When music biographer Lesley-Ann Jones was granted access to Freddie Mercury’s private diaries, she uncovered a side of the icon the world had never seen. In this Q&A, she reflects on her collaboration with 'B', the woman who calls Freddie her father, and how their unlikely friendship shaped 'Love, Freddie'. Jones discusses the emotional process behind the book, her choice to partner with Whitefox for creative freedom, and why Freddie’s private life continues to fascinate over thirty years after his death.

The themes explored in the book - from tech addiction, big tech corporate ethics, misinformation and deepfakes, to AI’s impact on jobs and the human condition - are far more topical and less speculative than the author would like them to be. He started writing in the summer of 2023, as AI rapidly shifted from a technological curiosity to the single most influential force in our world economy.

'Culture constantly innovates, and it tells us a story we are familiar with, again and again: Work. Some people make the assumption that life and work separate neatly, but I don't think they do,' says Julia Hobsbawm. The Evening Standard has run an extract adapted from her latest book 'Working Assumptions: What We Thought We Knew About Work Before Covid and Generative AI.'

Women have been writing memoirs since the 14th century, most notably Julian of Norwich (1342), Margery Kempe (1373) and French Princess Margaret of Valois (1553). The autobiographical memoir was a format that allowed them to use their voices in spaces that banned them from speaking.