Gaby Dunn's 100 Interviews
May 3, 2011 2:21 PM   Subscribe

100interviews: NYC writer and comedienne "No Fun" Gaby Dunn made a list of 100 types of people she knew existed but had never met. A transgendered person, someone who had been to prison, someone who had saved a life, a one-hit wonder, a psychic, someone from a third world country. She wanted to find out about all the stories she was missing out on, so she is interviewing every one of them.

Do you know any of the 31 people she still hasn't interviewed? Tell her.

She recently completed probably her hardest-to-get interview: asking 2 questions to Stephen Colbert during the pre-show audience Q&A. After crashing a gala and failing to meet him, she had to navigate viacom's legal team (with the help of twitter followers) before she was able to post the writeup.

She also gained a mild following for a "Top 5 Cute Maccabeats" review of Yeshiva University's A Capella group's Hannukah video, and ended up getting interviewed herself by the YU newspaper.

"Book deal" jokes are unneccessary as she has covered that already.
posted by milestogo (117 comments total) 37 users marked this as a favorite
 
she's led a sheltered life in a cave! I've met all but one that you list in the FPP, and I live in the midwest....
posted by tomswift at 2:23 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]


Things I never thought would be relevant: that one of my mom's girlfriends is a commercial airline pilot.

Email sent!
posted by Narrative Priorities at 2:25 PM on May 3, 2011


#66: Paging ColdChef
posted by availablelight at 2:27 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]


Pretty sure MeFi can clear this whole list in under an hour.
posted by mykescipark at 2:27 PM on May 3, 2011 [7 favorites]


#66: Paging ColdChef

hah, yep. That's what made me think to post this to MeFi.
posted by milestogo at 2:29 PM on May 3, 2011


She's looking for a porn actor. Phooey. I am a porn writer.
posted by Astro Zombie at 2:29 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]


Yeah. I have a surprising number of those bases covered. I guess my life is a lot more interesting than I give it credit for.

Also, a few crossovers (ie. Lesbian moms who work for NASA and are banned from their home country.)
posted by schmod at 2:31 PM on May 3, 2011


#66: Paging ColdChef

Ha. Never knew that about him. Eponysterical?
posted by schmod at 2:32 PM on May 3, 2011


Follow him on twitter - he tweets about going on death calls, and he had some great ones a little while back about a funeral for a gay veteran.
posted by rtha at 2:36 PM on May 3, 2011


She lived in NYC and had never met someone born in a third world country? Really?
posted by craichead at 2:37 PM on May 3, 2011 [9 favorites]


Sheesh...I just read the full list, she didn't just live in a cave, she lived under a rock in the cave, and there was a box on the rock....

Really, she didn't know anyone who married their high school sweet heart, or a bus driver, or a funeral director???? So, basically, she didn't go to high school (and, obviously didn't ride a bus when not going to high school) and has never been to a funeral....

Pretty low hanging fruit for the interviews.
posted by tomswift at 2:37 PM on May 3, 2011 [6 favorites]


i sincerely hope that for her interview with someone that performs abortions she gets a chance to speak with Dr. LeRoy Carhart.
posted by cristinacristinacristina at 2:39 PM on May 3, 2011


Pretty fortunate she's never met a dying person, I guess...
posted by dismas at 2:39 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]


#101 - Someone offering her a book deal.
posted by Decimask at 2:39 PM on May 3, 2011 [9 favorites]


I suppose "never had a chance to interview" is different.
posted by dismas at 2:40 PM on May 3, 2011


7. A porn actor/actress

Stage or screen?
posted by Splunge at 2:41 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]


If any one of us put together a similar list, there would be a message board somewhere that would claim that we were living under a boxed rock in a cave. This is because every damn person in the world is living in a cave. You only have time to know so many people.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 2:41 PM on May 3, 2011


"Pretty fortunate she's never met a dying person, I guess..."

everyone she's met is "dying"...
posted by tomswift at 2:44 PM on May 3, 2011 [3 favorites]


My sister married her 'high school sweetheart' (they're now divorced) but I don't know anyone from my year who's been with the same partner since they were 16. It's becoming more unusual, even in towns like mine where engagements at 19 were common.
posted by mippy at 2:47 PM on May 3, 2011


I married my high school sweetheart, we've been together 13 years this summer.
posted by arcticwoman at 2:49 PM on May 3, 2011


Yeah, I assume she's briefly met or seen in passing most of the types of people on the list, she just never had an excuse to get to know them on a deeper level. She also probably met a lot of people she had no idea had done things on the list. It's not so strange.

