Nucleon-nucleon interactions are at the heart of nuclear physics, bridging the gap between QCD and the effective interactions appropriate for the shell model. We discuss the current status of NN data sets, partial-wave analyses, and some of the issues that go into the construction of potential models. Our remarks are illustrated by reference to the Argonne υ 18 potential, one of a number of new potentials that fit elastic nucleon-nucleon data up to 350 MeV with a x 2 per datum near 1. We also discuss the related issues of three-nucleon potentials, two-nucleon charge and current operators, and relativistic effects. We give some examples of calculations that can be made using these realistic descriptions of NN interactions. We conclude with some remarks on how our empirical knowledge of NN interactions may help constrain models at the quark level, and hence models of nucleon structure.