What was Osama bin Laden’s Epiphany? Lawrence Wright on The Colbert Report May 13, 2011

There is always so much news about our amazing Epiphany contributors that I can’t keep up with it all. But my former intern just texted me to tell me that Lawrence Wright was on The Colbert Report last night so I thought it’d be fun to share this little bit of pop culture about a contributor that happens to be very special to this project and what he shared with me about Osama bin Laden when I interviewed him.

Lawrence Wright (Larry) was the first person I ever interviewed on the phone for Epiphany, thus sparking the epiphany for me that went something like this: “hmmm…sometimes getting interviews on the phone is much easier than organizing a shoot.” This realization ultimately gave the book project the edge over the film version happening first. (I did go to Austin and film Larry’s interview eventually though.) Larry also wrote the play, Sonny’s Last Shot, where I played the wonderful role of the West Texas cowgirl, Lola, through which I had my epiphany that led to my asking people about their epiphanies. So Larry has played a significant part in this project, and I’m not quite sure he even realizes that. You never know the effect you will have on someone’s life – just by something you say or do or by your work alone.

When I interviewed Larry, I asked him if he could ask anyone in the world about their greatest epiphany, who would it be. (I began asking everyone this question – even you – it’s still out there if you ever want to contribute!) Larry responded that he would like to know Osama bin Laden’s epiphany. (Larry is a leading, if not the leading expert on Bin Laden, having written the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Looming Tower.) He went on to say that he just wondered what made Bin Laden as a very pious, religious man, go against the very tenets he supposedly believed in with what he had done and was doing with terrorism. What was that tipping point moment, that revelation, the epiphany for him about that or was it even an epiphany moment? Would Bin Laden have even answered the question to, “What is your greatest epiphany in life?” with anything to do with that? Obviously, we’ll never know. But on a lighter note, here is Larry being interviewed on the Colbert Report last night!