Salman Rushdie on the fatwa, the attack and his second act

Salman Rushdie is one of the world’s most celebrated writers. But for more than three decades, his life has also been bound up with arguments about freedom of expression, religious extremism and the threat of violence.

In 2022, that violence caught up with him when he was attacked on stage and nearly killed. His wife, the poet and visual artist Rachel Eliza Griffiths, began filming his recovery, creating an extraordinarily intimate record of what followed.

In this episode of Ways to Change the World, Salman and Rachel Eliza join Krishnan Guru-Murthy to discuss the attack, anger and forgiveness, the power of love, religious fanaticism, free speech and what it means to rebuild a life after trauma. Salman also reflects on returning to fiction with his new book The Eleventh Hour, and on Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie, Alex Gibney’s new documentary built around Rachel Eliza’s remarkable footage of his recovery.

Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie will be released in UK and Irish cinemas at the end of September.