‘I hope I’m wrong’: the co-founder of DeepMind on how AI threatens to reshape life as we know it

From synthetic organisms to killer drones, Mustafa Suleyman talks about the mind-blowing potential of artificial intelligence, and how we can still avoid catastrophe

Lynda La Plante: ‘Raymond Chandler’s books make me laugh out loud’

The novelist and screenwriter on learning to read with dyslexia, being inspired by the great playwrights, and why she could never read Little Women again

Farmer’s wife Helen Rebanks: ‘There was a fire in me about speaking up for the women who hold things together’

The wife of bestselling author James has written a book of her own shining a light on small-scale farming. She talks about the pressures of Brexit and preposterous trade deals

Loren Grush on Nasa’s first female astronauts: ‘People thought they’d be a distraction to the men in space’

The science reporter reveals the astonishing truth behind the stories in her new book, The Six, which follows the first women inducted into Nasa’s astronaut programme in 1978

Sebastian Faulks: ‘The last remaining human species needn’t have been so violent and clever as we are’

The author of Birdsong and Human Traces discusses his futuristic 16th novel, what it means to be human and what the future holds for our species

Comedian London Hughes: ‘I made more money in one year in America than my whole life in Britain’

Fed up with the white boys’ club of British standup, a one-way ticket to LA finally brought fame to the ‘comedy Beyoncé’. Now she has written a memoir detailing her rise from bullied teen to transatlantic hit

Zadie Smith: ‘I get in trouble when I talk about the state of the nation’

After 17 years abroad, Zadie Smith has returned to her literary stomping ground of north London. She talks about fame, therapy and finding inspiration for her new historical novel on her doorstep

Rob Delaney: ‘I can’t help it, swearing makes me happy’

The actor and writer on getting his grief down on the page, the five ingredients of good comedy and why the actors’ strike is sure to succeed

Jonathan Coe: ‘People say, where’s the anger? It’s still there’

The acclaimed author on writing his most personal novel to date, finding inspiration on Twitter, and why he was horrified by Granta’s list of the best young British writers

Jo Ann Beard: ‘Nothing in writing is ever particularly enjoyable to me’

The American essayist on feeling panicky about how her subjects will react, the relief of typing ‘The End’, and why she won’t reveal her bedside reads

Lisa Jewell: ‘I once read 40 Agatha Christie novels in a year’

The London novelist on reading Dickens at 11 years old, being inspired by Nick Hornby and why she never reads the same book twice

‘I wanted to be No 1. But a certain JK Rowling came along’: Jacqueline Wilson on rivalry, censorship – and love

Raised by a ‘scary’ father and a ‘terrible snob’ of a mother, the Tracy Beaker author has always understood the loneliness that marks so many young lives. But at 77, she’s never been happier

The BBC’s Fergal Keane: ‘The breakdowns get harder to recover from each time’

The former BBC war reporter, now special correspondent, on the terror of PTSD, his tips for living with it day to day, and the people and poets he admires

Thomas Morris: ‘A lot of people in my life seem anxious and confused. I was writing for them as much as me’

The short story writer and former literary magazine editor on the respect afforded the arts in Ireland, how his stories often take him by surprise and his love of the Welsh football team

Pam Ayres: ‘I inherited a love of English from my mother’

The poet, 76, tells Donna Ferguson about deference, dialect and her dreams of becoming a ballerina, and reveals the secret of a happy marriage