I didn't know a single musical soundtrack, really, growing up. Nobody listened to musicals. That wasn't a thing I did.

That's what hip-hop is - it's about meeting the music where you are, and then you add on top of that. It's about coming at it with your full self.

Learning how to get a point across is pretty useful in any situation.

As a kid, you don't have a ton of spaces where you are honored, where what you think is honored and what you say is revered.

I wanted to be Whitney Houston at first, and when I started taking voice lessons, my voice teacher kind of geared me more towards opera.

I loved reading and writing, and teaching was the most exalted profession I could imagine.

My father left me with his love of Jewish studies and cultural life. To this very day, along with several physicians and scientist colleagues, I take regular periodical lessons taught by a Rabbinical scholar on how the Jewish law views moral and ethical problems related to modern medicine and science.

Economists should be modest and be aware that they are part of the broader social science community. We need to be pragmatic about the methods we use. When we need to do history, we should do history. When we need to study political science, we should study political science.