Listen to a sample
Q
- Author
- Lani Watson
- Narrator
- Lani Watson
- Publisher
- Random House
- Publish Date
- 27 August 2026
- Run Time
- 8 hours 49 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
Our lives are shaped by questions: they are how we connect, persuade and flourish. But we live in a world that wants answers.
Questions are engines of learning, catalysts for connection, and drivers of change. They direct our attention and make us feel closer to loved ones and strangers alike. In fact, we are the only species that truly asks questions of one another.
But school trains us to answer, not ask. Workplaces reinforce that, and technology feeds us solutions before we’ve described the problem. The result is that we live in an answer-rich, question-poor world. Yet, from doctors’ surgeries to courtrooms to dating, the ability to ask questions determines our experiences. In a world obsessed by answers, asking better questions is powerful.
Q takes us on a transformative journey into the art and science of questioning and will shift your perspective on the world. In a captivating narrative from the death of Socrates to the age of AI, Lani Watson draws on research in psychology, philosophy and neuroscience to show how questions play a vital role in our individual lives and in our shared human story.
Q will make you think about the questions you ask and the ones you don’t. It is a life-enhancing invitation to harness the hidden power of our most underappreciated human skill.
'Q is one of those rare books that hands you back a capability you didn't realise you'd lost' - DANIEL H. PINK
'Excellent. Q will alter how you interact with the world' - DAVID EDMONDS
'An exhilarating and wise book. This is what philosophy should be – fizzing, sparkling and catalytic' - CHARLES FOSTER
'By giving us back a simple tool we've had all along, Q empowers us all. This is a book that could change lives' - INDIA RAKUSEN
© Lani Watson 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
Critics Review
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Somewhere along the way, we confused intelligence with knowing answers – and that confusion is holding us back. Lani Watson traces this mistake from the classroom to the boardroom, building a case that is both unsettling and oddly freeing. Q is one of those rare books that hands you back a capability you didn't realize you'd lost
Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and The Power of Regret
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Lani Watson’s wonderful book is a study of the nature of questions … It’s immensely entertaining, and the author very compelling in the way she presents her argument
Spectator
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Asking a question can change your mood, and having a questioning mindset can change your life … Q is written with a deceptive simplicity and an almost kindly encouragement
Guardian
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Will you find this book fascinating, thoughtful, enlightening? No question. Q is one of those rare books that alters how you interact with the world – an excellent read
David Edmonds, author of Death in a Shallow Pool
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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Why did I enjoy Q so much? For its clarity, curiosity and thought-provoking ideas? Does Socrates live still through Watson and her readers? Might we change ourselves and the world through more and better crafted questions? Read Q and find out
Shami Chakrabarti, author of Human Rights
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By teaching us to value inquiry over certainty, Lani Watson shows us how we can use the radical, transformative potential of questioning. An essential guide for anyone committed to the collective quest for a more just and curious future
Kate Pickett, author of The Good Society
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Humans are constitutionally questioning mammals: to thrive personally, societally and politically we need to interrogate ourselves and our worlds properly. In this exhilarating, humane, rigorous and wise book, Lani Watson exhorts us to act in accordance with our constitution, and shows us how. Q is what philosophy should be - fizzing, sparking and catalytic
Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast
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Powerful and beautifully written, I didn’t want to put Q down: I wanted to absorb all of Lani Watson’s wisdom and run out into the real world and act on it. By giving us back a simple tool we’ve had all along – the tool of questioning – Q empowers us all. This is a book that could change lives
India Rakusen, award-winning presenter, journalist and narrative audio producer
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Answers are only as good as the questions you ask. In fast-moving workplaces fixated on answers and output, Lani Watson helps us harness the power of asking the right questions
Elaine Lin Hering, author of Unlearning Silence
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With Lani Watson as our great and rare guide, Q shows us there is a magic in questions – and, even better, the power behind that magic is easier to tap into than you might think … This is your ‘Q’ to dive in
Larry Robertson, author of Great Question
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Lani Watson
- Narrator
- Lani Watson
- Duration
- 8 hours 49 minutes
- Release Date
- 27 August 2026
- ISBN
- 9781529948202
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Random House
- Genre
- Social and political philosophy, Popular philosophy: Meaning of life / finding sense in life, Social, group or collective psychology, Cognitive and behavioural neuroscience, Popular psychology
Synopsis
Our lives are shaped by questions: they are how we connect, persuade and flourish. But we live in a world that wants answers. Questions are engines of learning, catalysts for connection, and drivers of change. They direct our attention and make us feel closer to loved ones and strangers alike. In fact, we are the only species that truly asks questions of one another. But school trains us to answer, not ask. Workplaces reinforce that, and technology feeds us solutions before we’ve described the problem. The result is that we live in an answer-rich, question-poor world. Yet, from doctors’ surgeries to courtrooms to dating, the ability to ask questions determines our experiences. In a world obsessed by answers, asking better questions is powerful. Q takes us on a transformative journey into the art and science of questioning and will shift your perspective on the world. In a captivating narrative from the death of Socrates to the age of AI, Lani Watson draws on research in psychology, philosophy and neuroscience to show how questions play a vital role in our individual lives and in our shared human story. Q will make you think about the questions you ask and the ones you don’t. It is a life-enhancing invitation to harness the hidden power of our most underappreciated human skill. 'Q is one of those rare books that hands you back a capability you didn't realise you'd lost' - DANIEL H. PINK 'Excellent. Q will alter how you interact with the world' - DAVID EDMONDS 'An exhilarating and wise book. This is what philosophy should be – fizzing, sparkling and catalytic' - CHARLES FOSTER 'By giving us back a simple tool we've had all along, Q empowers us all. This is a book that could change lives' - INDIA RAKUSEN © Lani Watson 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
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