Neurosurgeon and writer
Recorded · The Guardian · 2022
what’s the difference? If I die in two years’ time, what will I do between now and then which I don’t want to do now?
Losing someone
For a hospital corridor, or a house that has to be cleared, or a morning after being told something about your own body that you cannot un-know. A good part of what is here was written by people under a diagnosis of their own, who knew the answer applied to them within months — which is not a vantage anybody can be asked to take up on request.
120 people · 644 answers
Has knowing you will die changed how you live?
Professor of computer science, human-computer interaction and design
Recorded · Carnegie Mellon University, School of Computer Science · 2007
This is obviously not how I wanted things to turn out, but my wife and I have no regrets; we did everything I could to maximize my odds.
Neurologist and writer
Recorded · The New York Times · 2015
I feel a sudden clear focus and perspective. There is no time for anything inessential. I must focus on myself, my work and my friends. I shall no longer look at “NewsHour” every night.
Historian of American Christianity; professor at Duke Divinity School
Recorded · The New York Times · 2018
Every 90 days I lie in a whirling CT machine, dye coursing through my veins, and the doctors look to see whether the tumors in my liver are growing.
Critic, essayist, poet and broadcaster
Recorded · ABC News · 2015
Yeah. These books are all around me and they'll be here when I go and I'm that sick. I just don't know when it ends.
Novelist
Recorded · The Guardian · 2010
Let us consider me as a test case.
How close have you come to dying?
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A recurring Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
British actor
Recorded · The Guardian · 2020
In the early 90s, in the Andes, caught in an atrocious storm above 20,000ft with three others. We were all in a very bad way. Some guys close to us perished; we were lucky.
British actress
Recorded · The Guardian · 2020
Giving birth is much more treacherous than people let on.
Novelist and screenwriter
Recorded · The Guardian · 2016
How many times I could have died before now, and in how many different ways.
Danish and British broadcaster, comedian and writer
Recorded · The Guardian · 2018
I’ve had a surprising number of near-death experiences: I was nearly blown up by a landmine in Sudan; I was stranded on the Zambezi river at night; I was bucked off a rodeo horse in Arizona…
British singer
Recorded · The Guardian · 2017
On a camping holiday in Scotland when I was nine: I was in an inflatable dinghy that drifted out to sea. A lifeboat had to come.
American singer-songwriter
Recorded · The Guardian · 2017
I was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago, but so early that I knew it wasn’t a death sentence. Until we get a cure for cancer, early detection is our best hope.
Does the thought of dying frighten you?
Originally asked
The Talks, to its interviewees, its interview series
The Talks asks this directly or through an equivalent risk-and-mortality formulation across interviews.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Editor and memoirist
Recorded · The Guardian · 2014
These matters have become discussable with one’s friends, not, of course, as a frequent part of gossip over lunch in the dining room (our only communal occasion) but from time to time,…
Novelist and essayist
Recorded · London Review of Books · 2015
Missing a few months of feeling awful, being dead, versus not missing those months of feeling awful.
Children's author and illustrator
Recorded · NPR · 2011
Yes. Of course. And since I don't believe in another world, in another life, that this is it. And when they die they are out of my life. They're gone forever. Blank. Blank. Blank.
Aid worker; executive director of Jersey Overseas Aid
Recorded · BBC News · 2024
I'm sort of - not looking forward to my final day - of course that's the wrong way to see it. But I'm kind of curious about it, and I'm happy and I'm ready.
Political strategist and pollster; architect of New Labour
Recorded · The Guardian · 2011
From the moment I resolved and reconciled things with Gail the fear went. I don't feel I've got any fear now. I think acceptance is the key. If you accept death, fear disappears.
Essayist, critic and journalist
Recorded · Vanity Fair · 2012
The chief side effect of this pain is numbness in the extremities, filling me with the not irrational fear that I shall lose the ability to write.
What kind of death would you consider a good one?
Originally asked
Vanity Fair, to its interview subject, The Proust Questionnaire
A fixed final question in Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire, repeated verbatim across respondent pages.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Chef, restaurateur and food activist
Recorded · Vanity Fair · 2021
Peacefully, knowing I’ll be composted in a mushroom suit.
Singer and actor
Recorded · Vanity Fair · 2023
In my bed at home at a ripe old age with the knowledge that my children, and grandchildren if I have any, are thriving, happy, and provided for.
Singer and guitarist
Recorded · Vanity Fair · 2022
In my sleep in my 90s, after a great gig.
Film composer
Recorded · Vanity Fair · 2019
Showing off onstage, with everyone laughing and applauding.
Actor, writer and broadcaster
Recorded · Vanity Fair · 2015
Over two weeks, in a pleasant fug of palliative morphine if necessary. Just time to say a cheerful good-bye to everyone.
Short-story writer and novelist
Recorded · Vanity Fair · 2023
Read incorrectly, that sounds like a threat. No thanks, Vanity Fair !
What do you believe happens when we die?
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A recurring late-stage question in The Guardian Q&A, with materially different answers on publisher-hosted pages.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Performance artist
Recorded · The Guardian · 2024
Twenty-one grams of energy goes into the universe.
Novelist and essayist
Recorded · London Review of Books · 2015
I’d never been envious of those who believe in an afterlife until now. It would be so much cosier than dissolution. She’s gone to the next room. Nope, can’t manage it.
Recorded · The Guardian · 2025
An accounting is given of our lives. Did you give more than you’ve taken? Hurt more people than you’ve helped?
Recorded · The Guardian · 2026
Being alive on Earth is challenging and I like to believe that whatever happens after is filled with peace and ease.
