Shappi Khorsandi
Iranian-born British comedian
I’m convinced heartache almost killed me a few years ago.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 February 2017 source ↗
How close have you come to death?
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
What song would you like played at your funeral?
Death & what remains
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A recurring Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Travelling Europe with a friend, when I was 29. She was driving and the brakes went, on one of those vertiginous Italian mountains. It was terrifying for the 20 minutes it took to coast down the mountain.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 July 2020 source ↗
Others on this question
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Eve Ensler
American playwright, performer, feminist, and activist
Nine years ago I discovered I had stage 3/4 uterine cancer and went through nine months of excruciating surgery, illness and chemotherapy. In that time, I touched death and it was the most powerful transformation of my life. I was forced to learn to take care of my body.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 June 2019 source ↗
David Jason
English actor
Diving in the Virgin Islands. I lost sight of the boat and had to swim to a tiny, deserted island. After a great deal of time, the rescue boat saw me waving for my life on the rocks.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 May 2021 source ↗
Maggie O'Farrell
Irish-British novelist
How long have you got? I have written a memoir and the subtitle is Seventeen Brushes with Death.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 March 2023 source ↗
More from Bernadine Evaristo
View profile →The people I never thanked for what they selflessly gave me in my career; when I was younger I just took it for granted.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 July 2020 source ↗
A pair of Russell & Bromley boots with studs. I have had them for eight years and wear them all the time.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 July 2020 source ↗
I cried after I won the Booker.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 July 2020 source ↗
Disappear by Beyoncé.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 July 2020 source ↗
When I met my husband, David, in 2006, on Dating Direct.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 July 2020 source ↗
On a cosmetics production line. I walked out after half a day.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 July 2020 source ↗
More on death & what remains
- What would you like to be remembered for? 212 answers
- What song would you like played at your funeral? 178 answers
- If you had only one day left to live, how would you spend it — and what would you deliberately avoid doing? 54 answers
- What happens when we die? 51 answers
- How would you like to die? 43 answers
- What would you like to leave your children? 41 answers
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Adam Clayton, Adam Peaty, Adeel Akhtar, Adrian Edmondson, Aidan Gillen, Alex Lawther
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