I've known English professor Neil Meyer for many years, since our time spent concurrently at the CUNY Graduate Center, which spanned more or less the entire Bush and early Obama eras. I never knew Neil was from Detroit before this conversation, and the discovery allowed us an entryway into a wide range of historical and political phenomenon. We talked about his work in early American literature, his thoughts on gay marriage, abortion, and other pieces of the so-called "culture war," and of course, our mutual concern about James Franco's graduate studies.