Ira Glass: 'The first time I took ecstasy, my anxiety lifted away'

'I am a pretty worried person'. Photograph: Stuart Mullenberg/This American Life

You might not know his face, but if you're one of the 2.1million listeners who tune into his weekly radio show, you definitely know his voice. Ira Glass is the host and producer of This American Life, a weekly radio show broadcast on 587 local radio stations in the US, the CBC in Canada, ABC in Australia, and as of Sunday, BBC Radio 4 Extra in the UK. As Glass prepares to take his show to another non-American audience, he discusses his feelings about becoming "the face of radio" in the US, and which stories have affected him the most.

This year, you had a cameo in the Veronica Mars movie and a shout-out on The Simpsons, but why didn’t you play yourself onOrange is the New Black?

Well, I haven’t seen it. It’s no bearing on the quality of the show or my desire to see it – but just my utter lack of leisure time. Let’s say I'm a little over-committed. I don’t mean to sound super important, I'm not meeting with the secretary of state or anything. I do the show, I give talks, I walk my dog. Jenji [Kohan] wrote me to make the pitch, and I graciously declined and wished her the best.

Why did you graciously decline?

I thought it was well-written. I thought it was fine. I felt uncomfortable playing myself. It's flattering to be asked and included in such a great show, but it just made me feel strange. I did do a cameo in the Veronica Mars movie, but that just seemed so small and easy and fun, and the whole staff of This American Life was on that, not just me.

You’ve done 523 episodes now, over 19 years [the show began in 1995]. Of all those stories, which have meant the most to you personally?

There are stories that change the way I see stuff, like the Harper High School story. I didn't really understand what it was like to live in a neighborhood like that, or be a kid like that. One of the things we learned is that every kid in the school is in a gang. The nerd kids are in a gang. The drama kids are in a gang. Before I read that series, and this is kind of ugly to say, but I would think, ‘Well, if they got shot they're a gang kid ... that's a bad kid.’ I don't feel that any more at all. Those of us who don't live in neighborhoods like that, we're so dumb.

And then occasionally there will be this moment in a show where I get to talk about my personal life. In this week's show, there's a moment in an interview that I do with Marc Maron. He was an addict, and he's talking about not regretting it. And then I told him a story about taking ecstasy. I really hope it stays in the show.

I am mostly a pretty worried person. In conversations, I am always worried about what to say. The first time I took ecstasy, all of that lifted away. All the anxiety, which is the baseline of my life in some way, and I had this moment of like, wait a second! Are there people who feel this way all the time? This is like a whole way to be, where you don't feel anxious? Oh my god! It was so amazing. In the months after that, it was a really helpful thing to have experienced. It remains to this day a feeling that is helpful to know about. If we could get that on the air it would mean a lot to me.

Do you feel like the face of not only This American Life, but of public radio as a whole?

I only think I am representing This American Life. We are different enough from what is on public radio. Most people who discover it somehow feel like it's their secret. People have a relationship with it that's like 'it's just us'.

So you see This American Life as separate from public radio?

We are both very different and also quintessentially linked to public radio in the US. In terms of tone, we're different, and in terms of the conversational style of it and the subject matter we tackle, we're very different. But then something in the mission of the show is so quintessentially public radio. It’s like we took the principles that everyone is working with, pushed them a little further, and morphed into something completely new.

What are those principles?

I mean there are a lot of super idealistic things that people try to do in public broadcasting that, when you say them out loud, sound so well-meaning, like something noone would ever want to listen to. Those things are to provide a perspective on the world you can't hear elsewhere, to bring you voices you would never hear anywhere else, to provide an analysis of the world you wouldn't get anywhere else.

When I started in public broadcasting, the way we reported on “real people” would be with these quaint little stories about someone with a quaint little hobby like making hammered dulcimers or carving wooden ducks. Figuring out a way to do report on real people, in totally compelling and super fun ways, seemed like an interesting challenge. I figured out if you use plot -- and to get the person to tell a story -- it becomes less precious and way more enjoyable.

This American Life is about to start airing on British radio for the first time, on Radio 4 Extra. Will it translate?

The name is definitely a marketing problem. I think you can tell we had no intention of being an international show. And there's no one in Britain who's like, ‘You know what I don't get enough of? American culture.’

