David Simon on Terry Gross

A great 45 min. interview, by one master of her craft to another.

He talks about the real-life origins of Bubbles and Bunk, his introductions to Ed Burns (a man who doesn't get nearly enough credit, overshadowed as he is by Simon's massive personality and talent), ethical questions in embedded crime reporting, the disparity in quality roles for talented African American actors, and the now-familiar story of Simon's falling out with the Sun. (Though he comes close--by his standards--to questioning himself, he says the paper was "as institutional as anything you've ever seen on the Wire.").

Terry Gross gets in some great ones too: "Have you, like McNulty, ever done or thought about doing something illegal in the interest of some greater good?" (paraphrase) and getting Simon to talk about the origins of the vacants-as-tombs plotline.

Hearing his voice, you really hear some of the dialogue coming out--the hard-boiled, street-tough language spoken by cops and metro editors and MOPs alike.

And as always, he gives a heavy dose of his damning worldview. We're all under the yoke of cold and cruel postmodern institutions. Resistance is futile.