I discovered that Robert Todd Lincoln was there for each of the first three assassinations. I wanted to write about the Lincoln Memorial, so when I found out he had attended its dedication, that helped focus it further.

I get younger people who watch Conan or The Daily Show, but before that it was mostly people who knew me from public radio. Those people are kind of old.

The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Civil War - when I really think about them, they all seem about as likely as the parting of the Red Sea.

Jesus and Lincoln, Moses and Jefferson can seem so long gone, so unbelievable, so dead.

One night last summer, all the killers in my head assembled on a stage in Massachusetts to sing show tunes.