I'll be reading through the blog when I get the chance.
posted by majonesing at 2:50 PM on May 3, 2011


Sheesh...I just read the full list, she didn't just live in a cave, she lived under a rock in the cave, and there was a box on the rock....

I guess it's also possible that she's actually already met a lot of the types she's listed, but she's just always been too fucking self-absorbed to learn anything about anyone else in her life before now
posted by saladin at 2:50 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]


In the Tibetan philosophy, Sylvia Plath sense of the word, I know we're all — we're all dying, all right? But you're not dying the way Chloe back there is dying.

I knew someone who was a miniature version of #99. It was a subject of discussion amongst her acquaintances. Conversations went something like this:

" ... from ever returning to her home town?"
"Yup."
"Are you sure she's not making this up?"
"A friend knew someone from there, said it was true. No word on why."
"But she's so ... you know ... massage therapist, vegan ... I mean, she carries her sick old dog on walks in a gym bag, with four little holes cut in the bag for its legs because it can't walk. She offered me jasmine tea with a straight face."
"She had to hire a lawyer just to get a temporary dispensation just to go back and bury her dog when it died."
"Dude, they let murderers and child molesters go back to their home towns. What did she do?"
"Dunno, man. Dunno."
posted by adipocere at 2:51 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]


I do know someone saving themselves for marriage. He is a religious person, but told me that there was a point where he questioned whether he was just doing it because his faith told him to or whether it was what he really wanted, and decided it was. I really admire him for that, as much as I secretly think 'what a waste...'
posted by mippy at 2:51 PM on May 3, 2011


Oh I meant to highlight her interview with Goosebumps author R.L. Stine. It is one of the best ones, I think.
posted by milestogo at 2:51 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]


I know a one-hit wonder. Guy's a dick.
posted by RakDaddy at 2:52 PM on May 3, 2011


This is because every damn person in the world is living in a cave.

That's true to a point, but to have never met an Aboriginal person born on-reserve, a lesbian mom OR gay dad, a farmer, someone born in a third-world country, someone whose family is in another country, etc... I mean, that's a pretty isolated cave. Sure, maybe if you live in New York city you may never met a farmer, but you've met newcomers and gay parents. If you live in the rural midwest you may never have met gay dads, but you'll certainly know some farmers. I don't understand how you could never have met any of those people.
posted by arcticwoman at 2:53 PM on May 3, 2011 [3 favorites]


I've sent a message to my friend who scales mountains.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:53 PM on May 3, 2011


I know everybody thinks these checklist things are for book deals, but they always strike me as variations on the bucket list (101 in 1001 and variants) which makes them look as much like self-improvement projects as book deals in the making.

This one seems like a list designed to force a shy person to get out more.
posted by immlass at 2:53 PM on May 3, 2011


Isaiah (and Google searching) tells me that the Baha Men are the only music group to successfully cross over from the Bahamas to the mainstream United States.

What, Exuma doesn't count?
posted by box at 2:53 PM on May 3, 2011


I know an internet celebrity - or at least, a legent on his own Twitter account. Though I've never heard of the one she interviewed. I guess microblogging has led to microstardom.
posted by mippy at 2:56 PM on May 3, 2011


Well, even if she is living under a cave, good for her for trying to get out of it.
posted by DrGirlfriend at 2:57 PM on May 3, 2011 [9 favorites]


I think I've met at least one person in each of those categories, excepting someone who's photographed/interviewed the president, Steven Colbert, someone who's worked in the White House, and someone who's left someone else at the altar. (And, yes, I'm counting the fact that my mother's husband has dabbled in cryptozoology to the point of having led multiple bigfoot expeditions.)
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 2:59 PM on May 3, 2011


It's a bit strange to see a bunch of friends and acquaintances on this list. Actually, I'm on there too. I find it hard to believe she lives in NYC as a journalist and has such bland-for-NYC folks on there. It's still a pretty neat project, even if I think she's stretching the truth a little.
posted by inmediasres at 3:05 PM on May 3, 2011


I'm a little bit confused by her "someone whose family is in another country" - a Chinese girl living in the US with her parents. Don't parents count as family?
posted by rabbitbookworm at 3:07 PM on May 3, 2011


Oh come on, of course there's a bit of framing involved in writing this list. Arguing against the premise is uninteresting and tedius.
posted by muddgirl at 3:08 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]


85. Someone whose ancestors fought for the Union

Seriously!?
posted by ocherdraco at 3:09 PM on May 3, 2011


Mostly agreed, muddgirl, but the whole thing seems weird given how common many of these types of people are. If she had said, "that I've never had a meaningful conversation with on the subject of their being an X" (which seems to be the real context of the project), I think we'd be less incredulous.

