Impulsivity. We end up in strange places, like right now – I am in the Middle East.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
What scares you about getting older?
Time & hindsight
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What would you like to leave your children?
Death & what remains
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's The Q&A has retained this Proust-derived prompt from at least 2007 through 2026, and ABC independently put it to the Obamas in 2011.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
When I ruin someone else’s story because I think mine is better, so butt in before they’ve finished theirs.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 August 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 243 →
Melissa Etheridge
Singer, songwriter and guitarist
Deplore is a heavy word. I don’t deplore it but I constantly feel the pull of my old Midwestern ways of eating. Boy, can I put some pancakes away.
Carrie Fisher
Actor and writer
My driving skills.
Maureen O'Hara
Irish and American actress and singer
I’d rather name one for someone else. I’m egomaniacal.
More from Dawn O’Porter
View profile →So far, getting older has made almost everything better.
My Auntie Jane. She took me in, aged 10, and, after my mother died, healed my broken heart by filling our dining room with food and people. Still cooking at the grand old age of 89. My icon.
My Siamese cat, which I had freeze-dried after she died. I really think their future partners will like it.
Perimenopausal anxiety, the terrible feeling of impending doom, something awful happening to my children, writing deadlines. Apart from that, I’m quite chilled.
A drunk woman who threw epic dinner parties.
Clothes moths (and the imminent threat of world war three).
More on identity & self
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Adam Kay, Adam Lambert, Adele Parks, Adrian Dunbar, Al Franken, Alex Hassell
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