this is bbc news, the headlines: armed soldiers have been offered to london metropolitan police after armed officers stepped back from firearm duties. it is linked to a case where a police officer has been charged with a man's murder. france will end all military cooperation with niger — and withdraw its ambassador and several other diplomats within hours — following a coup. nasa has brought back the largest ever sample from an asteroid. a capsule was recovered in utah after being dropped from a space probe that's spent the last seven years collecting the fragments. police in kosovo have ended

a standoff with serb gunmen at a monastery which followed a deadly attack on ethnic albanian police. now on bbc news, this cultural life: sally wainwright. margaret atwood, one of the world's critically acclaimed authors and has won the booker prize twice. the winner of the _ won the booker prize twice. lie: winner of the first won the booker prize twice. tue: winner of the first booker prize won the booker prize twice. tue winner of the first booker prize in the 21st—century, margaret atwood. her stories often centre on oppression and brutality. most famously, the handmade's tale, a dystopian vision of america in which women are enslaved. now an emmy award—winning television series. there is an eye in your house. tn there is an eye in your house. in this episode of this cultural life, she reveals her formative influences

and experiences and how even in high school her creativity was clear. tt school her creativity was clear. tit was about fabrics. school her creativity was clear. it was about fabrics. can _ school her creativity was clear. it was about fabrics. can you - school her creativity was clear. it - was about fabrics. can you remember how it goes? — she sings

i asked my guests to tell us of the influences that create their creativity. yourfirst influences that create their creativity. your first choice influences that create their creativity. yourfirst choice is your parents? tell us about them. they were very innovative if unable to improvise. if you live in the woods and there aren't any shops, you have to be. they are very outdoors, but they also allowed us to make messes in our rooms and didn't make us clean them up. buy masses, i mean projects, which always begin as messes. to masses, i mean projects, which always begin as messes.- masses, i mean projects, which always begin as messes. to set the scene, always begin as messes. to set the scene. this — always begin as messes. to set the scene. this is _ always begin as messes. to set the scene, this is rural _ always begin as messes. to set the scene, this is rural quebec- always begin as messes. to set the scene, this is rural quebec because your father was an entomologist? he was a forest entomologist and his research station was in the woods, north, north, north of ottawa at the baltimore river. this was a house he built himself because he was of a rural background i knew how to do

all of that. and therefore we had a lot of edged tools which were used to play with as children. edge tools? sharp _ to play with as children. edge tools? sharp edged _ to play with as children. edge tools? sharp edged tools? i to play with as children. edge i tools? sharp edged tools? yes, thins tools? sharp edged tools? yes, things you _ tools? sharp edged tools? yes, things you could _ tools? sharp edged tools? yes, things you could do _ tools? sharp edged tools? yes, things you could do yourself- tools? sharp edged tools? yes, things you could do yourself a i things you could do yourself a serious injury with if you are not careful with them.— serious injury with if you are not careful with them. your mother was a scientist as well? _ careful with them. your mother was a scientist as well? she _ careful with them. your mother was a scientist as well? she was _ careful with them. your mother was a scientist as well? she was a - scientist as well? she was a dietician- — scientist as well? she was a dietician. this _ scientist as well? she was a dietician. this would - scientist as well? she was a dietician. this would have . scientist as well? she was a i dietician. this would have been scientist as well? she was a - dietician. this would have been the 30s and 40s. i think she was a dietician simply because it was a job you could get in the depression. she wasn't very interested in any of that, frankly. she wasn't very interested in any of that, frankly-— that, frankly. this was a really rural upbringing _ that, frankly. this was a really rural upbringing you _ that, frankly. this was a really rural upbringing you had? - that, frankly. this was a really l rural upbringing you had? rural makes you _ rural upbringing you had? rural makes you think _ rural upbringing you had? rural makes you think of _ rural upbringing you had? rural makes you think of farms, - rural upbringing you had? tit—i makes you think of farms, we're not talking farms. makes you think of farms, we're not talking farms-— talking farms. more remote than that? we are _ talking farms. more remote than that? we are talking _ talking farms. more remote than that? we are talking wolves. - talking farms. more remote than i that? we are talking wolves. more likel to that? we are talking wolves. more likely to be — that? we are talking wolves. more likely to be talking _ that? we are talking wolves. more likely to be talking bears, - that? we are talking wolves. more likely to be talking bears, you - that? we are talking wolves. more likely to be talking bears, you are | likely to be talking bears, you are more likely to see a bear. did you? yes. and more likely to see a bear. did you? yes- and you _

