The truth is, as you know, people like us look at what's happening in the world, and then we project it forward. We think, 'If I know A and B, then I've got to know that C and D are coming,' and that's kind of the way it's been with my fiction.

Journalists couldn't do their jobs overseas without taking risks, and the same is true for diplomats and intelligence officers.

Europeans don't like to talk about intelligence, and they often pretend their countries don't spy.

We have a complicated intelligence relationship with France. We have a complicated intelligence relationship with other - with other allies.

I've never come from a lot of money. Going to college in New York was already a financial struggle for both my family and me, so to drop out and immediately put my faith in my drag career was a huge risk to take.

Congressmen spend between five and seven hours a day on the phone, begging for money.

There's really no money per se to be made on records. We used to make a lot of money on records. Now, all of our money is made on touring.

In the beginning I just wanted to survive. For the first three years, we made zero revenue. I remember many times when I was trying to pay up, the restaurant owner would say, 'Your bill was paid.' And there would be a note saying, 'Mr. Ma, I'm your customer on the Alibaba platform. I made a lot of money, and I know you don't, so I paid the bill.'