Daniel Yergin is the author of The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World. Before talking about the future of U.S. energy consumption, he admitted that he’s grown attached to some fancy t-shirts, and that his own desk isn’t very neat.
Q. What kind of car do you drive?
A. I drive a Volvo, which is one of the requisite cars in Northwest Washington [D.C.].
Q. Do you have any recurring dreams or nightmares?
A. Sometimes that I can’t find my notes [before a lecture].
Q. What did you have for lunch today?
A. A Greek salad with chicken.
Q. Where do you do your best work?
A. Stretched out on the couch late at night.
Q. If you could learn another language, what would it be?
A. Chinese.
Q. What piece of clothing can’t you live without?
A. I’ve become very attached to some t-shirts I bought at half-price at the Brooks Brothers sale.
Q. Who was your childhood hero?
A. Adlai Stevenson. Later, it was writers-the new journalists. I learned a lot from them.
Q. Who do you feel is most threatened by your new book?
A. People who think it’s all over, that it’s too late-doom and gloom. Because I think it’s an optimistic book.
Q. What is something that very few people know about you?
A. My godfather was the actor Peter Lorre-he was in Casablanca.
Q. What do you do to pass time on an airplane?
A. Read every article in the newspaper.
Q. What impresses you?
A. Intelligence, people who really demonstrate effective leadership-and anyone who can manage to have a neat desk.
Read more about Daniel Yergin’s lecture here.
*Photo by Aaron Salcido.