Fiona Sturges

Paul Ready reflects on his career, contrasting the gentle persona audiences associate with his Motherland character Kevin with the darker or more complex roles he enjoys playing. He discusses his new series Ann Droid, exploring themes of loneliness and technology, and praises collaborators including Diane Morgan and Sarah Kendall. Ready recounts notable past roles from Utopia to The Terror and describes upcoming work on his Fringe show Little Animals, which examines fractured relationships amid climate anxieties.

Alan Cumming discusses his unusually varied career, his commitment to theatre and his belief in pursuing new challenges rather than staying in one professional lane. He is leading Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s six-month 2026 season as artistic director, taking on writing, directing, acting and programming duties across classic and contemporary productions, including a gender-swapped King Lear and My Fair Lady. Cumming also reflects on his role as host of The Traitors US, his LGBTQ+ activism, his childhood experiences described in his memoirs, and the Baftas controversy involving Tourette’s activist John Davidson, which he attributed to serious leadership and preparation failures.

Nicola Walker discusses her role as Alice in Disney+'s Alice and Steve, a comedy-drama about the fallout when her character's daughter begins dating Alice's older, newly divorced friend. Walker and co-star Yali Topol Margalith explore the contentious nature of age-gap relationships and the different perspectives presented by writer Sophie Goodhart. Walker also reflects on parenting her 20-year-old son, advising a restrained, nonjudgmental approach. The interview covers her move from crime and dramatic roles into comedy, the challenges faced by women in the traditionally male-dominated television industry, age-related casting pressures and the importance of female writers and executives in creating substantial roles.

German author Matthias Jügler discusses the controversy surrounding Mayfly Season, a novel about parents in the GDR who are told their newborn has died and later suspect the child was taken for adoption. Inspired by allegations and documented cases of forced adoption, Jügler says German officials and politicians challenged his sources and accused him of retraumatising grieving parents. He argues that denial may reflect concerns about compensation and nostalgia for the former East Germany, while framing fiction as a way to convey the emotional reality of families searching for lost children.

Comedian and podcaster John Robins discusses his 30-year struggle with alcohol, sobriety since November 2022 and memoir Thirst. He describes drinking as a way of masking deeper problems, the exhaustion that led him to seek help, and the role of a 12-step programme, therapy, exercise, meditation and Buddhism in his recovery. Robins also reflects on his comedy and broadcasting career, his collaborations with Elis James and Alex Horne, and the growing ability of comedians to create video and podcast content independently of television commissioners.

Irish novelist Colm Toíbín discusses his new short-story collection, The News from Dublin, including its focus on migrants, outsiders, loss and dislocation. He explains how Donald Trump's return to power revived a story about an Irish migrant facing deportation, echoing real cases involving ICE. Toíbín criticizes anti-immigrant politics and the weakening of American democratic checks and balances, reflects on his ability to write women and gay male characters, and describes how his father's early death shaped his writing. He also discusses his Irish-American identity, his novels Brooklyn and Long Island, and his plans for future work.

Iranian author Shahrnush Parsipur discusses her pioneering literary career, imprisonment and life in exile. Her novella Women Without Men, which depicts five women resisting patriarchal oppression in 1950s Tehran, was banned in Iran after authorities arrested Parsipur and imprisoned her for two months. The book has since been translated into 30 languages, adapted into a film and longlisted for the 2026 International Booker Prize. Parsipur recalls raising her son in a household shared by three women, receiving help from Isabel Allende after seeking asylum in the United States, and now living with serious health and financial difficulties. If she wins the prize, she plans to give the money to her landlady.

Jenni Murray is remembered as a pioneering and distinctive BBC broadcaster who presented Woman’s Hour for decades. Her fearless interviews and candid discussions helped bring subjects including marital rape, sexual pleasure, the gender pay gap and breast cancer into mainstream conversation. She challenged powerful figures such as Margaret Thatcher and Edwina Currie while showing compassion toward Monica Lewinsky. After leaving Woman’s Hour in 2020, she continued championing women and women’s issues through the podcast Experience is Everything.