more likely to see a bear. did you? yes. and you heard _ more likely to see a bear. did you? yes. and you heard rules? - more likely to see a bear. did you? yes. and you heard rules? yes. - more likely to see a bear. did you? l yes. and you heard rules? yes. what does that do — yes. and you heard rules? yes. what does that do for _ yes. and you heard rules? yes. what does that do for your _ yes. and you heard rules? yes. what does that do for your creative - does that do for your creative imagination?— does that do for your creative imatination? :, , ~ :, , :, imagination? you 'ust know they are there, ou imagination? you 'ust know they are there, you dont — imagination? you just know they are there, you don't send _ imagination? you just know they are there, you don't send small- imagination? you just know they are there, you don't send small children i there, you don't send small children into the woods by themselves because they are bite—size. me into the woods by themselves because they are bite-size.— they are bite-size. we have to be on our they are bite-size. we have to be on your guard — they are bite-size. we have to be on your guard you _ they are bite-size. we have to be on your guard you had _ they are bite-size. we have to be on your guard you had to _ they are bite-size. we have to be on your guard you had to be _ they are bite-size. we have to be on your guard you had to be aware... i your guard you had to be aware... you had to be respectful, respectful. you had to be respectful, respectful-— you had to be respectful, respectful. you had to be respectful, resectful. , :, :, respectful. does that make you a tou~h respectful. does that make you a tough kid? _ respectful. does that make you a tough kid? tough _ respectful. does that make you a tough kid? tough is _ respectful. does that make you a tough kid? tough is relative, - respectful. does that make you a tough kid? tough is relative, set| tough kid? tough is relative, set off in relation _ tough kid? tough is relative, set off in relation to _ tough kid? tough is relative, set off in relation to that _ tough kid? tough is relative, set off in relation to that kind - tough kid? tough is relative, set off in relation to that kind of - off in relation to that kind of thing, yes. tough in relation to... well, what was frightening to me as a small child, flush toilets. things went down them and never came back. you didn't know where they went. it just depends what you are used to, doesn't it and what you take for granted. so cities are a lot less safe, you can get hit by a car at any moment. so out in the woods, as long as you are respectful, always

look behind to see where you have just been, then you won't get lost. your mother allowed to be messy at home, creating projects, so what were you making, you were a practical child?— practical child? either i was constructing _ practical child? either i was constructing something - practical child? either i was constructing something out practical child? either i was i constructing something out of material such as papier—mache. or i was painting. i was sewing, so not so messy, papier—mache is so messy. craftwork, then? we so messy, papier-mache is so messy. craftwork, then?— craftwork, then? we didn't call it that then, _ craftwork, then? we didn't call it that then, that _ craftwork, then? we didn't call it that then, that is _ craftwork, then? we didn't call it that then, that is a _ craftwork, then? we didn't call it that then, that is a newfangled i that then, that is a newfangled term. , , :, that then, that is a newfangled term. , :, , term. did you call it anything? makin: term. did you call it anything? making stuff- _ term. did you call it anything? making stuff. we _ term. did you call it anything? making stuff. we had - term. did you call it anything? making stuff. we had a - term. did you call it anything? making stuff. we had a tool. term. did you call it anything? l making stuff. we had a tool set, that was very handy. aha, making stuff. we had a tool set, that was very handy.— making stuff. we had a tool set, that was very handy. a few years later when _ that was very handy. a few years later when you — that was very handy. a few years later when you self _ that was very handy. a few years later when you self published - that was very handy. a few years | later when you self published your first book, about poetry, very limited run and i think you made, you hand—printed and set typed, typeset... you hand-printed and set typed, eset. .. , you hand-printed and set typed, eset... , ,:, you hand-printed and set typed, eset... , y:, :, you hand-printed and set typed, typeset- - -_ you hand-printed and set typed, eset... , :, typeset... yes, you had to set each .aet typeset... yes, you had to set each -ate and typeset... yes, you had to set each page and the _ typeset... yes, you had to set each page and the fonts _ typeset... yes, you had to set each page and the fonts were _ typeset... yes, you had to set each

