This book is strange in many ways. It has been a different sort of book to produce and will, I am certain, be a strange book to read. However, it has also been a joy to produce: it features conversations with a dozen leading academic thinkers talking about thinking. The 12 voices contained here are people who have inspired many of us across a range of disciplines and fields, from political theory (Wendy Brown) to social policy (Fiona Williams), and from geography (Wendy Larner) to anthropology (Anu Sharma). More particularly, these voices belong to people who have helped me to think about the problems of doing critical intellectual work in hard times. These conversations explore the difficult relationships that are in play between politics, theorising and the practice of academic work.

As a consequence, this is necessarily a strange sort of book. Although academics talk all the time, we rarely record our conversations – as opposed to the public presentation or the structured interview. Yet conversation is intrinsic to our way of working: it involves thinking out loud, responding to questions, provocations and arguments, taking account of others and thinking ‘re-on your feet’ (even if sitting down). Some of my most memorable academic moments have come from watching people whom I admire engaging with the question and the questioner, trying to re-articulate their arguments, trying to make connections or explore differences. Quite a lot of those who gave me such memorable moments are present in this book, precisely because they (literally) embody the qualities of thinking through talking and thinking out loud.

So, the book partly emerges out of a puzzle: given what a significant part this sort of dialogue plays in our lives and our work, why does it so rarely feature in the public forms and formats of academic work? I suspect this is partly a product of how the forms and formalities of academic work combine in creating the varieties of ‘finished work’ that represent our public face: the article, the book, the presentation or even the carefully crafted interview. But so much of our real work takes place in this other mode – arguing in research teams, negotiating with co-authors, discussing with audiences or even just fretting about some elusive topic over a cup of coffee or a drink.