‘Who are we performing for?’: Will McPhail on the strange art of small talk

The New Yorker cartoonist’s debut graphic novel In follows an aimless artist who struggles to connect with others. He talks about his own experiences, and his love for drawing ‘characterful’ pigeons

‘They had soul’: Anton Corbijn on 40 years shooting Depeche Mode

He thought they were pop lightweights – then turned them into moody megastars. The photographer recalls his adventures with the band, from desert trips to drug-induced near-death experiences

Esther Freud: ‘I didn’t learn to read till I was about 10’

The Hideous Kinky author on her childhood dyslexia, the frenzy around being a perfect mother, and why there are so few great female artists

Tahmima Anam ‘As a woman, I’m aware of the limitations of tech’

Anam’s new novel The Startup Wife was such a departure, she initially planned to use a pseudonym. She talks about drawing from her own experiences of the tech world for her darkly funny satire

Mateo Askaripour: ‘Everything is sales, whether we call it that or not’

Based on his experiences in corporate America, Askaripour’s satirical debut Black Buck is a bestseller. He talks about success, empathy and microaggressions

‘I almost died last summer’: Sebastian Junger on life, death and his new book Freedom

The author of The Perfect Storm and War discusses the lure of walking the railroads, the safety of small groups, the work of Cormac McCarthy – and literary endeavour in the time of Trump

Mateo García Elizondo: ‘I get a little bored by having to talk about my grandfather’

The writer – and grandson of Gabriel García Márquez – on Mexican folklore, his early love of horror and learning to live with the family’s literary legacy

Theoretical physicist Chiara Marletto: ‘The universal constructor could revolutionise civilisation’

The scientist on why studying elementary particles is only one way of explaining phenomena, how the 3D printer could change the world, and her optimism about women in science

Paris Lees: ‘It drives me crazy when people introduce me as a trans activist’

She survived a troubled youth – and a spell in prison – to forge a new life for herself as a writer and campaigner. Now, despite the pain of revisiting those years, she’s telling her story in full

‘I wasn’t bold enough’: Ed Miliband on losing, leading and the future of Labour

The former Labour leader has always been big on ideas, but never had the chance to put them into practice. He talks about his new vision for politics

Hanif Kureishi: ‘I’d like to see a British Muslim Sopranos’

As his new play The Spank opens in Italy, the writer talks about the power of ludicrous ideas, the crisis facing the middle class – and why he can’t get white liberals off his phone

‘We got shot at’ – the outrageous life of Jayne County, the first trans rock’n’roller

She partied with Warhol and fronted a band called The Electric Chairs who were too shocking even for punk. As her extraordinary tell-all memoir is republished, Jayne County relives one of music’s most astonishing sagas

Daniel Kahneman: ‘Clearly AI is going to win. How people are going to adjust is a fascinating problem’

The psychologist on applying his ideas to organisations, why we’re not equipped to grasp the spread of a virus, and the massive disruption that’s just round the corner

Journalist Patrick Radden Keefe: ‘I’ve always been interested in secrecy’

The American journalist and author on his history of the Sacklers, the family at the centre of the US opioids controversy, and a special night with the Scorpions in Ukraine

Hollie McNish: ‘I have to psych myself up to share’

The prize-winning poet on her bond with her giggly late gran, embracing blush-making subject matter and why reading poetry is key to writing