Johann Hari

Why did you get involved in the political world?

We’re all born involved in the political world, whether we like it or not. The ground you stand on, the air you breathe, the hospital you were born in, the school you went to... that’s all politics. The great war correspondent Martha Gellhorn said: "People will often say, with pride: 'I'm not interested in politics.' They might as well say, 'I'm not interested in my standard of living, my health, my job, my rights, my freedoms, my future or any future.'" There isn’t anyone who is uninvolved in the political world; there are just some people who don’t realise it yet.

When did you join your political party?

I joined the Labour Party when I was nineteen, at university. I let it lapse a few years later.

What is your earliest political memory?

It depends what you mean by politics. I knew from a very young age, for example, that my grandmother had been widowed at the age of 38 and had to bring up three kids on her own with virtually no welfare state to help her, working three hellish jobs. That is political. But big-P Politics – I remember the Miner’s Strike on television, and Margaret Thatcher seeming to hang over the country like a spectre. I remember the televising of the House of Commons, which I found hilarious, and me and my sister would watch roaring with laughter and imitate their voices.

Which one law would you repeal?

The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. I would take drugs away from armed criminal gangs and hand them to doctors and pharmacists, through a steady process of legalization.

Which one law would you introduce?

A commitment to Contraction and Convergence (C&C) – a requirement for us to dramatically cut our global warming emissions while the poor world is allowed to continue developing, until our emissions meet in the middle at a safe and sustainable level. Until we reach that point, we would compensate the poor countries for the imbalance and the disastrous destabilisation of the climate we are already causing.

What’s your favourite view in the world?

Piccadilly Circus or Times Square at rush hour.

What’s your favourite political quotation?

Probably Martha Gellhorn again. It was 1941, and Dos Pasos said writers shouldn’t write during the war. She wrote: "I am disgusted to see Dos said that writers should not write now. If a writer has any guts he should write all the time, and the lousier the world the harder a writer should work. For if he can do nothing positive, to make the world more liveable or less cruel or stupid, he can at least record truly, and that is something no one else will do, and it a job that must be done. It is the only revenge that all the bastardized people will ever get: that somebody writes down clearly what happened to them."

What music gets you up to dance?

I am the worst dancer on earth. I look like I am suffering from epilepsy. But still – Abba, and a joyous band called Me First and the Gimmee Gimmees who do screaming hard rock cover versions of songs like ‘Joelene’ and ‘My Favourite Things’.

If you could have been present at any debate in the House of Commons over the last three hundred years, which would it have been , and why?

I’d love to hear Lloyd George’s People’s Budget. But then again, the anti-slavery debates, the debates about enfranchising women or decriminalising homosexuality... can’t I use your time machine more than once?

Imagine you are planning a dinner party, pick six people (living or dead) to invite

Oscar Wilde, Friedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Paine, Andrea Dworkin, Clive James, and my grandmother.

Who is your best friend in politics?

My friend Rob Blackhurst – we have a constant on-going blather about politics that continues about three times a day.

What’s your favourite form of transport?

Train. I hate cars and boats with a passion.

What’s your favourite dish?

Big Mac and fries.

Do you have any phobias?

Not really. I’m not a huge fan of heights.

What do you dream about?

Ask Sigmund Freud. Perhaps I should have asked him to my dinner party...

When did you last cry, and why?

The last time I sobbed what when I was out in Bangladesh and I went to a clinic for women who have had their faces burned off with acid by men who think they have become too “independent” or “uppity”. The smell... and the look in the women’s eyes... and their courage...

What’s the last thing you bought in a shop?

Today’s newspapers, just now.

What’s the funniest You Tube video you’ve recently seen?

It’s called ‘john.he.is’ – taking the ‘yes we can’ Obama video and transferring it onto McCain’s lines, set to music... Genius.

What is the best speech you have ever heard (and been present at)?

Oooh... tricky. Probably Christopher Hitchens speaking about why we should indict Henry Kissinger.

Who’s your favourite comedian?

Sarah Silverman, Woody Allen, Josie Long.

Have you ever cried at a film? Which one(s)?

Oh God, I cry at every other film. But the ones that make me weep buckets are Harold and Maude, Casablanca, Beaches, La Dolce Vita (the fountain scene), Top Hat (when they dance cheek to cheek). Dammit, I even cried at Mamma Mia.

Which is your favourite political biography or autobiography?