But yes, she should totally interview ColdChef. It'd be wild.
posted by ocherdraco at 3:12 PM on May 3, 2011 [3 favorites]


I married my high school sweetheart, we've been together 13 years this summer.

Beat you! My date to the Prom and I have been together for 17 years, married for 13.
posted by Rock Steady at 3:15 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]


Married my high school sweetheart, we've been together 27 years and married for 25.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:16 PM on May 3, 2011 [3 favorites]


Hmm, I think I'm at least 5 of the things on that list...
posted by dolface at 3:17 PM on May 3, 2011


She is reinforcing my prejudice about NYC being more provincial than the Midwest.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 3:25 PM on May 3, 2011 [10 favorites]


Eyebrows McGee: “She is reinforcing my prejudice about NYC being more provincial than the Midwest.”

Amen.
posted by koeselitz at 3:30 PM on May 3, 2011


I think she's a bit unclear herself about whether she means "met" or "had a conversation with." She seems to go back and forth between both:

In October 2010 I got to thinking, ‘How many of those stories do I really know? How many am I missing out on?’

So I sat down and made a list: 100 types of people I knew existed in the world but had never met. A transgendered person, someone who had been to prison, someone who had saved a life, a one-hit wonder, a psychic, someone from a third world country.

The project that was born is 100 INTERVIEWS (www.100interviews.com). 100 Interviews is a blog by NYC journalist and comedian Gaby Dunn, wherein she (who is me) attempts to interview 100 brand new people in just one year. After working as a journalist since age 14, there were still people I’ d never had a conversation with. I was ready to set that right.


Sometimes she says "met", but other times it seems clear -- to me, at least -- that it's really about how many stories she actually knows and conversations she actually had. That is the interesting part, in my opinion, and forcing yourself to really talk to people from all different walks of life strikes me as a pretty admirable project.
posted by forza at 3:32 PM on May 3, 2011 [3 favorites]


Beat you! My date to the Prom and I have been together for 17 years, married for 13.
posted by Rock Steady at 4:15 PM on May 3 [+] [!]


Married my high school sweetheart, we've been together 27 years and married for 25.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:16 PM on May 3 [1 favorite +] [!]

All that means is that I'm younger than you. :)
posted by arcticwoman at 3:46 PM on May 3, 2011


give her a break, she's like 22. I hadn't met anyone much at that age. Plus the writing is pretty good.
posted by daisystomper at 3:47 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]


I think she's a bit unclear herself about whether she means "met" or "had a conversation with." She seems to go back and forth between both:

What does "met" mean? If I buy coffee from a night-time bus driver does that mean I've "met a bus driver?" If I go to a dinner party with someone who is transgendered or has family in another country, and the topic never comes up, then how would I know?

So yes, she should have said, "100 tyopes of people I knew existed in the world but who had never disclosed this fact to me in a conversation." Not as catchy.
posted by muddgirl at 3:47 PM on May 3, 2011 [3 favorites]


Maybe she's met dozens of transgendered people who didn't bother to clue her in. Does she ask everyone she meets if they're transgendered, a funeral director, etc.?

People who stunt blog in pursuit of a book deal make my head hurt.

Maybe she needs to work more as a journalist.
posted by Ideefixe at 3:54 PM on May 3, 2011


The most entertaining part of this thread: watching MeFites' heads explode as they panic over whether they should simply overthink this OR point out how much worldlier they are
posted by hermitosis at 3:56 PM on May 3, 2011 [25 favorites]


Lesbian moms who work for NASA and are banned from their home country

somewhere, Kaki King is thanking you for naming her next album
posted by mannequito at 4:00 PM on May 3, 2011 [5 favorites]


I've met to a Buddhist "priest" (monk) who walked over the Himalaya to escape political persecution and is pretty unwelcome in his home country. That's three she needs, but sadly he didn't know a great deal of English.
posted by Jehan at 4:01 PM on May 3, 2011


I don't know; as novelty blogs go, this one is kind of fun. And I thought the interview with the dude from the Baha Men was pretty interesting.
posted by kingoftonga86 at 4:04 PM on May 3, 2011


You live in New York City and you've never met anyone from a developing country?

