The why is what makes journalism an adult game. The why is what makes policy coherent and useful. The why is what transforms bureaucrats and foot soldiers and political leaders into viable instruments of rational and affirmative change. The why is everything and without it, the very suggestion of human progress becomes a cosmic joke.

On a practical level I'm a TV producer and storyteller who's gone about as long as you can go without achieving a mass audience.

To be told you've won a MacArthur fellowship is very flattering and gratifying personally.

While I think storytelling is a meaningful way to spend your life... it does feel a little bit secondary or off-point.

I think as a player there's a sense of urgency every single year that this is the year we're going to have success and do the things we're excited about.

Many expanded-time schools have generated extraordinary results. In some cases, they have completely closed the achievement gap, all while installing curricula with a richness rivaled only by elite private schools and those in the most upscale suburbs.

God has already done everything He's going to do. The ball is now in your court. If you want success, if you want wisdom, if you want to be prosperous and healthy, you're going to have to do more than meditate and believe; you must boldly declare words of faith and victory over yourself and your family.

Much of the success of life depends upon keeping one's mind open to opportunity and seizing it when it comes.