Holding a large and fragile glass object in a very dangerous environment.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 April 2025 source ↗
What does love feel like?
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's weekly The Q&A repeatedly uses this exact standing prompt.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Exhilarating. I’ve been extremely lucky in that the person I love, Annalena, happens to be my wife.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 August 2018 source ↗
Others on this question
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Julian Lloyd Webber
British cellist and conductor
Frightening, exhilarating and all-consuming.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 July 2023 source ↗
Paul McKenna
British hypnotist and TV personality
The most intensive and beautiful golden sunlight. It’s the strongest force in the universe.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 January 2023 source ↗
Jeremy Vine
English presenter and journalist
Joy and frustration.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 August 2019 source ↗
More from Ian McEwan
View profile →To have grown up with my siblings. They were at least 10 years older than me.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 August 2018 source ↗
Angela Merkel. Under attack from all sides, she tries to keep alive the dreams of a tolerant, inclusive, open society.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 August 2018 source ↗
In my mid- to late-20s, in London, beginning to publish, living hand to mouth, having fun. Also now, when love and life and work have finally cohered.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 August 2018 source ↗
Having a gun held to my head at a May Day rally during the revolution in Grenada. I was mistaken for a CIA agent.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 August 2018 source ↗
The BBC World Service followed by the dawn chorus.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 August 2018 source ↗
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