Fox News has done a great deal to promote Reza Aslan’s new book, “Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.” How so? An interview conducted by Lauren Green on FoxNews.com managed to so thoroughly insult and trash Aslan’s motives in writing the book that the whole world is clicking on the tete-a-tete.

This afternoon, the Erik Wemple Blog called Aslan’s publishing house in search of an interview. No dice, we were told: Aslan’s already busy interview schedule has doubled because of additional requests prompted by the FoxNews.com segment.

It stands to reason. The Erik Wemple Blog over the years has accumulated a great deal of experience in abridging the horrors of cable-news segments and presenting them in this space. Sometimes, however, we have trouble one-upping the bare, untouched content of the interview itself.

The result of all this is a strange mix: Even as Aslan benefits from all the publicity stemming from this embarrassing interview, the whole disaster amounts to grist for a Fox News apology. Book authors, like everyone else, deserve tough questions about their work. These, however, weren’t tough questions. They were dumb, loaded, prejudicial ones.