Alan Rusbridger, Richard Sennett

In the summer of 2010, Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, set himself an almost impossible goal: to learn, in one year, Chopin’s fiendishly difficult Ballade No. 1. He faced a monumental task, both as an amateur pianist but, more especially, as an editor at the time of the Arab Spring, the Japanese tsunami, the English riots, WikiLeaks and the News of the World hacking scandal.

In his book Play It Again, he relates how he found the right teacher, the right piano and the right fingering; and gained insights and advice from pianists, theorists, historians, neuroscientists, amateurs – even secretaries of state. He talks about the book with the sociologist, author and amateur musician Richard Sennett.