Straight Answers
An LLM assessed 2,767 question → answer exchanges, the host's own answers included. Speaker names were hidden during assessment. Each exchange was marked answered, partly, redirected or not addressed, with a quote as its source. Every exchange below is timestamped and plays. How it works →
These readings are observational: the transcript shows whether the question was answered directly, whatever the reason. It is an AI reading of a public exchange, never a claim about intent, and the tape is one tap away on every row. full disclaimer →
137not answered directly · why no rate? → 0playable exchanges ↓ 84people with at least one → 216people measured →
Nobody here carries a rate, and that is deliberate: rates are not published without enough raw tape, which means 8 or more assessed questions on raw, unedited recordings, and every the Knowledge Project episode we hold is the produced feed. So this page counts instead of rating. Every one of the 225 people on the record is accounted for: 216 have their questions counted (84 of them with at least one not answered directly), and the remaining 9 never took a direct question in any tape we hold: compilations, panels and cameo appearances leave nothing to assess.
Marc Garneau 2 of 12 assessed questions
No needle for Marc Garneau: fewer than 8 assessed questions on raw tape, and a percentage on a sample that small would mislead. Their counts are real: 2 not answered directly in 12 assessed questions, edited feed included.
Marc Garneau: every exchange, playable
The question Shane asked, then the AI assessment note from the answer. Tap to play the moment. Not addressed = the question was not engaged; redirected = acknowledged, then steered elsewhere.
No redirected or unaddressed exchanges identified for this person.
All speakers
All 216 people with assessed questions on the record, ranked by how many were not answered directly. Every count comes from the produced feed. Click a name to see their exchanges.
| Person | Redirected + not addressed | Questions | Tape | Argument clarity /5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shane Parrish Founder and CEO, Farnam Street | 5 | 19 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Patrick Collison Co-founder & CEO, Stripe | 5 | 14 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Michael Ovitz Chairman, Treville Capital Group | 4 | 16 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Bryan Johnson Founder, Project Blueprint | 3 | 24 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Bret Taylor CEO & Co-Founder, Sierra | 3 | 14 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Jim Collins | 3 | 14 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Frank Stephenson Co-Founder & CCO, frankstephenson design | 3 | 14 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Marshall Goldsmith Executive Coach & Co-Founder, 100 Coaches Agency | 3 | 13 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| William Irvine Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Wright State University | 3 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Dr. David Sinclair | 2 | 25 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Tobi Lütke Co-Founder and CEO, Shopify | 2 | 24 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Dr. Gio Valiante Performance Psychologist and High-Performance Coach | 2 | 21 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Esther Perel Host, Where Should We Begin? | 2 | 21 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Logan Ury Director of Relationship Science, Hinge | 2 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Daniel Kahneman Professor of Psychology Emeritus, Princeton University | 2 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Elad Gil Founder, Gil Capital | 2 | 16 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Walter Isaacson Professor, Tulane University | 2 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Codie Sanchez Founder & CEO, Contrarian Thinking | 2 | 15 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Ryan Holiday Founder & Host, The Daily Stoic | 2 | 15 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Balaji Srinivasan Founder, The Network School | 2 | 15 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Greg Brockman President & Co-founder, OpenAI | 2 | 14 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Garry Tan President & CEO, Y Combinator | 2 | 14 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Adam Robinson Founder & CEO, Retention.com | 2 | 14 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Daniel Gross Compute Lead, Meta | 2 | 14 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Barbara Coloroso Author & Consultant, Kids Are Worth It! Inc. | 2 | 14 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Ron Shaich CEO & Managing Partner, Act III Holdings | 2 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| David Segal Co-Founder & CEO, Firebelly Tea | 2 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Barbara Tversky Professor of Psychology, Columbia University | 2 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Jonathan Haidt Professor of Ethical Leadership, NYU Stern | 2 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Sophie Grégoire Trudeau Author and Mental Health Advocate | 2 | 12 | produced | ≈3.5 |
| Marc Garneau Former Minister of Transport, Government of Canada | 2 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Sanjay Bakshi | 2 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Jerry Colonna Co-Founder and CEO, Reboot.io | 2 | 11 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Dr. Matt Walker Professor of Neuroscience, UT Dallas | 2 | 11 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Dan Ariely Professor, Duke University | 2 | 11 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Jack Kornfield Guiding Teacher, Spirit Rock Meditation Center | 2 | 10 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Nir Eyal Author & Consultant, Nir & Far | 2 | 9 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Chris Dixon Founder & Managing Partner, a16z crypto | 2 | 8 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Gary Taubes Co-Founder & President, Nutrition Science Initiative | 2 | 7 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen