The Big Interview

The women’s rights attorney and former Nasa engineer speaks to Emma Nelson about working on the male-dominated space programme in the 1960s, what it was like to help retrieve the Apollo 13 astronauts after their mid-flight disaster and why she’s concerned about the threat to Roe vs Wade.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vikas Swarup, the Indian author and former diplomat, tells Georgina Godwin about his postings across the world, pivoting to writing after a decades-long diplomatic career and his international best-selling book ‘Q&A’, which was adapted into the hit film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The astronaut and engineer speaks with Andrew Mueller about working in space, her previous life as a fighter pilot and the toughest job she’s had: being a mother.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Katharine Hayhoe, the Canadian atmospheric scientist, sits down with Andrew Mueller to discuss the climate crisis and her new book ‘Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How did a young scientist in East Germany become a spy for the KGB, live a secret double life as an undercover agent in the US and, years later, get American citizenship? The former Soviet spook tells Andrew Mueller about his extraordinary life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US singer-songwriter sits down with Andrew Mueller to discuss her musical career fronting alternative rock bands Throwing Muses and 50FootWave, her solo albums, and her new book ‘Seeing Sideways: A Memoir of Music and Motherhood’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The former first lady of Ukraine sits down with Emma Nelson to discuss her upbringing in Chicago, her husband’s poisoning during his election campaign and what it was like to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The second Japanese woman in space talks to Georgina Godwin about the International Space Station’s robotic arm, adjusting to life back on Earth and what the war in Ukraine could mean for space exploration.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Soyeon Yi, South Korea’s first and only astronaut, speaks to Georgina Godwin about her trip to space, the view from the International Space Station and a complicated return to Earth in which she landed among nomads in Kazakhstan – and inspiring the next generation of Stem leaders.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Astronaut, geologist and science communicator Sian Proctor joins Andrew Mueller to discuss making space more accessible, overcoming setbacks and being the first African American woman to pilot a spacecraft.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.