Nobel Prize

Interview with the 2025 Nobel Prize laureate in literature László Krasznahorkai on 6 December 2025 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden.   Could you describe the environment in Hungary when you were growing up?  László Krasznahorkai: It was a small town and remain a small town also today. I was born there, and I lived there…

Interview with 2022 Nobel Prize laureate in literature, Annie Ernaux, recorded in Stockholm on 6 December 2022 during the Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. This is the English translation of the interview. Tell us about your childhood Annie Ernaux: I had a childhood deeply influenced by reading. As far back as I can remember, as soon…

Interview with the 2025 laureate in economic sciences Joel Mokyr on 6 December 2025 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. How were you as a child?  Joel Mokyr: My childhood really is divided into two parts. The first nine years I lived in the Netherlands in a town called Utrecht in the centre of the…

Interview with the 2025 Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry Omar Yaghi on 6 December 2025 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. Can you tell us about your childhood?  Omar Yaghi: I grew up in Amman, Jordan. I was born and raised in Amman, Jordan. I was born to a refugee family of well, we were…

Interview with the 2025 Nobel Prize laureate in physiology or medicine Fred Ramsdell on 6 December 2025 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. What was your childhood like? Fred Ramsdell: My childhood I would describe as being incredibly boringly normal. I have two siblings – or had two siblings, one has passed much older than…

Interview with the 2025 Nobel Prize laureate in physiology or medicine Mary Brunkow on 6 December 2025 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. Can you tell us about your childhood?  Mary Brunkow: I grew up in Portland, Oregon, on the west coast of the US. I have two brothers. I’m in the middle. I had…

Interview with the 2024 medicine laureate Gary Ruvkun, recorded on 6 December 2024 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. Where does your passion for science come from?  Gary Ruvkun: My passion for science really probably begins with my father being an engineer. When we would go on a family vacation to the mountains, most families…

Interview with the 2024 economic sciences laureate James A. Robinson, recorded on 6 December 2024 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. How did your upbringing shape you?  James A. Robinson: I think my upbringing probably did shape me, although it’s hard to unpack it. My father was an itinerant engineer who actually started off working…

Interview with the 2024 economic sciences laureate Simon Johnson, recorded on 6 December 2024 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. What was your childhood like and how did it shape you?  Simon Johnson: I grew up in Sheffield in the north of England. I come from a family that has been in Sheffield for a…

Interview with the 2024 chemistry laureate John Jumper, recorded on 6 December 2024 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. How did your interest in science come about? John Jumper: My childhood, I grew up in Arkansas just outside Little Rock. I grew up on a farm, not really a working farm, but you know, horses,…