It's about the power of design and the power of the human spirit. It's above paying anybody to do something stupid for money like reality television does - like ambushing people.

That was always my frustration with so many of these shows, because design is not an ambush... it's a relationship. You have to know how people move and live and work to be able to design for them.

Oprah has this intense curiosity that I haven't found with any interviewer.

The Deep South has a completely different history, both good and bad, that is fascinating for everybody. It makes people work together who usually don't, and that sounds like a cliche in so many ways, but it actually happened... and it happened because of a beautiful idea.

Like I said, TLC has enough of my life. I have to keep some of it for myself.

I'm so used to talk-show hosts just giving you a sound bite and not really being interested.

I'm a designer, I love it, and I haven't worked this hard to do bad work.