The last of the heart to hearts

Tabassum and Barbara Walters set the standards for honest, engaging chat shows. Today's shows are just PR

The passing of Barbara Walters recently, and of Tabassum just a few weeks prior, may be emblematic of an end of an era. The grand dames of talk shows couldn't be more dissimilar when it came to their styles of interviewing. But for those who grew up watching newsmakers and celebrities open up on their respective shows week after week, they became a window into the world of politics, current affairs, and entertainment.

Between friends

Walters, who was 93 when she passed away on December 30, 2022, had developed a reputation for a forthright, direct, and frequently brash line of questioning. Yet she landed some of the biggest guests over the years. She posed questions to every sitting US President and First Lady from Richard and Pat Nixon to Barack and Michelle Obama; her 1999 interview with Monica Lewinsky broke viewership records; when she got an audience with Fidel Castro she called him out for suppressing dissent in Cuba. When interviewing celebrities, she routinely prodded them into sharing closely guarded details of their lives, and on many, many occasions her guests found themselves fighting back tears as they bared their hearts on her couch.