page and the fonts were a - typeset... yes, you had to set each page and the fonts were a bit - page and the fonts were a bit limited and you had to disassemble it and do the next one. i did the cover with a lino block print. did ou have cover with a lino block print. did you have any — cover with a lino block print. did you have any of those prints? cover with a lino block print. did i you have any of those prints? yes, cover with a lino block print. did - you have any of those prints? yes, i should have — you have any of those prints? yes, i should have kept _ you have any of those prints? yes, i should have kept more. _ you have any of those prints? yes, i should have kept more. that - you have any of those prints? yes, i should have kept more. that is - you have any of those prints? yes, i should have kept more. that is a . should have kept more. that is a serious margaret _ should have kept more. that is a serious margaret atwood - should have kept more. that is a serious margaret atwood rarity. l should have kept more. that is a - serious margaret atwood rarity. your brother's novels which he wrote between the ages of seven and nine, you told us? he between the ages of seven and nine, you told us?— you told us? he was very prolific. he even had _ you told us? he was very prolific. he even had on _ you told us? he was very prolific. he even had on the _ you told us? he was very prolific. he even had on the inside - you told us? he was very prolific. he even had on the inside of- you told us? he was very prolific. he even had on the inside of one | he even had on the inside of one of the covers by the same author, he then put the other books he had written. they were adventure stories, illustrated and at the beginning they all concerned his imaginary world which was at war constantly because of course, it was the war. and we traded our colour pencils, and i traded him the red,

the orange and the yellow, useful for explosions. there were a lot of explosions in his books. you were seven then. about, yes. and did you at some point at school, when you're looking forward in life and thinking, you know, i'm going to have to, at some point, be a grown—up and have a job, at what point...? oh, that comes much later. i don't think you're thinking in that way

at all when you're seven. no. when i entered what we would call high school, they gave you a book called guidance. we had it in class, called guidance, which was supposed to be guiding us to our future, um...careers. hmm. so there were lots of future careers for boys. so doctors, lawyers, you know, rocket scientists and what have you. and there were five for girls. let's see if you can guess what they were. secretary? yes. nurse? yes. teacher? yes. got it. ok, that's three. that's three. er...i don't know, was it housewife? did that count? that's not a career. that was not considered a career! er...yes, but domestic science. 0k. otherwise known as home economics. home economics. right. and the fifth one, which is a bit surprising that early, it was...it was airline stewardess. oh, right, of course. so, which box did were you ticking at that age? well, i was a mercenary little child. the one that made the most money at that time was.... ..was the home economist. ah, right. so although i was not really very interested, um... i took that in high school

instead of what i should have taken, which was secretarial sciences. i should have taken typing. what was the result? i still cannot touch—type. i have to look. are you...are you two fingers? was there a moment at school when, ok, you're looking at home economics, should have done secretarial things... was there...was there a moment, though, where you suddenly thought, "actually, i need to write?" oh, yes. that would be when i was 16. er... yes, i started writing at that time more than i had been. we had to write a certain amount in school anyway. we had to write essays. mm. and in those days, we had to read quite long novels in school. so thomas hardy was a feature. laughter. we had a shakespeare play a year, and, um...that

was of great use in later life. but, particularly, we had a dramatic group that would come to the school, called the earl grey players, and they would put on plays that were in the curriculum. you were doing a bit of acting as well, then? oh, i was doing some acting, because it was the age of skits. people did a lot of skits. so what i eventually did with home economics was i put on a home economics opera. what?! how does that play out...? well, it played out like this. the well—meaning, but rather humourless, um... home economics teacher made the mistake of letting us vote on a special project. hmm. this is the downside of democracy. so we could vote on it. and she wanted us to vote on making stuffed animals for sick children in hospitals. a very worthy project, but i felt, why not just buy them? i knew about those curved seams. i wanted to have nothing to do with them. er...we'd already done smocking, that was enough of that. so i subverted part of the class and got them to vote on the home

