Neneh Cherry: Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them?

The question

Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them?

Originally asked

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

The Guardian's Q&A repeatedly uses this prompt, sometimes dropping 'living' while retaining the same comparative judgment.

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

Neneh Cherry

Swedish singer

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

My grandmother, Marianne Karlsson.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 June 2014 source ↗

Mentioned in this answer

Person Marianne Karlsson not yet on FLAPSS

Others on this question

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Stephen Fry Actor, writer and broadcaster

Probably Daniel Barenboim. His blend of insane talent, intellect, and profound humanitarianism is one that comes along very, very rarely. I would put Martina Navratilova and Stephen Sondheim in a tie for second.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, June 2015 source ↗

Andrea Martin

The sewing-machine repairman at the corner of 107th and Broadway.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, April 2017 source ↗

Susan Greenfield British scientist

An Italian neuroscientist called Rita Levi-Montalcini. She is now over 100. Under Mussolini she was forbidden from practising medicine because of the race laws. So she set up a lab in her basement, and the work she did there laid the foundations for her winning the Nobel prize.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 December 2011 source ↗

Rebecca Lucy Taylor

Julie Hesmondhalgh – she’s the kindest, brightest, most truthful woman. She’s so talented, works hard, cares about the right things, puts her energy in the right places. I adore her.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 November 2025 source ↗