Director, ETH Zurich | Space | 1 | 29 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Naval Ravikant Co-founder and Chairman, AngelList | 1 | 25 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Bruce Flatt CEO, Brookfield Corporation | 1 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Dr. Becky Kennedy Founder & CEO, Good Inside | 1 | 16 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Abigail Shrier Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute | 1 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Howard Marks Co-Founder and Co-Chairman, Oaktree Capital Management | 1 | 16 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Ben Thompson Founder & Author, Stratechery | 1 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Brad Jacobs Chairman & CEO, QXO, Inc. | 1 | 15 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Connor Teskey CEO, Brookfield Asset Management | 1 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Adam Grant Professor of Management, Wharton | 1 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Tom Gaynor CEO & Chairman, Markel Group | 1 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Randall Stutman Founder, Admired Leadership Institute | 1 | 14 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Code Cubitt Co-Founder & Managing Director, Mistral Venture Partners | 1 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Bill Ackman Founder and CEO, Pershing Square Capital Management | 1 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Matt Mullenweg Founder & CEO, Automattic | 1 | 13 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Russ Hudson Co-founder, The Enneagram Institute | 1 | 13 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Bill Gurley General Partner, Benchmark | 1 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Winston Weinberg Co-founder and CEO, Harvey | 1 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Rey Flemings Co-Founder and CEO, Myria | 1 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Jim Dethmer Co-Founder, The Conscious Leadership Group | 1 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Nancy Sherman | 1 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Dr. Emily Balcetis Associate Professor of Psychology, New York University | 1 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Jason Karp Founder and CEO, HumanCo | 1 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Roger Martin Professor Emeritus, Rotman School of Management | 1 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| BJ Fogg Director, Stanford Behavior Design Lab | 1 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Steven Strogatz Professor of Applied Mathematics, Cornell University | 1 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Brent Gilchrist President, JDS Resources | 1 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Dacher Keltner Professor of Psychology, UC Berkeley | 1 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Michael Lombardi Host, The GM Shuffle | 1 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Rory Sutherland Vice Chairman, Ogilvy UK | 1 | 11 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Joe Mazzulla Head Coach, Boston Celtics | 1 | 11 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Justin Su'a Founder & Leadership Performance Advisor, PAG | 1 | 11 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Chamath Palihapitiya Founder & CEO, Social Capital | 1 | 11 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Sendhil Mullainathan Professor of Economics and EECS, MIT | 1 | 11 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Philip Tetlock Professor, University of Pennsylvania | 1 | 11 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Maya Shankar Senior Director of Behavioral Economics, Google | 1 | 9 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Hannah Fry Professor, University of Cambridge | 1 | 9 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Jim Murphy | 1 | 8 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Julia Galef Co-founder, Center for Applied Rationality | 1 | 8 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Aristotle Koskinas | 1 | 8 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Kevin Kelly Senior Maverick, Wired | 1 | 7 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Scott Page Professor, University of Michigan | 1 | 7 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Anthony Scilipoti President & CEO, Veritas Investment Research | 1 | 6 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Brent Beshore Founder & CEO, Permanent Equity | 1 | 6 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Nathan Myhrvold Co-founder & CEO, Intellectual Ventures | 1 | 6 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Dr. Julie Gurner Founder, Gurner Consulting | 0 | 23 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Laurie Santos Professor of Psychology, Yale University | 0 | 21 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Dr. Andrew Huberman Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine | 0 | 18 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Indra Nooyi Former CEO, PepsiCo | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| John Bragg Chairman and Co-CEO, Oxford Frozen Foods | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| David Heacock Founder and CEO, Filterbuy | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Frank Slootman Chairman, Snowflake | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Dr. Anna Lembke Professor of Psychiatry, Stanford University | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Andrew Wilkinson Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Tiny | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Marc Andreessen Co-Founder and General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Seth Godin Author, Speaker, and Teacher, Seth's Blog | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Jane McGonigal Director of Games R&D, Institute for the Future | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Sarah Tavel Venture Partner, Benchmark | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Sahil Lavingia Founder and CEO, Gumroad | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Josh Kaufman Founder, PersonalMBA.com | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Brian Koppelman Screenwriter, Director & Showrunner | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Apolo Ohno CEO, Olympic Mountain | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Suzanne Iasenza Faculty Member, Ackerman Institute for the Family | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Thomas Tull Founder, Chairman & CEO, Tulco | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Susan Cain Author & Founder, Quiet Revolution | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Sam Arbesman Venture Partner, Lux Capital | 0 | 16 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Morgan Housel Partner, The Collaborative Fund | 0 | 15 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Alfred Lin Partner & Co-Steward, Sequoia Capital | 0 | 15 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Dr. Sue Johnson Founding Director, ICEEFT | 0 | 15 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Josh Wolfe Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Lux Capital | 0 | 15 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Blake Eastman Founder, The Nonverbal Group | 0 | 15 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Noreena Hertz Honorary Professor, University College London | 0 | 15 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Bethany McLean Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair | 0 | 15 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Michael Mauboussin Head of Consilient Research, Counterpoint Global | 0 | 15 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Mario Harik Chairman & CEO, XPO, Inc. | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Vlad Tenev Co-Founder & CEO, Robinhood | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Bill Belichick Head Football Coach, North Carolina Tar Heels | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Lulu Cheng Meservey Founder and CEO, Rostra | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Ryan Petersen Founder & CEO, Flexport | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Tracy Britt Cool Co-Founder, Kanbrick | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| April Dunford Founder and CEO, Ambient Strategy | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| John Mackey Co-Founder & CEO, Love.Life | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Aaron Wade Founder, Homeroom | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Matthew Dicks Storyteller & Author, Storyworthy | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Barbara Oakley Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Oakland University | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Tyler Cowen Professor of Economics, George Mason University | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Gina Poe Professor and BRI Director, UCLA | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Diana Chapman Co-founder, Conscious Leadership Group | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Luke Burgess Managing Partner, Fourth Wall Ventures | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Stanley McChrystal Founder and Partner, McChrystal Group | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Jeff Immelt Venture Partner, NEA | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Douglas Rushkoff Professor of Media Theory, Queens College, CUNY | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Matthew Holland Founder & CEO, Field Effect | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Mike Maples Jr. Co-Founder and Partner, Floodgate | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Jeff Hunter Founder & CEO, Talentism | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Hugh Howey Author & Executive Producer | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Celeste Headlee President & CEO, Headway DEI | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Chris Voss CEO and Founder, The Black Swan Group | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Warren Berger Founder, A More Beautiful Question | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Amelia Boone | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Margaret Heffernan Professor of Practice, University of Bath | 0 | 14 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Nicolai Tangen CEO, Norges Bank Investment Management | 0 | 13 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Neil Pasricha Founder and Director, The Institute for Global Happiness | 0 | 13 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Derek Sivers Author and Programmer | 0 | 13 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| George Stalk Jr. Senior Advisor, Boston Consulting Group | 0 | 13 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Gary Klein Chief Scientist, ShadowBox LLC | 0 | 13 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Angela Duckworth Professor of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania | 0 | 13 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Pedro Domingos Professor Emeritus, University of Washington | 0 | 13 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Dr. Giulia Enders Physician and Author | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| James Clear Author and Writer, JamesClear.com | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Reed Hastings Co-Founder, Netflix | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Dr. Rhonda Patrick Founder, FoundMyFitness | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Charlie Hoehn Co-Founder and CEO, Author.Inc | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Rob Fraser Founder & CEO, Outway | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Christopher Davis Chairman & Portfolio Manager, Davis Advisors | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Aaron Dignan Founder, The Ready | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Ed Latimore Founder, Mind and Fist | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Reid Hoffman Partner, Greylock | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Sarah Jones Simmer COO, National Women's Soccer League | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Keith Creel President and CEO, CPKC | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Maria