I don't separate writing songs from poetry and short fiction. In the area where I work in my house, there's a word processor and a guitar.

When you're really bummed out, the last thing you want to hear is up-tempo and positive. And it lets you know that you're not alone, that somebody has hurt before. It works the same way with chick songs as it does with political songs. When you hear somebody singing about these things, you know that you're not alone, that somebody else is suspicious of what's going on around us in the world. So you don't feel like you're crazy, and you feel like you might be able to make a difference.

The idea that murder victims' families are best served by continuing the cycle of violence is something that I consider to be not only a lie, but criminally negligent. You lie to victims' families when you tell them they're going to receive closure if they participate in the process and witness the execution of a human being.

It's incredibly irresponsible to allow victims' family members to witness executions.

Songwriters are expanding time rather than compressing time. My short stories tend to be old fashioned, with a beginning, middle and end.

My main area of activism is the death penalty, and it will continue to be once this crisis is over with.

I think it's obvious that democracy is something that is contagious, and it always has been.