I think one of the reasons that I got so good at it, as somebody making radio stories, is that on the radio I can actually - I can understand what's happening in the interview and can make a connection in a way that makes sense.

Semiotics is really interested in the questions like, what keeps you watching something, what keeps you - you know, what keeps you listening to a story on the radio? Like, what keeps you turning the pages in a book? What's the pleasure of it that's moving you forward, that's pulling you in and grabbing you and pulling you forward?

I didn't watch T.V. from the time I was 18 'til my mid-30s. And then I got a T.V. to watch 'The Sopranos.' I realized, 'Oh, T.V. is really interesting.'

It's rare for me to read any fiction. I almost only read nonfiction. I don't believe in guilty pleasures, I only believe in pleasures. People who call reading detective fiction or eating dessert a guilty pleasure make me want to puke.

I don't go looking for stories with the idea of wrongness in my head, no. But the fact is, a lot of great stories hinge on people being wrong.

When I was in college, I was a semiotics major, which is this hopelessly pretentious body of French literary theory.

I'm not a go-in-for-the-kill kind of interviewer. It's a great thing to me, that kind of interviewer, but I'm not it. It doesn't play to my strengths at all. I like to interview people who are interested in telling their story and tell it as truthfully as they can.

I read the newspaper, but I live in my own little bubble.

Honestly, like, I'm a superfan of the 'New York Times,' but I know nothing about how they put it together, and I really don't care.

I was a temp secretary for a long time, and I went at it with a passion, and I tried to do a nice job in all my jobs.

I eat the same breakfast and lunch every day, both at my desk. I employ no time-saving tricks at all.

In general in New York, we all eat like kings. Insane quality, mind-blowing variety, at all price ranges.

Not owning a car anymore, I feel like I'm barely an American. I miss it. And I barely ever get to listen to the radio in the car, which is the best place for radio.

I'm a cliche.

I didn't have any particular talent for fiction. I took a class in college.

I don't know how to read. I get all my news from Jon Stewart every day.

I don't meet many people who are talking about shows on Showtime.

The Flash could do everything twice as fast. Except you never saw him think twice as fast or speak twice as fast. Could he do math faster than the other superheroes? Could he compute the tip for the bill twice as fast?

The TiVo is really an amazing machine. Like everyone who has one, I totally recommend it. Just as everyone who's married will tell you to get married, and everyone who has a baby tells you to have a baby, everyone who owns a TiVo will tell you to get a TiVo, and they'll say things like 'Your life will be completely different.' It's true.

I suppose I shouldn't go around admitting I speak untruths on the radio. When I say something untrue on the air, I mean for it to be transparently untrue. I assume people know when I'm just saying something for effect. Or to be funny.

I hate dream sequences in movies and T.V. shows generally for their heavy-handed symbolism and storytelling tediousness.

I only got interested in radio once I talked my way into an internship at NPR's headquarters in Washington, D.C. in 1978, never having heard the network on the air.

The atheist market is a very overlooked and powerful market, it turns out.

There is a feeling, when you listen to radio, that it's one person, and they're talking to you, and you really feel their presence as one person.

The flakier your mission, the fiercer you have to be on the business side.

Unless you work for '60 Minutes', your life is: You do stories about things, and nothing happens as a result.

I feel like, in general in my work life, my main goal has been to just be in a situation where I'm not bored with my job. That's been the entire principle. Got my wish.

I can only control what I can control.

Nothing is better than going home to family and eating good food and relaxing.

My ideal man is faithful, honest, and a gentleman who knows how to treat women.

What I've never understood is why some women use plastic surgery to make themselves more attractive to men. The most beautiful woman is someone who's happy and is always smiling.

For my body, I like high-waisted jeans because they make your leg look longer and hides this extra thing on my stomach. You can eat extra food with it because it hides, and I like to tuck in my t-shirts.

I was born and raised in a small village, and I didn't even think I was especially pretty.

I'm Russian: I'm into men, diamonds, and caviar.

Use coconut oil; it is one of the best moisturizers. Use it right after the shower on wet skin and then wipe it off with a towel.

I travel around the world, and there are so many beautiful girls, but that's not going to make you a supermodel. You have to have something more than just a pretty face.

I think whatever dress you wear, people will criticise you. Different people have different opinions.

I don't spend a lot of money on clothes, which is weird because I am a fashion model, but when it comes to the new collections coming out, I am just praying designers send it to me for free.

I am trying to concentrate on books. You know, I love Dostoevsky; he's my favourite writer.

Sometimes I wake up and think I look horrible. And sometimes I see a strong woman.

I always had a short bob with bangs, and I hated it. My mum would always say, 'A short hair cut is always the way to go for you.' I had it for fourteen years!

Stay away from the sun and remember the skin on a woman's neck, hands and face is sensitive and ages easily, so apply a high SPF sunscreen on those areas.

It doesn't matter if you're small, big, or fit: if you go in front of the camera and deliver and say, 'Oh my God, I look amazing,' and just be sure about yourself, everything will be perfect.

I do boxing; I do a little jiu jitsu, which I am obsessed with.

We will all be gone one day. Not as a negative thing - as a positive thing, too, you know, and we should leave something behind ourselves.

The only art I have is a Polaroid from Peter Beard from his book. I shot with him four years ago, and he did a special Polaroid for me, so I consider it a piece of art.

My father was dark skinned because he was Tatar. Sometimes Tatars can look Brazilian.

Even if you have some extra kilos, you don't need to kill yourself for that; you just have to look at yourself as a positive.

I'm always sad to leave paradise, but I leave behind the hopes of coming again soon.

I started playing piano age six. I was also singing in the choir, so my mum put me into music school. I went to study there for seven years, but it was not my passion. I quit because I wanted to study marketing. But I can still play piano.