Religion often partakes of the myth of progress that shields us from the terrors of an uncertain future.

Listeners are kind of ambushed... if a poem just happens to be said when they're listening to the radio. The listener doesn't have time to deploy what I call their 'poetry deflector shields' that were installed in high school - there's little time to resist the poem.

I thought that I held the record of most appearances on the Bob Hope Show, but I think - It's Brooke Shields.

Stripped of its plot, the 'Iliad' is a scattering of names and biographies of ordinary soldiers: men who trip over their shields, lose their courage or miss their wives. In addition to these, there is a cast of anonymous people: the farmers, walkers, mothers, neighbours who inhabit its similes.

See how the symbols stretch across all three shields? They represent a God.

Religion often partakes of the myth of progress that shields us from the terrors of an uncertain future.

Even though I never worked with her it was still really cool to have Brooke Shields on set. She was so nice and so funny.