‘If I’d not got help, I’d probably be dead’: Jason Kander on PTSD, politics and advice from Obama

He was a rising star in the Democratic party and ‘sorta ran for president’ but, as he recounts in his new book, haunted by his experiences in Afghanistan

Author Édouard Louis: ‘Progressives can’t just sit back and say, “Isn’t the rise of the far right awful?”’

The French literary star talks about growing up in poverty and his mother’s escape from the abusive marriage that haunted his childhood

Sunday with Ardal O’Hanlon: ‘I often don’t get out of my tennis gear’

The comedian tells Roz Lewis about his love of crosswords, newspapers, vegetables and Better Call Sau

Robert Peston: ‘I wore my favourite Gaultier coat to a party conference and somebody nicked it’

ITV’s political editor on coping with obsessive-compulsive disorder, belatedly publishing his first novel, and why he longs for a lost England

Ekow Eshun: ‘When I grew up I wanted to be Spider-Man’

The writer, 54, talks about his inspirational parents, the terror of bungee jumping and his unorthodox path to becoming director of the ICA

Taymour Soomro: ‘I want to challenge reductionist narratives about Pakistan’

The novelist on learning farming from his grandfather, how his background in law informed his work, and why homophobia is a Victorian export

Birdwatcher Mya-Rose Craig: ‘The nature sector is decades behind in terms of diversity’

The birder and activist on increasing access to nature, why it’s important to be an optimist, and the joys of Cambridge University’s Taylor Swift society

Sunday with Kit de Waal: ‘Growing up, it was the worst day of the week’

The author reflects on Yorkshire tea, toast and jam, and tinkly Chopin in the bath

Sarah Hall: ‘I used to almost fear opening a book’

The award-winning author on the urgency she felt when writing her pandemic novel, how she relates to Sarah Connor from The Terminator and what Egon Schiele’s paintings make her feel

‘Can objects teach us about reality?’: Ruth Ozeki on her Women’s prize-winning novel

Voices of everyday things fill The Book of Form and Emptiness, rooted in how she experienced the loss of her father

Faïza Guène: ‘People wanted me to say: Thank you, France’

The French-Algerian author on teenage fame, the parallels between her and Zinedine Zidane, and why she admires Bernardine Evaristo

Melvyn Bragg: ‘My daughter conducted my marriage service’

The writer and broadcaster, 82, talks about his childhood, Dennis Potter, writing and why he didn’t think he was good enough for the House of Lords

‘If you look at the bigger picture of change, aid has been close to irrelevant’

Stefan Dercon, former UK government adviser, discusses his new book – and his belief that wealthy elites, rather than foreign cash, rescue countries from poverty

Island Records founder Chris Blackwell: ‘I’m interested in what’s different’

In a wide-ranging new memoir, the impresario who worked with Bob Marley, Roxy Music and U2, talks about his incredible life in the industry

Teenager Leila Mottley on writing her debut novel: ‘I’ve always done things at a warp speed’

The 19-year-old’s uncommonly assured book Nightcrawling, about marginalised lives in her home town of Oakland, has won fans including Dave Eggers and Ruth Ozeki