WTF?
posted by jason's_planet at 4:06 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]


She didn't live in a cave. She mentions in one of the first interviews, with the person remaining a virgin until marriage, that she shares his strictly religious and sheltered upbringing, at one point noting that she didn't have a friend outside her faith group until she was in high school.
posted by padraigin at 4:06 PM on May 3, 2011 [7 favorites]


I think part of the point here is that we all live in caves of our own fashioning to some extent. I'm twice her age, I've lived in both Chicago and NYC, and I can't be certain that I've met more than about 50 of her types. OK, so that's 50 more than she's certain of. But there's still 50 to go.

I'm considering plunking down $5 just so I can favorite hermitosis once more.
posted by dhartung at 4:11 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]


She lived in NYC and had never met someone born in a third world country? Really? etc

From her bio:

At 15, she was hired as a part-time news reporter for The South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s community news section after a year-long internship there. In college, she worked as a crime reporter for The Boston Globe and as a summer intern for ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.’

She graduated from Emerson College in 2009 with a degree in multimedia journalism and comedy writing and is an entertainment media editor for Huffington Post Media Group.


She seems to be an "NYC writer" in the "I moved to New York a year ago in order to Make It Big" sense, not in the "born and raised in Bensonhurst" sense.
posted by DaDaDaDave at 4:14 PM on May 3, 2011


I know two people who work at NASA!
posted by jokeefe at 4:14 PM on May 3, 2011


Seems like she could have gotten some leads on #7 when she knocked out #17. Just a thought.
posted by randomkeystrike at 4:29 PM on May 3, 2011


She seems to be an "NYC writer" in the "I moved to New York a year ago in order to Make It Big" sense, not in the "born and raised in Bensonhurst" sense.

Good point. Still, though, immigrants and their children make up a huge majority of the population here.

Most of them do not come from wealthy countries.

Living here in Queens, I find it very strange that you would have to go out of your way, make a special effort, to meet someone who was born in a developing country.
posted by jason's_planet at 4:33 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]


I am nowhere on that list.

And up until now, I thought I was interesting.
posted by jenlovesponies at 4:37 PM on May 3, 2011


Cute blog. I will read her book when it comes out- especially if she interviews ColdChef! Which she should. I'm so convinced of it, I e-mailed her and told her so.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:43 PM on May 3, 2011


She's discovered who let the dogs out.
posted by rory at 4:44 PM on May 3, 2011


We kicked all those types out in the 80s. I wanted to keep the porn actors at least but nobody listened.
posted by Ad hominem at 4:44 PM on May 3, 2011


Seems like she could have gotten some leads on #7 when she knocked out #17.

Hell, I could have pointed her at someone who is both.
posted by wildcrdj at 4:46 PM on May 3, 2011


69. Someone with the job they wanted as a child

I love my job! Iloveitloveitloveit!!! WooHOO!!!!1!!

You can't have it. MY job! MINE!
posted by hal9k at 4:54 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]


I love my job! Iloveitloveitloveit!!! WooHOO!!!!1!!

Let me guess.... pharmacutical grade cocaine tester?
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 4:59 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]


The interview with the transgendered man is kind of terrible. Why does she insist on calling him "they"?
posted by eugenen at 5:25 PM on May 3, 2011


Why does she insist on calling him "they"?

Seriously? It says explicitly that it's the subject's preference. She should call them something else so as not to annoy pedants?
posted by padraigin at 5:30 PM on May 3, 2011 [5 favorites]


It's a shame that she met a cryptozoologist before she met a zoologist.

Also, four years in Boston without meeting a single person from another country tells me that Emerson should take her damn journalism degree back for displaying a gross lack of curiosity about the world.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 5:40 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]


I'm kind of taking this not as "I have literally never met a person who fits this" but more like "I have never talked to a person who fits this, about this".
posted by padraigin at 5:45 PM on May 3, 2011


Seriously? It says explicitly that it's the subject's preference. She should call them something else so as not to annoy pedants?

