Emma Barnett: If you could edit your past, what would you change?

If you could edit your past, what would you change?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

Repeated verbatim in The Guardian's long-running Saturday Q&A; two publisher-hosted examples establish recurrence.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded Emma Barnett said elsewhere, not written here

Not being able to have a baby for two and a half years. Lots of people say it made me a better person; I think it made me worse. You go to a very dark place with your friends because they are having kids, and you want to be happy for them but you’re not.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 February 2021 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 203 →

Jennifer Hudson American singer and actress

I wouldn’t change a thing. Every experience is a lesson learned.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 January 2018 source ↗

Tim Minchin Australian musician, writer, actor and comedian

I’d take back some dumb shit I said when I had no audience and found that being shocking made people laugh.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 July 2020 source ↗

Michael Kiwanuka English singer-songwriter

Nothing. Everything happens for a reason.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 November 2019 source ↗

Björn Ulvaeus Swedish musician

My surname. You have no idea how many versions I’ve read and heard. It was especially irritating during my Abba years. You can imagine someone calling our hotel and saying: “I’d like to speak to one of the guys in Abba.” Who do you think the receptionist called, Andersson or Ulvaeus?

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 June 2020 source ↗