”[‘Homeland’ is] not a word that Americans use,” Anderson says. “No one would say ‘my homeland’ — it’s just so sentimental. This record was started in the Bush era and went over the cusp into Obama, and I appreciated how story-savvy the Bush administration was to put a sentimental, gooey, homey word like ‘homeland’ next to ‘bureau’ and ‘security.’ “

Anderson recently held a concert for dogs at the Sydney Opera House. ”I thought a couple hundred dogs would show up. Thousands of dogs showed up,” she says. “It was one of the most purely joyful things I’ve ever done in my life.”