The Henry Mance Interview

More from this Series

• Economist Joseph Stiglitz: ‘Trump is what neoliberalism produces’

  Nobel laureate claims fall in inflation vindicates his position but global events challenge other views

  
• Gordon Brown: ‘I really didn’t think we could go as far backwards as we’ve gone’

  The former prime minister says Britain could have avoided austerity — but that politics has changed since the 1990s

  
• Historian Avi Shlaim: ‘I remain hopeful Israel will start to act rationally’

  The Oxford professor, born to a Jewish family in Baghdad, argues that Joe Biden can force change by threatening to slow military aid

  
• Forecaster Peter Turchin: ‘The US is in a much more perilous state than Russia’

  Academic’s models predicted 2020 instability. Was it just luck?

  
• ‘We cannot be an instrument of government’: BBC chair asks ministers to back off

  Elan Closs Stephens says diminishing institutions such as the public broadcaster weakens the fabric of the state

  
• A chatbot that imitates the dead. Is it a good idea?

  Jason Rohrer’s AI tool can simulate conversations with anyone. He argues users should decide how far to push it

  
• Birth rates are falling in the Nordics. Are family-friendly policies no longer enough?

  Finnish demographer Anna Rotkirch assesses how young people view having children and suggests we may need a societal rethink

  
• Joseph Nye: ‘You can coerce by economic means’

  Harvard professor who coined term ‘soft power’ says turmoil facing US and college where he works was worse in the 1960s

  
• How can you manage your time in 2024? Oliver Burkeman has thoughts

  Author of ‘Four Thousand Weeks’ says the first step is to realise you can’t do everything

  
• UN aid chief Martin Griffiths: ‘The war in Gaza isn’t halfway through’

  Official describes ‘worst ever’ humanitarian crisis as challenges mount for relief efforts

  
• Friederike Otto: ‘The climate backlash is the last attempt by those who don’t want change’

  Scientist uses detailed modelling to alter public perception of extreme weather

  
• Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier: ‘The EU is not the same one the UK left’

  French politician says British ministers did not know the consequences of leaving the bloc

  
• Philosopher Susan Neiman: ‘I hate the words pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian. I’m pro-peace’

  American commentator criticises tribalist politics and pushes for Jewish universalism

  
• Thomas Heatherwick: ‘The look of modern buildings is a catastrophe’

  Celebrated and at times controversial British designer warns our cities are gripped by ‘epidemic of boringness’

  
• China expert Matt Pottinger: ‘Even with a weak economy, Xi is feeling emboldened’

  Former Trump adviser says upheaval could increase Chinese leader’s appetite for risk 

  
• The activist sued by Elon Musk: ‘We have to show we will not be cowed’

  Imran Ahmed uses his Center for Countering Digital Hate to campaign against social media abuses

  
• Does Rory Stewart know how to fix politics?

  The anti-Brexit former cabinet minister is an advocate of citizens’ assemblies and of giving money directly to the poor

  
• Cait Hewitt: ‘I hope the era of aviation exceptionalism is over’

  The campaigner challenges the economic case for airport expansion in the UK and the industry’s sustainability ‘hype’

  
• Economist Kate Barker: ‘To tackle inflation we should put taxes up for the better-off’

  Former Bank of England MPC member worries high interest rates will not be enough to solve the current crisis

  
• Mustafa Nayyem of Ukraine’s reconstruction agency: ‘We have great goals, we will achieve them’

  Country’s head of restoration urges allies to provide immediate support to rebuild infrastructure even as war rages

  
• Anti-monarchist Graham Smith: The British royals are ‘tax-funded Kardashians’

  Head of the campaign group Republic on why the monarchy should be abolished and the government’s protest laws revoked

  
• Economist Daniel Chandler: ‘Shareholders have all the power. It doesn’t have to be that way.’

