JO: No, I don’t think I would do that. The problem is, Jim is kinda right: she would fundamentally humanize me. So I can’t really do my job when she’s around. It would bring up too much compassion whenever she is around. I can’t have that. When I interview someone, I can’t have any kind of humanity inside of me.

BK: Did adding a dog make for a perfect family unit, or is it practice for having children one day?

JO: It’s been amazing, and nice, to come home after a stressful day at work and have someone just be there. Not that she isn’t interested in what I do for a living, she just can’t really comprehend it. So I can truly trust she isn’t interested in how my day was. She’s interested in going for a walk. I find that more relaxing than anything I have ever found as a way to de-stress. She doesn’t like the Daily Show because there are no dogs on the screen.

BK: Does she watch TV at all?

JO: She likes sports that are played on grass — she likes watching all that green. She is quite hypnotized by green. She thinks that the Daily Show should be on grass.

BK: Does she fetch?

JO: She calls it retrieving.

BK: How about tug-of-war; do you play it with her and let her win? That’s the important thing, you know.

JO: That’s something I need to work on. I’m a pretty sore loser. One of us is going to be disappointed.

BK: You have to let the dog win occasionally.

JO: Oh no no! I am working on that.

BK: When you’re stopped on the street, is it because of the show or the dog?

JO: The dog, especially when she was a puppy. People would come up to talk to her, then look at me and say, “I know you,” but then they’d look straight down at her and start talking again. I know exactly where I stand in that hierarchy.