We know that ever woman wants to be thin. Our images of womanhood are almost synonymous with thinness.

Celebrity culture is something that pains me.

I'm a therapist and that fascinates people because they think I carry secrets.

I've always felt very sympathetic from the first days of writing about women that, whatever the woman, whether she is trying to be a woman in the conventional sense or breaking the boundaries, those struggles are quite difficult.

Fat is a social disease, and fat is a feminist issue.

I'd like to see much more understanding of emotional issues around hurt, abandonment, disappointment, longing, failure and shame, where they stem from and how they drive people and policies brought into public discourse.

Public intellectuals come from a range of areas and use their expertise to comment more widely than just their field. They want to make a contribution to public space, and they stick their necks out to do it.