We go along as well. Taye diggs, you mentioned that there was a bit of a kerfuffle when you were doing press for this book, but im going to quote you here and let you talk about this. Were talking about president obama here, and this is you speaking. Everybody refers to him as the first black president. Im not saying its wrong, im just saying that its interesting. It would be great if it didnt matter and that people could call him mixed. Guest uhhuh. Yes. Host so do you consider him to be the first black president . Guest i do. I do. But thats only because im playing by the rules that have already been set. See what im saying . I always, i always tell my friends i bet you, you know, i would bet you that growing up there were black folks that did not accept him or black folks that said he talked white. And, you know, after you reach a certain level a lot of times these same black folk turn that around and say, okay, now that youve established yourself, now we can accept you, you know what i mean . You know, we as a race, you know, from and because of slavery, weve been put through so much that when it comes to identity, its confusing. Its really confusing. I can understand how, you know, we as black people want to find as many from our tribe as possible. I get that. But at some point thats going to have to, thats going to have to end because where do you draw the line . Where are you going to draw the line, you know . There are some black people that are lighter than you, you know what im saying . And theyve been treated a certain way their entire lives. And its just, its not fair, you know . I think at some point were going to have to, were going to have to move on. Host do you think that because of your notoriety as an actor that perhaps your son has an easier time of it . Guest i would probably say yes only in that we have a little bit, we have a little bit of money, so we can afford to send him to certain schools where, you know, a diversity is paramount. I dont know what his experience would be were he to go to a Public School. I dont know. But, you know, i know this is what i do know. Regardless of who i am, hes going to, you know, hes going to, hes going to come across some problems, you know what i mean . Hes going to come across some kids whether its college or high school or wall street that are going to ask him, you know, with whom he identifies. I remember a while back tiger woods not saying that he was black and everybody getting so upset. For me it just made sense, you know . But people, you know, when it comes to ethnicity and race, people take it very, very seriously. With good reason. Host im sorry. No, go ahead. Guest with good reason. But, you know, weve got to try to move on. Host 2016, what do you think about the conversation, conditions of race in this country . Guest i mean, you know [laughter] its getting better. Its nowhere near, you know, ill try to stay positive. Its getting better. Its getting better. Weve got a ways to go, but its getting better, and im very, im very hopeful. Im trying to come from a place of understanding and love, you know . People can get very angry and aggressive, and at times it can become easy to kind of fall into a defensive mode. But im trying, you know . Im trying to understand and be empathetic. And, hopefully, you know, if we all can kind of, you know, walk in groupty with that in unity with that vibe, you know, things will get better. Host whats it like to write a Childrens Book . Guest oh, man host whats the number one rule for writing a Childrens Book . Guest oh, i dont know, man host for you . Guest for me its got to be fun, you know . Im excited that i found my own kind of rhyming rhythm, poetry, and ive been very fortunate to work with one of my very best friends, i call him my cousin. Excuse me, shane evans. Hes the illustrator. And being able to work with one of your best friends is awesome, you know . Being able to see him, you know, put art to the words that ive come up with is, you know, its like opening presents on christmas morn. [laughter] host lets take some calls. Taye diggs, youve seen him in rent, youve seen him in wicked, youve seen him in how stella got her groove back [laughter] youve seen him in private practice and the good wife as well. Guest so long ago. Hi there. Host first call for him is dorothy in haiti, missouri. Dorothy, youre on booktv. Good morning. Caller good morning. Guest good morning. Caller hello. Host dorothy guest hello, hello. Host torte think, were listening. Please go ahead with your question or comment. Caller yes. My granddaughter, shes mixed, and shes absolutely beautiful, and shes in eighth grade. We kind of have a different sort of problem here in our school with her. She has problems with the black kids in school. We had to take her out of school and home school her. White kids have accepted her, but the black kids are the ones that are bullying her and giving her trouble. And, you know, yeah. Yes, our town, we have a lot of prejudice in our town. Were a small, rural town, and, you know, its there. But thats what has surprised us. So do you have any explanation for that . [laughter] host taye diggs. Guest ooh. I mean, there are tons of people out there that can relate, and im sorry that your family has to go through that. But its, as i said earlier, you know, africanamericans i guess i should say, you know, most ethnicities, you know, that have been kind of disenfranchised, does that work . Have issues. And that is one of the issues that we as a race carry, you know . Wanting to include or not include people for certain reasons based on how they look or how they speak or how they dress and how that kind of plays into race. I understand it, but once again, you know, its hurtful, its harmful and it can be. It can be hurtful, it can be harmful, and its something we need to work on. Host another call from missouri, this is dan in camdenton, missouri. Go ahead, dan, were listening. Caller yes, mr. Di goodggs. Ive had a relationship with a number of blacks, either friends or working. And my question is how do you feel about the psychological effects of blacks in america who dont ascribe to being african . Guest ooh host tell you what, taye diggs, what did you hear from that caller . What did you hear . Guest what did i hear . Host as an africanamerican . Guest this gentleman wants to know where i stand on, i guess and correct me if im wrong africanamericans that dont identify with being african. Thats an interesting question. Once again, you know, were making up these rules as we go along. And the difficulty with that is that theres no real right or wrong, because were making it up. So africanamerican, thats a madeup word, you know . Ive never been to africa. I dont know for a fact if my lineage is from africa, but thats manager, thats a term that we came up with i think for ease, you know . So its hard to speak on Something Like that when, you know, there is no cemented answer. You know . I think the term comes from a time when black people needed to feel like a group, they needed to feel, we needed to feel unified. Strong. Powerful. So, you know, once again i get it, but, you know, when youre making things up as you go along, you start to run into some bumps in the road. Ask you get people out there and you get people out there that want exact answers. And when it comes to race and ethnicity and prejudice, there are no, there are no exact answers. You know . Host so the last two calls were both from missouri, the next two are from california. Do you think that the problems or the issues faced by those two in missouri are going to be the same issues faced out here in Southern California . Guest sure. Sure. Its all over. It permeates the world. Its all over, you know . Thats one thing you can always count on. Unfortunately. You can always count on people drawing lines and wanting to separate. Unfortunately. I think i feel like its part of our nature, you know what i mean . Looking at someone and then making a judgment so that you can identify them and better understand them, you know . And i think through the years weve tried to do that in many different ways, and race has been one of them, you know . Thats why you get into all these issues with, you know i remember in college i was in an africanamerican studies class. And as we were talking about stereotypes, there was a black, a young black man skateboarding out the window, you know, outside the window. And about four or five kids, you know, pointed that, pointed him out and said how he was, thats a white sport, why is he doing that white sport . Why is he skateboarding, you know . As opposed to, what, like playing basketball or you know . And then you have on the converse side people getting upset when folks assume that you are good at basketball because youre black, you know . Its muddy. Its messy. And, you know, its complicated. Host lillia right here in los angeles. Youre on with author taye diggs. Please go ahead. Caller thank you. Sir, ive never really read any of your books, but guest okay. Caller for the past 22 years i have been going to an indian reservation in south dakota. Guest okay. Caller and one of the most Amazing Things that i heard from legitimate, genuine med zahn man was this, that medicine man was this, that he said do you know if you are an fbi, fullblooded indian, they would not trust you to get any credit than if you are a mixed indian. I said, why is that . I dont know, they just think that we fullblooded indians cannot be trusted where the mixed indians can be trusted. And he died recently, this old man. I really loved him. And i remember that when i was listening to mr. Diggs. Just a comment. Host all right. Thank you for that. Any response for her . Taye diggs. Guest oh, thats, you know, its all of these questions, you know, the answers or the comments, they all come from a similar place which is its too bad, and, you know, we as a people and a lot of cases we are ruled by fear. A similar situation is with africanamericans, you know, a lot of mixed race folks are considered to have good hair. You know . When i was growing up, the lightskinned africanamericans were always considered better looking, you know . So its something that we are struggling with, and z i continue to say, i can understand where it comes from. But at the end of the day, i think its more polarizing than, that theres more of a spirit of that as opposed to bringing people together. Host and you grew up in newark, new jersey . Guest i grew up in rochester, new york. Yeah, yeah. Born in newark, raised in rochester, new york. Host karen is in pasadena right here, Southern California area. Hi, karen. Go ahead with your question or comment. Caller hello, thank you for taking my call. Mr. Diggs, with regards to i understand you exclusively date white women, and i guess my question would be have you deviled into the delved into the psychology around that . And the other question i have is with regard to the societal ills that black americans face in this country, can we really afford to be taking on the struggles that mixedrace kids have . I mean, how do we, how do we embrace Something Else host are you africanamerican . Caller yes, i am. Host thank you, sir. Taye diggs . Guest well, first off, i dont date exclusively white women. [laughter] thats wrong. So theres that. And secondly, our problem is a problem, and problems need to be dealt with. As my son, i love my son. If he has an ear ache and he cuts his knee on the sidewalk, i dont let the cut on his knee bleed because im taking care of the ear ache. I help him with his ear ache, and then i help him with his cut. Problems need to be solved. And its just that simple. I kind of find it difficult to believe or understand how being a member of the earth you would say certain problems need to be taken care of, you know, prioritizing certain problems as opposed to others, you know . What about the homeless . What about education . Like, are we just supposed to ignore all of those problems and just deal with the problems that africanamericans have . No. We have problems, it sucks, and we need to deal with them. Host have you heard those comments before such as what guest not this one. Not this one, no. [laughter] not this one. Host a couple of texts that weve received, id like to congratulate taye diggs for saying and writing what a lot of people are simply afraid to speak about. Keep up the good work. Guest thank you. Host that comes from area code 859. By the way, you can include your first name and city, that would be great. And this one as well, a shout out to taye diggs for the movie, the wood. Great movie about friendship and growing of age. And here is one from carl in detroit. What race do you consider your son, black, white, mixed . And why . Guest race. I will answer that if this person can define race. Host via text so guest well. Host there we go. Guest you define it. Host brea in landover, washington, in the d. C. Area. Youre on with taye diggs. Go ahead. Caller hi, taye. Guest hi. Caller hi. First of all, we are all gods children, first of all. Guest first of all. Good point. Caller yeah. Lets start there. And when he allows that egg to meet that sperm and that life created, we are all here because were all meant to be here. Guest uhhuh. Caller i just think, and i must conclude by saying i am 51 years old, i am africanamerican not that ive ever set foot in africa, but i know that my roots, that my origin comes my people were forced here from that region. So thats how i identify myself, as an africanamerican. Guest okay. Caller but i am 51, ive never been married, i have no children. I just think its sad guest okay. Caller im glad you found someone that you could love and that you could share that portion of your life and created that life. But i just think its sad for people who choose interracial relationships to not consider the legacy theyre passing on to their children in the world of racism and bigotry, you know . I just hope that if i find someone im too old to have kids now. [laughter] but if i did, id like to adopt those who are already here who need love and to be nurtured. Guest okay. Caller and to not pass on, you know, related to my selfishness host brea, youre 51 years old, you say. Has the relationship, conversation, etc. , about race in america changed in your lifetime . Caller i dont think its changed. I think that its become more exposed. I think, you know, back when i was a little girl, it was more, you know, overt. It wasnt so blatant, although during the time of my grandmother who i must say was a really fairskinned woman. Shes creole, and she had a darkskinned mother and a european father. So while im sure during my mothers mothers era she was born in the 7th would have been her birthday,. She would have been 102. Rest in peace. Host all right, brea, were going to have to live leave it there, i apologize. Taye diggs, what did you hear from brea . Guest i, i understand where shes coming from, and i, you know, i commend her. She has the right to, you know, to date or hold any kind of relationship she chooses. Ask thats her prerogative. And thats her prerogative. For me, i choose to work from the heart. And as she said, accept and appreciate all of gods children. You know . If you pick one specific type, theres no way you can pick one specific type without excluding others. And i believe in being inclusive. Period. Is writing addictive . Is there a third book . Guest oh, yes. Theres going to be more. Yes, yes. Im very excited. Host the next one . Guest its a secret. [laughter] its a secret, sir. Host all right. Guest oh, my goodness. Host mixed me guest yes. Host is the name of the local bookstores benefits the local economy and supports local jobs. Were very delighted to have juan with us today. Im sure hes familiar to many of you since hes been part of the journalistic establishment of this town for several decades now. Juan and i overlapped for a number of years at the Washington Post and previous incarnation. Before i became a bookseller, i was a journalist at the Washington Post. And juan worked there for 23 years as a National Correspondent and political columnist. He then spent over ten years with npr before leaving and concentrating on fox news where he now frequently appears on various shows sharing his seasoned perspective on many issues of the day. In his new book, we the people, juan has a compelling premise. He makes the point at the outset that because the United States has changed so much since its birth, it should have another, more modern set of leading historical figures to inspire and to serve as examples. Much in the way the original Founding Fathers have done for previous generations and still do to some extent. So juan offers his list of more than who two dozen 20th century visionaries and model achievers profiling each of them and describing how in their own significant ways theyve helped reshape america. And hes about to tell you who exactly made his cut. Juan will be in conversation with Craig Shirley who is also an author and has written, among other works, several books on Ronald Reagan. So please join me in welcoming Juan Williams and Craig Shirley. [applause] juan, thank you for being here today. By the way, i think we are going to take questions from the audience at some point. I always like to start at the beginning. So just tell us about yourself, where you were born, where you went to college, high school, sports you played, things like that. [laughter] well, thanks, craig. And thank you all for coming out on a rainy day. Its a pleasure to be here. You know, one of the great pleasures, i think, about being an author is learning things. The writing process, getting involved with new information and then being able to share that information. But, of course, you need somebody whether its craig or all of you to share with, to get into conversation with. And part of the joy of a book festival is learning what people think about what youve written and sort of taking you to a new height in terms of your own capacity to experience life and the written word. So thank you all for being here. So in answer to your question, craig, i am 62 years old. I just, i had a birthday april 10th. The book was published april 5th. It was kind of a Birthday Gift. To yourself. To me, exactly right. [laughter] but i hope, i hope each and every one of you because i think its an i mean, craig was telling me earlier, tell them the three principles of being an author. Theres no such thing as writers block, and theres no such thing you have to tell yourself everyones waiting on the book. [laughter] i think its a Birthday Gift to you all as well. [laughter] so i was born in panama in 1954, and then my mom brought three kids to brooklyn when i was just 4 years old. I went to Public School in brooklyn, new york, and i won a scholarship to a quaker prep school in poughkeepsie, new york. Then i won another scholarship at Haverford College just outside of philadelphia. I was the editor of my Junior High School paper, my high school paper. And after my freshman year at haverford, went to work at the philadelphia evening bulletin. And right now i dont think theres an evening paper in america, mr. Shirley. But theyre all gone. No, no. So i really began at an evening newspaper and went from there, you know, i got a Dow Jones Dow jones used to own the wall street journal. They had a Newspaper Fund internship for young people, and i want to work for the Providence Journal one summer, went back to the bulletin. Very much wanted to stay in philadelphia and be a journalist for the evening bulletin, but this was the era of woodward and bernstein, and they werent hiring young journalists. They wanted people in mid career who were experienced investigators and the like. Everybody my age wanted to be a journalist at that point. Im not sure they wanted to be woodward and bernstein, but they wanted to be more like redford and hoffman, the guys in the movie, right . [laughter] but i really wanted to be a journalist. I love journalism. Its a passion for me. And basically, anyway i couldnt get a job at the evening bulletin, but i got another internships. Two, in fact, as i remember. One was at the Philadelphia Inquirer which still exists, and the other was at the Washington Post. And i thought if its an internship and im going to be out of a job in three months, i think ill take the Washington Postbecause it was, you know, the hot newspaper at that time. So i stayed there, as bradley said. Not only did i meet bradley, but i met carla cohen who ran politics prose for a long time. And one of those people that i met during the reagan years was this gentleman, Craig Shirley. 23 years at the post. Sorry it didnt work out. [laughter] pleasure how many books have you written . Well, it depends if you count things like, you know, there are books that are, like, theres a book about black farmers, and i wrote the preface to it which is lengthy right. But the heart and soul, i think the reason that anyone in this audience would buy that book are these incredible pictures of black farmers through the south. Right. But other than that i think its eight books. Eight books. What are you working on mow . [laughter] i just finished this one, yeah. Im perpetually now working on new books. Are you the same way . No. I, i think i must need to sort of, you know, till the soil one more time and find my direction. It is, for me, such a, you know, you talked about your three principles. But i think the thing that strikes me is that people say that for a man the closest thing we can come to childbirth is writing a book. [laughter] and i think thats true for me. So it takes my body and brain a while to say, oh, my gosh, weve gotten through it. Because books consume me. I work, you know, in newspapers or magazines, tv, radio. They are very immediate platforms. But they are ephemeral to some extent. You mow the joke about, you know, you say to your dad or your mom, oh, i had an article in the newspaper today, did you see my story . Yeah, itll line the bird cage next dayment. [laughter] and then you say, mom or dad, i had a piece in the magazine, and they say, oh, itll be out of the Doctors Office in a month. But if you write a book, it has lasting value, you know . Its always amazing to me that you go in a library x theres a book that youve written. I always think, gosh, what kind of a library is this that would have a book like me . [laughter] but, yes. So when i do a book, it consumes me, just as you said. I wake up and think why am i not writing the book. Its me. How long did it take you to write we the people . Five years, but the idea has been in my mind for more than five years. Sure. Im not always sure i can tell you when i know exactly what youre talking about. But i know that that was germinating in my mind for a long time. And it goes back, actually, to something i was doing for, in the pr, and npr, and it goes back to the 08 campaign. Right around that time i was looking at changes going on in American Society for npr for a series called changing face of america and looking at huge points of difference that had been, you know, at the start of the century, if you will, 21st century, that were defining American Life. Everything, things like, you know, people going from no gambling, no legal gambling to now gambling being everywhere. Everywhere. Thats a huge change. And in my lifetime, things like people not smoking people smoking everywhere to not being a able to smoke everywhere. You used to smoke in movie theater. Ball game, people at an athletic event, people smoking up a storm. So i did that, but also what occurred to me in the midst of the 08 campaign was how radically things had changed. Obviously, with president obama elected and thinking look at this coalition and look at the idea of an africanamerican as president , this is pretty incredible, you know . Magazines with headlines not in my lifetime did anyone think that Something Like that could happen. So i knew it was a radical amount of change going on, and that idea then grew into this book. Whats your favorite part of the book . Well, this there are two things. One is, so the booksen been out for a month now, and one thing that surprises me is the number of people who come up to me and say bill bratton . Yeah, i was going to ask you about bill bratton. How do you get him in with Ronald Reagan and eleanor roosevelt. Exactly. People say how can a policeman be part of the newfounders of america in the 21st century . Well come to it. Okay. But the second thing is when people ask a version of the question you just asked, craig, which is whats your favorite thing, i say to people, well, to me the biggest change thats taken place in American Life has to do with american women. And i dont think people appreciate, i think i didnt appreciate it. Right. So if youll allow me, ill tell you a quick story. Sure. The quick story is this. When i was doing that npr series i mentioned to you earlier, i was very intrigued by the 2010 census that said, guess what . Right now were a nation of more than 300 million people, but a quarter, a quarter of us are under the age of 18. Under 18. I had no idea we were such a young nation. Under 18. Remember, people like craig, me, i mean, we have kids, but 18 came to the tail end of the baby boom or right in the middle of the baby boom. Yeah. Right. But people under 18 dont vote. People under 18 dont have money to give to politicians. People under 18 typically are not involved in political organizing. So theyre not the kind of people that im calling on the phone like im calling craig when he was in the reagan administration. So thats just not the people im in touch with. When we were 18, we couldnt vote. Thats correct. Right. So i thought i would go and talk to people who were under 18, get a better sense of this very large, larger cohort than the baby boomers. Thats how big the under18 population is in the country. So i went out to a high school in minnesota, right in the middle of the country, and i was trying to figure out in talking to these young people whats on their minds politically, socially. And given the huge demographic shift taking place in the country, higher number of not only africanamericans, but hispanics now the second largest racial group in the country. And in minnesota youve got hmong, somalis, that whole somali issue with the Terror Threat and all the rest, all that going on there. I thought, oh, youre going to have cliques in the hallways and classrooms, everybodys going to be separate. Minneapolis being historically a homogeneous, white community. So i go there and, to my surprise, no, its not racially or ethnically separate. People are very much mixed, and the younger people play together, date, everything, eat together even in the cafeteria. You know how they talk about separate tables . Not really. You do have separation in terms of here are the governments and here are the athletes the gothst, the athletes, the smart kids hasnt it always been that way though . I think well, you know what . I thought racially because we still have high levels of racial segregation in american Public Schools right. Thought at this school youre going to see it, but no, at this school it wasnt true. Interesting. I started talking to the kids and got zero because they dont read newspapers, theyre just not plugged into the news in the way that i think those of us in this audience are plugged in. So i said to a woman who had attended the school she had gone to the school, her children attended the school, shes now a counselor at the school. I said whats the difference in this school between the 70s and today . She said, juan, it should be so obvious to you. You asked to meet with the very best students. Whatd you to notice . Im like, i dont know, what do you mean . She said, hold on. You asked to meet with the top people involved with student government. Didnt it jump out at you at that point . And im like, come on, what are you talking about . And she said, wait, you asked to meet with the students who are getting scholarships to go play sports, division i sports at the best schools president s of all the clubs, everything. Correct. Yeah. What did you notice, juan . And im like, oh, boy. [laughter] she said, well, it should have been obvious to you that when you met with the students who have the highest s. A. T. Scores, eight out of ten of them were young women. It should have been obvious when you met with the student editor and student government, seven out of ten young women, and how could you not notice when you met with the best athletes that after title ix9, five of the ten were young women . And i was like, wow, you know, its raining. Somehow you forget there are rain drops involved, and you dont see the pattern. Oh, my gosh, shes right. Close to it, yeah. Young women are so strong, so influential, so much the achievers in modern society. And i was, like, wait a minute, its not just young women. Its the case now that in the last few years america passed the Tipping Point where half the work force is made up of women. Right. Were now the case where its 87 women in the congress, 20 of the senate. We have three women on the supreme court. The attorney general is a woman. Women in the military women in combat women in media, women reporters. Absolutely. Megyn kelly is the star of stars right, right. Or you stop and think about all of them, all of the networks and cable. Even in college the majority of students in college today yes. Young women, the majority of people in professional and graduate schools, young women. So in we the people, i talk about how my wife has a graduate degree, masters degree. Her mother had a masters degree. My sister is a lawyer. My daughter is a lawyer. My sisterinlaw ran part of obamas campaign here in maryland, you know . My niece is a doctor. Next weekend my son gets married, hes marrying a doctor. The women in my life, the Founding Fathers would have no idea. Remember, no women signed the declaration of independence. No women at the constitutional convention. Women could not own property, women could not vote. So if the Founding Fathers came back to life, i mean, they would be like what are, what is going on . How did these women take control, right . Its a different world. But there are consequences. This just didnt happen