  The author of ‘Free and Equal’ makes the case for workplace democracy

  
• Dignitas founder Ludwig Minelli: ‘We should have the freedom to choose how we die’

  The 90-year-old Swiss lawyer says assisted dying should be available to almost everyone

  
• Mayor Sadiq Khan: ‘You don’t make the UK more level by making London poorer’

  The former MP warns against ‘bashing’ the capital as he seeks a record third term

  
• Matthew Desmond: ‘America does so much more to subsidise affluence than alleviate poverty’

  The sociologist believes the US is stacked against the poor and decisions by the rich are to blame

  
• Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo: ‘A city’s creativity doesn’t depend on cars. That’s the 20th century’

  Accused of desecrating the French capital, the politician wants more bikes, green spaces and social housing

  
• Tim Peake: ‘I do not see us having a problem getting to Mars’

  The Henry Mance Interview | The British astronaut is convinced that humans will live on the Red Planet

  
• Mariana Mazzucato: ‘The McKinseys and the Deloittes have no expertise in the areas that they’re advising in’

  The economist argues that consultants are hobbling the state’s ability to perform the role of economic motor

  
• Shoshana Zuboff: ‘Privacy has been extinguished. It is now a zombie’

  The professor who predicted that computers would change our lives demands a right to sanctuary from data ‘theft’

  
• Tyler Cowen: ‘Economists can’t predict the effects of new technologies. Surely that should humble us a bit?’

  The libertarian professor is on a mission to inform and educate so that people can make themselves more productive

  
• Nouriel Roubini: ‘I hope I didn’t depress you too much’

  The famously gloomy economist has turned up the dial on dark predictions for 2023 and beyond, but is upbeat about technology and the meaning of life

  
• Louise Richardson: ‘I do wish our students were more resilient about nasty remarks’

  Before she steps down this month, the vice-chancellor of Oxford university talks about cancel culture, state schools and why universities should not be businesses

  
• Stephen Diehl: Crypto is the ‘commoditisation of populist anger, gambling and crime’

  The software engineer has denounced crypto assets as vehicles for pure speculation. But his views have made him a target of harassment — including death threats

  
• Wanjira Mathai: ‘We’re only at a 1.2C world. Can you imagine how much worse it will get?’

  As the COP27 climate talks begin, the Kenyan environmentalist urges the west to win back the trust of developing countries

  
• Steven Pinker: ‘Putin’s invasion won’t lead to a return to the age of warring civilisation’

  The Harvard professor of psychology says he doesn’t sign on to the pessimistic conclusion that humans are inherently irrational 

  
• Jason Furman: ‘Everyone should wake up every morning figuring out how to get paid more’

  The US economist argues that the Federal Reserve cannot ease up on inflation, despite global market jitters

  
• Carlo Rovelli: ‘Science is not just about writing equations. It’s about reconceptualising the world’

  The physicist known for making complex ideas seem simple wants us to accept that certainty is often out of reach

  
• Sabine Weyand: ‘The EU found out we are dependent on Russia. We can’t afford that’

  Europe’s director-general of trade has discovered that assertiveness pays — and that economic ties can mask vulnerabilities

  
• Adrian Hill: ‘This is the breakthrough tool — vaccines against malaria’

  Having helped create the AstraZeneca Covid-19 drug, the Oxford scientist has another urgent goal, to eliminate malaria through vaccination

  
• Michelle O’Neill: ‘What I won’t allow is the unravelling of the Good Friday Agreement’

  Northern Ireland’s would-be first minister is frustrated by political stalemate but has one consolation — her goal of Irish reunification is becoming more likely

  
• Tom Tugendhat: ‘I will serve in whatever capacity I’m asked to serve’

  He was eliminated from the Tory leadership race, but the former soldier still wants to help British politics make a clean break with the Boris Johnson era

  
• Corinne Le Quéré: ‘Could we just adapt to climate change? The answer is no’

  The Canadian-born climate scientist stays cool as politicians fail to act, saying we have the solutions we need — we just have to use them

  
• Michael Lewis: ‘The thing that really works for Trump is: the system’s rigged’

  One of the greatest chroniclers of America’s financial crisis takes aim at the former president — and at the US response to Covid

  
• Mikhail Khodorkovsky: ‘Putin has embarked on a route that is going to lead to his demise’

  Russia’s once-richest man, now one of its most prominent dissidents, believes regime change will happen — but only by force

  
• ‘This might be a watershed for American feminism’: Amia Srinivasan on repealing Roe vs Wade

  The philosopher has emerged as one of today’s most innovative feminist thinkers, analysing how women are constrained by politics, culture and technology

  
• ‘A bonfire of the decencies’: Peter Hennessy on Boris Johnson’s government

  The British political historian has been observing Westminster since the 1970s, but he has never been this furious