The shows that the BBC chose are really traditional, documentary with a capital D, 'we-are-serious-journalist' stories. The first one includes a story about the Holocaust, because everybody knows that that's a classy story to put on the radio. They are feeling protective of us, [worrying] that their audience will notice that the tone is different and jauntier and more conversational, and not understand the seriousness of intent underneath it. I appreciate that whoever is programming for the BBC is trying to protect us.

I do worry that people will not understand why I'm talking the way I talk as the presenter of the show, and truthfully, when we went on the air in the United States, we would hear from program directors who would say, 'Ira was a great reporter when he was on NPR, but when are you going to get a real host? When is the adult gonna show up?'.

When you see shows like 99% Invisible and Welcome to Night Vale becoming successful, do you worry about TAL getting old? Does it need to evolve to stay relevant?

Maybe I'd be a more canny producer if I did think that way. I don't need other shows to worry about that. For me, the only thing that makes the show interesting is if we're doing something new, and so that's a lot of what I'm thinking about all the time. What else should we do? What else should we do? It’s constantly running through my brain.

'I don't own a radio.' Photograph: Nancy Updike/This American Life

Reader questions: Ira responds

Why don't you tweet?

I don't tweet because I don't need another creative venue. I don't need another form for self-expression. I don't need another way to get my thoughts out to people. I have one. I'm good. But I totally think it's wonderful for anyone who doesn't have their own national radio show. I think it's a fine alternative.

If This American Life were to go off the air, what show would you want it to take its place?

I love Radiolab and I feel like a lot of our audience is already listening to Radiolab but if we went off the air, I would love to give our audience to Radiolab. I think it's a really different, and beautiful, and inspiring show.

How many times does it take you to nail your opening?

We rewrite it usually three or four times. And then in the studio I will probably run through it, parts of it, twice and at the most three times.

How do you take care of your voice?

I don't take care of my voice at all, which is one reason that I sound as bad as I do.

How is your dog, Piney?

He's doing so well. Thanks for asking. We just reran the story that we did about him and I was so excited that we got excited by Cesar Millan's people. So apparently the Dog Whisperer would be willing to fix our whole situation but we graciously declined. For a while he was eating kangaroo and ostrich. And now we've cycled back and he's eating pork, which is amazing because you can buy it at the grocery store.

When do you listen to the radio?

In the morning, when I shave. And really, not for very long. I don't hear the radio that much. I don't own a radio. I listen to everything through apps, or on my iPhone. And then I download the shows I like. Shows like Fresh Air, Radiolab, Snap Judgement, all those shows.

Nine acrobats seriously injured in Providence circus 'hair-hang' fall

Emergency workers tend to injured performers at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence. Photograph: Tara Griggs/AP

A platform collapsed during an aerial hair-hanging stunt at a Rhode Island circus performance on Sunday, sending eight entertainers plummeting to the ground. Nine were seriously injured in the fall, including a dancer below.

Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Ringling Brothers, said the accident happened during an act in which eight female performers hang "like a human chandelier", using their hair.

Payne said eight of the injured acrobats fell up to 40ft, after the metal-frame apparatus from which they were hanging came free from the metal truss to which it was connected.

All the performers had been doing "some variation of this act for some time", Payne said, though he didn't know how long. The current incarnation of the act began in January with the launch of the show, he said.

An eyewitness, Sydney Bragg, 14, said the collapse happened about 90 minutes into the show. She said the platform began to fall as it neared the rafters of the arena. At first, she said, she thought it was part of the act.

"It just went crashing down," Bragg said. "Everyone was freaking out. We heard this huge clatter and then we just heard the girls scream."

She said spotlights were on the performers at the time, but all the lights went out after the fall.

The accident was reported at about 11.45am, during the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus' Legends show at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence.

Providence public safety commissioner Steven Pare said officials and inspectors had not yet determined what caused the accident. He said none of the injuries appears to be life-threatening.

Roman Garcia, general manager of the show, said the accident occurred during the "hair hang" act in which the performers hang from their hair.

The hair-hanging stunt is described on the circus' website as a "larger-than-life act" featuring eight female performers.

"These 'hairialists' perform a combination of choreography and cut-ups including spinning, hanging from hoops, and rolling down wrapped silks, all while being suspended 35ft (10m) in the air by their hair alone," the description says.

