20 Questions With Matt Frei

Multi-award-winning journalist, and Channel 4 News anchor, Matt Frei appears on the 20 Questions With podcast from Israel during the third week of the war with Iran. Fresh from dashing around the country covering missile strikes, taking shelter in a bunker, and interviewing the Israeli President, he gives his insight into what it's like working in war zones, revealing the mix of fear, adrenaline and curiosity. Frei lets us into his own views on the conflict between America, Israel and Iran, and describes the effect the 47th President of the US is having on the world. He interviewed Trump himself before he ran for the first time and shares his reflections from that encounter in 2014. Born in West Germany, Frei moved to England when he was eight, and he was in Berlin as a BBC correspondent for the fall of the Wall. He describes the time in East Timor when a gun was pointed at him and the trigger pulled, just as his wife was about to give birth to the second of their four children. This is an extraordinary episode, in which one of Britain's most celebrated foreign correspondents and best known news anchors takes us behind the scenes of some of the biggest international stories of his generation. 

Sir Richard Peto is Emeritus Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at the University of Oxford. He has helped to reduce the premature deaths of tens of millions of people across the world with his research into smoking, breast cancer, and heart attacks. Here he explains his methods, details his pioneering work in statistics, and outlines improvements he'd like to see in his field. This is a rare chance to hear from one of the world's most impactful epidemiologists. 

Entrepreneur, manufacturer, style icon, sportsman and a star of The Great British Sewing Bee, Patrick Grant talks fashion, business, TV, men's clothes, representing Scotland at rugby, growing a beard, keeping trim, barely drinking, ageing, mortality, passion, career trajectory, AI, championing British manufacturing, post-industrial towns and cities, provenance, caring, childhood, and taking risks. 

Justine Picardie, author of the new book, Fashioning The Crown, reveals the role fashion has played in the British monarchy; describes spending personal time with the late Queen Elizabeth II; explores the power of women when men still ruled the world; gives her verdict on Coco Chanel; tells the story of her own relationship with fashion and style, and offers insights into life at home in rural Norfolk. 

Sir John Curtice, Britain's most famous polling expert and stalwart of BBC election nights, is at risk of becoming a national treasure. Here he offers his insights into the fragmentation of British politics; the rise of Reform under Farage and of the Greens under Polanksi; the challenges facing Labour and the Tories; the unpopularity of Sir Keir Starmer and British political leaders in general; the key requirements of leadership; the impact of culture wars on voting trends; the role of social media in shaping voters' priorities, and the effect of polling on the political landscape. Plus, Sir John reveals what he loves to do when he isn't analysing politics and polls.  * You can find the full list of candidates in the Gorton and Denton by-election on the BBC News website. 

Guardian columnist Zoe Williams pushes back against Reform UK, addresses questions of a split on the left of British politics, wishes that Starmer would improve, suggests an humane approach to asylum seekers, offers her view of national identity, charts the shifting of the Overton window rightwards in British politics, and reveals what most makes her tick as a writer. 

Julia Bradbury shares her story of recovering from cancer, and the journey she's been on since her diagnosis, as she explores alternative approaches to health and wellbeing. Along the way she explores the longevity of her career as a television presenter, her commitment to nature, her experience of travel, including to Antarctica, and her determination to be there for her children. This is a deeply personal conversation with one of Britain's most successful TV personalities. 

One of the greatest directors of his generation, Sir Richard Eyre shares his insights from a life in theatre and film. From Judy Dench and Ian Holm to Anthony Hopkins and David Harewood, from Olivier to Brando, Eyre offers glimpses into a world of acting stardom and genius. What makes a great actor? What makes a great director? How did Eyre himself rise from being, in his view, an inadequate actor to become Artistic Director at the National Theatre? Eyre, who directed Iris and whose mother suffered from dementia, reveals his wife's diagnosis and the strain that has put on his life. This is a rare conversation that moves from personal tragedy to the heights of success and takes in the importance of love and kindness along the way. 

Superstar Sophie Ellis-Bextor brings joy and her unique giggle - as well as serious reflection on serious issues - to the 20 Questions With podcast. From her eBay habit to a career renaissance, a billboard hit, kitchen discos, the thrill of performing live, the energy of music, worldwide travel, working with her husband, raising five boys, making money, philately, the impact of her parents' divorce, her experience of preeclampsia, running a business, reflecting on her school days, and much more, this is an unusual conversation that reveals the extraordinary life of the woman behind 'Groovejet', 'Murder on the Dancefloor', 'As Long As I Belong', 'Yes Sir, I Can Boogie' and 'Take Me Home'.

Legendary broadcaster John Sergeant tells the often hilarious stories that knit together to form a career that has straddled both the deadly serious and the comic and absurd. From Northern Ireland to the shiny floors of Strictly Come Dancing via Vietnam and Westminster, Sergeant has spent a life in the limelight. He reveals the background to his famous ambush of Margaret Thatcher on the steps of the British Embassy in Paris, and the truth behind the photograph of the young girl fleeing a napalm strike in what was then South Vietnam. Even as a small child, Sergeant was in the thick of the story and he lived in a refugee camp in Gaza as a two year-old. This is an unmissable chance to hear from a national figure of stage and screen whose sense of humour and gravelly voice are unmistakable.