Novelist Jonathan Coe: ‘Liz Truss was very unimpressed to meet me’
His new novel is set during the former PM’s brief premiership, so what happened when they had dinner? The author on politics, cosy crime and bingeing Friends
‘Art and music have always been like friends to me’: painter to the stars Jack Coulter
The Irish artist talks about his synaesthesia and being mutually inspired by musicians such as Elton John and Paul McCartney
‘I don’t have much hope for a Harris presidency’: Ta-Nehisi Coates on Israeli apartheid and what the media gets wrong about Palestine
One of the most penetrating critics of US racism discusses the reception to his new book and why talking about Palestine offered him a way to understand the world
‘I can do the same job as a man’: Ukraine’s first frontline female commander on war, grief – and her hope for the future
Yulia Mykytenko leads a platoon of men in a reconnaissance and attack unit – and has already lost her husband, father and many friends in the devastating war. In her memoir, she writes that she was always destined for combat
The secret life of a careworker – ‘I was blown away by how meaningful and interesting it is’
When anxiety forced Kathryn Faulke to give up her NHS job and become a care worker, she never thought she would enjoy it. Now, she has written a ‘love story’ of a book about the profession
My week at Kanye’s: John Safran on his time squatting in the rapper’s mansion
The Jewish Australian comedian-journalist spent a week living in one of West’s houses in Los Angeles. This is what he learned
Alex Van Halen on his brother Eddie: ‘I’m not done dealing with this yet’
In the new book Brothers, the drummer writes candidly about life in the spotlight alongside his late sibling and their many highs and lows
Sarah Perry: faith, telescopes and the perils of pigeon-holing writers
The Essex Serpent novelist discusses the connection between astrophysics and her religious upbringing … and over-doing all you can eat sushi
American author Joy Williams: ‘The comfy story has got to change’
The novelist and short story writer on her new book about Azrael, the angel of death, her encounters with Raymond Carver and Richard Yates, and why fiction should be uncanny
‘Appreciate winter for what it is, without wishing it were something different’: psychologist Kari Leibowitz on beating the seasonal blues
The researcher spent 10 years studying how attitude affects mood and behaviour, and her new book shares ways in which we can learn to value the colder months
‘There was eye-watering fear’: John le Carré’s son on writing a new George Smiley novel
Nick Harkaway was a successful novelist in his own right when his brothers asked him to continue their late father’s spy series. Could he pull it off? Plus an exclusive extract from his novel, Karla’s Choice
Alison Steadman on the final Gavin & Stacey: ‘People say to me in the street: “Can’t wait for Christmas Day!”’
The actor on her formative years in Liverpool, her relationship with Mike Leigh – and why she was born to play Pamela in the much-loved TV comedy
Helen Castor: ‘I’d rather not live in such interesting times’
The British historian on the drama and resonance of the lives of Richard II and Henry VI, the writers she most admires and the book she wishes she had written
Trevor Noah: ‘I’ve met a few people where I’ve thought – yeah, you’re probably an alien’
On the publication of his first children’s book, the comedian and presenter answers pithy questions from Louis Theroux, Susie Dent and more on Trump, his mother and what makes a great rollercoaster
‘Elephants show immense interest in corpses’: Susana Monsó, the philosopher examining what animals know about death
Do other species understand that life ends? Do they mourn and even bury their dead? The Spanish academic and writer is looking for answers