"In this hair-raising act, audiences will even see the weight of three girls held aloft by the locks of only one of these tangled beauties."

Another witness, Rosa Viveiros, said the act was covered by a curtain. Shortly after the curtain was pulled away, she said, the performers fell on top of at least one other performer below, a man who stood up with his face bloodied.

The Dunkin' Donuts Center said two shows scheduled for later Sunday and two others for Monday were on hold

Coalition split over £63bn AstraZeneca bid by US rival Pfizer

Miliband spoke about the potential takeover on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, accusing the government of 'cheerleading' for a deal. Photograph: Handout/Reuters

The coalition was struggling on Sunday night to maintain a united front on the proposed £63bn takeover of the British pharmaceutical groupAstraZeneca by its giant US rival Pfizer as ministers gave conflicting responses to a proposal by Ed Miliband to toughen up the rules to protect key British companies.

As AstraZeneca stepped up its campaign against Pfizer, Vince Cablegave a guarded welcome to Miliband's proposal to expand the public interest test to protect Britain's "strategic" science base.

But Conservative party chairman Grant Shapps said the proposal by theLabour leader was "anti-business, anti-jobs and anti-jobs security".

The mixed signals from the coalition came after Miliband said no other country in the world would simply wave through a takeover of such strategic national importance.

He also accused David Cameron of acting as a cheerleader for the US group's proposed bid for its British rival AstraZeneca after the prime minister praised the US giant for delivering "robust" assurances.

Cameron spoke out after Ian Read, Pfizer's Scottish-born chief executive, promised to complete a "substantial" Pfizer research & development facility in Cambridge and to employ at least 20% of the combined company's total R&D workforce in the UK.

Miliband, however, said Pfizer had a "pretty dubious record" on takeovers and wrote to the prime minister calling for a change in the law to create a new public interest test to cover strategic economic interests.

Under the Enterprise Act, the business secretary can intervene in a proposed takeover on grounds of public interest if there is a threat to national security, media plurality or financial stability.

In his letter to the prime minister, Miliband called for a "more substantive assessment" of whether the takeover of "strategic elements of our science base" are in the national economic interest. The Labour leader also called for an independent assessment of the impact a Pfizer takeover would have on Britain's long term science and industrial base. He told the Andrew Marr Show on BBC1: "David Cameron is in totally the wrong place on this issue. He has become a cheerleader for Pfizer's takeover when instead he should be championing the long-term agenda for high-quality jobs in this country which AstraZeneca provides.

"No other country in the world would be waving this bid through, nodding it through on the basis of pretty weak assurances from Pfizer who have a pretty dubious record when it comes to their record in this country and other takeovers … The prime minister, rather than being that cheerleader for this takeover with paper-thin assurances, should be actually championing British jobs and a British success story that is AstraZeneca – investing in research and development, a crucial part of our science base."

Cable indicated that he would be taking Miliband's idea seriously. The business secretary told the BBC: "We have obviously been looking at the options around the public interest test and other factors." Asked whether there were plans to review the public interest test, the business secretary said: "Obviously we are looking at this option amongst others."

But Shapps told Sunday Politics on BBC1: "Miliband's approach is to simply be anti-business, anti-jobs, and anti job security that families in this country want."

Shapps later told The World This Weekend on BBC Radio 4: "Playing politics with it, coming in and writing that kind of letter that suggests you want to introduce some new additional tests – the sort of tests they completely failed to use when Labour messed up the Kraft/Cadbury takeover – is really disingenuous. I don't often say this but on this occasion Miliband has overstepped the mark."

The contrasting remarks by Cable and Shapps highlighted different views within the government over the proposed deal. Cable is insisting that, from the moment the takeover emerged, he has been attempting to protect British jobs and AstraZeneca's research and development facilities.

The initial response of Conservative ministers was to hail the planned takeover as a sign of Britain's competitive corporate tax regime.

Cable is expected to stop short of introducing emergency legislation to change the law in line with Miliband's proposal. It is understood that existing legislation gives the business secretary enough power to intervene to protect Britain's science base.

Shapps indicated that the Tories had changed tack and were now stressing the importance of protecting Britain's science base: "We are going to have tests which ensure this get together becomes a great Anglo-American project or it doesn't happen."

