Only the nerds will save the earth.

You know, I began my life as a creative person writing true things for magazines and telling some very honest, straightforward personal essaying for This American Life, but until someone forces you, with a deadline, to really observe your life - unless you're motivated to do it yourself - there's so many stories that you miss.

There is no ritual that enhances creativity other than just starting.

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.

I say, if you're going to eat a creature alive, you have to expect some screaming. That is the carnivore's burden.

Even in my own life, there are memories I have that are difficult to explain - happenings that are so odd and unaccountably weird, that it is difficult to imagine they were not the result of prolonged and frequent contact with aliens throughout my life.

I would say 70 percent of people who are in therapy are in therapy not because of their upbringing, not because of their mean sister or obsessions, but because of anxiety brought about by lack of financial security.