20 Questions With

20 Questions With Martin Wolf CBE

Martin Wolf, whose parents both escaped the Nazis, is one of the most respected economists in the world. Having formerly worked at the World Bank, he is a multi award-winning journalist and the Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times. Here he gives his take on the rise of China and India, the challenge to the United States, the cost of living crisis in Britain, the economic effects of Brexit and the lessons to be learned from the debacle of the Liz Truss government. 

20 Questions With Adam Gopnik

Adam Gopnik is one of America's foremost writers. He's worked at The New Yorker for nearly four decades and won three National Magazine Awards as well as a George Polk Award. Here he discusses his 10th book, The Real Work, in which he investigates the art of mastery, and offers precious insights into his own craft of writing. 

20 Questions With The Astronomer Royal

Martin Rees - or Baron Rees of Ludlow - is one of the most distinguished scientists of his generation anywhere in the world. A former President of the Royal Society (2005-10) and Master of Trinity College Cambridge (2004-12), Martin is the 15th Astronomer Royal since the role was created in 1675. 
If you ever wonder whether there might be life out there somewhere; how a black hole the size of an atom can contain the mass of a large mountain; what happened before the Big Bang; whether we live in a multiverse; whether astronauts are a waste of money; how we can fix the looming problem of space 'pollution'; what the significance of exoplanets is, or what the future of human beings on Mars might look like, this podcast is for you.

20 Questions With Tracey Crouch MP

Why did the Conservative MP give up a dream job as Sports Minister? Why is she a Tory? Would she ever switch to Labour? What are her reflections on the issue of loneliness, something that can affect us all? What are her views on the crisis of small boats crossing the Channel? How did her experience of having cancer affect her outlook? What are her passions? Does she listen to her husband's BBC radio show? And is she friends with politicians across the aisle? Tracey Crouch is respected on both sides of the House of Commons. Here she shares her story. 
If you're in the UK and are affected by any of the things discussed in this podcast, the Samaritans are available 24 hours a day on 116 123.

20 Questions With Rosie Holt

Get a glimpse of the woman behind the brilliant satirist, Rosie Holt, who has a habit of going viral while pretending to be someone she isn't. What does she really think of the Tory government? How did she become an internet sensation? What was her childhood like? What sort of life does she lead outside work? And Rosie also explains why she thinks satire is important and reveals whether the MP she plays in her Twitter videos will survive a Labour government. 

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.