Actor and comedian Sally Phillips reflects on a portrait of her by Caroline de Peyrecave, saying the painting captures her personality and inner life more fully than photographs or screen appearances. She discusses her career in comedy and acting, the underrepresentation of women in comedy and art, and the pressure placed on ageing women to alter their appearance, arguing that Botox has become so normalised that natural wrinkles can seem unusual. Phillips also describes raising three neurodivergent sons, including her 21-year-old son Olly, who has Down syndrome, and explains how advocacy, humour and family experience have shaped her outlook. Her portrait, titled “Am I Funny?”, is part of de Peyrecave’s Empowering Her exhibition supporting UN Women UK.

Nicky Campbell's BBC Radio 5 Live podcast Don't Say a Word examines changing cultural norms, free speech and contentious language through questions about race, disability and popular culture. Its calm, generally common-sense conclusions are welcomed, but the magazine-show format is criticized for glibness, uneven tone and insufficient depth compared with Jon Ronson's Things Fall Apart. The podcast's release is also judged poorly timed given the BBC's recent scandals, editorial controversies and the backlash over an uncensored racial slur broadcast during the Baftas.

At 86, Melvyn Bragg says he has no intention of retiring after stepping down from presenting BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time because of health and vocal problems. He is developing screen adaptations of two novels, planning a new radio series and discussing his memoir Another World, which recalls his working-class upbringing, Oxford years, depression and eventual career in broadcasting. Bragg reflects on his work across the BBC and ITV, his determination to treat popular and high culture equally, and the remarkable global success of In Our Time. He has also retired from the House of Lords, where one of his final speeches addressed the declining status of arts and humanities education.

Alexander Armstrong discusses his career across television, radio, music and comedy, including hosting Pointless and presenting on Classic FM. He describes how financial pressures once made it difficult to reject work, whereas he can now be more selective. The interview also focuses on his children’s fantasy series Evenfall, whose second book, Evenfall: The Tempest Stone, draws on his North East upbringing, family storytelling and love of classical music. Armstrong reflects on fatherhood, his route from music school and Cambridge Footlights into comedy, his partnership with Ben Miller, changing diversity in television, and his desire to continue writing while pursuing a possible book about classical music.

Gisèle Pelicot’s memoir, written with journalist Judith Perrignon, recounts the discovery that her former husband, Dominique Pelicot, drugged and arranged for dozens of men to rape her over a decade. It explores why she experienced no conscious awareness of the abuse, the childhood trauma and gaslighting that shaped the relationship, and the devastating impact on her children and family. The review praises Pelicot’s decision to waive anonymity and demand an open trial, her refusal to let the crimes erase positive memories, and her continuing faith in love and human goodness despite the trauma.

Mark Haddon discusses Leaving Home, his first memoir, which uses illustrations and nonlinear snapshots to explore his childhood in Northampton, boarding-school years and difficult relationship with his dysfunctional parents. He explains that heart surgery, brain fog and long Covid forced him to write in short sections, a constraint he ultimately found artistically useful. Haddon also speaks candidly about self-harm, shifting mental-health diagnoses, bipolar symptoms and the discomfort of depicting painful family emotions. He reflects on the success and criticism surrounding The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, his move toward fantasy, and his volunteering with the Samaritans.

Misha Glenny is portrayed as a strong successor to Melvyn Bragg, who hosted BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time for 27 years. Glenny’s first episode retains the programme’s established format of scholarly, civil discussion without celebrity promotion or oversimplification, focusing on John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor Mill’s On Liberty. The programme’s intellectual seriousness and niche subject matter have helped it remain popular, particularly among younger listeners, suggesting it remains in safe hands under its new presenter.

