Not every news/talk radio host needs to be a strong interviewer. If you’re able to be a fire-breathing opinionist, nobody will ever really care about your lack of interviewing chops. But what if you come to the medium from a flat-out journalism background? That’s the cast for the host of The Colin Dunlap Show at KDKA in Pittsburgh.
Colin Dunlap shifted to KDKA last spring after previously hosting mornings on 93.7 The Fan, the sports station that is one of the highest-rated stations in the genre nationally. Obviously, there are a decent amount of interviews that happen in sports radio. But before he joined the radio station, Dunlap spent a decent amount of time as a sportswriter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
While moving straight from a writer to a radio host isn’t completely unfounded, it isn’t all that common, either. This means, theoretically, Colin Dunlap is as prepared as any host in the genre to helm a strong interview.
I pulled a conversation he had last week with the sister of Marc Fogel. Fogel was the subject of a prisoner swap between the United States and Russia after he was sentenced to 14 years in prison in that country in 2022.
This was a high-profile news story. One of the largest of the month, and for Dunlap to even secure a conversation with someone as close to the situation as the sister of the man at the center of the story was a win.
The KDKA host jumped right into the interview to begin. He didn’t waste time rehashing the story because, frankly, if you were listening to KDKA and didn’t know the Marc Fogel story, you weren’t likely to stick around through the discussion to begin with. Someone would argue that you should set the scene and share all the details about the who, what, when, where, and why of the situation. In this instance, I disagree. It was the topic of the day and one that I think even the most average listener was likely to have been informed about. Rehashing all of those details would have been a waste of the listener’s valuable time, in my opinion.
But Dunlap began by stating “I’m gonna turn it over to you because I don’t want to get in the way. It’s your day and your family’s day. I say ‘Marc Fogel is out,’ you’re his sister, your reaction is what, Ann?”
At first listen, I didn’t love this as the first question, to be frank. The reason you’re having the sister on is to answer questions, not necessarily give her a platform to share her feelings. But when you heard the emotion come from the prisoner’s sibling, I quickly changed my mind.
Ann Fogel was borderline yelling in excitement and anticipation of seeing her brother again. The response that question brought was fantastic audio. It was likely used on other shows on the station throughout the rest of the day and into the next morning, on newscasts, etc…, simply because of the way Dunlap asked the first question. He, literally, got out of the way, and gave someone in an intense emotional situation the runway to share the deep feelings they had. I was wrong, and he was right. That first answer made for truly great radio.
The second question from Dunlap was a masterclass in asking a difficult question but not coming across like a you-know-what-hole.
“1,255 days he was in captivity. He’s on his way home now. This is a question that may be biting and may be tough, but were you afraid that your mother was never gonna be alive to see him alive again, Ann?”
Holy cow. That is a difficult question. But at the heart of this, it’s a human-interest story. And I think those are the stories that often require the most difficult questions to ask, not necessarily answer, but to ask them. Because we’re all humans, and as long as you’re not a psychopath, you have empathy for the person you’re interviewing. And that’s a difficult question to ask. But you know what? It’s a question I, as a listener, want the answer to.
Similarly, that question — despite not maybe being the most pleasant question to ponder, from a guest’s perspective — is one that is only going to draw another emotional reaction from someone I’m invested in listening to. Which is exactly what happened. She replied “Yes” before deeply sighing and thinking about the situation more and sharing her insight.
In the follow-up, Colin Dunlap asked about what Fogel wanted to say to those in the United States government — including President Trump — after they secured the release of her brother. The reason I think this was a good move in the moment was it allowed Dunlap to repair any ill-will (which I don’t think he fostered, by the way) he might have built with the interview subject by asking them a deeply personal question in the last opportunity. It’s insurance, in a way. The thought process being “If I just pissed her off, allowing her to share her gratitude will likely change her mindset in the moment, giving her a chance to forget about what we just asked, if she’s mad in the first place.” Brilliant strategy.
The vibe of the interview didn’t need changing, because of the excitement to begin with by Ann Fogel, but Dunlap insured it didn’t go sideways. The next line of questioning were all questions I think the listener would want answers to, especially in a situation such as this one.
- “How does one hold out hope whenever it seems like there had to have been days that when you go ‘Even when the most optimistic person has to have some down days during my brother’s incarceration’?”
- “Have you or your mom been told where he will be in the United States or any steps on re-assimilation or anything like that?”
- “I know this could be cliche or a question you’re expecting, but did you feel the hope and the push and the prayers from the American people and the people here in Pittsburgh? Did you feel people on your side?”
- “Have you been told what type of physical shape your brother is in, Ann?”
- “Can you share some insight into your mother’s reaction when she found out?”
- “Last thing for you: The strength of your brother being in a Russian prison for more than 1,200 days. Can you talk about how strong and stoic your mother is?”
Colin Dunlap got all of those questions out in under eight minutes. He asked succinct, poignant questions that led to insanely insightful answers from someone whose sibling was at the center of an international story. But not only was it an international story, it was a local story. The Fogel’s are from the greater Pittsburgh area, and the story had been an important one in recent months.
To see the story come full circle, and ultimately come to a conclusion, and then feature a conversation where several newsworthy items, including where Fogel would return to the United States, what his return would look like, and what the process of him being reunited with his family would look like was flat-out riveting.
This was an insanely impressive interview. The way I understand it, it came together rather quickly and Colin Dunlap and KDKA knocked this out of the park. This is everything a talk show interview should be when breaking news hits.
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