‘We have to come to grips with history’: Robert P Jones on The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy

The US scholar finds the source of Trump’s racist appeal – and current culture wars over the teaching of the American past – in papal doctrine and deadly Christian certainties

From quadruple amputee to much-loved DJ: ‘Resilience is a buzzword that annoys me’

After contracting meningococcal at 19, Tom Nash spent 18 painful months in hospital having his limbs amputated. Two decades later, ‘DJ Hookie’ explains why his experience left him better off

Jewelle Gomez: the Black lesbian writer who changed vampire fiction – and the world

Her first novel was turned down by several publishers, then embraced by a feminist press. As an author, poet, playwright and activist, she has continued to claim space for queer storytellers

‘It’s time the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo grew up’: Karin Smirnoff on her shocking sequel

The Swede is the first woman to write a Lisbeth Salander novel. She explains what men don’t get about sexual violence, why she introduced a genius niece – and how writing beats chopping wood for a living

This ‘bum-poo-fart author’ is Australia’s biggest writer: Andy Griffiths on ending the Treehouse books

The children’s author who has sold millions of funny (and disgusting) books talks about challenging nervous adults and being married to his editor Jill

Claire Keegan: ‘I can’t explain my work. I just write stories’

The much-acclaimed Irish author of Small Things Like These on her quietly devastating new story and why George Saunders wouldn’t read it aloud for a podcast

‘He’s my own Dark Knight’: TV’s new sleuth, invented by a Bradford pharmacist

It took Amit Dhand years to create the British Asian detective Harry Virdee. Now he’s coming to the small screen

‘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