Heather Rose: ‘My ancestors escaped the French Revolution – that really got me, even as a child’

The Tasmanian author reflects on the dramatic family stories that have shaped her new novel, on a reviving bushwalk to her favourite tree

‘We’ve all done stupid things but we’re all capable of redemption’: spoken-word artist Joshua Idehen on fighting hate with hope

His poem Mum Does the Washing went viral – but he started out parroting conservative talking points online. Now the British-Nigerian vocalist preaches a message of radical positivity

Sunder Katwala on race, patriotism and flag-waving: ‘The far right is vocal and angry because it is shrinking’

The director of British Future has spent his career trying to find common ground when it comes to race and immigration. He describes his own experience of racism – and why he’s still hopeful for the UK

‘Messiness makes you different’: Lukas Gage on meds, trauma, memoir – and filming TV’s most sexually frank scene

The White Lotus and Euphoria star has written a ‘premature celebrity memoir’ that takes in abuse, family dysfunction, personality disorders, shame and heartbreak. He explains why now was the right time to write it

‘My poems are part of my flesh’: Palestinian poet Batool Abu Akleen on life in Gaza

At just 20, the poet is one of the most vivid witnesses to the conflict. She talks about dreams of Oxford, the deaths of friends and how tragedy has shaped the person she has become

‘I am quite tough’: Schindler’s List star Embeth Davidtz on her explosive film about Rhodesia’s final days

After starring in Mad Men, Californication, Spider-Man and Junebug, Davidtz soured on acting. Now she’s directed – and starred in – a powerful debut film

My mother was shot by the police – and that bullet changed everything

Lee Lawrence was 11 when his mother, Cherry Groce, was paralysed during a botched police raid. It was the end of his childhood and the start of his fight for her life and legacy

The fanfiction written on a notes app that’s become a bestseller – with a seven-figure film deal

SenLinYu’s debut started life as Harry Potter fanfiction. The Alchemised author shares why they were drawn to a war-torn love story, how a conservative upbringing shaped their writing, and the snobbery around fanfiction

Drusilla Modjeska: ‘How easy it is that we can live in the sunshine and not see the shadow’

In her new book, the Australian author of Exiles at Home and Stravinsky’s Lunch returns to examine how female artists have fought for creative freedom

‘They were so feral’: Cillian Murphy, Tracey Ullman and cast on nose-breaking remand school drama Steve

In the acclaimed new film about boys written off by the system, Murphy draws on his own past as a troublesome schoolboy while Little Simz plays a teacher – and writes a 90s-style banger of a song

‘We’re exhausted – but not from doing too much’: can this woman help us survive the age of distraction?

With three jobs, three children and a labradoodle, the behavioural scientist Zelana Montminy knows a lot about being pulled in all directions. What can her new book about finding focus teach the rest of us?

Kiran Desai: ‘I never thought it would happen in the US’

Since winning the Booker prize, the Indian author has spent two decades writing a follow-up. She talks about being longlisted again — and the immigration raids creating fear in her New York neighbourhood

‘I don’t want to stop believing in humanity’: Matthew McConaughey on faith, fame and the shocking incident that defined him

He was once so stoned he missed his own birthday party, but the Oscar-winning actor has swapped pot for poetry. He reveals the trauma and triumph that taught him why it’s more important to be a good man than a nice guy

‘I tried to escape with drugs, pills and alcohol’: Björn Borg on his misery and mayhem after quitting tennis

The sporting superstar walked away from success and adulation at 26 – much to everyone’s bemusement. He opens up about his secret life and the depression, cocaine, overdoses and aggressive cancer that almost killed him

Jill Lepore on the US constitution, originalism … and Madison’s nose

The esteemed historian says her new book on the writing –and the attempts to amend – the constitution is in part ‘a deep historical critique of originalism’