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The question

What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.

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Right now: Summer. Dusk. On my couch watching Australian Open tennis with my kids and dog. Doors wide open to a beautiful body of water. The first star of the night just appeared in the sky. Life is magical.
Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, March 2025 source ↗
Stephen Merchant English comedian and actor
Watching Bruce Springsteen at Glastonbury. During Because The Night I actually shouted, "This is the greatest moment of my life!"
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 November 2013 source ↗
My college years when I was 17 to 19, before the responsibilities of adulthood, just doing the things that I was good at and liked – computers, maths, further maths (I was a geek).
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 November 2025 source ↗

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Question When were you most embarrassed? Failure & regret
Eight or nine years ago, I disgraced myself in the Japanese ambassador’s home in Dublin, at a celebration for my late mother-in-law’s book about living in Japan. Afterwards, when I had to apologise, she told me it was the worst night of her life and, because I was drunk enough not to remember the details, it will never not be the most embarrassing night of my life. People are filling in details even now – “Remember when you fell under the table during the first course?”
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 July 2023 source ↗

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