The question
Which trait in yourself do you like least?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.
Catastrophising.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 May 2026 source ↗
Speaking negatively to myself.
Comparing myself to other people.
A willingness to go with my gut feeling, rather than wait a day and contemplate other options.
I can be pedantic at times.
People singing in the street.
Accidentally walking on to set naked for a scene where I wasn’t actually supposed to be naked.
Pigeons. One got stuck in my flat once for quite a long time and it really changed how I feel about them.
In the back of my mind I just assumed I’d be in a boyband at some point.
I think we’re definitely gone, but I do think people leave traces everywhere from what they did in life, and live on and continue to make an impact through the ripple effect of that.
Everything’s temporary, and how to make aioli.
Al Franken, Alison Steadman, Brandi Carlile, Paul McKenna, Adam Kay, Joyce Carol Oates
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