How long has "The Caine Interviews" been on the air?
As of this writing, it's been on the air for over five years. But the host and most of the crew have worked on other shows prior to this one.
Why are you putting interivews online?
Because we'd like to interview certain people who live too far away to come to the TV studio. Believe it or not, Arkansas isn't the cultural center of the universe, and there are many people who live too far away to come here for interviews. With online interviews, the problem of distance is solved immediately. Anyone, anywhere can now appear here, which opens up a whole new world of interview possibilities, as well as a brand new audience.
Why are the interviews here in a simple text format? Plain text is boring!
People who complain about plain text probably also don't buy books unless they come with pretty pictures. The goal is to arrive at an understanding of another person's viewpoints, not to dazzle people with technological brilliance. We want to present their words in a simple and easy-to-understand format. The TV show itself is kept somewhat minimalistic for the same reason.
Why are these interviews simplistic, as if they're being written for people who don't know about the topic at hand?
People really don't learn much when you go over their heads, and my interest in this show is primarily educational. Just because I know when a certain organization was founded or what a certain religion believes doesn't mean that you do. I know things that you don't, and likewise, you know many things that I don't. So why don't we just start from the beginning and see if we can learn about a certain viewpoint together by examining the basics? If you want further information, there's a good chance that you already know how to get it, since you're already on the Internet. I'm going for the basics here because I believe that it's a good educational approach to start from the beginning and keep things simple.
You've taped a lot of shows. Why are there so few interviews online?
When this website was first begun, I became rather enthusiastic and wrote a lot of online interviews. Various people had said they'd be glad to do an online interview. But then, after I sent the questions, they blithely changed their minds. Guess what? It takes time to draft interview questions. When people say they want to do an interview and then suddenly change their minds after the questions have already been written, it constitutes a massive waste of my time and effort. I've been thinking about putting a Hall of Shame on the site for these cretins. You'd be surprised at how many people and organizations will be there, and how many people can't keep their word. I've only been stood up on TV by one group; on the Internet, however, people apparently have far less honor and think that it's all right to back out on an obligation. Hint: If you agree to do an interview, then DO THE INTERVIEW. I'm not asking for the world here. Just answer the questions. Do not sign up for an interview and then back out for no good reason. And now that we're clear on that, would you like to do an interview? :)
What if I find an interview offensive?
Then please exit the site. Basically, the answer to that question is "Tough luck". Many of our interviews are G-rated, but some are not. As we branch out to the Internet, we may very well get some people on here whose viewpoints could be construed as offensive. That's just something that people will have to deal with, as we have no intention of censoring our guests.