In my experience, growing up in Brooklyn and all that, the real tough guys didn't act tough. They didn't talk tough. They were tough, you know? I think about these politicians who try to pose as tough guys - it makes me laugh.

I was born in 1935. But my mother and father - who were immigrants from Ireland - and everybody that I knew growing up in Brooklyn came out of the Depression, and they were remarkable people.

Too many people take New York for granted. The primary reason is that history is not taught. That's outrageous in a city where the past is still visible.

My father lost his leg in 1927 playing soccer. A kick broke his leg; gangrene set in. They sawed it off. So he didn't get what a lot of Irish immigrants got, which was a job on the Waterfront - he didn't get that.

If you don't work near a water cooler and hanker for the company of fellow natural history enthusiasts, 'The Blue Planet II Podcast' has Emily Knight and Becky Ripley enthusing infectiously about and delving deeper into the most recent episode.

I've never felt like my career has been on fire.

It's sad that people forget sometimes that there is a whole legitimate world of artists and actors out there that work their entire life, every day on perfecting their craft, but yet don't get any acknowledgement for their extraordinary commitment to their profession.

For an individual, playback singing is not enough to sustain a career, and it is not really a main source of income.