From worship correspondent Kelsey Kramer McGinnis: I love reading a good interview or profile, and I think excellent interviewers have distinct approaches to conversation and writing. Sam Sanders is one of my favorites; I love how he builds rapport with his interviewees and weaves together personal reflection and laughter and depth.

When I interview an artist, I try to think about researchers 50 or 100 years in the future. What would help them understand these people and their significance in this particular moment? 

I don’t know what historians and scholars of religion or popular music will be interested in decades from now. But, for example, when I think about what an interview with Brandon Lake could tell a researcher studying Christian music or religion in America, I find it a lot easier to ask questions without worrying, “Is this a softball?” or “Does this question make me sound like I did my background research?” or “Would the Hot Ones guy be impressed?”

This framework is more of a guide than a systematic method. Mostly, it helps me avoid getting hung up on how an artist is going to perceive my questions or whether I’m being interesting enough. Jimmy Fallon’s job is to make every guest look great. My job, for now, is to figure out what makes musicians’ work noteworthy at the moment and to help them talk about it truthfully and thoughtfully.