Fiction was useful as a reminder of the truths under the surface of what we argue about every day and was a way of seeing and hearing the voices, the multitudes of this country.

For a moment, our hometown becomes the very definition of joy.

I think Lahiri's books, I think D?az's books, do speak to a very particular contemporary immigration experience.

It is a game, and it is celebration, but there's a direct line between Jackie Robinson and me standing here.

There's something particular about quieting yourself and having a sustained stretch of time that is different from music or television or even the greatest movies.

I said, sometimes, it's not enough just to change the laws, you've got to change hearts.

But even I was not crazy enough to suggest that during these 8 years we would see the Cubs win the World Series.

It helps direct us in terms of what this country has been and what it can be in the future.

Sports has a way, sometimes, of changing hearts in a way that politics or business doesn't.

I'm not sure yet. I'll have to see when I start writing the next book.

Congratulations to the 2016 World Championship Chicago Cubs!

I think that four years is OK. Eight years would be a problem. I would be concerned about a sustained period in which some of these norms have broken down and started to corrode.