InterActive Corp. (NASDAQ: IACI) has a head honcho with some meaty chops in the entertainment and publishing business. Barry Diller, who has spearheaded television, movies and now internet entertainment (among many other areas) was interviewed recently for his take on the past and his prowess on inventing the future, so to speak. Diller's claim to fame as he put it? Try this: "The only thing that's ever driven me is curiosity."

Diller's internet empire stretches from Expedia.com (travel) to Ask.com (search). It also has other properties that hang somewhat in the balance, like LendingTree.com and TicketMaster.com. One of his most recent deals was plunking down $50 million for a majority stake in GarageGames so that consumers can play graphically rich games on their PCs not needing those PC-priced videogame consoles.

Lloyd Grove of Portfolio.com interview of Diller covers many subjects, the most fascinating of which are Diller's takes on how the internet is changing everything and why newspapers are on their way out. These are two items that I follow quite closely so when someone with Diller's track record voices his opinion on them, I'm interested.

A few morsels: 1) IACI's stock in the last 10 years has done well despite turbulences in the last three to five years. 2) Wall Street doesn't understand InterActive since it is such a complex megamachine in a zillion business units, and 3) why web-based news aggregation and value-adding has not really been done yet (and why newspapers are quasi-doing that, but going downhill as a distribution medium).

Diller's perspective is worth reading, whether you agree with him or not. He does get some plugs in for the companies he's involved with (what good leader wouldn't), but his interview is an entertaining read nonetheless.