Brandon Flowers

For the most part, the first thing people I meet that aren't Mormon say is, 'I grew up with a Mormon family. They're the nicest people I know.' So when I see these statistics that it's the most hated religion, I don't know where they're getting that from.

I was raised in the church, and there's still a fire burning inside me. I definitely don't ever want to be preachy. But less and less young people are religious. The thing is, I see so many positive things about religion, so I'm happy to talk about it.

As I've gotten older, I've wanted to represent Las Vegas more. Represent the Southwest. It's a magical place. The desert. I do understand people's criticisms, but it's a magical place and a beautiful city, even though there are a lot of things that are wrong with it.

If I'm not barefoot, you'll probably find me with a pair of New Balance on. And I'm not one of those hipster-jump-on-the-band-wagon-ironically-cool NB fans. I've been rocking those kicks since they were true nerd shoes. Since the '80s, yo! Word.

Many of Judy Blume's books - which I devoured when I was growing up and where I found characters that were believable because they were a lot like me - caused considerable consternation when they were first published, but now they're widely accepted as an essential part of the children's literary canon.