If you could interview Tucker Carlson, what would you ask?

That’s no simple question. A successful interview is revealing, engaging, memorable. Mr. Carlson, one of America’s best-known conservative commentators, has answered a gazillion questions over the decades, and he’s skilled at not being pinned down when he doesn’t want to be. So how do you draw out illuminating and unexpected answers from a very public figure?

Lulu Garcia-Navarro just had two conversations with Mr. Carlson for “The Interview,” a New York Times show. I spoke with her about preparation, the framing of her questions and some of the decisions she had to make in real time, when things turned adversarial. This conversation has been edited and condensed.

Tucker Carlson has his own platform and he’s been interviewed a lot lately. Why did you want to talk with him now? What did you want to find out?

I’ve been following Carlson since his Fox News show debuted in 2016. I became host of a news show around that time and I’d watch his program every night because — and this is no overstatement — he was hugely influential on President Trump and the conservative movement. After he left Fox in 2023, his evolution into a MAGA podcaster who campaigned for Trump followed changes I was noticing in the conservative ecosystem, which was moving toward outside voices having even more influence. Now, he’s come out against the Iran war and is one of the most vocal opponents of President Trump.

I wanted to explore what made him move away from the president he had so ardently supported, and what might that mean for MAGA writ large. Tucker Carlson has remained relevant for a reason — he often knows where the right is headed.

How did you prepare for the interview?

I immersed myself in Tucker world, as did our team, including the producer Wyatt Orme. Carlson’s a deft orator. He told me he never scripts his lengthy editorial segments. I can attest that he has an astonishing memory for detail and is very agile when he argues. I was told, and I can confirm: You cannot come into an interview with Tucker Carlson unprepared. In advance of our conversations, I also spoke to many people on the left and the right who know him personally or have dealt with him professionally.