The Tory chairman told the BBC: "The government's assessment of this is that we will be fighting for British jobs and British science, the research and development and the rest of it ... Everybody knows there are good and bad takeovers, good and bad mergers.

"This could be a great Anglo-American company but we have to make sure that both sides are approaching it in good faith and it is in Britain's interests, meaning for British jobs and British science."

Shapps rejected Miliband's claim that the prime minister had acted as a cheerleader for the Pfizer bid. He said: "The idea that we are cheerleading for one or the other side of this is completely insane. It symbolises Ed Miliband playing politics literally with people's jobs in this case."

An AstraZeneca spokesman said: "AstraZeneca has a deeply rooted history in the UK and we have reiterated our long-term commitment through our continued investments in research, development and manufacturing which we believe will deliver value for our company and for society for years to come."

Met ball turns to high society, but can the high street cash in?

Eight models wearing Charles James gowns, in French & Company's eighteenth century French paneled room. Photograph: Cecil Beaton/Metropolitan Museum Of Art

It is widely judged to be the fashion world's most extravagant night out, wielding huge influence over trends on the high street. This year's red carpet will be graced by a host of celebrities including Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Jessica Parker, Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian as well as industry VIPs and some of the wealthiest people in the world, each splashing out $25,000(£15,000) on a ticket.

The influence of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual gala opening for its annual fashion exhibition has spread far beyond upper echelons of the industry as fashion retailers watch for a new trend that they can cash in on.

"It's probably the most looked at event in the fashion calender, even more so than the Oscars," says Gemma Hayward, senior fashion editor at Grazia magazine.

Last year's exhibition, Punk: Chaos to Couture, which examined the influence of punk on high fashion since the early 1970s, led to retailers, including Zara and asos.com, doing a roaring trade in studded sandals, while the Superheroes theme of 2008 meant that cartoon-printed superhero T-shirts littered the high street.

More recent, playful themes have been interpreted by celebrities looking to score red carpet publicity points – with mixed success. Beyoncé's take on punk in 2013 suffered charges of resembling a dictator's interior decor, and worse, of being unflattering.

However, the focus of this year's exhibition "Charles James: Beyond Fashion" – a retrospective of the 20th-century British-born, American-based couturier – may pose a problem for high-street brands looking to turn the look of the Met ball into sales. Guests are expected to embrace the high society theme with extravagant ballgowns and elbow-length gloves likely to take top billing. It is a look which, unlike last year's punk theme isn't so easy to reinterpret on the high street.

"It is in direct contrast to the last Met ball," said Hayward. "More rarefied and historical. That's more challenging and less likely to be absorbed into the mainstream."

Charles James was little known beyond a circle of industry admirers and wealthy couture clients. In the 1940s his contemporaries referred to him as a genius, with Christian Dior crediting him with inspiring his new look and describing his work as "poetry". Fellow designers, including Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli, wore his designs (the former wasn't required to pay for her dresses, but the latter was) while life-long friend Cecil Beaton photographed an elite set of fans wearing them. A perfectionist and defiant elitist, James reportedly once said that he felt there was not enough money in the world to buy his garments. But despite his eccentric personality and the many compelling details about his career the designer does not feature prominently in fashion's history books.

The exhibition will also be the first at the newly reopened Anna Wintour Costume Centre. The wing was previously known as the Costume Institute but was renamed in recognition of the US Vogue editor's huge fundraising efforts over the past 16 years. The theme suggests Wintour's agenda includes repositioning the event – and indeed her own fashion legacy – as worthy of a museum as opposed to quirkier themes of recent year that have subsequently appealed to fashion's playful side.

There have been some rumours from American media sources that Wintour – who will co-host the party with Sarah Jessica Parker and Bradley Cooper– "wants more exclusivity." A theory given weight considering that tickets are $10,000(£6,000) higher than last year's price, and that the theme focuses on a couturier who could never be described as egalitarian.

Vogue.com, one of Wintour's mouthpieces, has already suggested that the Charles James-themed Met gala will signal a return to "old world elegance on the red carpet". The white tie and decorations dress code – which has raised eyebrows for its deliberately rigid sartorial implications – will mean it says "many of the chicest attendees will be wearing custom cuissardes made by ancestral French glovemakers".

