What are your pets, what are their names and what are their nicknames?
My dog Max’s full name is Maximus Toretto Blueberry Millman Gay. He is a very gay dog. His nicknames are Fluffin, Fluffinator, Fluxin, Fluxinator, Mr. Poopy Papadopoulos, Mr. Poopyhead, Mr. Poopy and Maxipoo. That might be enough.
What is the weirdest thing you have done for love?
Live with cats.
What was your most embarrassing encounter with a celebrity?
I had interviewed Michelle Obama on stage at a conference and afterwards there was a line to take a photo with her. Because I had interviewed her I was at the front of the line, but there were some celebrities there too – Issa Rae and Tiffany Haddish. I really admire Issa Rae, I think she is incredibly talented, so I said to her, “The last season of Insecure was Superlative.”
I don’t use the word “superlative” in my everyday life. I don’t know where that came from! And Tiffany Haddish was like, “‘Superlative’? Well, aren’t you super too?” I was like, “Oh my God, let the dance floor open up and accommodate me now.”
Until recently, they had their own Advice column. What is the best advice You ever received?
It’s not as glamorous, but it was my friend Matt. When I entered the academic job market, he told me, “Just be yourself.” That may sound trite, but it wasn’t – what he meant was that if you’re not yourself in an interview and you get the job, you have to pretend to be that person forever. If you show up as yourself, everyone will either accept you for who you are or they won’t – but either way, you can be true to yourself. I took his advice very seriously, and it made my transition into academia much easier.
And what is the worst advice you have ever received?
When I was teaching at Purdue University, I wanted to move to Indianapolis—it’s a medium-sized city, but it has a nice airport, shopping, theaters, and recreational activities. But my colleagues told me I needed to move to Lafayette, a much smaller city, so I could be closer to campus and be more available to my students. They were so wrong. I should have stayed in Indianapolis. And it’s not because I can’t handle small towns. It’s because this particular city wasn’t compatible with my mental health, okay?
Which of your opinions has changed the most over the course of your life?
Most of my opinions don’t change. Not because I think I’m right, but because we believe what we believe. And most of the things I believe are things like: Women should have control over their bodies. Violence is bad. Everyone should pay their fair share of taxes. We should have a much higher minimum wage. Those are not things I’m going to change my mind about.
If anything, I would say that achieving a certain level of success and financial stability only radicalized me because the more content I became, the more I realized that everyone should have it good. Everyone should be able to have a roof over their head. Everyone should be able to feed their children. Everyone should have access to good schools and good child care. My views have hopefully become more progressive, if anything.
What is your most controversial opinion about pop culture?
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Oh man. Her fans can be crazy. My point is, I think Taylor Swift is incredibly talented, but her music just doesn’t speak to me. I wish she did, because my nieces are so in love with her. My wife and I are very supportive of her, but I think I was just a little too old when Swift became incredibly popular.
I respect her as a businesswoman and as a musician. She’s clearly talented, but her music just doesn’t grab me. That’s okay.
What book, film or piece of music do you keep coming back to and why?
Legends of the Fall. It’s just a great movie. I love epic sagas, I love a group of people riding horses. Why not? As an adult, I realize that some movies are actually not very good, but I can still enjoy them.
What has been your biggest fashion crime so far?
At the height of the pandemic, I wore absolutely everything to the supermarket. I once wore knee socks, shorts, a shirt and a weird hat to the supermarket, plus gloves and a mask because we didn’t really know how you could catch Covid back then. I accepted it. I thought, now is a time when I can wear anything. It didn’t matter. I wore overalls. It was great.
What are you secretly really good at?
I have incredible reflexes. If you throw something, I’ll catch it. If I drop something, I’ll catch it before it hits the ground. If something needs catching, I’m here for you.
