Select Takes
Watch our exclusive collection of short films featuring big thinkers from across the world. These think pieces focus on the subjects that matter to us all.
SELF-CARE
Takes: Roxane Gay on Love
Just because you’re lucky enough to have found your soul mate, doesn’t mean they don’t drive you mad. Journalist and essayist Roxane Gay talks about her experience of love.
Takes: Padma Lakshmi on Ritual
Which recipes will you hand down to the next generation? Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi relishes the fact that the rituals of cooking and eating give us a taste of who we are.
Takes: Padma Lakshmi on the Body
It’s not easy to get up in a room full of people and talk about your vagina. But that’s what former model and Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi had to do to raise awareness of endometriosis.
Takes: Chuck D on Aging
Enjoy getting older. Words of wisdom from the leader of the seminal rap group Public Enemy Chuck D on how to grow old.The Dark
Takes: Malcolm Gladwell on Lies
Are you convinced you can tell when someone is lying? Best-selling author and thinker Malcolm Gladwell advises us never to trust our intuitions.
Takes: Ai Weiwei on War
Can artists do anything to prevent war? World famous Chinese Ai Weiwei worries about the risky times we live in.
Takes: Louis Theroux on Hate
Who do you hate? A murderous warlord who kills women and children? A Western leader who sits idly by as the poor get poorer? Iconic documentary maker Louis Theroux explores the fact that, in all probability, you’re more likely to hate some poor guy in the supermarket who gets in your way.
Takes: Jamelle Bouie on Conspiracy
Is there a global cabal of paedophiles and Satanists currently trading in children in a mass human trafficking operation? New York Times journalist Jamelle Bouie asks why on earth people believe the ludicrous QAnon conspiracy theory.
Takes: Lionel Shriver on the Virus
Would you happily give up your democratic rights and personal freedoms overnight? Best-selling author Lionel Shriver is astonished at the way people have responded to government rules aimed at controlling the pandemic.Fame and Power
Takes: Chuck D on Fame
How many four letter words spring to mind that begin with an F? Leader of the seminal rap group Public Enemy Chuck D spells out the pros and cons of fame.
Takes: Elif Shafak on Fascism
How do we explain the holocaust? What happens if we tell ourselves it was caused by evil? Award-winning novelist and intellectual Elif Shafak sounds a warning about the turbulent times we live in.
Takes: Alicia Garza on Power
Do women leaders behave differently to men? Not necessarily, says journalist and essayist Roxane Gay. And that won’t change until men understand that equality is not oppression.
Takes: Roxane Gay on Women’s Power
Do women leaders behave differently to men? Not necessarily, says journalist and essayist Roxane Gay. And that won’t change until men understand that equality is not oppression.Culture
Takes: Lionel Shriver on Taboo
Who dares to criticise identity politics and defend cultural appropriation? Best-selling author Lionel Shriver likes to say the unsayable and name the unnameable.
Takes: Elif Shafak on Algorithms
Why would an algorithm mistake a Turkish bestselling author for an American white supremacist? Award-winning novelist and intellectual Elif Shafak explores the vagaries and dangers of social media.
Takes: Jamelle Bouie on AI
Will robots rule the world? New York Times journalist Jamelle Bouie asks how we can guard against the perils of artificial intelligence and make sure we don’t become servants to the technology?
Takes: Caitlin Moran on Cultural Explosions
Which is the defining cultural explosion in your life? It might be Grime or the recipes of Yotam Ottolenghi. But for author and journalist Caitlin Moran, there is no contest. It’s feminism.
Takes: Alicia Garza on Revolution
Hashtags don’t start revolutions, but co-founder of Black Lives Matter Alicia Garza built a movement, to help bring about the revolution black people deserve.
Takes: Malcolm Gladwell on New York
The pandemic has been a catastrophe for New York, with businesses failing and people moving out of the city in droves. Not so, says Malcolm Gladwell, who thinks the virus might be just what the city itself needed.Newsletter sign up
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