How did HBO change television forever?

James Andrew Miller will be here to talk about his new book, Tinderbox.

And in what ways did immigrant women revolutionize American food?

Yook Sen tells us about his first book, Tastemakers. Plus, my colleagues and I will talk about

what we're reading.

This is the Bookerview Podcast for the New York Times.

It's December 10.

I'm Pamela Paul.

James Andrew Miller joins us now from Los Angeles. He is the author of the new book, Tinderbox,

HBO's Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers. Jim, thanks for being here.

Thanks for having me.

Very suitably in LA. This is not your first oral history. You've done one of SNL, CAA,

ESPI, and I was going to say they all have three initials, but we have one exception.

What draws you to doing oral history as a form?

I think it's the fact that I realize that no matter what I can do on the keyboard, you

can't replace the intimacy and the individuality of people's voices.

And I think that hearing directly from people creates another layer of understanding for

the reader. There's a real intimacy. You get to hear people talk about their work and

about their experiences in ways that you just can't do with prose.

I mean, you can kind of characterize it.

You know, this started with the SNL book and just the idea of trying to capture someone

like Dan Ackler's voice, you know, when they're telling stories, I find it to be pretty

...