No. Ignore me, I'm blind.
posted by eugenen at 5:46 PM on May 3, 2011


I think it would be more interesting to interview people who definitely don't exist: an obese pole vaulter, a reggae musician who doesn't smoke ganja, a tourist in Detroit, a truly happy member of the Tea Party, a professional knife thrower with a poor sense of aim, a dentist who doesn't brush his teeth, a super sexy certified public account, a DJ with agoraphobia, a shy porn star, a mime ventriloquist, an honest politician...

I've got a list and an endless project to go with it!
posted by twoleftfeet at 5:52 PM on May 3, 2011


Maybe twoleftfeet meant to say "a tourist in Detroit who doesn't come back with a tumblr full of photos of abandoned buildings".
posted by penduluum at 5:59 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]


I love the interview with the guy who made a quest out of being a fake person on a lot of "reality" shows.
posted by xingcat at 6:09 PM on May 3, 2011


Seriously? I'm not going to perpetuate the idea that Detroit is a bad place

Actually, I was just trying to piss off certified public accountants.
posted by twoleftfeet at 6:16 PM on May 3, 2011


a super sexy certified public account

I dunno, one of my hot friends is studying accountancy... actually, she's also a DJ that doesn't much like leaving the house.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 6:26 PM on May 3, 2011


I think it would be more interesting to interview people who definitely don't exist:

Well, she has "psychic" on there.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 7:15 PM on May 3, 2011


Gaby Dunn wrote me back and said she had made contact with the ColdChef! HE'S GONNA BE FAMOUS! We can call him "Mefite's Own". I LOVE YOU, DADDY COLDCHEF!!!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:23 PM on May 3, 2011 [5 favorites]


FWIW, she seems pretty cool. I've sponsored a MetaFilter membership for her and invited her to respond to some of the criticisms (and compliments) here.
posted by ColdChef at 7:29 PM on May 3, 2011 [3 favorites]


As someone who has interviewed ColdChef, I approve.
posted by hermitosis at 9:00 PM on May 3, 2011


No. Ignore me, I'm blind.
posted by eugenen at 5:46 PM on May 3 [+] [!]


You... prefer that to 'vision impaired'?
posted by Sebmojo at 9:16 PM on May 3, 2011


I'm kind of taking this not as "I have literally never met a person who fits this" but more like "I have never talked to a person who fits this, about this".

Even so, there are only a handful of types of people on that list that I haven't known, and I'm pretty boring.
posted by desuetude at 10:27 PM on May 3, 2011


I don't think I'm that interesting or anything, but I am 100 people. And 78 of them meet one of this upstart young crowess's list requirements.
posted by meadowlark lime at 11:17 PM on May 3, 2011


I think it's a cool project. I've briefly met most of the people on the list, but I've only had meaningful conversations with about 12 of them. And even those interviews I'll read to compare and contrast.
posted by Harald74 at 11:41 PM on May 3, 2011


And BTW, why are we so harsh with people who angle for book deals? I mean, mefites as a demographic love books. Books are not made in a vacuum. Getting a book published is a rather big part of the journey the book makes from the writer's computer to my hands, so I can't fault anyone for trying to pick up a publisher.

Also, the concept "meet a 100 interesting people and talk about their life stories" is ten times as worthy a book concept as "look at this fucking $whatever".
posted by Harald74 at 11:47 PM on May 3, 2011 [8 favorites]


No 82? That would be everybody.
posted by Decani at 3:10 AM on May 4, 2011


She is reinforcing my prejudice about NYC being more provincial than the Midwest.

I can totally see this. I live in London and I've met more people who have been to Thailand than have been to Liverpool. I don't know how NYC really works, but here there are poor and wealthier people living literally streets away from each other, and they rarely mix. I work in quite a middle-class environment (my industry, that is) and people refer to chavs with the abandon that comes with never actually having met one. It's phenomenal how much of a bubble a big city can be, especially if you're young and your friends are all just like you.
posted by mippy at 4:03 AM on May 4, 2011 [2 favorites]


No 82? That would be everybody.
We've covered that. I have met a dying man, and really, there is a big difference between this and the gradual decay all of us are experiencing. It's pedantic at best to keep pointing this out - stop pretending to be Brian Molko.
posted by mippy at 4:05 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


@mippy, I suppose you're right, combined with the feeling the provincial sort of New Yorkers often express that "everything" is in NYC and it's such a rich tapestry of human life so they don't need to step outside their zones ever and flyover country has nothing to offer. (But really, it's okay, if they knew how great it was here in flyover country they might want to move here, so shhh!)