Commentators are in agreement that, although unlikely sounding, long gloves could be an unexpected commercial trend to reverberate down the fashion food chain as a result of the event. "The very strict dress code will be difficult for anyone watching to translate into their everyday wardrobe, but long gloves were all over the autumn/winter catwalks so they are probably the easiest part of it," says Hayward.

Kay Barron, fashion features director at Porter magazine agrees: "actually I'm quite feeling long gloves for next season, but rather than a specific trend piece, I think it will inspire a love of dressing up again. Gowns have been out of fashion for so long, even for black tie events and I think everyone could benefit from getting a bit fancy from time to time.

Obama and Merkel warn Russia of economic sanctions over Ukraine

US president Barack Obama and German chancellor Angela Merkel hold a joint news conference in the Rose Garden. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty

US president Barack Obama and German chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday warned Russia that sanctions targeting whole sections of the country's economy would be inevitable unless Moscow de-escalates the situation in Ukraine before elections later this month.

Appearing together at the White House, Obama and Merkel insisted they were united in their determination to use broad, so-called “sectoral sanctions” against Russia unless it reverses course in Ukraine by the elections on May 25.

However, in remarks likely to reassure Berlin, which is particularly dependent upon Russian gas exports, Obama played down the suggestion those sanctions would include sweeping restrictions on Russia's sale of energy to Europe.

“Energy flows from Russia to Europe, those continued even in the midst of the cold war – at the the height of the cold war,” Obama said. "The idea that you're going to turn off the tap to all Russian oil and natural gas exports is, I think, unrealistic."

Obama said there was "a remarkable unity between the United States and the European Union" about how to use leverage against Russian president Vladimir Putin over his continued interference in Ukraine.

European countries disagree over what form additional sanctions against Russia should take. “We have to take those [differences] into account,” Obama added. “Not every country is going to be in exactly the same place.”

However, if Russia impedes Ukraine's forthcoming elections, Obama said, “we will not have a choice but to move forward with additional, more severe sanctions."

Merkel also gave a strong endorsement of potential new sanctions against Russia. “In Europe, we have taken a position that should further destabilisation happen, we will move to a third stage of sanctions. I would like to underline this is not necessarily what we want, but we are ready and prepared to go such a step,” she said, according to a White House translation.

“We will see to it that elections can take place,” she added.

The strength of Merkel’s remarks about sectoral sanctions, while satisfying Washington, may surprise other European leaders. Senior European officials have been playing down the prospects of such broad-brush sanctions, which could also hurt Europe's economy, suggesting they would only be used as a last resort, in the event of a full-scale military incursion by Russia across the border.

Both leaders called for the immediate release of seven hostages who were working as monitors by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe when they were captured by pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.

Merkel, who has spoken directly with Putin to try to secure the release of the hostages, four of whom are German, said their release was "a very crucial step, that needs to happen first".

The chancellor’s appearance with Obama marked her first visit to Washington since disclosures by the whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed her phone calls had been recorded by the National Security Agency.

Germany has been pressing for months for a mutual “no spy” agreement with the US, without success. Instead, Germany and the US have agreed to an ongoing “cyber dialogue” over issues relating to the balance between intelligence and privacy.

The language falls well short of what Berlin wanted, and Merkel made clear that differences remain between the the two countries on the issue.

She said that, while there was some intelligence cooperation between the countries, there are still differences over “what sort of balance to strike over the intensity of surveillance” used to combat terrorism and the consequences for privacy and individual freedom.

Honduras to extradite wanted Sinaloa cartel drug trafficker to US

The US government says Lobo trafficked multi-tonne loads of cocaine from Colombia for Honduran, Guatemalan and Mexican gangs. Photo: Andy Rain/EPA

Honduras said it will extradite to the US a drug trafficker who worked for Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel, making his the first such case since the country changed the law to allow the process two years ago.

Carlos Arnoldo Lobo, who the US government says trafficked multi-tonne loads of cocaine from Colombia for Honduran, Guatemalan and Mexican gangs, will be extradited next week, a spokesman for the Honduran justice department said after a decision by the country's supreme court late on Friday.

