20 Questions With

I’m Matt Stadlen and for 20 years I’ve been talking to and interviewing public figures from around the world. In this series I’ll be interviewing famous names from every walk of life and with a broad range of views, politics and perspectives. Every guest will get 20 questions, and the plan is for you to have a better sense of each of them by the end of their interview.

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Episodes

Tuesday Apr 15, 2025

Award-winning newspaper columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown dicusses immigration, integration, belonging, loyalty and social justice, and explains why, despite her contempt for the politics of Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick, she won't be voting Labour at the next election. She also reveals that she was beaten up by her brother and her uncles in Uganda - the country of her upbringing - for playing opposite a black actor in Othello, and describes her subsequent experience as an immigrant to Britain. In this deeply personal and hugely political conversation, Alibhai-Brown doesn't hold back in the setting out of her values. 

20 Questions With Dame Prue Leith

Wednesday Mar 26, 2025

Wednesday Mar 26, 2025

Prue Leith reveals her kitchen secrets, discloses how she won her Michelin star, describes the twin disasters of pouring tea for the Queen and setting the kitchen on fire while cooking for Princess Margaret, tells the story of what happened when the Beatles ate at her restaurant, announces her favourite chef, spells out why she's not a food snob, discusses finding love again in her seventies, lets us in on the secret to her happy marriage with John (now her co-star on Prue Leith's Cotswold Kitchen), takes us behind the scenes on The Great British Bakeoff, explains her support for assisted dying, and recounts the time she had breakfast with Winston Churchill. 

20 Questions With Kevin Cummins

Wednesday Mar 26, 2025

Wednesday Mar 26, 2025

The award-winning photographer on photographing Bono, navigating the Oasis feud, creating his new book, Oasis The Masterplan, with Noel Gallagher, and watching Manchester City home and away. 

Wednesday Mar 19, 2025

Scottish composer and conductor Sir James MacMillan offers rare insights into how he goes about composition, revels in the beauty of the Ayrshire landscapes where he lives, explores the influence of religion on his and others' music, compares his experience of watching football (he's a huge Celtic fan) and attending concerts, and reflects on the enduring legacies of greats such as Handel and Bach.

Tuesday Mar 18, 2025

Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Abdulrazak Gurnah reveals what drives him as an author, discusses universality, examines what "home" means, reflects on his decision to leave his native Zanzibar as an 18 year-old, and talks about his eleventh novel, Theft. 

Thursday Mar 13, 2025

Global superstar violinist Nicola Benedetti on her search for truth as Director of the Edinburgh International Festival; musical intelligence; how she remembers all those notes; life in her thirties; being a mum; handling the future, and the art of performance. 

Friday Mar 07, 2025

Multi award-winning Irish author Colum McCann talks about his new novel, Twist, which delves into the lesser known but critical world of underwater cables; reveals his concern about what he sees as America's moving away from the democratic model under President Trump; speaks about opening up cracks with his writing that he hopes others might widen, and extols the virtues of New York, where he lives. 

20 Questions With Rafael Behr

Thursday Feb 27, 2025

Thursday Feb 27, 2025

The Guardian's award-winning columnist, and leader writer, Rafael Behr on Trump, the Starmer government, how Boris Johnson got under his skin, his heart attack, the changing shape of politics, writing his columns, why he's turned his back on Elon Musk's X, and journalism in the digital age. 

Saturday Feb 15, 2025

Photo journalist Guillaume Bonn has documented war, social issues and the environment for a quarter of a century. Here the Madagascan born award-winning photographer reveals the moment he thought he was about to be shot dead in a Somalian square, discusses the challenges facing photo journalism in the age of fake news, and describes the thrill of being in the wild. 

20 Questions With David Yarrow

Thursday Feb 13, 2025

Thursday Feb 13, 2025

David Yarrow is one of the most successful photographers on the planet. From photographing lions and elephants to capturing Diego Maradona, John McEnroe, Erling Haaland and Cindy Crawford, Yarrow has crossed in and out of genres. He is exhibited around the world and has shot from Antartica to the Arctic. Here he talks about his life behind the lens and offers forthright insights into the worlds of conservation and fine art. 

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