On the larger post question, I'm more and more interested in which sorts of people on her list I have and haven't met. I've never met 14. Someone who was left at the altar or 15. Someone who left someone else at the altar ... during the engagement, sure, after the deposits were put down, sure, but leaving someone at the altar? That just seems like incredibly poor planning, immaturity, or downright meanness. Maybe I don't know enough bad planners, immature people, or mean people. :)

I knew a 9. A rocket scientist whose only joke was, when discussing something complicated or controversial, was, "Now, I'm not a rocket scientist ... OH WAIT YES I AM." The 16. Someone who writes greeting cards I knew was possibly the most annoying person I've ever met in my life; because she wrote PAINFULLY twee little ditties for Hallmark (which had iffy rhymes), she thought she was T.S. Eliot and constantly bragged about how she was "the most-read poet of the 20th century" (I'm so sadly not kidding) because more people saw her cutesy crap browsing in Hallmark than ever sat down with "literary" poetry. But that metric, "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" is the greatest poem of our time, I suppose. She successfully put me off the entire greeting card industry. (She was obviously not nearly as cool as the #16s the author interviews.)

As a geographical matter I have not met 27. An NBC page because I don't live in the right part of the world, but my area is absolutely lousy with people who can claim to be 33. An Abraham Lincoln expert, since I'm only 75 minutes or so from Springfield.

The number of young people (and even people my age, in their 30s) who've never met an 82. Someone who is dying always surprises me, but I guess families are smaller and less-connected these days than they used to be.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:14 AM on May 4, 2011


I'm glad she got a book deal. She's a good writer and interviewer, and I suspect she'll be a really good journalist someday. I also think the glimpses into her own story are really interesting, and while I know not everyone loves the memoir genre, she's probably got a really compelling memoir in there somewhere.

But I still can't quite wrap my head around the disconnect between her super-glittering credentials, which suggest she's a bit of a journalistic prodigy, and the incredibly sheltered existence that is suggested by some of the items on her list. It's totally understandable, I guess, to be 22 years old and have lived in a bubble where you'd never meet anyone who had gone to prison, been shot, or been addicted to heroin. It's a little weird to have lived in that bubble and claim to have been a crime reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper.

I don't blame her at all, because she's setting out to rectify those gaps, which is more than you can say for most people. But at risk of sounding all "get off my lawn," I guess I think it's sort of emblematic of some things about middle-class kids of this particular generation, who rack up achievements but are sheltered from actual experiences. And it suggests some pretty shameful things about the Boston Globe.
posted by craichead at 5:21 AM on May 4, 2011


I don't know how NYC really works, but here there are poor and wealthier people living literally streets away from each other, and they rarely mix.

I think the fact that the poor and the wealthy are often forced to mix (public transportation, public parks, pedestrian culture, allowances for low-income housing in wealthy areas) is what keeps New York so vital. In many other large cities, such as Los Angeles or Phoenix, much greater expanses separate the rich and the poor, and people drive around in their own little bubbles -- they rarely have to mingle unless they want to. Here we're all crawling on top of each other. Sure, we distinguish between highbrow and lowbrow, but everyone can sample as much or as little of either as they like.
posted by hermitosis at 6:49 AM on May 4, 2011


Married my high school sweetheart, we've been together 27 years and married 25.

Married my high school sweetheart. Met at 16. married for 22. Been together for 29 years. Beat that!

Seriously, we are such a cliche now, I'm thinking I should divorce him just to shake things up a little. Maybe I could convert to scientology or create my own religion or something, too.

Speaking of that, things she should add to the list just because I would find them interesting and alien to my own experience:

A Scientologist who is NOT Tom Cruise
Someone with body dysmorphic disorder
Someone who survived a traumatic brain injury
Someone who converted from an atheist TO a believer
posted by misha at 7:50 AM on May 4, 2011


Oh, and:
Someone from Lichtenstein or another really tiny country.
A deposed/banished member of royalty.
Terry Pratchett. Just 'cause.
posted by misha at 7:56 AM on May 4, 2011


85. Someone whose ancestors fought for the Union

I dunno about "fought," but my ancestor burned down Atlanta for the Union. Maybe I should drop her a line...
posted by dersins at 8:45 AM on May 4, 2011


It's a little weird to have lived in that bubble and claim to have been a crime reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper.

