---
title: "Jiang Xueqin Teaching Gay Talese Research Method (Introduction) transcript"
description: "Source-synced transcript archive for Jiang Xueqin Teaching Gay Talese Research Method (Introduction)."
source_title: "Jiang Xueqin Teaching Gay Talese Research Method (Introduction)"
published_at: "2023-06-21"
source_class: "episode"
public_url: "https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/"
markdown_url: "https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript.md"
text_url: "https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript.txt"
source_url: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o"
data_url: "https://jianglens.com/data/lens/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o.json"
---

# Jiang Xueqin Teaching Gay Talese Research Method (Introduction) transcript

- Source: [Jiang Xueqin Teaching Gay Talese Research Method (Introduction)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o)
- Published: 2023-06-21, day precision
- Human transcript page: [/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/)
- Episode page: [/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/)
- Transcript Markdown: [/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript.md](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript.md)
- Transcript text: [/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript.txt](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript.txt)
- Episode JSON: [/data/lens/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o.json](https://jianglens.com/data/lens/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o.json)

## Transcript

### 0:00 seg-0001

- Speaker: SPEAKER_00
- Source ref: `video:predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o@transcript:v1#seg-0001`
- Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/#seg-0001](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/#seg-0001)
- Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o&t=0s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o&t=0s)

So this is a very exciting day because we are officially starting the Gay to Lease journalism course. Traditionally, we've understood journalism and research as this method of just collecting information, organizing it, and then expressing it. But then along came a man named Gay to Lease, and he transformed journalism, and he transformed the way we understood research. So we created something called literary journalism, which is the idea that journalism can be by itself be literature. But the Gay to Lease method is going to teach us how to be creative, how to be imaginative, and how to engage with reality and engage with people, because we don't teach you this in school. In fact, we teach you the opposite. Don't explore. Just do what the teacher tells you to do. Where did he learn this? Well, he learned this at home. The reason why is that his father was a tailor. His father was a tailor, and he had a tailoring business in New Jersey.

### 1:20 seg-0002

- Speaker: SPEAKER_00
- Source ref: `video:predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o@transcript:v1#seg-0002`
- Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/#seg-0002](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/#seg-0002)
- Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o&t=80s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o&t=80s)

His mother took care of the business while his father made the clothes. So what does this have to do with exploration and reflection?

### 1:33 seg-0003

- Speaker: UNKNOWN
- Source ref: `video:predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o@transcript:v1#seg-0003`
- Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/#seg-0003](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/#seg-0003)
- Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o&t=93s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o&t=93s)

Okay? Well, his mother was responsible for the business aspects. So these very wealthy people would come to the shop and order very nice suits.

### 1:49 seg-0004

- Speaker: SPEAKER_00
- Source ref: `video:predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o@transcript:v1#seg-0004`
- Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/#seg-0004](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/#seg-0004)
- Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o&t=109s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o&t=109s)

And her job was to deal with them. But it's actually very hard to deal with rich people. They can be very demanding. So her strategy was to become their friend. And how do you become someone's friend? What do you do in order to become someone's friend? What must you do? Talk. Wrong. Not talk. The opposite. Listen. Okay? You understand? So in the family living room, the mother would just sit down on the couch talking with these very wealthy people. And she would talk just by listening. Okay? So her strategy for this is that... I am interested in you. So that's how she became friends with all these very wealthy people even though she herself was not wealthy. Because she had a mindset that whoever came into her living room, whoever was a client, was first and foremost a friend. And she was interested in this person. She was interested in people. So she would spend hours and hours just listening to that person talk and talk and talk.

### 3:10 seg-0005

- Speaker: SPEAKER_00
- Source ref: `video:predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o@transcript:v1#seg-0005`
- Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/#seg-0005](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/#seg-0005)
- Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o&t=190s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o&t=190s)

And so you can say that this is exploration. Curiosity. Okay? Exploration. But in the other room, the father would by himself sit and work on the clothes. Right? I am not sure if you have seen Taylor's work. They are very precise.

### 3:32 seg-0006

- Speaker: UNKNOWN
- Source ref: `video:predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o@transcript:v1#seg-0006`
- Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/#seg-0006](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/#seg-0006)
- Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o&t=212s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o&t=212s)

They are very exact. They are very meticulous.

### 3:36 seg-0007

- Speaker: SPEAKER_00
- Source ref: `video:predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o@transcript:v1#seg-0007`
- Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/#seg-0007](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/#seg-0007)
- Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o&t=216s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o&t=216s)

They are very disciplined. They are very patient. So you can spend days and days in this room just working on a topic. This is the only piece of suit. Right? This is the idea of reflection. The pursuit of perfection. So exploration is the pursuit of curiosity. And reflection is the pursuit of perfection. This is the Gay Talese. This is the Gay Talese research method. This is what I will be teaching you. This is something that will not just help you become a better writer but someone who will be much more creative and a much more effective researcher. So even if you are going to the sciences, I guarantee you that the skills you will be learning in this class will help you wherever you go. I want you to go around Beijing and take pictures. Again, the idea is contrast. Remember that here he says New York is a city of things unnoticed.

### 4:40 seg-0008

- Speaker: SPEAKER_00
- Source ref: `video:predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o@transcript:v1#seg-0008`
- Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/#seg-0008](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-gp9hv1pxx0o/transcript/#seg-0008)
- Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o&t=280s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9Hv1PXx0o&t=280s)

New York is a city of contrast. I want you to do the same thing for Beijing. Take your camera and take pictures of things that other people would not notice. Okay? And take pictures of things that are contrast of each other.