Siddhartha Mukherjee is the author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction, and The Gene: An Intimate History. He also is an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University and a cancer physician and researcher. Before speaking at a Zócalo event about genes—“Will Genetic Engineering Endanger Humanity?”—he talked about chocolate for breakfast, Einstein’s hair, and Scrabble.
What did you have for breakfast today?
Chocolate and coffee.
What superpower would you most like to have?
The capacity to read other peoples minds.
What dessert do you find impossible to resist?
Tiramisu or anything that has lemon in it.
Who was your childhood hero?
I loved scientists like Einstein. Especially his hair.
What’s your favorite restaurant?
Larsen’s, on Martha’s Vineyard. It’s a seafood shack where you sit on crates and eat oysters and lobsters.
What’s the hardest thing about being a doctor?
Encountering the inner lives of patients and trying to help sort out what they feel is the best next step for them.
What’s the last habit you tried to kick?
Biting my nails.
What social media site do you spend the most time on?
I try to do no social media.
What’s the last board game you played?
I play Scrabble like a maniac.
What does it take to get you on the dance floor?
Pushing and pulling.
What famous person, living or dead, would you most like to meet?
George Orwell.