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What is it?
Too often the stories of ordinary people doing amazing things go untold. People striving to make a difference. Whether a smallholder farmer on the outskirts of Nairobi, a mechanic in central Delhi, a plant scientist in Kuala Lumpur, a taxi driver in Hanoi, a charity CEO in San Francisco or a teacher in Singapore.
All have a story to tell about the differences they are making.
And so the idea of The Twenty Questions Project came about; a plan to tell these amazing stories from 100 amazing people around the world through asking twenty common questions. Talking to people making a difference every day in both small and big ways.
As a first step, writer Alistair Holt anonymously collected questions in 2025 from the general public through an online submission process, to help form conversations. Twenty were selected and are listed below. These same twenty questions will be asked to all 100 people interviewed. Interviewees will be chosen by Alistair and met in-person.
Stories will be written towards the end of 2025 onwards and published here. There might be a book, maybe, eventually...
Nominated Questions
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1. What did you have for breakfast today?
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2. What does a typical day look like for you?
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3. Tell me about your family. Do you have any family traditions?
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4. When was the last time you sat down together with your family and ate together? What did you eat?
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5. What is your first, most vivid memory from childhood?
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6. Can you describe the home that you grew up in? How did your parents earn a living?
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7. Imagine you could go back in time and speak to yourself aged 18, what would you say?
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8. What was your first job and how much did you earn?
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9. What single decision made during your life seemed small at the time, but changed everything?
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10. Hardship and moving through it often changes people. Have you been through hard times?
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11. If I hold a mirror up to you, what do you see?
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12. What emotion do you experience the most?
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13. What do you find hard about being human?
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14. What is your most cherished photograph?
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15. How do you feel about being in a city and being in nature - where are you most at home?
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16. You can choose one superpower. What is it?
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17. What was the last journey you made on public transport?
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18. What is the most important phone call you have received?
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19. Which other human has influenced your life the most?
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20. When did you last use cash and what did you buy?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alistair Holt is Head of Philanthropy & Partnerships at the food security not-for-profit CABI (www.cabi.org), where he fundraises to help improve the lives of people around the world facing challenges with the basic provision of sufficient, nutritious food. Married to his American wife and with two amazing boys, Alistair runs, walks, cycles, paddles and swims his way around Oxfordshire in the UK and beyond. His heart lies with people, places and the outdoors.
GET INVOLVED
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