I think Visions of Cody is the most radical book in terms of poetic stretch and the way Jack Kerouac is able to incorporate documentation and incorporate the live tape recording of Neal and so on.

I don't demonize the downside. As we've seen in Egypt and Tahrir square and other recent event, the adhesiveness through [technology] kinds of communication is extraordinary. Interesting times we live in.

World War II synchronizes things for a lot of people. There's a kind of wakeup call.

When I look at my life there are these streams, these things that have continuity from the fifties to now.

I was not ever hitchhiking alone. I've done solo train trips but I've never driven myself alone.

The dichotomies, the brokenness of the culture around things like the Vietnam war, and then a lot of it has to do with war and where we put our energy and money and attention. And the military industrial complex, which dominates our whole economy. Even with the vision of democracy in other places we know the dark side.

I think anything that gets people outside [is good] - I'm a big supporter of public parks and public spaces.