"Nasty Man" isn't a laughing matter, but you have to laugh anyway. The song, itself, becomes something of a laughing matter because we'd go crazy if we didn't keep laughing.

I have heard more than once, 'Shut up and sing!' and I get it now.

Hypothetical questions get hypothetical answers.

Mostly what I listen to when I turn on my little iPod is opera.

I was addicted to rhythm 'n' blues pretty much directly into folk music. I had my little 45s of mostly black artists. That was as close as I got. I've never listened to heavy rock or stuff that jangles my nerves, because I'm already jangled.

If people have to put labels on me, I'd prefer the first label to be human being, the second label to be pacifist, and the third to be folk singer.

My father was a physicist and also an activist. My first public protest was with my dad at Stanford. I came by all that honestly.