Steven Knight discusses writing the second season of A Thousand Blows, his working-class upbringing in Birmingham, and his approach to blending real history with imagined drama. He explains that the series draws on figures such as Hezekiah Moscow and Mary Carr, while exploring events including Jamaica's 1865 Morant Bay Massacre. Knight is also developing a Peaky Blinders feature and sequel series, and is writing a new James Bond film for producer Amy Pascal. Although he recognizes the pressure of continuing major franchises, he says writers must avoid second-guessing audiences and focus on making the story they want to tell.

Patti Smith’s new memoir, Bread of Angels, traces the experiences that shaped her artistic identity, from a difficult childhood and rejection of Jehovah’s Witness teachings to her early literary and visual-art influences. It recounts her rise after Horses, her withdrawal from music to build a family in Detroit, and her return to work and creativity after the death of her husband Fred “Sonic” Smith. The memoir also reflects on profound personal losses and Smith’s continuing artistic vitality as she approaches 80.

Harper Lee's posthumous collection The Land of Sweet Forever combines uneven but charming short stories from her youth with more assured journalism, including essays and a recipe connected to To Kill a Mockingbird. The stories reveal the child-focused perspective, Alabama settings and anti-racist concerns that would shape her famous novel, while the collection's strongest piece recounts the friends whose financial support enabled Lee to write. Although the book is considered a better and more worthwhile publication than Go Set a Watchman, its release raises ethical questions because Lee left no clear instructions about publishing the stories after her death.

Nicholas Sparks discusses Remain, his new supernatural romance novel created in collaboration with filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan. The story, about an architect who falls in love with a ghost in Cape Cod, was developed simultaneously as a book and film, with the movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Phoebe Dynevor scheduled for October 2026. Sparks contrasts the demands of novel writing and filmmaking, reflects on adapting his earlier books—including The Notebook—and recounts how he overcame 24 rejections before Theresa Park took him on as an agent. He also describes leaving pharmaceutical sales to write full time and sustaining a career spanning more than three decades.

Maria McErlane discusses her long friendship and creative partnership with Graham Norton, including their new advice podcast, Wanging On with Graham & Maria. She recalls censorship troubles at the BBC, her earlier work in radio, television, comedy and voiceover, and her decision to embrace the freedom of podcasting. The interview also covers her working-class upbringing, reinvention in London, struggles with body dysmorphia and disordered eating, experiences on the comedy circuit, and her views on fame, loneliness and the pressures faced by performers.

Jacqueline Wilson discusses her painful relationship with her mother, who criticized her in childhood and never read her books, despite Wilson later becoming a bestselling author, Children’s Laureate and dame. She reflects on how childhood experiences of parental rejection and family turmoil informed her compassionate portrayals of difficult young lives. Her new adult novel, Picture Imperfect, revisits Dolphin from The Illustrated Mum 23 years later, depicting an adult life without an uncomplicated happy ending. Wilson also discusses revisiting older characters, writing about sex for adult readers, her enduring commitment to children’s fiction and her desire to continue writing into later life.

Adam Buxton discusses the career crisis that followed Joe Cornish’s success with Attack the Block, and how launching The Adam Buxton Podcast gave him an independent creative outlet. He reflects on his new memoir, I Love You, Byeee, which explores his early career, his relationship with his late mother Valerie, and the deaths of both parents. Buxton says his podcast was shaped by dog walks with Rosie and may end when his 13-year-old dog dies, but he now feels less anxious about the future and hopes to pursue new creative projects.

Isabel Allende discusses the emotional absence of a relationship with her father and how her family history informs her new novel, My Name Is Emilia Del Valle. The book follows a young journalist reporting on Chile’s 1891 civil war and echoes Allende’s experience of the 1973 military coup led by Augusto Pinochet, after which she fled to Venezuela. She also reflects on the origins of The House of the Spirits, her writing routine, her feminist commitments and the Isabel Allende Foundation’s work supporting women and girls. Allende expresses concern that Trump administration policies could threaten the foundation’s US operations, but says her experience of dictatorship has made her less fearful and more confident that political power is temporary.

