My hero is Michael Jackson. Was and continues to be. He's amazing. When I was growing up, it was the time of 'Thriller' and 'Bad.' I'd come home from school and put on the vinyls. I'd put on a white V-neck T-shirt and roll back the carpet and dance for hours. I'd moonwalk and do the spins.

Coming out in a bedazzled tank top and silver jeans and singing 'Superstar' with a 36-piece band and 28 dancers around me is one of the dopest things I've ever had the opportunity to do.

I really only knew the name Berry Gordy growing up, but I didn't know what he looked like or anything about him.

The time for frivolous entertainment has passed. You can be entertained while at the same time learning from and growing with the people around you.

Reformist kings can save their dynasties now by helping their countries move smoothly into democracy, or they will end their years in exile like the Russian aristocrats of a century earlier.

When I left politics in the early Eighties and started writing and recording, my idea was that I could have an influence further down into other generations. That Natives could come into the culture through arts and music.

If I knew how to operate a DVR, you'd find episodes of 'The Tavis Smiley Show,' 'Democracy Now!' and lots of stuff from TV Land. What you can find now on my Hulu account are Korean soap operas, 'Grey's Anatomy' and films from the Criterion collection.

Republicans can win if they adopt a message and promote policies of conscientious conservatism where they lay out a vision of how to solve our nation's problems, while at the same time push for a message of responsible and efficient government that focuses on accountability and results.