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Politics and public life

People on the record here who work in politics and public life, and what they were asked.

22 people · 634 answers

What thought won't let you sleep?

Originally asked

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

A long-running fixed question in The Guardian's weekly Q&A questionnaire.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Edwina Currie

Former British politician, broadcaster and writer

Recorded · The Guardian · 2017

Anxiety. Usually the best response is to think hard about things, work up some solutions and then go to sleep.
All 8 from politics and public life → or everyone who answered it

What worries you about getting older?

Originally asked

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

A newer fixed question in The Guardian's rotating Q&A pool.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Winston Churchill

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1940–1945 and 1951–1955; Member of Parliament 1900–1964

Recorded · Winston S. Churchill, Painting as a Pastime, Project Gutenberg Canada · 1932

One by one the more vigorous sports and exacting games fall away. Exceptional exertions are purchased only by a more pronounced and more prolonged fatigue.
Edmund Hillary

Mountaineer and explorer; first ascent of Everest, 1953

Recorded · Academy of Achievement

I’ve been very fortunate in that respect. In the early days I liked to be the bomb of the expedition, and rush on ahead and do things faster than anybody else.
George H. W. Bush

41st President of the United States, 1989–1993

Recorded · Academy of Achievement · 1995

I don't want to be called a senior citizen, I feel like a spring colt. I don't want to be called a has-been, because there's things I want to do in life.
All 5 from politics and public life → or everyone who answered it

What has life taught you about being human?

Originally asked

Krista Tippett, to her guests, On Being

Krista Tippett uses this as a recurring, sometimes-closing On Being question; the wording is intentionally adapted to each guest.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Desmond Tutu

Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town; chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission; Nobel Peace Prize, 1984

Recorded · Academy of Achievement

I have come to realize the extraordinary capacity for evil that all of us have because we have now heard the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and there have been revelations of…
Barack Obama

44th President of the United States, 2009–2017; United States Senator from Illinois 2005–2008

Recorded · Ben Tiggelaar · 2018

Part of what separates us from the other creatures on earth is that we make up stories. We are storytellers. And we can tell bad stories and we can tell good stories.
Rosa Parks

Civil-rights activist

Recorded · Academy of Achievement

There were so many needs for us to continue to work for freedom, because I didn’t think that we should have to be treated in the way we were, just for the sake of white supremacy, because…
Bill Clinton

42nd President of the United States, 1993–2001

Recorded · Academy of Achievement

There is always an impulse to degrade people who are different from you, to diminish them, to demean them, and it never seems to go away, even when there is ample evidence that when we work…
Aung San Suu Kyi

Leader of the National League for Democracy; Nobel Peace Prize laureate; State Counsellor of Myanmar, 2016–2021

Recorded · The Nobel Foundation · 2012

It is in human nature to contain both the positive and the negative. However, it is also within human capability to work to reinforce the positive and to minimize or neutralize the negative.
All 5 from politics and public life → or everyone who answered it

Everyone here · A–Z

Anita Rani, Aung San Suu Kyi, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Caroline Lucas, Chris Bryant, Clive Myrie, Desmond Tutu, Edmund Hillary, George H. W. Bush, Gloria Steinem, Jimmy Carter, John Lewis, Jon Snow, Jon Sopel, Keir Starmer, Kellie Maloney, Malala Yousafzai, Mohamed ElBaradei, Rory Stewart, Winston Churchill, Zack Polanski

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