Arundhati Roy: How to Survive Authoritarianism | The Interview

Video Description

The author and political activist Arundhati Roy has faced prison and censorship. Her Booker Prize-winning novel “The God of Small Things” made her an international literary star when it came out in 1997. Since then, Roy has spent most of her career writing about the struggles of marginalized and oppressed people, and she has been targeted repeatedly by India’s government under the populist leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Roy tells “The Interview” host Lulu Garcia-Navarro that she knows what’s coming for America under President Trump, and she shares advice for how to survive in what she calls a “culture of fear.” Roy’s new memoir, “Mother Mary Comes to Me,” comes out on Sept. 2. “The Interview” features conversations with the world’s most fascinating people. Each week, co-hosts David Marchese and Lulu Garcia-Navarro talk to compelling, influential figures in culture, politics, business, sports and beyond — illuminating who they are, why they do what they do and how they impact the rest of us. Read this interview on NYTimes.com: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/magazine/arundhati-roy-modi-trump-interview.html Subscribe to The Interview: https://www.youtube.com/@theinterviewpodcast Subscribe to New York Times audio: https://bit.ly/3Qz3GZu Download the New York Times app: https://bit.ly/4gZdoip #theinterview Chapters: 00:14 Arundhati Roy’s background 01:28 Roy’s new memoir, “Mother Mary Comes to Me,” and her complicated mother 06:20 Was Roy’s mother “abusive”? 13:31 What feminism is and isn’t 17:56 Roy’s success and the people being “beaten in the other room” 21:51 The risks to Roy’s security in India 23:46 How Roy’s mother related to her fame 28:00 Is it hard to talk about her book? 29:30 Roy’s response to her book “Azadi” being banned and other threats 31:43 On government censorship 35:00 How the U.S. is like India (MAGA and the BJP) 40:12 The role of artists and writers