It's never that hard for me to imagine what it must feel like to be someone else, whether it's an American teenage girl or a Japanese octogenarian man.

I just think that people are complicated, both men and women. It happens that I write more about women.

I have this theory that the likeability question comes up so much more with female characters created by female authors than it does with male characters and male authors.

For 'Gender Studies,' I wrote that story in May and June of 2016. People have said to me, 'Oh, it's a political allegory,' and I think, 'Sure.' The political stuff is definitely there. But that's why I like fiction; there can be lots of different things going on, and it's all intertwined, and you can't separate out what's in what category.

In 'Chappie,' you see this sort of young robot that's learning through maybe 'deep learning' how to see the world really, look out into the world, and learn step by step. What's so interesting is that with 'Chappie,' you're getting to see how human behavior reacts to artificial intelligence, and I don't think it's always going to be positive.

Imagine trying to learn without a dry place to sleep, eat, and do homework. Children cannot succeed in school if their lives out of school are in total chaos.

Know thyself. Remain steadfast. Follow your dreams. These are great directives and perfectly fitting for graduates. But reality is that achieving dreams takes a solid education - education that remains elusive for too many Americans.

My mom had this romantic notion of her children playing classical music. The idea is you learn it when you're still learning language. It's using the same part of the brain.