We launched The Big Interview back in 2022, with a (beloved, if we may say so) Q&A with Pedro Pascal. And we've had so much fun with the series ever since that we're now expanding it—to YouTube, an IRL event, and beyond. Here to say more is our global editorial director Katie Drummond, who, high on nitrous oxide on a recent trip back from the dentist, hallucinated a whole Big(ish) Interview with herself. Here's a snippet of the conversation:
WIRED: Hey.
Katie: Hey … ?
WIRED: It's us. The collective consciousness of the WIRED editorial staff, here to help you talk about The Big Interview series.
Katie: Is this AI?
WIRED: Katie, what's a Big Interview?
Katie: Is it weird that I'm being interviewed by my own publication?
WIRED: Hey, you created this monster. Answer the question.
Katie: It's a conversation with someone we—me, and you, who are apparently the collective consciousness of WIRED—care about, think is interesting, and who is in some way shaping our shared future. That doesn't necessarily mean they're a technology executive or a world-famous scientist; these conversations span everything WIRED covers.
WIRED: Like what?
Katie: Aren't you WIRED? Don't you know that already? Like the tech industry and science, sure, but also internet culture, politics, digital security, celebrity, innovation in its many forms. We cover all of that, and we love getting to know the freaks and geeks and weirdos and rock stars—literal and figurative—who are at the vanguard of creating it.
WIRED: The collective consciousness of WIRED would like to remind you that we don't do PR for famous people.
Katie: These interviews aren't PR. They're also not adversarial by definition. And we're not trying to trick anyone into saying something stupid or something newsworthy—although I can't stop them if they do one or both of those things! I like to think WIRED is a pretty thoughtful place, and these are meant to be thoughtful conversations between two smart people who make sense as a pairing. We want people to come away feeling like they really know the subject of the interview, their hopes and dreams, their deepest fears, what they had for breakfast, and whether they ever hallucinate extended interactions with their employees after taking nitrous oxide at the dentist's office.
WIRED: You OK, boss?
Katie: It's been a long year.