economics opera. she was a little bit dismayed by that, but because it was a vote, she said, yes, we could do it, as long as it was on a home economics subject. so it was. it was about fabrics. orlon, nylon and dacron were their names. who was writing the songs? er. . . me. i used pre—existing melodies so people would actually be able to sing them. operatic melodies or pop songs? no, dear, just any old melodies i could get my hands on. one of them was a... oh, a mangling of the barcarolle from tales of hoffmann. hmm. it was about washing. right. can you remember how it goes? # fabrics need a swim in the suds. # it makes them feel just like new. # plink—plink, plink—plink. it goes on from there. laughter. so, did you perform, as well? yes, of course. yeah? you were...? yes, i played orlon.

0k. yes, i performed, i directed. hmm. your next choice for this cultural life is reading sci—fi in the cellar when you were supposed to be doing your homework, and especially reading george orwell. when did you first come across orwell, then? well, my dad liked science fiction, because he was a scientist and he used to get a big kick out of it. hmm. so he had quite a collection. but i first read animal farm cos it was in the house, my dad had it. hmm. and i thought it was going to be, "oh, good, animals! "just like wind in the willows." talking animals? talking animals. what fun! er...but this is not what it was, and, of course, i didn't understand that it was an allegory of the soviet union at that time, based on the show trials and so forth. um... because you were, what — nine, ten...? yeah. i had no knowledge of those things. so itjust ruined me, because here were these nice animals and they...and they came to tragic ends,

and it was very, very upsetting. when it came to 1984, then, what was it about that book that gripped you so much? having been born in 1939, two months after the onset of world war ii, i've always been pretty interested in dictatorships, and also world war ii. mm. er... so by the time i got round to being plunged into history, which would be in the �*50s, i had a context for...for all of this. er...and one of my... one of the things that has occupied me really quite a lot over time is, how did these dictatorships get going, and how did they maintain themselves? and also, how do they fall apart when they fall apart? so i've been pretty interested in that, really, how important was it to you at the time, reading 1984? i mean, i presume...

oh, it made a huge impact. huge? yes. and i...and i thought of it, um... my first reaction to it was the one that everybody has — this is a really gloomy book and it's very pessimistic. but, um...thinking about it later, i realised that he'd put this coda at the end. and it's a very hopeful thing, because it's a...an essay on newspeak, written in standard english, in the past tense. hmm. so the message is — it ended. it fell. the regime... it was gone, in some way. we're not told how, but we know it's gone because here are people writing about it as if it's in the past. and the same thing happens at the end of the handmaid's tale... yes. now, that... when the reader realises... yes. ..that the narrative that has played out is being discussed at a symposium sometime in the future. so you come to the same conclusion, that the regime... well, i... ..has fallen. i mean, that's my model. and that's how you deal with, um...knowledge that you can't put in the main narrative. the handmaid's tale became, in effect, your generation's 1984.

well, maybe, sort of... but, you know, at the time, it wasn't considered very plausible... hmm. ..by many. so, in 1985, it was not seen as a real possibility. that's interesting — you wrote it in 1984. idid. isn't that corny? not only that, i was writing it in west berlin, surrounded by the wall. living in west berlin, you were, i presume, very aware of what was happening on the other side of that wall. yes. yes, they made sonic booms every sundayjust to remind us that they were there. and you were writing the handmaid's tale in berlin at that time and that atmosphere, that — that sense of difference was then feeding into the words that you were writing? yeah. more, more through actually visiting those places. so, we went to, um, east germany — that was easy for us, we were canadians. then there was czechoslovakia. fairly tightly sewed up but you can talk to people as long as you went