Michael Foot’s of Nye Bevan, David Marquand’s of Ramsay MacDonald, or Robert Caro’s of Lyndon Johnson (thought I haven’t read the third volume yet).

What is your favourite novel?

Aaargh! So many. 'Operation Shylock' by Philip Roth, 'The War of the Newts' by Karel Capek, 'The Demons' by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 'On the Beach' by Neville Shute, 'The Handmaid's Tale' by Margaret Atwood, 'A Passage to India' by E.M. Forster, 'The Satanic Verses' by Salman Rushdie, 'The Napoleon of Notting Hill' by G. K. Chesterton.

Name a book you have read which has failed to live up to expectations

Graham Greene’s later novels.

Who would you like to say sorry to, and why?

At the risk of sounding like a complete dick, the people of Iraq.

What job would you be doing if you weren’t involved in the political world?

Begging for spare change outside a tube station.

Do you have a party trick, or hidden talent?

Sadly, no. My only talents are to read and write quickly.

What’s the best holiday you have been on?

I’m terrible at holidays – I am incapable of relaxation.

Where in the world would you most like to go on holiday?

See above. But I love New York, Berlin, Caracas and Kinshasa.

When was the last time you used public transport?

I use it every day. I don’t drive.

What do you collect?

It’s not really a collection, but my flat is a vast collapsing nest of books.

What is your most unusual hobby?

I don’t do hobbies.

When was the last time you went to the theatre and what did you see?

Last week, to see an excellent play called ‘Torn’ about racism within the black community. I go to the theatre every week.

Which newspapers do you read regularly?

For my job, I read every British paper, and the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.

Which websites do you visit regularly?

So many... but amazon.com is becoming a dangerous addiction.

Which blogs do you love or hate?

I love Andrew Sullivan, Matthew Yglesias, and especially Butterflies and Wheels. I kind of love and kind of hate Melanie Phillips’ blog; I read it as if it was a brilliant satirical creation and it never fails to delight me.

Which magazines do you subscribe to?

I am a magazine addict. I subscribe to literally hundreds – from the New Yorker to Le Monde Diplomatique to the London Review of Books to American Scientist to National Review to Tribune. If I had to pick just five, I’d choose The Nation, the New York Review of Books, Dissent, the New Republic, and Prospect.

Which five words would your friends use about you?

Well, I just phoned a few, and they said – kind, impatient, talkative, left-wing, and non-stop.

Which five words would your enemies use about you?

I don’t really think it’s a good idea to dwell on what your enemies think of you...

Are you into sport? If so, which ones?

I have a total mental block on comprehending sport. I don’t get it. Why didn’t they have a conversation, or read a book, instead of going onto this muddy pitch?

Who is your favourite football team and player?

Cristiano Ronaldo. But not for sporting reasons.

Who is your political hero?

I don’t believe in heroes; even the best people are dreadfully flawed and need to be analysed critically. That said – alive today, I’d name Jim Hansen, head of NASA, who has been at the forefront of figuring out and warning about global warming.

Who is your political hate figure?

So many! Richard Littlejohn, Dick Cheney, George Galloway... I could give you a long list here.

What’s your most memorable time in politics?

The 1997 general election. I bunked off with a group of friends and we went down that morning to Downing Street to cheer...

What’s your most embarrassing moment in politics?

Getting the Iraq War wrong. That’s not just embarrassing – it’s shaming.

What’s your prediction for the next general election?

Tory win by 40 seats; I hang myself the next morning.

Who is your favourite and least favourite political interviewer?

Favourite – Amy Goodman. Least favourite – John Humphries.

What do you never miss on TV?

Lost, Prime Minister’s Questions, and Gavin and Stacey.

Which current foreign politician do you most admire?

All politicians need to be viewed sceptically – but for all his flaws, I’d say Hugo Chavez, because of the amazing lifting out of poverty I’ve seen in Venezuela’s barrios.

What do you listen to / watch when you get up in the morning?

Via the web, MSNBC’s Countdown, or Democracy Now.

Complete this sentence: The thing I hate about politics is...

... the influence of big money, which is fucking up our ability to deal with virtually every major problem.

Complete this sentence: The thing I love about politics is...

... the little things – like the chance to prevent the climate spiralling out of control and billions of people dying.

What would you like your political epitaph to be?

He’s dead. Now go and do something about global warming, you fuckers.