20 Questions With

20 Questions With Mehdi Hasan

Journalist and broadcaster Mehdi Hasan reflects on Islam, rising Islamophobia, antisemitism, integration, Elon Musk, why he still uses X, the politicisation as he sees it of child sexual exploitation, British politics, the Israeli government, what he describes as the genocide in Gaza, using his voice for a living, and the setting up of his online platform, Zeteo.

20 Questions With Hugo Rifkind

Award-winning Times columnist, Times Radio presenter, author, and star of The News Quiz on the BBC, Hugo Rifkind takes us behind the scenes of his working life and beyond, assesses the challenges of taking on populism, gives us his take on immigration levels, and rates Nigel Farage's chances of making it to Number 10. 

20 Questions With Simon Heffer

Sunday Telegraph columnist and author SImon Heffer discusses some of the most contentious issues in politics today - illegal immigration, welfare, the rise of Reform, the plight of the Tory Party, and Keir Starmer's Prime Ministership - and reflects on British political figures, including Enoch Powell, whose official biography he wrote. 

20 Questions With Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

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

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

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. 

20 Questions With Sir James MacMillan

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.

20 Questions With Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah

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. 

20 Questions With Nicola Benedetti

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. 

20 Questions With Colum McCann

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.