I think seeing Pryor's first movie, Live In Concert, when I was in high school changed my life. Pryor really put the heart in darkness for me.
My one thing is I continue to be interested and want to be a student. I don't want to be a master. When I'm learning something, I'm in my element.
I definitely don't see myself as much of a singer, because my upbringing is really based around the guitar, learning chord progressions and that sort of thing. So the singing aspect of what I do has been a secondary adventure.
Learning operatic roles is ongoing, and I find that I can learn on the train or subway, during a manicure, getting my hair done, and even while driving if I only look at the score at red lights.
So I went out and bought Hard Again by Muddy Waters. That was a big learning curve. I listened to that album again and again and again. James Cotton was the harmonica player on that album.
I'm still excited at being at a microphone and talking to listeners. I love that. It's the most basic element of what I do and I still enjoy it very much.
I love traveling. But I haven't had big, transformative experiences while on the road. When I go out on the road, it's to go out and get a story or do a promotional event.
The more we are consuming oil that either comes from places that are bent on our destruction or helping those who are... the more we are enabling those who are trying to kill us.
I don't believe there is such a thing as a moderate Islamist party. The challenge with Islamists is that they seek to impose what they call Sharia on everybody, Muslim and non-Muslim alike.
The No. 1 question I get from everybody is, 'How did you make it?' I'm like, Don't worry about making it. There is no making it. Just be happy.
Social media can be a powerful tool to listen to, engage with and gain access to customers that you would otherwise not be able to connect with.
I don't take care of my voice at all, which is one reason that I sound as bad as I do.
Honestly, like, I'm a superfan of the 'New York Times,' but I know nothing about how they put it together, and I really don't care.
I don't think I'm better than everyone else at anything, but I am very quick at organizing a big mass of interview tape into a structure.
Honestly, there are so many things about structuring a story for film and telling a story for film that are really different from doing radio.
I've actually done events at radio stations where I feel like I've had to give a little talk in behalf of television as a medium.
As a kid, I used to go see all the jazz players, Oscar Peterson, Stan Kenton, Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespe.
The group started getting bigger and bigger, so Al started replacing Brian on the road, and then finally there was a big flare-up with Dave Marks and he left the group.
Before you speak ask yourself if what you are going to say is true, is kind, is necessary, is helpful. If the answer is no, maybe what you are about to say should be left unsaid.
I think the world of Dave Griffin. I worked with him in Phoenix, got to know him very well, and consider him a friend.
The thing about post-traumatic stress disorder, we know about one in five, about 20 percent of individuals that are exposed to a direct traumatic stress will develop this disorder.
