcerting, although the rage and indignation expressed by the former is mirrored in the turbulent politics & cultural milieu that Ali found himself in back then. In a post-Obama Trump-led America, I daresay that John Wayne would have declared himself truly at home.
I venture that most readers would find it easier as they progress along in this book as the subjects and Q&As become more contemporary and linked to events or persons within living memory. All in all, I would not recommend this book unless one is well-steeped in American political, cultural, and social lore. Which I am not. And I think Playboy was too easy on The Hef, though.
Apart from that, I passed over American football and baseball athletes, being unaccustomed to the vagaries of both American sports, and also one or two actors. I found both Muhammad Ali & John Wayne's interviews to be a bit disconcerting, although the rage and indignation expressed by the former is mirrored in the turbulent politics & cultural milieu that Ali found himself in back then. In a post-Obama Trump-led America, I daresay that John Wayne would have declared himself truly at home.
I venture that most readers would find it easier as they progress along in this book as the subjects and Q&As become more contemporary and linked to events or persons within living memory. All in all, I would not recommend this book unless one is well-steeped in American political, cultural, and social lore. Which I am not. And I think Playboy was too easy on The Hef, though.
March 21, 2017
A few notes about this book. First of all, it's massive. 1,500 some-odd pages. Second, it's a collection of some of the best long-form interviews of the 20th century. Everyone from Martin Luther King, Jr. to John Lennon and Howard Stern. It's an amazing book.
That said, you're not going to sit down and read this cover to cover. It's a great nightstand read (albeit the virtual nightstand, since it's a Kindle-only thing). Every now and then read an interview. According to Goodreads, it's been on my reading list for over 4 years, which seems like a really long time, but not when I think about how I read this thing.
I did skip a lot of interviews. I read some of the sports guys, but not all of them. Many I didn't bother with. And some interviews dragged. But on the whole, this a great collection. Highly recommended.
That said, you're not going to sit down and read this cover to cover. It's a great nightstand read (albeit the virtual nightstand, since it's a Kindle-only thing). Every now and then read an interview. According to Goodreads, it's been on my reading list for over 4 years, which seems like a really long time, but not when I think about how I read this thing.
I did skip a lot of interviews. I read some of the sports guys, but not all of them. Many I didn't bother with. And some interviews dragged. But on the whole, this a great collection. Highly recommended.
July 7, 2022
The early interviews are very readable, after a while it becomes a slog. Partly because too US centric. I wish i could pick and choose which interviews from their amazing back catalog are included in the anthology
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews