There is much to dislike about President Obama's approach to the financial crisis. But opposition it seems will have to come from somewhere other than conservatism. The party out of power is also a party out of touch.

We work hard on the show. We really believe in the show. It's an enormous privilege to work on a show that has the power to touch people's lives in such a positive way. The fan mail and the e-mail certainly reflect that.

People deal too much with the negative with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things to just touch those things and make them bloom?

On the mountains mistakes are fatal. In politics mistakes are wounding emotionally but you recover. Personally wilderness helps me get back in touch with natural rhythms helps me reflect and in the process restore my creativity.

I call it people-to-people politics and that's what politics should be about reaching out and helping one another and touching one another about what we're going to do.

Well I think any time you delve into this sort of religion politics as you well know you're going to you know touch a few nerves. I wasn't - now - and this is the honest truth.

If I do a poetry reading I want people to walk out and say they feel better for having been there - not because you've done a comedy performance but because you're talking about your father dying or having young children things that touch your soul.

When you're looking that far out you're giving people their place in the universe it touches people. Science is often visual so it doesn't need translation. It's like poetry it touches you.

We simply have not kept in touch with poetry.

Romance like a ghost escapes touching it is always where you are not not where you are. The interview or conversation was prose at the time but it is poetry in the memory.