Neuroscientist Anil Seth: ‘We risk not understanding the central mystery of life’
The professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience discusses his work to develop a scientific explanation for how the brain conjures consciousness
Paula Hawkins: ‘I wasn’t interested in writing the same book again’
The latest novel by the author of The Girl on the Train is a return to form. She talks fame, persistence and remaining an outsider
Elizabeth Day: ‘A lot of people were yearning to talk about failure’
The author on her chart-topping podcast, her influencer cat and how she created a cafe vibe at home in order to write
Sarfraz Manzoor on how prejudice works both ways in British Muslim communities
The broadcaster and writer believes mutual respect between different cultures and faith groups in the UK is possible – he hopes his book will change views
‘We always see sex from the man’s view’: Cammie Toloui, the peep show performer who peeped back
Turning her camera on her customers, the sex worker and photojournalist exposed the male gaze to itself – and opened up a world of shame and desire
Paul Mason: ‘Modern fascism’s interests are being represented in government by rightwing populists’
The former Channel 4 News broadcaster on writing at 4am, reading Carlo Rovelli and the danger posed by the new wave of fascism that’s on the rise across the world
Claire-Louise Bennett: ‘If there was a revolution, I’d be there’
The award-winning author on Beckett, Marxism, and why she resists identifying herself as a writer
Femi Fadugba: ‘There’s no reason why Peckham couldn’t be the theoretical physics capital of the world’
The physicist‑turned-YA novelist talks about choosing to set The Upper World in south London, and how it was snapped up by Daniel Kaluuya for Netflix. Plus read an extract
Amia Srinivasan: ‘Sex as a subject isn’t weird. It’s very, very serious’
With her debut book, The Right to Sex, a 36-year-old Oxford don is dazzling everyone. She discusses porn, gender dysphoria - and why her students are no snowflakes
Martin Amis: ‘Style isn’t something you apply later’
The novelist on making Philip Larkin his fictional father, why writing has become a battle, and his new work about race in the US
‘I’ve been poor for a long time’: after many rejections, Karen Jennings is up for the Booker
The South African author struggled to find a publisher for her Booker-nominated novel An Island, which only had a print-run of 500 copies. She talks about rejection, her country and believing in herself
‘The best summer of my life’ – Kae Tempest takes Sophocles on a gender odyssey
The writer has turned a Greek tragedy about a marooned soldier into an all-women play for the Covid era. They reveal how its creation mirrored their own journey
Eimear McBride: ‘Women grapple with shame because we’re held to a higher standard’
The novelist on her first book of nonfiction – about women and disgust – and the complexities of prize culture
SA Cosby: ‘The holy trinity of southern fiction is race, class and sex’
The bestselling Virginia crime writer on getting his big break, what southern fiction means to him, and setting his next murder mystery right after Trump is elected
Baxter Dury: ‘Everything was about Dad. It was the only way he knew how to survive’
The musician talks about growing up with a pop star dad, escaping his shadow – and the 6ft 7in drug dealer who lived with them