The Year in Interviews

This year we interviewed just under 300 people. From die hard New Yorkers to those just passing through our fair city, here are some our faves. And if you really wanna get reflective, here's our best of interview post from 2007.

Graffiti Research Lab founder James Powderly was detained in Beijing during the 2008 Summer Olympics for supporting Tibetans.

Were you saying they told you that you should be worried about yourself and your safety even once released to the U.S.? They told me that our country and their country worked in tight collaboration, and that a Chinese hand can reach across the sea. They took my address and house keys, and my wife's phone number. While there was no explicit threat, like we're going to kill you when you get back if you talk about this, when I had my final interrogation, strapped into a metal chair in a cage with blood on the floor, they told me they hoped I would tell the truth when I got home. On the inside, when I was being held, I kept telling myself "You're really exaggerating this, Powderly. You're such a pompous, arty douchebag," and I didn't believe it and it turned out it was all true. So now I'm starting to think I should trust those instincts. The Chinese are in NYC and LA and I've been told by friends in the Tibetan in exile government that this is the case and that they live with the constant knowledge that the Chinese aren't far away from them.

« PREVIOUS