A few days ago, GOOD was offered the chance for a 10-minute interview with Bono, legendary rock star, tireless activist, and the wealthiest entertainer in the world. We turned it down. Not because Bono's charity work—the subject of the proposed interview—isn't admirable, but because interviews in which supercelebrities talk about their charity work is about as interesting as watching a dog hump a couch cushion, and about as valuable.
I'd read, edit, or conduct an interview with Bono in which he discusses why so little of the money from his ONE campaign goes to actual charity, or how he can rationalize supporting the poor while also going out of his way to dodge taxes in the U.K. But to get that kind of honesty and openness from a celebrity you need more than 10 minutes, and you need to be Barbara Walters or Matt Lauer, TV news heavyweights who seem to specialize in weepy, tell-all chats with your favorite movie stars and politicians. That's the strangest thing about interviews with powerful and wealthy people: To get the best ones, you have to be powerful and wealthy, too.