Shaista Mohammed: What do you think is the most interesting thing about yourself?
Thomas Eden: Myself? Nothing, really.
Mohammed: Really?
Eden: I think if I really had to say – I value my appreciation for simplicity. I like everything to be simple. If everything is simple then everything is precise, and I don’t like things to get too complicated because then it gets a little too diluted.
Mohammed: You enjoy simplicity and –
Eden: That doesn’t mean I don’t understand complicated things. Like, if you ask me about my opinion on the state of capitalism in the world today I could probably have a pretty nice conversation with you. I could have that conversation but that doesn’t mean it’s mutually exclusive for me to appreciate simplicity either. It doesn’t mean I’m dumb. They’re not synonymous.
Mohammed: Do you prefer simplistic art as well, what about modernism?
Eden: I’ve never been a great appreciator of modern art. I mean, I like it, I like to look at it, but I’m not an art expert. I took art history in high school and didn’t do so well in it.
Mohammed: What kind of music do you listen to?
Eden: I listen to really anything that’s available. I’ve always been a Stevie Ray Vaughn fan. And jam bands, I love jam bands. I’m really into Phish. I love John Frusciante from the (Red Hot) Chili Peppers, Jimi Hendrix band.
Mohammed: What do you do when you’re not in school?
Eden: I like to travel a lot.
Mohammed: Where have you been?
Eden: I’ve been to Sweden, Stockholm. I’ve been to England, Germany.
Mohammed: Where in England have you been?
Eden: I’ve been to London, I have family in London. I have family in Africa, I’ve been to Eretria. I like to travel in the United States, too. It’s not exclusively international.
Mohammed: Has traveling influenced your study of political science at all?
Eden: I think there’s some sort of influence in the traveling. I’ve gotten a good perspective of the world.
Mohammed: How do you feel about global perspective and it affecting what goes on here in the states?
Eden: That’s a good question. There’s not that big of an influence, really. It’s really funny how the United States has isolated itself from the global community. Governmentally – I understand we do intervene a lot, there’s a lot of intervention, but there are so many things in the media that we never hear about…. What goes internationally speaking never gets into the United States, media-wise.
