He Was a Hacker for the NSA and He Was Willing to Talk. I Was Willing to Listen

Unfortunately we're just getting the author's personal assessment of the interviewee, with very little content for the reader to base their own thoughts on.

I'm not a believer in some impossible Platonic ideal of journalism where the author can avoid shaping the readers perception to be like theirs. This just feels bogged down with his interpretations.

It would have been interesting to see an interview conducted by someone with more than a passing connection to the "security community." Maass lacks some of the cultural touchstones and perspectives that would be useful in understanding who this person is. You can see most when he has to reach beyond ideas you see in security and towards mass-media and wider-cultural zeitgeist topics not just to explain things to the reader, but to explain them to himself.