When my father passed, I was still an unsuccessful cook with a drug problem. I was in my mid-thirties, standing behind an oyster bar, cracking clams for a living when he died. So, he never saw me complete a book or achieve anything of note. I would have liked to have shared this with him.

Is there a sharper commentary on American culture and the world than The Simpsons?

I'm not besotted with the notion of being on CNN to the point that I'm going to suddenly morph into Anderson Cooper or Christiane Amanpour. I'm not a foreign correspondent.

In my house, neither my wife nor my daughter are impressed that I'm on television, and they remind me of that frequently.

If you’re twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel – as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them – wherever you go.

As you move through this life...you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life - and travel - leaves marks on you.

I am very much enjoying the fatherhood phase of my life.