I wanted to leave a comment because I found the interviewer to be truly excellent at getting the writer to talk about some of the more controversial aspects of her work, without apparently feeling a need to provoke her at all. Félicitations

Great interview. Great writer. Thank you.

Oh gawd, the interviewers insinuations.....thinly veiled leftist pandering. Weak.

Exceptional interview. Exceptional interviewee.

When a writer has a better grasp on basic economics than all of our government economic advisers.

Economies are always based upon credit, and the basis of money is our faith in the value of it. Even when we were under the gold standard, the worth of money was equal to what people agreed it was worth. Gold itself is worth what we agree it's worth. Money is a human invention, and it is what we say it is. Money is therefore credit and it has always been credit.

"The Mandibles" is very well done - a bit close to home but witty and perceptive.

I have my reservations about Ms Shriver but I'm totally at a loss to understand the comments below. Can anyone enlighten me?

Trade in the dollar - China buys our debt- also practices debt trap diplomacy and new age merchantilism, high-tech theft and espionage - has seat on the UN Security Council - Asia development bank - a navy - and some 20 - 30 trillion dollars awaiting to the team that builds the new Silk Road: connecting the world through mass infrastructure (not just communications) Might be related

Republicans a laughing stock?? Hah! Take a deeper look hon.

Hell, you're not just a bad Hollywood screenwriter, your a bad TV screenwriter. If Shakespeare and Company were a beast, the beast would spit you from its mouth.

THUMBS DOWN AND FAKE NEWS.

I read the BBC story today offering up your ridiculous exclusionistic views in regard to Penguin's new move to become more inclusionistic, both in new authors as well as in new-hire employees. I read it twice to be sure I was not misunderstanding the rubbish that came from your mouth. Your statements in this article/story with BBC are the most ridiculous bunch of rubbish I have ever heard coming from the mouth of a supposed serious author. It does not take much of an armchair researcher to determine that what you have to say "isn't worth the paper it's written in. Are you implying that only degreed writers deserve to be published, let alone work, or to be allowed to offer an opinion? Do you really believe your exclusionist beliefs demonstrate any understanding of creative development? Creative development in any form. I thought any fool of a self-proclaimed serious artist had some understanding of the role time plays in the storyline of creativity. I won't bother wasting my time with the research but memory reminds me of any number of celebrated and uncelebrated authors that shared existence on this earth. If it wasn't for the fact that we are desperately attempting to keep the near-extinct printed matter industry alive I would call for a boycott. The arts have always promoted a members-only attitude, you know, the Mutual Admiration Society but as a rule those fools aren't so bold as to stand up and shout the doctrines of exclusion. Do you feel threaten by newcomers? Are you afraid that your stories will lose favor with Hollywood? Or that when the next anthology of the great authors is published you will be forgotten and left out?