Michael Palin on the Philippines, China and the Fish-Slapping Dance

Best known as a member of Monty Python, Michael Palin has been many things  — sketch writer, comedian, actor, and for almost four decades, world traveler. In his latest series, “Michael Palin in the Philippines” - on UK channel 5 - Palin meets the nation’s president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., visits a…

Melania, Soft Power & the Iran War with Writer Azadeh Moaveni

As US journalist Azadeh Moaveni was writing her latest book, ‘The East Wing’, a history of America's first ladies and their staff, President Donald Trump’s demolition of that very part of the White House was underway.  Moaveni presents her book as a “parallel women’s history,” tracing how the wive…

Even a 0.1% AI Risk Matters: Google’s James Manyika

Amid the furious debate over the pace and potential risks of AI development, top tech executives have publicly united around a call for their industry to be regulated. As Google's senior vice president of technology and society, James Manyika says his role is to help ensure artificial intelligence…

Caught in the Iran War: Qatar’s PM on the Middle East “Earthquake”

“Our region has experienced what I can only describe as an earthquake.” That was how Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister, began remarks at a special UN General Assembly edition of the Qatar Economic Forum. Seven months of the US-Israel war with Iran have ravaged Qatar’…

Trump's 'Unreality Bubble’ Meets the Midterms: Maggie Haberman

Few journalists have watched Donald Trump as closely or for as long as Maggie Haberman. The New York Times reporter first encountered him as a tabloid fixture in the 1990s and has since chronicled his ascent to the White House, the period between his presidencies and the transformation of the offi…

Forget the Manosphere: Jon Ronson on Why Men Feel Lost

Author Jon Ronson has spent years focusing on the unusual people and societal undercurrents of our changing world. He has written a series of bestselling books featuring extremists, conspiracy theorists and psychopaths. The Men Who Stare at Goats was made into a film starring George Clooney, and h…

US Versus China, Cheap AI & Human Love: AI Pioneer Kai-Fu Lee

Chinese artificial intelligence companies are rapidly closing the gap with their American rivals despite years of US restrictions on advanced chips. But the race between the world’s two AI superpowers is part of a much bigger transformation, says China AI pioneer and investor Kai-Fu Lee: one that’…

Colm Tóibín on 1970s Barcelona, Trump's America and Escaping into Art

The writer Colm Tóibín knows something about leaving home. As a young man living in Spain, he discovered a freedom he hadn’t known growing up in Ireland. Later, he would settle in America. Tóibín’s latest books revisit these journeys. The Bridge is set in the remote regions of Spain that first cap…

Hamid Karzai on the Taliban, Pakistan and His Daughters’ Future

It's been 25 years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the US-led invasion of Afghanistan that brought Hamid Karzai, then a little-known tribal leader, to power. Two decades later, Karzai witnessed the chaotic withdrawal of American forces as the Taliban swept back into Kabul in 2021. While many…

Why will.i.am Says Human Creativity Will Survive AI

The Grammy award winning musician, tech CEO and college professor will.i.am says he believes in the power of artificial intelligence to assist human creativity. He tells Mishal Husain why his attitude toward technology is different from that of many other creatives. The founding member of Black Ey…