Where does JK Rowling get the time to obsess about me? | Nicola Sturgeon interview
The Politics Show
The New Statesman
4.2 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 13 September 2025
⏱️ 62 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In power for nearly a decade, Nicola Sturgeon is Scotland’s longest-serving First Minister. She reshaped Scottish politics, leading the SNP through moments of crisis and opportunity, from the 2014 independence referendum to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since stepping down in 2023, Sturgeon has remained a powerful and sometimes polarising figure in public life. She reflects on this in her new memoir, Frankly.
She joins Anoosh Chakelian to discuss nationalism in Scotland, the shadow of Alex Salmond, and her public row with the author JK Rowling. In her words, “ where does she get the time to obsess about me?”
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Transcript
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| 0:20.2 | We are the future. Hear us. It's our tomorrow you're building today. |
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| 0:33.7 | Do not allow the future to shape you. |
| 0:36.7 | Shape it. And shape it for the better, if not for yourselves, for us. |
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| 0:52.9 | The New Statesman The New Statesman. |
| 0:58.5 | Hello, I'm Anusha Kellyan and this is the New Statesman podcast. |
| 1:03.0 | In power for nearly a decade, Nicola Sturgeon is Scotland's longest serving First Minister. |
| 1:09.0 | She reshaped Scottish politics, leading the SMP through moments of |
| 1:12.5 | crisis and opportunity, from the 2014 independence referendum to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 1:19.3 | Since stepping down in 2023, Sturgeon has remained a powerful and sometimes polarising figure in |
| 1:24.9 | public life. She reflects on this in her new memoir, frankly. |
| 1:29.5 | She joins me in this episode of the podcast to discuss nationalism in Scotland, the shadow of |
| 1:34.4 | Alex Salmond, and her public row with the author J.K. Rowling. In her words, weird does she get the time |
... |
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