Simon Winchester

So research is a terribly imperfect science, and you learn an awful lot more after you've published a book, because people keep writing to you and saying, 'Oh, gosh, I was related to such and such a character and I have a letter in my possession.'

Having been in the newspaper business for a long, long time, I often wonder, Why do we actually need to know about something like a bus crash in Bangladesh that has no effect on us at all? That can be nothing other than voyeurism.

Watching yourself on screen is always a little weird, but I didn't cringe when I saw myself on 'The Hour.' It actually exceeded my expectations; every shot looks like a vintage postcard and even my most brutally honest friends have said they think it's good.