Except for the people who were there that one day they discovered the polio vaccine, being part of history is rarely a good idea. History is one war after another with a bunch of murders and natural disasters in between.

A couple of times he called the second he'd finished reading a novel and just had to tell me about it, and I know it sounds hokey and librarianish to say so, but I just swooned when he did that.

I still believe in public radio's potential. Because it's the one mass medium that's still crafted almost entirely by true believers.

Part of the success of This American Life, I think, is due to the fact that none of us sound like we should be on the radio. We don't sound professional; we sound like people you would know.

I spent a lot of time with some native Hawaiians who protest being part of the United States and literally carry protest signs saying "We are not Americans." And they have no real warmth for being the 50th state.

One night last summer, all the killers in my head assembled on a stage in Massachusetts to sing show tunes.

Why is America the last best hope of Earth? What if it's Liechtenstein? Or, worse, Canada?