She says that she worked there as a college student. My guess is that it was part of a college co-op job program offered by the Globe and her duties included monitoring the police scanner.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 8:46 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


Even then, how does a college student never meet someone whose family lives in a foreign country?

Seriously. Even that aside, how do you grow up in south Florida and never meet anyone who is from another country, has family in another country, and/or is unable to return to their country of origin? Cubans, anyone? It's just weird.
posted by rtha at 9:51 AM on May 4, 2011


Hello MetaFilter!

So I've never been to this website before but ColdChef linked me to this thread and kindly provided me this account.

I wish my regular followers dissected 100 Interviews the way you guys have. From the inside, it's hard for me to know what might need clarifying or how people who are not me view the project.

If anyone has questions, I'd love to answer them or discuss any inconsistencies.
posted by gabydunn at 10:05 AM on May 4, 2011 [10 favorites]


Welcome, gabydunn! You want dissection, whoa, you've come to the right place.

(That's not a dig on this community, it's a compliment, most of the time. People generally actually read and think and debate and use complete sentences here, it's great.)
posted by desuetude at 10:25 AM on May 4, 2011


I can totally see this. I live in London and I've met more people who have been to Thailand than have been to Liverpool. I don't know how NYC really works, but here there are poor and wealthier people living literally streets away from each other, and they rarely mix. I work in quite a middle-class environment (my industry, that is) and people refer to chavs with the abandon that comes with never actually having met one. It's phenomenal how much of a bubble a big city can be, especially if you're young and your friends are all just like you.

Sometimes I get the feeling that London (or, indeed, any city) is not so much one place as a few thousand hermetically sealed bubbles. You can look at the inhabitants of other bubbles as they drift past yours (though eye contact is frowned upon, or at least met with a pointed look of bored disdain), though you won't speak with them except if you're buying something from them or asking them to excuse you. Should you somehow get to the point of actually chatting and exchanging details (which sometimes does happen), you should keep in mind that they have, in their bubble, several dozen other people they've known for several decades longer than you, and that, as a newcomer, you come so low in the list of people to socialise with that, for all practical purposes, you're not on it, much like the German woman who's last in line to the throne of Britain. Occasionally, this won't be the case and you'll be granted insider status and invited to parties, though this is a rare occurrence.
posted by acb at 10:29 AM on May 4, 2011 [2 favorites]


Hey, welcome to Metafilter Gaby!
posted by milestogo at 10:49 AM on May 4, 2011


Hi Gaby. I guess our primary question is how, exactly you came up with the list of 100 people. Are these people you truly have never knowingly met, or people that you may have met, and even spoken with, but haven't spoken with about these aspects of their lives?
posted by ocherdraco at 11:16 AM on May 4, 2011


I think you mean "my primary question." Personally, my bit of Metafilter doesn't care that much about the difference between "knowingly met", "may have met but not discussed," etc. etc.
posted by muddgirl at 11:24 AM on May 4, 2011


Sorry, muddgirl; didn't mean to speak for all. You're right, I should have said "my."
posted by ocherdraco at 11:30 AM on May 4, 2011


21. An amputee (Part I) (Part II)
I can only guess at what this means.
posted by stinkycheese at 3:47 PM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


If anyone has questions, I'd love to answer them or discuss any inconsistencies.

Welcome, gabydunn. I think we all would like to know how you got through 4 years in Boston and however long in NYC without meeting someone from another country. Thanks in advance.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 7:03 PM on May 4, 2011


Well, geez, kuujjuarapik, thanks for not being a dick about it or anything.
posted by dersins at 7:06 PM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


I'm not being a dick. That has been the question.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 7:26 PM on May 4, 2011


Aw heck. I sent her an email. I have always wanted to tell my story.
posted by Splunge at 7:49 PM on May 4, 2011


Ooh! My spot is still open!
posted by Splunge at 7:55 PM on May 4, 2011


I don't consider questioning the project to be "being a dick about it." The tone, I get, is slightly biting but I understand the question.

