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Billy Bragg: If you don’t make a pitch for inclusivity around the space we call England, you leave it open to the far right
The punk legend on the power of music, the dangers of cynicism, and protecting Englishness from the racists.
Victoria Bateman: If every woman had the ability to control her own fertility, the world would be a very different place
The historian and Cambridge economist on the myths that erased women from history, the “tradwife” revival, and how control over women’s lives shapes economies.
Kevin McCloud: Consumption doesn’t make you happy
The Grand Designs presenter on resisting commercialism and why sustainability and authenticity go hand in hand.
Luke Adam Hawker: Nature has the potential to inspire a new type of faith
The British artist on the role of nature as a kind of modern-day faith, and why a six-hundred-year-old sweet chestnut still stops him in his tracks.
Tom Morton-Smith: When you create something for children, you need to speak to something deeper than distraction
The Olivier award-winning playwright on childhood wonder, growing up, and why care and imagination still matter in an age of churn and automation.
Beth Steel: Deindustrialisation is the great unspoken story behind much of what we see today
British playwright Beth Steel on coal mines turned warehouses, the upheavals sparked by rapid political change, and why a wedding is the perfect stage for exploring modern Britain.
Sumayya Vally: Gaza has never been allowed to grow like a normal city
The generation-defining South African architect on architecture’s politics, the lessons in traditional building, and speaking up when it’s easier not to.
Sophia Ray: A 90-second film can’t radically change someone’s mind, but it can plant a seed
The British film director on the changing landscape of filmmaking, from the rise of AI and the return of lo-fi aesthetics to the ethical weight of commercial storytelling.
Marcus Du Sautoy: Sidelining arts in the national curriculum is impacting a generation of scientists
The mathematician, writer, broadcaster on why we need an education system that stops forcing a choice between logic and imagination.
Nick Mulvey: I didn’t want to be the chief of my life anymore
The UK singer-songwriter on childhood, family, prayer, and the practices that have helped him find his way back to music and to himself.
Theresa Lola: Poetry can transport you to places you’ve never been in ten lines. It’s emotion compressed
The Nigerian British award winning poet on poetry as a way to reclaim language, connect with heritage, and ask questions that don’t need neat answers.
Elif Shafak: We live in an age of too much information, very little knowledge, and even less wisdom
The British-Turkish novelist on why literature is still one of the most powerful forces we have to resist apathy, and connect more deeply to each other, nature, and ourselves.
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