20 Questions With

20 Questions With Professor Paul Cartledge

Want to know more about democracy in ancient Athens? About Sparta? Thebes? Socrates's trial? Homer's Iliad and Odyssey? Plato? Pericles? Aspasia? The Athenian diet of the fifth and fourth centuries BC? The Battle of Thermopylae? Xerxes and the Persian invasion of Greece? The percentage of English words that derive from ancient Greek and Latin? Why Classics matters? The legacy of the great playwrights, Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus and Aristophanes? You won't find a more passionate expert on the ancient world than Paul Cartledge, Emeritus Professor of Greek Culture at Cambridge University and senior research fellow at Clare College. 

20 Questions With James Wong

James Wong is a botanist and presenter. Utterly passionate about plants, in this episode of 20 Questions With, James offers us the key to a wonderful world of stunning structures and beautiful flowers. He takes us to Singapore and Ecuador and explains the gardens of the future and of the past. Reeling us in with his enthusiasm, he reveals things about plants, their history and their functions, that you probably never knew. Why didn't you like your greens when you were growing up? Why are stop signs red? And why are English gardens backward looking? 

20 Questions With Anthony Horowitz

Best-selling author, and screenwriter, Anthony Horowitz talks about writing James Bond novels, Sherlock Holmes, Poirot, Foyle's War, the Alex Rider series, the Hawthorne books, working with his wife, his shifting political identity, the effects of social media, his unhappy childhood, proving his father wrong, why he wears a baseball cap, and his secret skills. 

20 Questions With Anthea Turner

A household name for the TV shows she has presented, Anthea Turner opens up about her career and life in this deeply personal interview. What was it like being the focus of the paparazzi? Is she at peace with not having children of her own? How have her friendships helped her through challenging times? Is she religious? What would she cook at a dinner party? And what makes her happy? 

20 Questions With Clare Mackintosh

Clare Mackintosh is a best-selling, award-winning crime writer, famous for 'I Let You Go' and the novels that have followed. Once a senior police officer, she reveals the sadness she felt - and still feels - at leaving her former career behind, discusses the success she's had as a writer and describes how having been a policewoman has influenced her writing. She talks about her empathy for offenders, her desire to change the world, what it was like to be a woman in the police, and her frustration at corrupt officers. In this very personal interview, Clare takes us behind the scenes in her life and offers insights into how she has reached the top in her new job. 

20 Questions With Jess Phillips MP

Jess Phillips is known for holding power to account, her high impact speeches in the House of Commons and for her passionate championing of women in the face of widespread abuse and violence. Here she explains why she's in politics, talks about her ambition and liking attention, reveals how her husband keeps her grounded, speaks of her friendships with Tories, explains what needs to be done to protect women in Britain, tells us what Keir Starmer is really like, offers her take on Labour's chances at the next General Election and gives her verdict on who would be more fun on a night out - the Labour shadow front bench or the Conservative cabinet. 

20 Questions With James Holland

Would the Allies have won the war without Winston Churchill? Would America have joined in without Pearl Harbour? How closely did Nazi Germany and Japan coordinate? How significant was the campaign in North Africa? Which was more traumatic for Britain, World War I or World War II? Why does history matter? In this episode of 20 Questions, historian, presenter and podcaster James Holland gives his answers and shares his passions. 

20 Questions With Peter Reid

Peter Reid is a legend of English football. Famous for failing to catch Diego Maradona as the Argentine master scored one of the greatest goals of all time in the infamous World Cup quarterfinal of 1986, he wasn't a bad player himself. He won the PFA Players' Player of the Year in 1985, the same year he won the league and European Cup Winner's Cup with Everton. He would go on to manage clubs including Manchester City, Sunderland and Leeds and become a well known pundit, too. Here he talks of the dreams he has about trying to catch Maradona, being teased by his grandson, playing against George Best, Bobby Moore, Peter Osgood and Billy Bremner, how he got the best out of players as a player and coach, growing up in poverty in Liverpool, his values, why he backs Labour rather than the Tories, his views on austerity, his passions outside football and his love of life. 

20 Questions With Adil Ray

Adil Ray is famous for lots of things: for interviewing politicians robustly on Good Morning Britain, playing Mr Khan in his BBC One sitcom, Citizen Khan, and for presenting the game show, Lingo. Here he takes us behind the scenes of his work, explains how he deals with hate on Twitter, recalls the racism he experienced growing up as a British Muslim in Birmingham, and is forced to choose between his twin passions of Aston Villa and cricket. He explains why he feels so strongly about issues such as the Channel crossings, discrimination and mental health, and talks about the impact of his childhood on his trust in relationships. 

20 Questions With Richard Herring

Richard Herring is a comedian, podcaster, interviewer and writer. Once part of the comedy double act, Lee and Herring, with Stewart Lee, he's long since established himself as a solo act, although he's maybe best known for his interviews with comedians and other stars in his Leicester Square Theatre Podcast. Here he talks about what makes a good podcast, how he finds his material, the blog he's written every day since 2002, his obsession with sex, his experience of testicular cancer, the importance of family, the power of the audience, being taught by his father, who was headmaster of his state school, and breaking into comedy at Oxford. 
(This episode includes a brief reference to suicide. If you need someone to talk to, you can call Samaritans on 116 123).