organically. This happened because society recognized that women have been historically discriminated against, so it needed to be addressed. So there was, you know, efforts done to push women forward. Have we reached a point now where we need to say, wait a minute, we dont need these . Its all happening naturally now . Well one consequence that i think of is that i know a lot of we know a lot of women who are, you know, in their 30s and 40s and unmarried. Invariably they say there are no good men. [laughter] is it because were not manufacturing good men . Were only manufacturing good women . What was that . [inaudible] were still here. [laughter] thats one. That was a statement from big sexy. [laughter] you know, in all seriousness as a black guy right. I think this issue is very large in minority communities where you see minority women outperform the minority men right, right. Its even more distinct than whats going on in the white community. Right. And so your question about whats going on with the boys is very serious question to my mind. Right. I do think that, you know, its a change in the economy. Right. Thats part of it. It used to be if you had but there are structural differences in society too. Thats what im saying yeah. Not only the attitudes, but the culture. You asked to stop helping women along, ill just tell you this quick, funny story. I was once talking to the head of a university. And as i pointed out to you, women are the majority of undergraduate students right now in america. And i was saying to him, well, you know, why is that . He was saying, well, we have were making every effort with the young men. In essence, he was saying we have affirmative action to bring young men to campus. Interesting. And i was like, well, why bother . If you have Better Qualified young women, why dont you just take them . And he said, well, you have to understand. Girls like boys. [laughter] so they want boys on campus. [laughter] now, when i thought about this, i thought, wow, what an insulting statement. [laughter] you have the boys on campus to attract the girls, thats about it. [laughter] they have football programs because the girls want that kind of activity and action on the campus. But its all about the girls. Anyway, in this book, in we the people i tell the story of Betty Friedan. And this gaithersburg book festival is a good setting to say that Betty Friedans book, the feminine mystique, has told over three million copies. Profound cultural impact. Unbelievable. Saying that american women are being underestimated, underutilized in terms of intellectual compassionty that the happy suburban housewife is a myth and its not satisfying to american women and the like. It led to the feminist movement, but craig touched on this earlier. It has changed us as an American People in terms of family structure. Women saying, you know what . I may not need to get married earlier. Why is my life about getting married and having kids as opposed to developing my career, my educational background. These issues, this change in america as we live in it as opposed to the america of the Founding Fathers, i think thats why Betty Friedan is one of the founders of modern america as we know it today. You know, i just want to say, youve stimulated a lot of thinking. Im sure the founders wouldnt recognize America Today, but im not sure that they would disapprove. The country they envisioned was a country of individual, of rugged individualists, of maximum freedom consistent with law and order, and people were allowed to rise to the highest level of attainment without the heavy hand of nobility or government. Right. So this hypothetical, but do you think the founders would approve of America Today . Well, i tell ya, one of the ways people say, you know, whats your book about when you bump into them on the street, and i always say i have a little elevator speech. The elevator speech, craig, goes like this. Its an answer to your question, which is that if thomas jefferson, alexander hamilton, George Washington showed up at the gaithersburg book festival, theyd be rock stars. Wed say, hey, forget juan, lets go meet the Founding Fathers, right . [laughter] so theyre Walking Around and you say, hey, mr. Hamilton, theres a hit broadway show about you and George Washington. [laughter] you dont know, we have colleges named after you, we have a city named its unbelievable. And they would say to each and every one of you as they walk around gaithersburg, theyd say, you know, on that big highway we saw there were cameras on the lamp post. What are those cameras for . And youd say, oh, theyre for speeders and for criminals, you know, to prevent crime. And theyd say, wait a minute, you mean the government has you under constant surveillance . Yeah, yeah. Something about the fourth amendment. Right. I cant believe it, thats the way you live in America Today . So i dont think theyd be so happy about that. Okay. But what they would be happy about, how only the elites actually read books in 1776 and 1787, right . But here we are at the book