You guys are right. The word "met" in most cases on the blog refers to never having felt comfortable enough to ask the person about their life and experiences. For example, the man who was awarded a Purple Heart, in any other situation I would have felt awkward asking "So what happened to you in Afghanistan?" and such a question would probably be seen as rude.

I think the push is to get people to feel more at ease about telling their stories.

Like you guys have discerned, I grew up incredibly sheltered -- white, middle-class, religious. I grew up in a diverse community (South Florida) but when I was in grade school, my parents became religious and I was sequestered into South Florida's modern Orthodox Jewish community -- Jewish day school, Jewish summer camp, Jewish youth group, JCC sports leagues. I never had a conversation with a non-Jewish person, off the Internet where I spent a lot of time trying to branch out of my bubble, until the end of high school. Truthfully, this kind of limited life made me incredibly depressed, hence reaching out online to people different than me through (as lame as it sounds) mainly Livejournal.

I did do a co-op in the crime reporting division of the Boston Globe, but I don't think it's fair to assume I've "met" or really gotten the full scope of the life of a person I am only interviewing because their brother/mother/child was shot. Crime reporting, while definitely eye-opening (brains on the sidewalk), is a limited scope for viewing anyone. I would hate to judge "someone born in a developing country" I may have spoken to, based on an article I wrote about their cousin shooting someone. It gives you a false perspective of knowing types of people when you really only know them in one context.

The person on the list is not simply "someone from another country" but "someone whose family is in another country" and "someone from a developing country." Obviously, I have met and talked to plenty of people from outside the US. (My own father is Parisian.) But I think I chose the people for the list, more based on people who are generally ignored or stereotyped, rather than people that I hadn't "met." It is people I have made assumptions about or people I've never bothered to hear their stories. (One of my best friends was on a reality show last summer so "someone on a reality show" wasn't true, but I had not met anyone like Alan who had tried to scam five different shows, for example.)

I came up with the list because I'd never had a face-to-face conversation, about this aspect of their lives, with any of these people. And I wanted an excuse to ask straightforward questions, which in any other situation would be deemed uncomfortable.

I also resent the assumption that I started the blog as an attempt to get an easy book deal. If I wanted an easy book deal, I would have posted pictures of cats on skateboards and saved myself the headache.
posted by gabydunn at 7:13 AM on May 5, 2011 [11 favorites]


And to clarify the Livejournal thing, as a young person in a suburb, it's incredibly hard to branch out and do anything without your parents. Once I had a car, it became easier to see more diverse friends outside the bubble, but not until then. I had many religious "friends" who judged and scorned me for stepping outside our community (and still do). I think 100 Interviews is residual "therapy" for myself for that.
posted by gabydunn at 7:18 AM on May 5, 2011 [2 favorites]


Welcome, Gaby! It's great to hear from you about what you're doing. I think this is a really neatnproject. Thanks for sharing!
posted by koeselitz at 8:01 AM on May 5, 2011


Thanks for that explanation!
posted by ocherdraco at 8:39 AM on May 5, 2011


That was an excellent answer to an apparently too-direct question. Thanks for that. I hope your project is successful for you.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 8:47 AM on May 5, 2011


I did do a co-op in the crime reporting division of the Boston Globe, but I don't think it's fair to assume I've "met" or really gotten the full scope of the life of a person I am only interviewing because their brother/mother/child was shot.

Oh. Then it's not a list of people you haven't met, it's a list of people you haven't known.

I think that most people would say that you certainly have met someone who you interviewed, but would readily understand the distinction between meeting someone and knowing them.
posted by desuetude at 10:55 AM on May 5, 2011


I don't know, desuetude. The clinician who asked me a bunch of personal questions in preparation for an HIV test -- I don't consider him someone I "met." I don't feel like I really "met" the woman who spent an hour helping me prepare my taxes -- I couldn't tell you anything about her, I barely remember what she looked like. When you're engaged in a professional interaction with someone, there is usually a sort of ad hoc mutual agreement to keep things purely on that plane -- sure, exceptions CAN happen, and surely I have thoroughly met interesting people in the line of duty, but typically that doesn't happen.
posted by hermitosis at 12:56 PM on May 5, 2011


Part of being a journalist, though, is sometimes asking questions that make people squirm. I guess I think this is more oral history than actual interviews. I liked that the people could tell their stories, and not have to defend themselves (like the anti-abortion person.)
posted by Ideefixe at 6:56 PM on May 5, 2011


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