Isaac Butler

We're more than just our productivity.

The arts are an absolutely vital part of being a human being and of being a citizen.

And I genuinely believe that the government has a place in guaranteeing that the arts can flourish so that human beings in our individuality can flourish as well.

To me, art...

isn't exactly quote unquote useful.

You know, it's not a wrench or a light bulb or a, I don't know, you could tell it's almost lunchtime because I'm going to say, you know, like a chicken salad sandwich or whatever.

But art is incredibly enriching to who we are.

And each different art form, each different medium has a different role to play within that.

That came from, you know, just my own reading that during both Trump administrations, there were a lot of works of purported history that were really overly determined by the writer's desire to comment on the present day.

You know, that's not actually what I'm doing.

I'm writing about this thing in the 80s and 90s that I think lays the groundwork for a lot.

And I think there's lots to learn from it.

I really genuinely do.

But maybe I'll write some essays about that after it comes out.

Or maybe I'll give interviews where I talk about that after it comes out.

What I wanted was a book that would speak to people beyond the Trump administration.

Well, my best friend since the third grade wrote me and he said, all three of your books are actually about you in high school, aren't they?

He wasn't wrong.

You know, I saw Angels in America my freshman year of high school.

I studied Stanislavski's theories in high school.