New York University cultural analyst Andrew Ross is the author of Bird on Fire: Lessons from the World’s Least Sustainable City. On a balmy evening in Phoenix, he talked (in a light Scottish brogue) about the months he likes best there, his children, and his time on an oil rig in the North Sea before discussing whether Phoenix can ever become a green city.
Q. What do you like best about Phoenix?
A. January and February.
Q. What’s the strangest job you’ve ever had?
A. I worked for a while in the North Sea oil industry off the coast of Scotland, and I was ordered to spray paint the side of an oil rig in 50- or 60-mile-an-hour winds. I was ordered to do this for a few weeks-it was a completely and utterly futile task.
Q. What’s your favorite drink?
A. A gin and tonic.
Q. Where do you go to be alone?
A. That’s difficult because I have small children. I have to go to my office, or I go to a café.
Q. What did you wish for on your last birthday?
A. I don’t generally make wishes on my birthday; I let my family make wishes on my behalf.
Q. Who was your childhood hero?
A. That’s a really tough one. Probably my Sunday school teacher.
Q. What time do you wake up in the morning?
A. 6:00.
Q. Where and how do you get your news?
A. Almost entirely online.
Q. When did you last dance?
A. Very recently, in my own home-I dance with my children a lot.
Q. What do you wish you had invented?
A. One of those [points at the interviewer’s laptop, laughing].
*Photo by Felipe Ruiz Acosta.