Another Interesting Transcript

Last week, Slate published a column by Emily Yoffe, “The Human Guinea Pig,” entitled “Guinea, Get Your Gun.” I did a piece on it below. It was an excellent column. There was also an associated audio clip that ran on National Public Radio. I just listened to it, figuring it would just be her reading her piece, but no. She was interviewed by an NPR staffer. I though you might be interested in the transcript.

(Announcer)

From time to time on this program, we check in with Slate’s Emily Yoffe. She is better known in some circles by her nickname, “The Human Guinea Pig.” For her column in Slate, Emily does interesting or unusual things many of us might have wondered about, but have never tried.

In the past she has worked as a phone psychic, a street musician, she’s taken a vow of silence, and she was actually crowned Mrs. Washington, D.C., only in part because she was, indeed, the only contestant. Well, she’s back, and here’s a little hint of what Emily’s been up to now:

(Sound of a gunshot)

That is the sound of a gunshot, and earlier, Day to Day’s Alex Chadwick investigated Emily’s new talents.

Chadwick:

Welcome back to Day to Day, Emily! What’s all this about?

Yoffe:

Thank you.

Chadwick:

Have you joined the Marines?

Yoffe, with a chuckle:

I’m an insurgent with a Volvo.

Chadwick, (laughing):

“An insurgent with a Volvo.” Oh, good. You’ve actually taken up shooting guns for your latest Human Guinea Pig activity you’ve decided to master shooting, yes?

Yoffe:

Well, guns are a big issue right now and I’m… I thought, I’ve gotta understand the rest of the country a little better. And, so I went to see if an absolute gun novice can learn to be a decent shot.

Chadwick:

Alright, we sent a producer along with you for one of your lessons. Here’s a clip of tape. I want you to listen to this, and then explain to us what happens at the firing range when you are getting a shooting lesson.

(tape begins)

Yoffe:

I’ve got my Smith & Wesson, and this is…

Instructor, scolding:

Ah aah! Point that gun downrange. Keep it pointed downrange at all times. Now you, now you have to maintain control of the grip and keep it pointed down range. Don’t let that muzzle drift at all.

Yoffe:

Right.

Instructor:

All right.

(end of tape)

Chadwick:

Emily, I think what what that instructor’s saying is “don’t point that thing at me.”

Yoffe:

This is probably the first Guinea Pig that had fatal implications. I actually, when I was shooting shotguns, I accidentally put my finger on the trigger and the thing went off and smashed me in the shoulder. Fortunately, I did have it aimed down range.

Chadwick:

So, how did you take to shooting, and are you any good? Could you hit the target?

Yoffe:

I’m darned good. What can I say? Everything has been a disaster in Human Guinea Pig, but I was hitting that thing, at.. My instructor Ricardo Royal put a paper plate out there, and I took his Sig-Sauer P226 9mm with a Crimson Trace laser grip…

Chadwick:

Huh?

Yoffe:

…and “Paper plate, make my day” I was hitting it.

Chadwick:

You sound like you actually know what that thing was. Is that a handgun or a bazooka?

Yoffe:

It’s a semiautomatic pistol.

Chadwick:

Oh.

Yoffe:

I have to admit, before I took this up a couple of weeks ago, I thought shotguns shot bullets? They don’t. They shoot shot.

Chadwick:

Hmm.. Ok, we have one more clip of tape here Emily, and I must say it suggests to me that maybe your new fondness for shooting sports is uh, “bleeding” – no pun intended – into other parts of your life. Here, listen.

(tape begins)

Yoffe:

I was taking a yoga class yesterday and during the breathing, I was imagining the front sight of the pistol, so..

Instructor:

Ooooh!

Yoffe:

Yes, just relax into it.

Instructor:

See? Already you ask me “how do I relax?”

(laughs)

(tape ends)

Chadwick, (somewhat incredulous)

Emily, you’re saying that shooting and yoga are compatible? That you can sort of visualize shooting while you’re in some transcendental state?

Yoffe:

You’ve gotta get your sights lined up, and so during your breathing I had it… Imagine your target. You’re shooting between nine and three o’clock, and it really helped.

Chadwick:

Ok, Emily. You know, you gave up being Mrs. D.C., you passed on being a street musician, you’re no longer a phone psychic. Are you actually going to be a shooter? Are you going to get a gun?

Yoffe:

Well, I live in Washington, D.C., which kind of precludes this. Un, unless I’m a criminal, of course. But I am thinking of taking my family out and having us all have a great time blasting at targets. I’ve also become… I see movies now in a different way. I look at people shooting in movies and think “There’s no follow-through there, you’re not gonna hit that person. You don’t know what you’re doing!”

Chadwick:

Have you noticed anyone packing a Sig-Sauer? Is that, the handgun thing?

Yoffe:

I think they’re more into Glocks.

Then they did the polite sign-off thing. That was an enjoyable piece. I think she made Chadwick a bit uncomfortable.

See what a little education can do?

I ran across a great quote tonight by someone who didn’t sign their name to it:

Simply put, gun control cannot survive

without an accompanying sea of disinformation.

Truer words…