My worst boss was a departmental chair who never learned to appreciate new developments in the field. He had contempt for students and younger researchers, and he saw the job of running the department as a nuisance.

My students don't even know I'm gone.

The reason the United States is not so likely to invade Iran is precisely because of the lessons learned from Iraq. And conversely, the Iranian push towards nuclear capability is calculated to deter invasions like the kind deposing Saddam Husain.

Students do everything on laptops these days, so I definitely think electronic books are a trend that's going to expand.

The connections I draw between human nature and political systems in my new book, for example, were prefigured in the debates during the Enlightenment and during the framing of the American Constitution.

We can make fun of hockey fans, but someone who enjoys Homer is indulging the same kind of vicarious bloodlust.