I finally got around to last week's On the Media podcast (which currently rates in my personal top 5 of public radio shows) and was very interested in the interview with Bill Gates. I was interested because he seemed an unlikely candidate for that particular forum. OTM seems to favor folks of a much lower media profile who usually have very specific subject matter expertise. It's what gives the show it's flavor. Gates is probably the highest profile person I've ever heard on the show. The segment was also interesting to me because it was so uninteresting to me. Droning on in that gooey monotone of his, spilling out all that technobusiness babble, he managed to drag the show to an all time low. The quintessential moment came at the end of the interview when Bob Garfield pointed out the similarities between Gates and John Hodgman as the personification of a Windows computer in the Apple ads. Gates's answer demonstrated such lack of humor and grace that he proved once and for all that he is no John Hodgman.

Labels: Hodgman, Public Radio