List of Playboy interviews

The Playboy interview became a regular feature of the magazine in 1962 and set a high standard for periodical journalism.^[1][2] AP News called the feature "models of the art form", stating that "Playboy's long and searching conservations are remarkable for the people who spoke to the magazine and for what they said."^[3] Booklist called the Playboy interview "the gold standard for in-depth discussion with leading cultural figures".^[4][5]

The conversations with artists, athletes, business leaders, and political figures have been referenced by mainstream publications such as AP News, Billboard, CNN, Los Angeles Times, The Paris Review, Slate, Time, Variety, Vice, and The Washington Post as a benchmark for in-depth interviews. Publishers Weekly commented on the feature's ability to go further than a normal magazine interview: "Since the interviews have no length restriction, interviewers are able to probe deep into their subjects and allow them to ramble expansively."^[6]

The Los Angeles Times described the subjects as coming from "all across the cultural spectrum: entertainment, politics, literature", calling them "open-ended, sprawling, a kind of 'Charlie Rose Show' of the printed page",^[7] and Playboy's format served as inspiration for Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner when he designed his own magazine's approach to interviews.^[3]

The Playboy interview with candidate Jimmy Carter is regarded by many to have influenced the 1976 presidential election,^[8] and the interview with John Lennon before his death (later published as a standalone book) is referenced in several retrospective articles by other media.^[9][10] Playboy's interview with pop singer Azealia Banks caused controversy for her open criticism of the American public.^[11][12]

Selected interviews have been published as mass-market collections, including The Playboy Interview (1981)^[13] and The Playboy Interview Volume II (1983).^[14] In 1992, a large-format book The Playboy Interview: The Best Of Three Decades 1962-1992, was released with a foreword by CBS journalist Mike Wallace.^[15]

Dark Horse published five collections of the interviews from 2006 to 2008: "The Comedians", "Movers and Shakers" (business), "The Directors", "Larger Than Life" (high-profile celebrities), and "They Played The Game" (sports).^[16] In a review of this series, the Directors Guild of America said, "The Playboy face-to-face encounter is remarkable", and "the lengthy, in-depth interviews are well researched and more penetrating than standard-issue media chatter."^[17]

The following people have been featured in Playboy magazine as the subject of the full-length interview or the 20Q (Twenty Questions) section.