Anna D. Shapiro

I'm getting less and less interested in the problems of youth. I'm much more interested in the idea of emotional paralysis, and I find myself less interested in work that doesn't have anything to do with a conversation about the world.

So many of my friends are actors, and so many of them are great, and they're losing jobs to people who have never been in plays before; I understand that sometimes I'm part of the problem. But I'm trying to figure out how to balance it.

In 1967, the world health community launched a global effort to eradicate smallpox. It took a coordinated, worldwide effort, required the commitment of every government, and cost $130 million dollars. By 1977, smallpox had disappeared.