Recorded · The Guardian · 2026
Hopefully we have life in the minds and hearts of the people we interacted with.
Recorded · The Guardian · 2025
When my kids ask, “What happens when we die?” I say, “Do you remember the place you were in before you were born? I think we go back there.”
If you had only one day left, how would you spend it — and what would you deliberately avoid?
Short-story writer; teacher at the Michener Center for Writers
Recorded · The Believer · 2026
I think that dying might bring about a profound loneliness. I don’t feel lonely in life, but I do think this would be a very hard discovery at the end.
Musician; co-founder of the Orb
Recorded · Clash · 2009
I’d look for the mad amusement park on the base of Mount Fuji and take a few rides in there, and then whisk myself off very, very, very quickly on a jet cos it’s gonna be a long day.
Singer, songwriter and composer
Recorded · Clash · 2011
I would probably want to cook a decent turkey.
Electronic musician, record label owner and curator
Recorded · Clash · 2010
I’d like to be dancing the night away, making love and listening to music. All done with the most amazing bag of weed you can possibly imagine so my last joint is perfect.
Musician; one half of Röyksopp
Recorded · Clash · 2009
I can see myself making this grand plan of finding everyone and telling them all how much I love them. However, instead I find myself in bed at 3pm and I’ve slept for half the day.
Singer, musician and songwriter
Recorded · Clash · 2011
I would probably talk to each of my close friends and my family members about things I regret and get any miscommunications out of the way.
What would you most want to leave your children?
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Verbatim recurring item in The Guardian Q&A; two publisher-hosted respondent pages establish institutional recurrence.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Recorded · The Guardian · 2026
The wisdom to become who they are in the truth of their spirit.
Recorded · The Guardian · 2025
A book of passwords for all the electrical stuff in the house.
Recorded · The Guardian · 2025
A strong work ethic and enough wealth not to need it.
Recorded · The Guardian · 2023
A sense of the world being full of possibility and it being in their hands to make it a better one.
Recorded · The Guardian · 2026
Good memories. When I’m gone, I want them to feel that they were always my No 1 priority.
Recorded · The Guardian · 2026
A strong sense of being loved and a hopefulness for their life ahead.
How would you want people to remember you?
Originally asked
Vogue, to one guest at a time, on camera, 73 Questions
A recurring legacy prompt in Vogue's 73 Questions, appearing with only minor wording changes.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Recorded · The Guardian · 2023
As the Queen of Rock’n’Roll. As a woman who showed other women that it is OK to strive for success on their own terms.
British socialite
Recorded · The Guardian · 2024
As a force for good and a champion of the underdog.
Scottish crime novel writer
Recorded · The Guardian · 2020
I would like to be remembered for the quality of my work by people who don’t know me; and by the people who know me I’d like to be remembered for being good company.
British actor and media personality
Recorded · The Guardian · 2017
As someone who tried to keep learning, and wanted to help.
English artistic gymnast
Recorded · The Guardian · 2016
I would like to be a legend in my sport, like Mo Farah and Chris Hoy.
Recorded · The Guardian · 2026
As someone who made you think that anything’s possible.
Some of the people here · A–Z
Adam Clayton, Alex Lawther, Alison Moyet, Alison Steadman, Ally McCoist, Andrew O’Hagan, Andrew Ridgeley, Anita Rani, Arlene Phillips, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Barack Obama, Bear Grylls, Ben Okri, Billy Crudup, Bobbi Brown, Brandi Carlile, Bruno Tonioli, Bryn Terfel, Caroline Lucas, Charles Collingwood, Charles Dance, Chris Bonington, Chris Hoy, Ciarán Hinds, Clive Myrie, Daphne Guinness, David Guetta, David Hasselhoff, David Vélez, Dawn O’Porter, Derek Sivers, Dervla Kirwan, Desmond Tutu, Douglas Booth, Ed Harris, Edmund Hillary, Eleanor Tomlinson, Erin Doherty, Erin O'Connor, Esther Freud, Felicity Jones, Frank Bowling, George H. W. Bush, George Takei, Giovanna Fletcher, Gloria Steinem, Graydon Carter, Gregory Porter, Hamza Yassin, Helen Skelton, Henry Marsh, Hugh Skinner, Indira Varma, Isabel Allende, Jack Davenport, James Norton, Jane Asher, Jared Harris, Jason Donovan, Jenna Coleman, Jimmy Carter, Johannes Radebe, John Lewis, John Waters, Jon Snow, Jon Sopel, Joseph Fiennes, Julian Lloyd Webber, Juliet Stevenson, Justin Hawkins, Kate Humble, Kathy Lette, Katie Melua, Keir Starmer, Kelly Hoppen, Keren Woodward, Kerry Godliman, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Layton Williams, Lee Child, Lemn Sissay, Maggie O'Farrell, Marcus Brigstocke, Marcus Mumford, Mariella Frostrup, Marina Abramović, Marina Diamandis, Mark Bonnar, Mark Radcliffe, Maya Jama, Meghann Fahy, Michael Flatley, Michelle Collins, Michelle Visage, Midge Ure, Mike Skinner, Milton Jones, Miriam Margolyes, Mohamed ElBaradei, Monica Dolan, Naga Munchetty, Natalie Imbruglia, Neil Gaiman, Nick Frost, Nigel Havers, Nish Kumar, Nuala McGovern, Oliver Sacks, Omid Djalili, Paul McKenna, Pauline Black, Penny Lancaster, Philippa Gregory, Rebecca Ferguson, Rebecca Lucy Taylor, Richard Schiff, Robert Carlyle, Romola Garai, Rosalind Eleazar, Russell Mael
And more. Search the directory for somebody in particular.