"we need to tell stories about ourselves, because others are talking too. Every book and movie out there with a cop as a hero, saving the world from terrorists and thugs hellbent on chaos? We need to counter that. We need books about the oppressed, about the beauty of resistance."

"fiction – not just written fiction, but stories in general – are how we generate what we perceive as possible, as a society and as individuals. And so we need stories that show other ways of living, besides the one that we’re in now that is obviously doing us all a great bit of disservice."

"As much as I’m honored by this award, I do want to address what’s happening right now outside of the building. There are ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities in the name of law and order. Trump is using military forces to stop a protest. And I want y'all to consider what kind of government it appears to be when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us. What type of government is that? People are being swept up and torn from their families, and I feel it's my responsibility as an artist to use this moment to speak up for all oppressed people. For Black people, for Latino people, for trans people, for the people in Gaza. We all deserve to live in hope and not in fear, and I hope we stand together, my brothers and my sisters, against hate, and we protest against it."

"Tina Weymouth can hold her own among the best bass players in the world. That's been the case for quite a long time. Weymouth’s punk-tinged, funk-infused bass lines have influenced countless women to pick up a bass and follow a path that is not foreign in the modern day. Whether we're talking about her work with Talking Heads or her own band Tom Tom Club (with husband and fellow Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz), Weymouth has always delivered the goods. She plays with confidence and continues to innovate."

"I started playing bluegrass music at such an early age that it never really dawned on me that I was the only female around at times. I think that was one of the reasons that I fell in love with Alison Krauss so early on. I was nine years old when I got my first Alison Krauss recording and she really became a big hero to me. I remember getting my first Rhonda Vincent album, too. I didn’t know anything about her music, yet, but I thought it was so cool to see a woman holding a mandolin on the album cover. I remember being about nine or 10 and thinking, ‘that will be me someday—a woman mandolin player!"

"I think we have, just like in society, a way to go for everybody to be recognized equally. [...] But I think women have learned business and honed their craft. They’re great musicians. I think that’s been a very important point for women growing in bluegrass.” For Bradley, Emmylou Harris was one of her first inspirations in music. “When Emmylou came out with ‘Roses in the Snow,’ I was a teenager and that absolutely, that was just it, that was the first real representation of the female artist making one of the best records that ever been in bluegrass, acoustic and roots music."

"Born and raised in the coalfields of Appalachia, Dale Ann Bradley today is one of the most respected bluegrass vocalists, with five IBMA Vocalist of the Year Awards under her belt. She’s got the kind of hard twang of the best Appalachian bluegrass singers, and she’s always one with a kind word and helping hand for new musicians."

"We make memories every day and everywhere we go, it's just shenanigans. Something always happens. I think the secret to a really great friendship is just creating fun memories whenever you're with that person. Bella is a surprise every day. That's the best part of our friendship. She's very bubbly and bright, and I'm more mellow, so we are kind of like our characters in a sense. We fit together so well because whatever I lack she has and whatever she lacks I have."

"Advice I would give to my younger self? I don’t know that I would really give her advice. She was a little too angry to take advice. I’d probably just get in a fight with her. I’m very thankful for it [childhood]. Of course, when I deal with things in therapy and whatnot, therapy has helped me a lot to figure my own shit out. It’s really helped me understand and not be so angry in life. I think I always felt like I didn’t necessarily have a voice, the way I grew up. It was like everyone else’s voice was on me."

"Good neighbors make good fences."

"You’re the prettiest mermaid in the souvenir shop But if you’re coming home this late, you know you’d better be drunk."

"The doctor put her hands over my liver She told me my resentment’s getting smaller"

"Hey, why do you sing with an English accent? I guess it’s too late to change it now."

"I don’t want to be stoned anymore."

"I don’t need a savior I need you to take me home"

"I woke up in my childhood bed wishing I was someone else feeling sorry for myself When I remembered someone’s kid is dead"

"What right had you not to let me die?"

"It’s the mercy I can’t take."

"Day-one chip on your dresser get loaded at your house"

"The people in her songs seem to naturally settle into realms of instability and ambiguity."

"I want what we have, our beautiful life But the stillness, the stillness, might eat me alive"

"Wish I could write songs about anything other than death."

"I thought you'd hit rock bottom, but I'm starting to think that it doesn't exist You've been falling for so long and you haven't hit anything solid yet"

"I let my mind get turned inside out Just to see what the kids were laughing about And it wasn't worth understanding Something I could've gone my whole life not knowing."

"If you hadn’t come over, I would be so much colder I would be much less confused"

"Good God, when’re you gonna call it off Climb down off the cross and change your mind? All right, then, I’ll go to hell"

"A preacher in a t-shirt told me I could be a leader [...] You showed me the light All it did, in the end, was make the dark feel darker than before"

"You used to be so sweet Now you’re a firecracker on a crowded street"

"How did they betray me? What did I do? I never touched you how I wanted to If you get married, I’d object Throw my shoe at the altar and lose your respect"

"This summer hurts!"

"You’ll be a home for ungrateful drones who will churn your bones to butter."

"Is there room in the band? I don't need to be the frontman If not then I'll be the biggest fan."

"Without you I am surely the last of our kind Without you I am surely the last of my kind"

"What if it’s all black, baby, all the time?"

"You are burdened by only your dangerous mind"

"I’m in a state again, but I stay polite It keeps me alive"

"There comes a time when you decide if you fight it off or learn to die."

"I need to stop singing in code To start ringing true because true rings only"

"I’ll wrap Orion’s belt around my neck and kick the chair out."

"Beat myself till I’m bloody, and I’ll give you a ringside seat."

"We're just spinning where we stand"

"Fame is weird. I’ve never been super famous. I’ve always been somewhat recognizable. It’s been the healthiest trajectory. [It’s] not a scary spike. I have my priorities. I know who I am. I know where I’m going. I know what it means. It means that I’m getting to do what I love."

"Jennifer's Body is my favourite movie that I've done. It was overlooked in theatres, but it does have a DVD following. I can't believe nobody wanted to see Megan Fox and me hitting it. They had an extreme close-up of our tongues, and I'm telling you, the thing about the scene is that it's actually really sexy. For a young girl to say that about her own sex scene - it must be because it's special. I think Megan and I kissed really well together. We have similar kissing styles and it worked. We got it done for the masses, and the masses still didn't show up."

"I try to break your walls but all I ever end up breaking is your bones And the bruises show Standing in the living room talking as you’re staring at your phone It’s a cold I’ve known"

"I am fake it till you make it in a can And you have a calmness that I could never understand"

"I lost myself to a dream I had And I’d never give it all away But I miss feeling like a person"

"I found God on Sunday morning laying next to you My arms stretched out like Jesus White sheets nail me down to the bed."

"I don't wanna be your fucking dog That you drag around A collar on my neck tied to a pole Leave me in the freezing cold."

"Mary has a heart of coal She’ll break you down and eat you whole I saw her do it after school She’s an animal."