into a field. and then, there was poland, which was already pretty loosey—goosey. so, those experiences of talking to people who had to be very careful about what they said, and you had to be very careful about what you repeated. it was veryjohn le carre. er, the whole thing, very familiar. so, that's creating an atmosphere, i presume, in the narrative? yes. that sense of a repressive society. and you have orwell, who has kind of led the way and he's there in your imagination, as well, i presume. but what was the start — what was the catalyst for writing the handmaid's tale? the election of ronald reagan in 1980. reagan: with god's help, we can and will resolve - the problems which now confront us. and, after all, why shouldn't we believe that? we are americans. applause god bless

you, and thank you. at which there was a big pushback against what the �*70s had been doing, particularly in the expansion of — of women's rights. so, �*70s quite expansionist. you could have your own credit card. chuckles stuff like that. and then, you get this pushback, and that was when they started activating the evangelical religious right as a political force. significant also is the fact that i had studied 17th century american puritanism as a graduate student in the early �*60s, and i get to say bad things about those people because they are my ancestors. so, the family... literally. literally, yes, literally, they were puritan new englanders. but it's interesting that you witness what's happening in germany, ronald reagan is elected, so you start

imagining the possibilities of a future totalitarian american regime but then, you reach back. well, these regimes are never made out of whole cloth. they're always based on something that was there before. they change the outfits, the names, the flags and the slogans, but it's — it's the same, um, infrastructure. so, what would the americans have? they'd go back to the puritans. that's my — that is certainly my theory. it was my theory in the 1980s and you can see it in action now. that's what they want. it's what the right wing wants. it wants a hierarchical puritan theocracy. which is why the handmaid's tale has taken on new resonance and relevance in recent years, but also... i didn't do it. chuckles but it has also, of course, taken on new life in the form of a television series, so a whole new generation of viewers now. what was the biggest challenge for you in seeing that adapted

for the screen? ok, you think i have any control or power, don't you? chuckles maybe a bit. no, i don't. i have maybe some influence. yeah. so, here's the actual story of what really happened. we made a film in 1989. today, only one out of 100 women can still bear children. and some women stopped. believing there would be no future, they refused. refused to bear children! they wouldn't even try! they were lazy women! and we — we were launching it right at the moment when the berlin wall was coming down. newsreel: the moment berliners have waited 28 years for. - chanting cheering a symbolic breach in the structure that separated millions and claimed hundreds of lives. so, we had launched it in west berlin and it was the usual aesthetic

conversation afterwards — the direction, the sets, the acting and so forth. then, we went across and showed it in east berlin, which was the first time any such thing had happened since world war ii, and the audience there was very different. watched it very intently. said, "this was our life," meaning you couldn't trust anybody and people are constantly ratting each other out. so that contract for that film contained a series television, um, arrangement. and in those days, series television was dallas, or it was daytime soap. and the thought that anybody in that period would make a television show out of the handmaid's tale, the thought was — was, possibility, zero. that's never going to happen. the film was sold to a distributor, the distributor

eventually went belly up, assets were dispersed, the contract disappeared. so, people came for a year saying, "can we make something "out of the handmaid's tale again?" and we would have to say, "we don't know who's "got the contract." we really didn't. wow! then, somebody opened a drawer at mgm and there was the contract. just when series television streaming started up, which is a perfect way of doing a longer novel. and that led to an led to an appetite for... that led to... ..serious, gritty drama...? that led to the possibility of this happening. blessed be the fruit. may the lord open. and the showrunner was a guy called bruce miller who had read this in high school and he promised himself that when he grew up, he was going to make the handmaid's tale. so, he knew everything about it and talked himself into thejob.

are you surprised, or maybe disturbed, at the continuing relevance 40 years after you wrote that book? well, it had periods of not being so relevant. so, it's newly relevant because of political changes in the united states. we go everywhere in twos. supposed to be for our protection, for companionship. there are no friends here. can't be. the truth is we're watching each other. in terms of your life and your influence and what you've been discussing tonight, almost at odds with some of the themes of the novels, which explore, you know, the really dark aspects of humanity and the human experience — totalitarianism, rape and murder and all of these things. what — what compels you to immerse yourself? i don't particularly immerse myself, you know, ijust read the newspapers. blame it on the bbc news. laughs ijust like to read.

