National security laws must protect national security. But they must also protect the public trust and preserve the ability of an informed electorate to hold its government to account.

In our political system, money is power. And that means a few can have a lot more power than the rest. That's bad news for everyone else - and for our democracy itself.

And I think that being able to make people laugh and write a book that's funny makes the information go down a lot easier and it makes it a lot more fun to read, easier to understand, and often stronger. So there's all kinds of advantages to it.

I believe in not attacking a country pre-emptively unless you're sure of what you're doing and you're working with allies.

My parents were really political. The news was very important in our home. We basically had dinner every night while watching the news, and then we'd discuss it with our parents.

There is - I mean - I found early in life that righteous indignation is a little off-putting, and so I try to couch it with humor.

I do have a self-censor; everybody does, or at least most who are not pathological do.