20 Questions With

20 Questions With Sir Chris Bryant

As Chair of the Commons Committee on Standards, Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant has been close to the heart of some of the biggest stories in British politics in recent years. In this candid interview, he discusses his role as one of the guardians of Parliamentary standards, the rights and wrongs of lying, his own imperfections, his life as a gay man, being groped on the Parliamentary estate, his former job as a vicar, fearing for his life when he was diagnosed with melanoma in 2019, his new book, 'Code of Conduct', and his passions outside politics. 

20 Questions With Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan, newly appointed a Companion of Honour in the King's Birthday Honours List, is one of Britain's leading literary novelists. He won the Booker Prize for Amsterdam in 1998 and became internationally famous for Atonement. Black Dogs, On Chesil Beach, Saturday, The Children Act, Solar, Nutshell, Machines Like Me and his latest book, Lessons, punctuate the publishing landscape of the last 30 years. Here Ian talks intimately about his career as an author, his peripatetic childhood following his military father to Singapore, Libya and elsewhere, how he became an author, the point of the novel, the challenging themes in Lessons, growing older, and what it's like being asked to write or talk publicly about the major political events that unfold around us. This is a rare chance to hear one of the major novelists of recent decades offer insights into himself and his work. 

20 Questions With Neil Jordan

Neil Jordan is an Oscar and double BAFTA-winning director who has achieved success both with his arthouse work and in Hollywood. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for The Crying Game and his films have been nominated for multiple Oscars and BAFTAs. His movies include Mona Lisa, Interview with the Vampire, Michael Collins and The End of the Affair, and he has directed the TV series The Borgias and Riviera. He is also an acclaimed writer and won the Guardian Fiction Prize for Night in Tunisia. His new novel, The Well of Saint Nobody, is out now. Here Neil discusses his career, the differences between writing novels and making movies, the dying art of independent film-making, working with global stars including Brad Pitt, Liam Neeson, Tom Cruise and Robert De Niro, and he reveals his passions outside of work. 

20 Questions With Sir Ben Okri

Knighted in the King's Birthday Honours, Sir Ben Okri is one of Britain's most significant writers. Influenced by his experiences of both his adopted home and his native Nigeria, his novels span contrasting cultures and traditions. Awarded the Booker Prize in 1991 for The Famished Road, Okri has gone on to establish himself as an author of international repute. Here he discusses his childhood, the Nigerian civil war, a period of homelessness in England, his journey into writing, his knighthood, his championship of the environment and his horror at the climate crisis, his passions outside work, and the changing face of the UK. His latest book, Tiger Work, mixes fiction, essay and poetry in its appeal for change in the face of global warming.  

20 Questions With Sir David Davis MP

David Davis has led a remarkable career in politics. A Conservative MP for more than a quarter of a century, he was Brexit Secretary under Theresa May before resigning in 2018. Before that he resigned as Shadow Home Secretary and resigned his seat in order to fight a by-election in 2008 to draw attention to his concerns about the erosion of civil liberties under the New Labour government. He ran to become leader of the Tory Party twice, coming fourth in 2001, and second to future Prime Minister David Cameron in 2005. Here he reflects on being brought up in poverty, being a Communist as a boy, joining the Territorial SAS, his defence of our freedoms, the moral case for the death penalty, his problem with drone strikes, why he's pleased he voted for Brexit, why he went into politics, how he spends his free time, what he thinks about Boris Johnson, and why Margaret Thatcher was the most impressive political figure he has met. 

20 Questions With Kate Mosse

Kate Mosse - not that Kate Moss - is a leading figure in women's literature. She co-founded the Women's Prize for Fiction in 1996 and has gone on to become a bestselling author herself. Her books have sold millions of copies, been translated into 38 languages and been published in more than 40 countries. Labyrinth is her best known work and she has just released The Ghost Ship, the third in a four book series, that can be read as a stand-alone. Here she discusses historical fiction, the untold stories of women, why she set up a prize for female writers, what it's like sharing her name phonetically with a supermodel, caring for her mother-in-law, Granny Rosie, who went viral during the pandemic, the undervaluing of carers in Britain, why miscarriages still aren't talked much about (her mother had miscarriages before she, Kate, was born very prematurely), the love story she shares with her husband, and the joys of being a grandmother. 

20 Questions With historian Charlotte Lydia Riley

The British Empire and its legacy have increasingly been close to the heart of public discourse, capturing the academic and popular imagination. What are the enduring impacts of Empire on Britain? How has decolonisation changed demographics? What is the relationship between British imperialism and racism? How have British attitudes to Empire changed? What do statues and their tearing down represent? What does the Commonwealth mean to Brits? Historian Charlotte Lydia Riley attempts to answer these questions and more in Episode 43 of 20 Questions as she prepares for the launch of her book, Imperial Island: A History of Empire in Modern Britain.

20 Questions With Knepp’s Isabella Tree

Isabella Tree is an award-winning author and travel writer who, together with her conservationist husband Charlie Burrell, has pioneered a rewilding project in West Sussex and turned an old family farm back into an environment from another era. Among the Longhorn Cattle, Exmoor Ponies and Tamworth Pigs that roam the landscape are Beavers, dozens of pairs of Nightingales, Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, Peregrine Falcons, Turtle Doves and Storks. In fact, the first pair of Storks to nest in a British chimney since 1416 made their home in Isabella's house. In this podcast she explains what rewilding is, discusses its scalability and its role in the UK's future, engages with criticism, discusses how to eat meat sustainably and reveals plans for a cafe on site to nourish walkers, campers and glampers. Isabella’s The Book Of Wilding is out now. 

20 Questions With James Comey

James Comey was the director of the FBI between 2013 and 2017, when he was fired by Donald Trump. He is perhaps most famous for his decision to go public with his re-opening of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails just days before the 2016 Presidential election. Here he reflects on that decision, says that Trump reminded him of a 'mob boss' and that the former President is a "really bad person, so bad that it's very, very difficult for people to conceptualise". Comey also discusses the United States' use of water-boarding on detainees, recalls his prosecution of the Gambino crime family, and gives his views on US law enforcement. His debut novel, Central Park West, is out now. 

20 Questions With Mike Brearley

Mike Brearley is considered England's greatest ever cricket captain with 18 wins and just four defeats. He masterminded the almost unimaginable turnaround in what became known as Botham's Ashes in 1981, creating legend in the process. With a first class degree in classics at Cambridge, he went on to become a psychoanalyst and here he talks about the psychology of cricket, explains his understanding of the subconscious, reveals how he got the best out of Sir Ian Botham, offers his prediction for this summer's first Bazball Ashes, and reflects on how he came to condemn Apartheid South Africa. Brearley is one of world cricket's most fascinating personalities and in this in-depth interview he gives a rare insight into how he thinks and acts.