Lobo was captured in the last week of March and Honduran prosecutors have seized assets controlled by the trafficker worth in excess of $25m. He has been indicted on drug trafficking charges in the southern district of Florida.

The US Treasury Department said Lobo's clients included the Sinaloa Cartel, which has been at the forefront of cocaine trafficking from Mexico into the United States.

Like other drug gangs, the cartel has come under increasing pressure from Mexico's government. Its longstanding boss, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, was captured by Mexican security forces in February.

Honduras, whose congress voted to permit the extradition of wanted drug traffickers in early 2012, has become a key transit point for Mexican drug cartels moving product north

NFL Hall of Famers applaud openly gay player Michael Sam

As the first openly gay player to enter the draft, Sam could face scrutiny unlike any player before him. Photograph: Brandon Wade/AP

Michael Sam's lifestyle will soon become secondary to his skills.

Once he's drafted in the NFL, the Missouri defensive end will be judged strictly on whether he can play and whether he can help his team win.

Everything else – even that he's gay – will be trivial.

As the first openly gay player to enter the draft, Sam could face scrutiny unlike any player before him. But many of the greatest players and coaches in football history don't believe he'll be subjected to any hatred, harassment, discrimination or bullying by teammates.

"I don't think he'll have any problem in the locker room. I don't think he'll have any problems on the field," said Hall of Fame offensive tackle Art Shell. "The one thing about football players, they're inclusive. They will take you for who you are, not what people try to portray you as.

"It's who you are: 'You're a football player, then you can play with us.' I don't see that as being a problem in the National Football League."

Shell's stance was shared by several other Hall of Famers, including Lions running back Barry Sanders, Buffalo coach Marv Levy, and Giants linebacker Harry Carson, who appeared along with nearly 100 other inductees at a two-day "Fan Fest," the largest gathering ever of football legends outside Canton, Ohio.

Sanders, who retired at the peak of his career following the 1998 season with 15,269 career yards rushing, believes there's an unwritten code among football players to ignore anything other than a person's skills and talents.

"From the time you're a kid and you start playing, you're almost programmed for 'Can a guy play or not?'" he said. "By the time you get to the NFL, that's well ingrained. I'm pretty sure every guy in this league has been around gay individuals before, and so I don't think it will be much different."

Sam's decision to reveal his sexual orientation may not have been met with such overwhelming approval just a few years ago. In the macho arena that is pro football, Sam may have been an outcast in previous generations.

"He's a very bold guy to come out," said cornerback Michael Haynes, a nine-time Pro Bowler elected to the Hall of Fame in 1997. "The timing is good. If he'd done that in the '60s or '70s, maybe not so good because everybody was really struggling with how to understand differences like that in people.

"Diversity has become a critical topic, people are talking about it all the time and I think the world is different. Remember Magic Johnson with Aids? It starts with education. He'll be judged on football."

Carson, who retired in 1988 after 13 seasons in New York, said he was "proud" of Sam for choosing to be open about his sexuality. Carson recalled that one of his Giants teammates, offensive lineman Roy Simmons, was suspected as being gay and was never ostracized.

"It never really swayed anyone's opinion of him," Carson said. "But it's something he lived with and he didn't have to by himself because he had teammates, and the teammates he had were guys who supported him. Even though he never said anything, we're a team and guys on the team who are unselfish are going to support their teammates regardless of how they choose to live their lives."

Simmons, the first player to acknowledge he was HIV positive, died early this year. He was 57.

The 6-foot-2, 261-pound Sam has been projected to be drafted from the third round on. Sam didn't perform well on the field at the scouting combine, where he calmly handled tough questions about his decision to come out as gay.

Levy, who led the Bills to four straight Super Bowls, said his criteria before deciding to draft Sam would be pretty simple.

"Is he the best guy at his position when we're on the board, and do we need a guy at that position?" the 89-year-old Levy said. "If so, I'll take him. I'd like to know his character qualities and other things, but that would not factor into my decision."

If he were coaching a team that selected Sam, Levy said he would not feel any need to address his players. That may not have been the case 10 or 20 years ago.

"I wouldn't make an issue of it," Levy said. "I think society has adjusted to the point where it's an acceptable thing and why make an issue of it? That would be my approach. Things change, plus I've got to worry about how to pick up the blitz.