Julia Donaldson discusses her new picture book Gozzle, about a bear and a gosling, and explains how research into animal behaviour informed the story. She reflects on the lasting success of The Gruffalo, her varied writing career, her reluctance to read her own books to grandchildren, and the influence of Shakespeare on her use of rhythm and verse. She also describes grieving her late husband Malcolm, with whom she performed her work, and preparing to continue live shows with their sons.

An interview with 86-year-old illustrator Helen Oxenbury explores her career, creative process and childhood influences ahead of her first solo exhibition at Burgh House in London. Oxenbury discusses illustrating We're Going on a Bear Hunt, pioneering books for babies, collaborating with writers including Michael Rosen and drawing inspiration from family life, Suffolk and Hampstead Heath. She reflects on childhood during the war, the value of boredom and imagination, her late husband John Burningham's legacy, and her continued work on a new book with Rosen.

Vashti Bunyan abandoned her music career after her 1970 album Just Another Diamond Day received little attention and she became a mother. After discovering in 1997 that the album had become a cult favorite among younger musicians including Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom, she reissued it in 2000, leading to stronger sales, a second album, touring and renewed recognition. The reissue of her 2005 album Lookaftering prompts reflections on her journey, artistic confidence and rejection of the “folk singer” label.

Anton Newcombe discusses recovering from double heart-bypass surgery and his determination to continue making music. He reflects on the Brian Jonestown Massacre's volatile history, including a 2023 Melbourne altercation, and argues that his decision to remain independent allowed him to retain control of his recordings and build long-term financial stability. Despite feeling that he receives little respect, he is preparing for a UK and European tour with the band's core lineup and is releasing the album Parallel with Dot Allison as All Seeing Dolls.

At 75, Bill Nighy discusses his preference for distinctive, action-oriented roles and his aversion to playing characters in pyjamas. He reflects on playing IVF pioneer Patrick Steptoe in Joy, the opposition faced by Steptoe, Robert Edwards and Jean Purdy, and the global impact of IVF. Nighy also recalls how Love Actually, alongside Underworld and State of Play, transformed his career: his pay quintupled and he no longer had to audition. The interview covers his early insecurity, theatre influences, family life, grandchildren and plans to continue acting rather than retire.

Tessa Hadley’s novella The Party follows sisters Evelyn and Moira at two postwar gatherings in Bristol, where encounters with worldly men propel them beyond the constraints of adolescence and respectable middle-class life. The review praises Hadley’s depiction of late-1940s hardship, emerging female independence, sibling intimacy and resentment, and the characters’ desire to be seen after years of deprivation and repression.

Artist Alison Lapper discusses her life, disability, motherhood and the death of her son Parys, who died aged 19 after struggling with mental illness and homelessness. Her new documentary and exhibition, Lost in Parys, explore her grief and the return to painting after a three-year breakdown. Lapper also reflects on childhood institutionalisation, rejection by her mother, discrimination and her determination to prove that disabled people can live independently and make art. Her works include portraits of Parys and emotionally intense self-portraits, while Marc Quinn's sculptures of Lapper and her son serve as both important records and painful reminders of their relationship.

Laurie Anderson continues to produce experimental music, performance art, films and technology-driven work at 77. She discusses the renewed popularity of “O Superman” among TikTok users, her relationship with the late Lou Reed, and Amelia, a sound-art song cycle about Amelia Earhart’s final flight. Anderson also reflects on her multidisciplinary upbringing, the influence of the 1960s and her conflicted fascination with technology, including an upcoming AI-assisted project.

Pat Barker’s The Voyage Home concludes her Troy trilogy by following the enslaved healer Ritsa and the Trojan priestess Cassandra aboard a ship returning to Mycenae after the fall of Troy. The novel explores the trauma of war, sexual violence and the uncertain futures of women caught in its aftermath, while bringing Clytemnestra’s grief over the sacrifice of her daughter Iphigenia to the foreground. The review praises Barker’s focused, propulsive storytelling and her contemporary, compassionate reworking of Homer that restores depth and agency to women traditionally marginalised by the myth.