Let me be clear about one thing: with the possible exception of anything that comes out of Larry King’s mouth, there are no unimportant interview questions. Every question or comment serves a purpose, whether it’s to get the interviewee to open up, show emotion, unleash new information, or just get back on track. Everything matters.

But I recently learned that sometimes I should just let the guy ramble. If he wants to rant, my job is to shut up and make sure the tape recorder keeps rolling.

Most of the guys I interview are great at going off on tangents. And while the resulting transcript is often a jumbled mess of opinion, applied research, and hard-earned experience, occasionally I get something unexpected: an idea for a completely different article based on the unrelated information or opinion. To paraphrase Rod Stewart, every tangent tells a story.

This is a collection of those tangents and tidbits from Dave Tate, Chris Bathke, Matt McGorry, Eric Cressey, and Craig Weller.

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