I grew up a squatter on the Lower East Side, so it's kind of a given that I'd have very strong opinions on everything from cyclical violence to teenage pregnancy to environmental justice.

There are so many different reasons as to why I love riding trains. But I think ultimately it's the romantic feeling of it. There's something about it that just transports me into old films.

Maybe you just have those impromptu conversations, or where all of the sudden you're standing on the corner waiting to cross the street and you notice three people looking up and you look up with them. And you all smile at each other because you're seeing a little piece of a rainbow between two buildings, and that little rainbow and you all just shared a New York moment, and that's awesome, and then you keep on in your way.

I'm a New Yorker, so I have the sort of tough vein that's naturally bred into me. In general, I'm a nice person, and that seems to surprise people sometimes.

The American future is here, and there's great news: the future votes.

When you look at the gladiator times or at any of the things in human history, people are and have always been attracted to violence to the point where they're in stadiums still to this day watching people getting stoned to death.

There have been people who've understood it for a long time, who've gone, okay, this is a medium I get. It's not a phase; it's not a fad; it's actually something quite vital and important, and it's pretty fascinating to watch that.