The Big Interview

The Nobel Foundation’s executive director tells us about its 125th anniversary, what it’s like to organise a peace prize in the era of Donald Trump and plans for a new home for Nobel laureates in Stockholm.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Long before The White Stripes shook the music world with its unique garage sound, Jack White was honing his artistic skills in Detroit. ‘Jack White: These Thoughts May Disappear’ at London’s Newport Street Gallery marks his first major exhibition, connecting craftsmanship and the visual language of the American Midwest. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why musician Billy Bragg has outsourced his memoir. More than 600 friends, associates, collaborators and fans collaborate in ‘Billy Bragg: A People’s History’, a book about the life and works of a songwriter whose work has become a soundtrack to people’s lives.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pioneer of behavioural economics Richard Thaler discusses the arc of his career, from ‘heretic’ to Nobel Prize winner, and why it was so difficult to convince economists that behaviour and human nature contradict their theories. Also: his rules for a better way to play Scrabble.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Russian politician, historian and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza speaks to Andrew Mueller about surviving solitary confinement in a Siberian prison, Putin’s future and why he hasn’t lost faith in Russian democracy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.