Created on the brink of Donald Trump’s re-election as “leader of the free world”, our latest issue interrogates the idea of democracy and the meaning of personal and political “freedom”. Sam Fowles interviews human rights activist and former Liberty leader Shami Chakrabarti, journalist Sally Hayden writes under shellfire in her home city of Beirut, and Toby Green investigates the rights of an imprisoned Kurdish activist.

There’s also showgirl-turned-author Ruth Ivo on being a liberated mother and lover, Keggie Carew on living “free as a bird”, Stephanie Theobald tours LA’s legalised cannabis stores, Guy Shrubsole campaigns for our right to roam, and ex-Python Michael Palin reveals how his strong marriage enabled him to roam the world as a TV traveller.