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
Ex-nurse Christie Watson: ‘Women’s health has always been undervalued’
The nurse turned academic and author on her experience of the menopause, returning to the wards during the pandemic and dating a man with a tarantula
Lea Ypi: ‘Hope is a moral duty’
The Albanian author and academic on what she misses most about her homeland and how a communist childhood steeped in lies sparked her interest in philosophy
Julia Shaw: ‘I had so many questions about bisexuality’
The psychologist is known for her work on the criminal mind, but wrote her new book to answer her own questions about her sexuality
John Waters: ‘Trump ruined bad taste – he was the nail in the coffin’
The film-maker and ‘filth elder’ has made a career out of generating shocks. Now a debut novelist, can his book’s talking gay penis save camp?
‘There are things in this season you will never unsee’: The Boys’ Karl Urban on parenting, powers and superhero orgies
The star of Amazon’s cult comic book series on failing in Australia, his roles in The Lord of the Rings and Star Trek and spending half his life away from home