By birth and upbringing, I think I'm emotionally resilient. I don't feel like I'm a depressive person.

We're all connected by the system, and we all have to be a part, I think, of changing it.

The people designing the weapons literally often didn't know how they were being handled in the field by the Air Force - and a lot of people in the Air Force didn't understand some of the dangers. There's a very strong element of madness in this.

Different people, in good faith, can look at the same fact and interpret it differently. But thats where an interesting conversation begins.

Today the U.S. government can demand the nation-wide recall of defective softball bats, sneakers, stuffed animals, and foam-rubber toy cows. But it cannot order a meatpacking company to remove contaminated, potentially lethal ground beef from fast food kitchens and supermarket shelves.

I find that one of the most important things, as a writer, is to just show up - to just stay in the chair and fight through the difficult patches. As long as you're at the desk, and you're willing to fight it out, eventually the right words will come.

I really like visiting schools, but what I tell students isn't anywhere near as interesting to me as what they tell me.