Konnikova Contributing Writer, The New Yorker | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Annie Duke Special Partner, First Round Capital | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Les Snead General Manager, Los Angeles Rams | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Joel Greenblatt Managing Principal & Co-CIO, Gotham Asset Management | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Paul Rabil Co-Founder and President, Premier Lacrosse League | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Robert Cialdini Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Chris Cordell Portfolio Manager, Davis Advisors | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Matt Ridley Author & Columnist | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Loch Kelly Founder and Guiding Teacher, Effortless Mindfulness Institute | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| John Maxwell Founder, Maxwell Leadership | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Stephen Schwarzman Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder, Blackstone | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Dr. Atul Gawande Surgeon, Brigham and Women’s Hospital | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Ray Dalio Founder and Mentor, Bridgewater Associates | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| William MacAskill Senior Research Fellow, Forethought | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Robert Greene Author and Speaker | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Alexander Shelley Artistic and Music Director, Artis—Naples | 0 | 12 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Adam Carr President and Portfolio Manager, Orbis Investments | 0 | 11 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Carolyn Coughlin Co-founder and US Director, Cultivating Leadership | 0 | 11 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Paul Assaiante Athletics Ambassador, Trinity College | 0 | 11 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Kat Cole CEO, AG1 | 0 | 11 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Venkatesh Rao Founder, Ribbonfarm | 0 | 11 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Chris Bosh Author and Former Professional Basketball Player | 0 | 11 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Esther Wojcicki Founder & CEO, Global Moonshots in Education | 0 | 11 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Lisa Feldman Barrett Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Northeastern University | 0 | 11 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Alan Mulally Senior Fellow, Seattle University | 0 | 10 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Kaz Nejatian CEO, Opendoor | 0 | 9 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Mark Pincus Founder & Executive Chairman, Zynga | 0 | 9 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Todd Herman Founder, Herman Global Ventures | 0 | 9 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Todd Simkin Associate Director, Susquehanna International Group | 0 | 9 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Jason Fried Co-founder and CEO, 37signals | 0 | 9 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Veronique Rivet | 0 | 9 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| David Baszucki Co-founder & CEO, Roblox | 0 | 8 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Dr. Leah Lagos Clinical and Performance Psychologist, Private Practice | 0 | 8 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Shreyas Doshi Startup Advisor & Executive Coach | 0 | 8 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Doug Conant Founder and CEO, ConantLeadership | 0 | 8 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Dr. Laura Markham Founder & Clinical Psychologist, Aha! Parenting | 0 | 8 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Jason Zweig | 0 | 8 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Joe Liemandt Principal, Alpha School | 0 | 7 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Dr. Jim Loehr Co-founder, Human Performance Institute | 0 | 7 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Shep Gordon President & Co-Founder, Alive Enterprises | 0 | 7 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Ali Almossawi Author and Independent Designer | 0 | 7 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Jeff Annello Investment & Planning Analyst, SAGEbroadview | 0 | 7 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Harley Finkelstein President, Shopify | 0 | 6 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Brian Halligan Co-Founder & Executive Chairperson, HubSpot | 0 | 6 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Kunal Shah Founder & CEO, CRED | 0 | 6 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Ken Stanley | 0 | 6 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Danny Meyer Founder & Executive Chairman, USHG | 0 | 6 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Jason Calacanis Founder & CEO, LAUNCH | 0 | 6 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Greg Walton Professor of Psychology, Stanford University | 0 | 6 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Dan Kluger Chef & Owner, Loring Place | 0 | 6 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Ravi Gupta Partner, Sequoia Capital | 0 | 5 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Mickey Drexler Chairman, Alex Mill | 0 | 4 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Michaeleen Doucleff Science Correspondent, NPR | 0 | 4 | produced | ≈4.0 |
| Gabriel Weinberg Founder & CEO, DuckDuckGo | 0 | 4 | produced | ≈4.5 |
| Dr. Suzanne Iacenza | 0 | 2 | produced | — |
| Sheila Heen Professor of Practice, Harvard Law School | 0 | 2 | produced | — |
| Emily Nagoski Author and Sex Educator | 0 | 1 | produced | — |
Every count on this page comes from the produced feed: no raw unedited tape of the Knowledge Project exists in our library. Rates are not published without enough raw tape, so this page counts and shows no percentage. This is a reading of a transcript. It is not an accusation of dishonesty, and there are many good reasons not to answer a question directly (confidential numbers, unreleased products, someone else's news to break).