I realized that even in a world of proliferating media venues, online and in print, and on TV and on countless cable channels, the idea that I could be considered an expert on chronic knee pain was I think troubling for society, but very exciting for me.

Creating fake facts does require a measure of haphazard research, insofar as they need to not just be possible, but also interesting.

I think in American culture, we put value on economic success but tell people you don't have to be economically successful to be happy.

The nice thing about live performance is that I've never, ever been let down. Partly I'm lucky that my audience self-selects itself. Generally they know what they're in for, and generally we all just like each other and get along. But I always find one or two or a dozen really interesting people in the audience who make the show different. And that's one of the things I really like about performing.

I am someone who values truth - actual truth as opposed to "truthiness." I am also someone who has been trained in deconstruction in the literary theory department of Yale University, so I am someone who is tempted to believe that no absolute truth is possible.

A lot of my time is spent reading antique or out-of-print books of reference.

The few people who ask to have their photographs with me, I almost always say yes, except for a few circumstances, like when my family is around.