K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York
Even though I’m not a utilitarian, and so I tend to disagree with Singer in terms of the general framework, this book literally changed my life.
Recorded · Five Books · 2022
One question · 6 of 27 answers to it
Whom do you read even though you disagree with them?
Originally asked
Vox, to writers and thinkers, 9 Questions, 2017
Vox used this as one of nine fixed questions in its 2017 series on intellectual habits.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Novelist and essayist
The Wall Street Journal editorial page, because I imagine it to be what the thoughtful American right reads.
Recorded · Vox · 2017
Radio journalist and podcast host
I don’t think there is a better journalist than Hitchens writing in English.
Recorded · Five Books
Labor economist; professor at Stanford’s School of Education
I like the introduction where she says that ‘the solution does not lie in government regulation or getting men to do more around the house, although that would be nice.’ I disagree with her…
Recorded · Five Books · 2015
Journalist and author; host of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS
The Wall Street Journal editorial page, most of the time an intelligent and essential voice in American political life.
Recorded · Vox · 2017
Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Waterloo
That’s where I disagree with her. I don’t actually think happiness is a meaning of life, though lots of people assume that.
Recorded · Five Books
Answers marked Recorded were said elsewhere and are quoted with the publication and date they came from. Those people have not joined — nobody here answers on anyone else's behalf.
Do you rely on inspiration or discipline to make work?
Originally asked
The Creative Independent, to working artists, its interview series
A repeated Creative Independent tension, asked as inspiration, muse, discipline, ritual, or the requirement to show up.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Co-chief executive and president of Ariel Investments
That moving a lot really committed me to stability and committed me to ... being in control of my destiny. That was something that was very important to me.
Recorded · NPR · 2007
Novelist; winner of the Booker Prize, 2005
I keep office hours. I work from 9:30 to 6:00. It’s curious. In the morning, I could just about tie my shoelaces before noon, but I can write.
Recorded · Academy of Achievement · 2017
Playwright, screenwriter and novelist; Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 2002
It’s just a devotion to the greater beautiful thing that allows us all to be here. It sounds a little “woo-woo,” but basically, it’s manifested in me because I’m a writer.
Recorded · Academy of Achievement · 2007
How do you know when a piece of work is finished?
Originally asked
The Creative Independent, to working artists, its interview series
A repeated process question in The Creative Independent, asked across visual art, music, writing, performance, and mixed media.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Novelist and screenwriter; Nobel laureate in Literature, 2017
It’s funny you say that because I never have this moment when I feel, “Ah, I’ve finished!” I watch footballers at the end of the match, you know, the whistle goes and they’ve won or lost.
Recorded · The Talks · 2015
Singer, producer and DJ
It really comes down to instincts. If I feel good about it and the people that I trust that are listening to it feel good about it, then it’s good to go.
Recorded · The Creative Independent · 2023
Perfumer and writer
I think it’s similar to writing a poem, in a way. It’s almost like, when there’s nothing left to remove from the formula, it’s done.
Recorded · The Creative Independent · 2022
How does a new work begin for you?
Originally asked
The Paris Review, to novelists and poets, The Art of Fiction
A recurrent craft question in The Paris Review's Art of Fiction interviews; wording varies between character, theme, first sentence, image, and idea.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Basketball player and author
I don’t think that is tough, because if you have an idea of something meaningful to communicate, you can move forward on that.
Recorded · Academy of Achievement · 1989
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1940–1945 and 1951–1955; Member of Parliament 1900–1964
Having bought the colours, an easel, and a canvas, the next step was to begin. But what a step to take!
Recorded · Winston S. Churchill, Painting as a Pastime, Project Gutenberg Canada · 1932
French artist
It’s funny. Before, it used to be that I’d travel somewhere. I always had a storyline, some kind of grounding element.
Recorded · The Creative Independent
People, by what they do
- Science and medicine 105
- Arts and letters 1205
- Politics and public life 132
- Business and finance 70
- Technology 46
- Sport 108
Recorded for public figures, from the source their answers were taken from. Browse by era too.
Questions, by subject
- Identity & self 14
- Values & belief 13
- Change of mind 1
- Failure & regret 9
- Craft & work 36
- Money & investment 4
- Taste & recommendation 6
- Relationships 5
- Time & hindsight 8
- Death & what remains 13
- Daily life 9
- Attention & the world 8
Every question the bank can deal, in the order it was written. See all 126.
Some of the people here · A–Z
Find someone →Albert Hammond Jr., Angela Merkel, Bill Nye, Boris Fishman, Brian Chesky, Brooke Shields, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chloë Sevigny, Cressida Cowell, Damian Lewis, David Hasselhoff, Frank McCourt, Hugh Skinner, Ian Rankin, Jane Birkin, John Malkovich, Joshua Ferris, Julian Clary, Kate Nash, Kirsty Wark, Liam Gallagher, Lily Allen, Lupita Nyong'o, Mark Gatiss, Mary McCartney, Melissa Febos, Melissa McCarthy, Mike Wallace, Monica Dolan, Myra Strober, Nelson Mandela, Novak Djokovic, Patricia Smith, PP Arnold, Richard Hammond, Rosie Jones, Shakin' Stevens, Tom Wolfe, Ursula K. Le Guin, Wangari Maathai
Answers that stay at one address
You are dealt a few questions at a time and answer the ones you want to. What you write gets a permanent address and keeps it. Rewrite it whenever you like and say why — the new version goes up beside the old one rather than over it, so changing your mind reads as thinking rather than as a reversal.
You write before you read. Other members' answers to a question stay shut until you have answered it or passed on it, because reading first changes what you would have said. Passing is free and it is permanent.
- People
- 1,671
- Answers
- 7,254
- Questions
- 126
- First said
- 1910–2026
Most of what is here so far was said somewhere else and recorded with its source — a named person, a publication and a date, on every line. Nothing has been deleted.