Kiran Desai: ‘I never thought it would happen in the US’

Since winning the Booker prize, the Indian author has spent two decades writing a follow-up. She talks about being longlisted again — and the immigration raids creating fear in her New York neighbourhood

‘I don’t want to stop believing in humanity’: Matthew McConaughey on faith, fame and the shocking incident that defined him

He was once so stoned he missed his own birthday party, but the Oscar-winning actor has swapped pot for poetry. He reveals the trauma and triumph that taught him why it’s more important to be a good man than a nice guy

‘I tried to escape with drugs, pills and alcohol’: Björn Borg on his misery and mayhem after quitting tennis

The sporting superstar walked away from success and adulation at 26 – much to everyone’s bemusement. He opens up about his secret life and the depression, cocaine, overdoses and aggressive cancer that almost killed him

Jill Lepore on the US constitution, originalism … and Madison’s nose

The esteemed historian says her new book on the writing –and the attempts to amend – the constitution is in part ‘a deep historical critique of originalism’

‘I had to think about Andrew Tate. That was miserable’: 150 years of masculinity, all in one play

Revered for her work on Succession and Normal People, Alice Birch has now written an era-spanning play about men, novels and the manosphere. Give me a Brontë any day, she says

‘There’s a basic decency among British people’: Hope Not Hate’s Nick Lowles on how to defeat the far right

Lowles has spent his entire adult life organising against fascism, facing countless threats as a result. He discusses the street confrontations of the 80s, foiling a murder plot, Nazi satanists – and the urgent need for optimism and action

‘I was writing at my lowest ebb’: Scottish author Len Pennie on domestic abuse and the power of poetry

Len Pennie won praise and faced criticism for exploring domestic abuse in her award-winning debut. She talks about partying sober, writing in Scots, and why she’s rooting out stigma in her follow-up collection

‘I’ve seen so many people go down rabbit holes’: Patricia Lockwood on losing touch with reality

The Priestdaddy author on quitting social media, Maga conspiracies and how her second novel grew out of a period of post-Covid mania

Bunny author Mona Awad: ‘I’m a dark-minded soul’

The author’s surreal, satirical breakout novel won her awards and tattooed superfans. As she releases a follow-up, she talks about growing up as an outsider – and the best advice she received from Margaret Atwood

‘I never hold back’: Sally Mann on her controversial family photos and becoming a writer

The celebrated US photographer was catapulted into America’s culture wars with her photobook Immediate Family. Now she’s written a book of ‘how not-to’ advice for artists

‘He fondly called me his hash baby’: Mandy Sayer on her larger-than-life father – a lawbreaking jazz musician who couldn’t read or write

Gerry Sayer was a warm, funny yet absent father, so consumed with music that he sacrificed family – but his ‘flair for improvisation’ inspired his writer daughter

Slow Horses author Mick Herron: ‘I love doing things that are against the rules’

As the hit thriller returns to our screens, its creator talks about false starts, surprise inspirations – and why he never looks inside Jackson Lamb’s head

‘You’re either getting punched or going skinny dipping’: Swedish indie star Jens Lekman on playing 132 weddings of his fans

He once sang, ‘if you ever need a stranger to sing at your wedding ... then I am your man’. Couples took him at his word. Now, he’s turned the experience into an album and novel

‘Europe is the core – America joined as an offshoot’: the historian challenging what ‘the west’ means

Was the ‘western alliance’ dreamt up to further American and British interests? Georgios Varouxakis argues that the idea is older, quintessentially European, and even anti-imperialist

‘You’re the only port of call for 400 hospital patients, which is absurd’: Matthew Hutchinson on the perils of life as an NHS doctor

He’s a rheumatologist, a standup comedian – and now the author of a memoir. He talks about racism in healthcare, why Covid was the only time urgent care was properly staffed – and his beef with cardiologists