20 Questions With

20 Questions With Richard Tice

The success or otherwise of Richard Tice, leader of Reform UK, could decide the extent of Keir Starmer's majority at the General Election, or whether he even wins a majority. Determined to punish the Tories, whom he once helped fund, Tice is out to bring down Rishi Sunak's government. In this lively and robust encounter, he explains his motivations and outlines some of his key policies, including on tax, immigration and Net Zero. 

20 Questions With Elif Shafak

Multi award-winning British Turkish author Elif Shafak has been translated into 57 languages. Here she speaks about mysticism, technology, story-telling, history, human rights and challenging orthodoxies. 

20 Questions With Sir Vince Cable

Sir Vince Cable led the Liberal Democrats twice and was Business Secretary for the entire five years of the Conservative Lib Dem coalition government under David Cameron. Here he makes his predictions for the next General Election, assesses immigration policy, advocates higher taxes, defends the period of austerity when he was in government, analyses Keir Starmer's leadership of the Labour Party, discusses ethics in foreign policy and encourages engagement with China despite accusations that the Chinese regime has committed genocide against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. 

20 Questions With Peter Hitchens

The author and often outspoken columnist for the Mail On Sunday gives his verdict on both the Tories and Labour as a General Election approaches, describes his faith, explains his method of debating, reveals the nature of his relationship with his late brother, Christopher Hitchens, and talks about the impact of his childhood.

20 Questions With David Baddiel

Jewish comedian, storyteller and public intellectual David Baddiel explains why 'Jews don't count', why human beings have a 'God desire', and what makes him feel joy. 

20 Questions With Jim White

Most famous for hosting Deadline Day on Sky Sports in his yellow tie, Jim White is Mr Football. Here the Talk Sport presenter chats about his new book, Deadline Day, that he co-wrote with Kaveh Solhekol. Full of his characteristic enthusiasm, Jim leads us on a journey of his love for the beautiful game, taking us behind the scenes of some of the biggest stories in sport. 

20 Questions With Dan Jones

The New York Times bestselling historian, Dan Jones, has brought out his second work of historical fiction, Wolves of Winter, the sequel to the successful Dogs of Essex. Here he takes a deep dive into what it means to be an historian, the joy of writing novels, the Hundred Years War, holidaying with Jonathan Sumption, history on TV, his love of sport, and how he likes to spend his free time. 

20 Questions With John Cleese

John Cleese is a comedy legend. Here he discusses causing offence, cancel culture, GB News, not wearing socks, why he lives abroad, old age, losing friends, the importance of silliness, Basil Fawlty, his favourite Python, A Fish Called Wanda, Clockwise, the Tory government, the British press, cricket, Brexit and the incompetence of human beings. 

20 Questions With Lord Sumption

Lord Sumption has been described as the "biggest brain in Britain". After a distinguished career as a silk, he moved straight from being a QC to the Supreme Court, skipping the High Court and Court of Appeal. He has just completed the fifth and final book in his history of the Hundred Years' War. Here he explains how he has managed to combine a career in the law with writing history, gives his take on the merits of leaving the European Court of Human Rights, reflects on the lockdowns imposed during the Covid 19 pandemic, discusses the state of the English legal system, outlines the differences between being an advocate and sitting as a judge, addresses his record of speaking out on political issues despite a convention that former judges do not do so, and reveals his passions beyond work. 

20 Questions With Ruby Wax

Ruby Wax is on tour - except right now she's in bed. Which is appropriate as she once interviewed very famous people in bed. Here she remembers interviewing Donald Trump, discusses her fascination with neuroscience, speaks candidly about her mental health, reveals that she's never been invited on the Graham Norton show, talks about her difficult upbringing as the daughter of Jewish immigrants from 1930s Vienna, and claims that we are all devils and angels underneath.