festival, everybody reads books. So i would think that they would approve the democratization of reading. Oh well access to knowledge. Obviously, you know, mr. Jeffersons library, the library of congress. Library of congress. So, yes, they would appreciate. But, i mean, its like title of the book, you know, we the people, or, i mean, it almost makes me want to cry, the words all men are created equal. Its so inspiring, such a beacon beyond our shores but to the world in terms of ideal of governments and how we should treat each other and how we should organize ourselves as people. And yet, i mean, obviously they did not recognize blacks as fully human, and they gave women no rights. And when you talk about who got to read books, who got an education, it was the elites. Yeah. It was absolutely an economic elite. Wealthy gentlemen, yeah. I think everybody should come inside here. [laughter] its pouring. We have seats available, and there are chairs over there. Seats over here, yeah, over here. Please. You, at one point you were talking, and you made a gesture like this, because i want to ask you about your writing routine. You were thinking about things, and it reminds me about a story about james thurber, of course, wrote the walter mitty books. He was at a dinner party in the 1920s, 30s in new york city, and theres champagne corks popping, people laughing, food being served, music being played, and hes staring off into space not conversing with anybody. Hes doing this for hours on end. Finally, his wife turns to him and says, james, stop writing. [laughter] now, i have a certain routine. Michael crichton, you know, would have a cup of coffee and eat a ham sandwich and start at 1 00 and write for five hours. The next day hed start at 2 00, and the next day hed start at 3 00, and thats the way he wrote. Do you have a particular routine, the way a regimen, the way you write . Well, because my day job is so unpredictable which is as a journalist, you know, sometimes things happen. You know, this political year, for example, with conventions and donald trump and all the rest sure. Primaries, late night primary coverage. Absolutely. So theres no way for me to well, that makes it doubly hard then. Right. But lets say its a blank day. Right. Like, lets say its a saturday, and hopefully nothings breaking. Like the gaithersburg book festival. [laughter] right. On those days what i do is i wake up, and getting to be an old man, i dont sleep as much as i used to. I would wake up even on a rainy morning, and i would have a little oatmeal and coffee, and then i my brain, i think, is working pretty well. Right. Its interesting. I have two periods where i feel like my brain is really in gear, and i think it comes from being a Washington Post brad graham might have something to say about this. So my brain works really well from about 10 to 1, but then all of a sudden, i dont know what happens, but from about 4 30 to 7 30, i can really rock. And i think that comes from being trained to handle deadlines. Because thats when, you know, the First Edition of bulldog, youd have to get the story done by about 7 30, 8 00 at night. From the time i was a young person, thats when i really had to perform. I felt like there was no getting around that deadline. So that still is part of my makeup. Im usually into a glass of wine about then. [laughter] whos your favorite writer . Well, i have lots of different kinds of favorite writers. I was looking around the gaithersburg you cant mention anybody at fox. [laughter] no, i wont do that. I dont want to offend you. [laughter] only one. Only one. [laughter] but, you know, i mean, i really for example, i noticed that [inaudible] yeah. And i was thinking i really like Lawrence Block. I like Lawrence Block mysteries a great deal. And then, of course, you have, you know, i mean, theres no getting around, when people ask me what do you think of the great books of the 20th century, i think invisible man right. I just think thats an incredible piece of work. Right. So theres no shortage. Im a big ready. Im a big fan of books. Right. The front coffer here, youve got cover here, youve got in Mount Rushmore style billy graham, Ronald Reagan, l nor roosevelt and thurgood marshall. Why those four individuals . Obviously, this is about postwar america, the people who had the most impact. But there are other people, Lyndon Johnson or john kennedy or other people who had Henry Kissinger who had dramatic impact on postwar america. Why are these four on your cover . Well, i dont know about you, Craig Shirley, but i do not design covers. [laughter] but but i love the idea, which the idea is they came to me after reading the book and the book taking so actually, i do. You design your covers . I have a big hand in them. Not me. But in the book you mentioned eleanor roosevelt, Daniel Patrick moynihan, Martin Luther all the people you mentioned here are i think thats because the person who designed the cover read the book, thank goodness. [laughter] thatd be a first
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