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The Privilege of <i>dialogue</i>

dialogue Producer and Technical Director John Tyler discusses working on the radio and television series and his pride over the new book, The Art of Conversation.

The recent publication of The Art of Conversation: Dialogue at the Woodrow Wilson Center gives me the opportunity to reflect on my two decades helping to produce and distribute the Center's radio and television series. Holding this book is a particular treat. Somehow the product is so different from the broadcast programs from which it springs and yet truly it is one and the same—intriguing.

The dialogue broadcast series is quickly approaching 1,000 interviews. The breadth of topics and the quality of our guests remain extraordinary, and so the collection, with 24 interviews, while varied, really only scratches the surface of the catalog.

I once heard an art dealer give a wonderfully evocative analogy to describe how he felt about his business. He said, "While the art collector finds himself standing in an ever widening and deepening pool of beauty, the art dealer is privileged to be standing in the stream." If one can then think of scholarship and ideas as objects d'art, then at dialogue we are also privileged to be "standing in the stream."

It's an honor and a pleasure to meet the men and women who come to the set to share their vast experience and studied viewpoint on such a wide range of topics. And I am proud to share this information with viewers and listeners across the country. I find the work of dialogue purposeful and a service to all those who care to listen because I believe, if we want to shine a light into the future and see where we are headed, we must reflect on the reality of the present while learning from our past experiences.

As we celebrate the publishing of this book, my primary reflection is the extraordinary privilege of working with our host and executive producer George Liston Seay. Years ago, when General Benjamin O. Davis Jr.—featured in the book—stood to leave his interview, he said what so many of our guests say at the conclusion of their interviews with George: "You are the most knowledgeable interviewer I have had and I've been interviewed by a lot of people. I appreciate the opportunity to meet you and talk with you."

I share that sentiment expressed by the late General Davis, and I believe our viewers and listeners do as well: we appreciate the opportunity to join George and his guests for that half-hour a week, listen in on the conversation, and come away richer, more knowledgeable, and with a deeper understanding of the world.