Alan Alda’s seven questions

Seven questions and a guest’s answers close out each episode of Alan Alda’s podcast Clear + Vivid. As with the questions in the New York Times feature “By the Book,” I’ve decided to answer them myself. How about you? (Again, why should only well-known people have all the fun?)

What do you wish you really understood?

Chemistry and physics. The idea that things are made of “elements” and composed of atoms, endlessly agitating, is at odds with my experience of everyday reality, in which water is made of, well, water, and a desk isn’t something you could drive a pencil through if the atoms were arranged in a certain formation.

How do you tell someone that they have their facts wrong?

“That isn’t really the case,” or “That’s not entirely true,” followed by an explanation supported by evidence. I had to do that kind of thing often when teaching, to counter mistaken notions about writing that students brought with them to college — for instance, the belief that it’s wrong to begin a sentence with and or but. How to counter that mistaken belief: explain why a teacher might have prohibited and and but, offer evidence from authorities on usage that the words are acceptable, and offer evidence of the words in use in the work of reputable writers.

What’s the strangest question anyone has ever asked you?

It might be this one, in a classroom, when students were doing some in-class writing: “Where should I write my name?” That gave me insight into the rigidity of some students’ classrooms before college. “Anywhere at the top of the page is fine,” I said.

How do you stop a compulsive talker?

“I need to get ready to teach.” Or, post-retirement, “I really need to get going.” Or “We should get going.”

How do you strike up a real, genuine conversation?

I have no particular way, which might mean that I’m bad at it, or that I’m good at it — in other words, that without a starting strategy, the conversation will be really genuine.

What gives you confidence?

Having written a good sentence.

What book changed your life?

Alvin’s Secret Code, by Clifford Hicks, the book that made me a reader and re-reader in childhood.

Here are Elaine’s answers to the seven questions.

[The questions appear to have changed over time. Here’s an earlier version. I prefer the ones I’ve answered.]