A recorded conversation (YouTube) between John Assaraf and Larry King (recorded Jan 29, 2021) in which King reflects on his long career as an interviewer. In this excerpt King and Assaraf mention roughly 60,000 interviews and a 60-year career; King emphasizes humility, calling himself “Everyman,” leaving his ego at the door, and saying there is "no secret" to his success. The clip focuses on King’s interviewing philosophy and personal traits that contributed to his longevity.
Questions this video answers
About 60,000 people.
About 60 years.
So I've been on your show nine times. Now you're on my show, and hopefully you've enjoyed the day.
I've had a great time here.
Larry and I were talking. You've interviewed about 60,000 people.
60 years.
60 years. So let's talk about you for just a moment. And I know one of your character traits, something you shared with me a few times about why you believe you've been able to achieve success.
Well, first, the New Yorker magazine did a story on me once, and they called it Everyman. So I never assumed that I was better than the audience or smarter than the audience. I didn't go to college. I never pretended to be an intellectual. I left my ego at the door. I learned a long time ago, you can't make someone like you be yourself. The only secret in our business is there's no secret.
There's no secret.
There is no secret. Be yourself. You can't make them like you. You can't. If the audience doesn't like you, now, you can. You can do anything you want. You can't make them like either like you or don't. It's a magical thing, why they like you. So I always assumed I'll just be myself. Therefore, I leave my ego at the door. I don't ask questions that begin with the word I. I'm insatiably curious. I care about my guest. I never think about the last guest. I don't think about tomorrow's guest. In other words, if yesterday I've interviewed the Secretary of State, today I'm interviewing a ballet dancer, and tomorrow I'm interviewing the President of the United States, I am totally into the ballet dancer. I don't let my thoughts go haywire, and I can't explain that. I don't know where that came from. John. In other words, I can have a bad day, but it will not affect me. When that light goes on. When that light goes on, bam, man, it's like home to me. So I'm home, and I'm honest, and I care about what I do. And I think that in retrospect, that transfixes. When it started, I didn't know. I just knew I wanted to be a broadcaster.