well, i do research the details because if you don't and you get them wrong, you are going to get a letter beginning, "you idiot..." and nowadays, it wouldn't be a letter, it would be somebody yelling at you on social media. there's never been one person's truth in a margaret atwood novel, whether it's the blind assassin or alias grace or the handmaid's tale. and your narrators, your protagonists are rarely what they seem at first. that instinct to almost pull the rug underneath the reader's expectations, where does that come from, do you think? well, ithink it comes from writing. it comes from writing novels. so — or it comes from storytelling. so, you don't want the first five pages of your book to give away the entire plot, do you? i don't, particularly if it's a murder mystery. i don't want to think, "oh, well, i know who did that. "it's very obvious." so, hook me in. present me with a mystery. make me want to know more.

and that's a good beginning of a book. "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times." "oh, tell me more! "in what way?" "the past is another country. "they do things differently there." "how differently?" "it was a bright, cold day in april and the clocks "were striking 13." which brings us back to george orwell. yes, it does. more than — well, it's around six decades since you first read him but in your most recent collection of short stories, you summon him up from beyond the grave. you have an imagined conversation via a medium talking and it is, we presume, margaret atwood in conversation. yes. it's called margaret atwood. the character is called margaret atwood. yes, yes. yes. chuckles an imagined conversation, of course. dead giveaway. he's still — he's still very important to you? yes, and i'm allowing him to smoke in the afterlife

because i'm a kind person. you're now in your 80s, margaret, and you're still as prolific as ever. what — what drives you on creatively? well, what else am i going to do all day? you know what samuel beckett said? "why do you write?" he said, "not good for anything else". chuckles it's too late for me to be a ballet dancer. oh, alas, a vanished career. well, i'm a freelancer, you know? and that's a good thing because i don't have a boss. you are your own boss. continue to be. very enviable. margaret atwood, thank you so much for sharing your cultural life with us. thank you. voice-over: and for podcast episodes of this cultural life, | go to bbc sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

hello, most of the week will be a story of sunshine and showers, we could see stormier weather wednesday into thursday. first it has been windy so far and strong winds attached to these fronts, the strongest of the winds will clip the north—east of scotland before easing. it leaves many of us with clear skies for monday. 12 to 15 degrees. still some showers in the south—east first thing. some showers in central and western scotland and northern ireland in the rush hour and very few showers in the forecast on monday. even if you see one, it should be a fleeting one. only one or two in your day. for many in england and wales the day will be dry and 17 to 22 celsius. the breeze will strengthen into tuesday morning.

some showers and thunder storms pushing into southern england and south—eastern parts of wales. tuesday we are drawing in this front and this one will work its way across many parts of england first thing in the morning. the risk of showers and thunder storms. fewer showers and more dry weather. but some heavier showers for northern ireland and particularly in scotland in the afternoon. in the sunshine between the showers, again temperatures like monday around 16 to 22 celsius. as we go into the middle of week, all eyes are on this low pressure. it could be a stormy one, rattling in through wednesday and into wednesday night. let me show you how things develop. it will be a quiet start for many. but cloud increases from the south and west and the rain pushes in and widespread gales developing in the afternoon and evening. temperatures on the cool

side where the winds are strong efs in the north. the position of that area of low pressure is open to question. but we could see wednesday into wednesday night winds around irish sea cost and southern scotland and north—east england. the rain moving north. a stormy night wednesday into thursday and thursday although things turn quieter there could be some damage and travel disruption. take care.

welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm arunoday mukharji. let's get you the headlines. a space capsule carrying the largest asteroid sample ever collected lands safely in utah, which could shed new light on how planets were formed. france will end all military co—operation with niger and withdraw its ambassador and several other diplomats within hours, following a coup. armed soldiers are offered to the metropolitan police after a large number of officers step back from firearms duties. the spanish town shaken after fake naked images of local girls, generated by artificial intelligence, are shared.