"The third of the trinity, and definitely the holy ghost of the analogy. The DKs were more sarcastic, political, and just plain weird—I think East Bay Ray's guitar work is hugely underrated, and they were generally musically more interesting than a lot of their peers. I could have picked any of their records, really, but this one has the classics."

"I’d say Casablanca. I love that it was a combination of political… It had a great love story, and it was unpredictable. It didn’t have the classic Hollywood ending, and that was what was great about it. Also, I love Humphrey Bogart, because he had the great ability to be masculine, yet vulnerable, and that was the perfect role to display that."

"‘No book destabilized my fraught notions of racial distinction and hierarchy — the belief that each race had different genes, diseases and natural abilities — more than this vigorous critique of the ‘biopolitics of race.’ Roberts, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, shows unequivocally that all people are indeed created equal, despite political and economic special interests that keep trying to persuade us otherwise."

". . . because it’s Don Siegel and film noir at its best. And because Lee Marvin is outstanding in it. Marvin became a friend after The Dirty Dozen [in which Cooper was one of the dozen]. Sadly, I failed to make a political thriller that Lee and I wanted to do, which had been coscripted by Christopher Hudson, with whom I co-wrote Overlord."

"Mabanckou is one of the greatest storytellers, famous for his book, Black Moses. Les Cigognes Sont Immortelles, which combines the personal and political; it shows the impact that history, violence and civil war has on a family, against the backdrop of colonization and decolonization. I was particularly struck by this recent quote of his: “The civilization of tomorrow is the sum of marginalities."

"The Descendents don’t have a political agenda or the sense of humour of a band like the Ramones. They’re straight-up suburban punk. They’re clearly not from the gutter, but they still have this energy and anger which comes from a different place. Just because you grew up in the suburbs, doesn’t have to preclude you from making exciting and important music."

"Through a series of essays, Baldwin discusses the significance of actors, Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier and others, all mainstream entertainers and pivotal members of the Civil rights movement. Their on- and off-screen lives became political statements around the racial landscape of America. Baldwin recognizes the double-edged sword of media: A celebration and suppression of the Black community."

"This is a book that literally changed my life. It gave me my career when I played Maryann Singleton in the miniseries. It has given me friendships that have elevated my understanding of love. And it has given me a connection to Armistead, an author and political activist whose character is so solid and profoundly good that I named my son after him."