All the books you’ve read

From Three Bed Two Bath

From Peter Carlin’s interview with Tom Brokaw’s replacement, Brian Williams.

He’s moved among the world’s most powerful people for years, but Williams still works overtime to learn more about the nation and world he covers. A voracious reader of U.S. history (he’s currently reading John Dean’s biography of President Warren Harding and the diaries of Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson), Williams goes berserk when asked about C-Span.

“Oh my God. Oh yes, oh yes,” he said. “Ask my kids about me and Book-TV. Ask them what happens when I have a spare moment. I’ll watch anything on C-Span.”

All this, he knows, serves somehow to prepare for days such as Sept. 11, 2001, when network anchors must confront the camera for hours on end to narrate history’s most jarring moments.

“There’s no script, no teleprompter, nothing set up to help you,” Williams said. “This is where your learning comes in, all the books you’ve read, all the knowledge you can muster about your country.”

All the books you’ve read. This is why, when the Wife and I go to a stranger’s house, especially if they have kids, the first thing we look for are the bookshelves. No bookshelves, we get nervous.