Thumbs up or thumbs down on a website is not a conversation. The danger is you get into a habit of mind where politics means giving a thumbs up or thumbs down to a website. The world is a much more complex place.

If you're constantly stimulated by being called away to the buzzing and the excitement of what's on your phone, solitude seems kind of scary.

I am a single mum. I raised my daughter, and she was very listened to.

You'll always feel lonely if you always need validation. People don't like to be around those kinds of people.

America's public schools have served their purpose. Free and compulsory education was good for a somewhat unpromising young nation.

My drama teacher when I was a kid called me ‘Zawe the activist' and I had no idea why. Now I've got older I can see why she always saw that in me.

We know what happens when a woman earns money. She is far more likely than a man to spend her earnings on the health and education of her children and to invest in improving her family's standard of living.

My parents had a strong impact on who I am today. My mother and dad both encouraged us to think about the long term - where you wanted to be - to think about education, to think about what is right and what is wrong, and to do things that will help you in the long run.