It doesn’t often happen during interviews. Something inside the person starts shifting. Fresh ideas get forged in real time.

Our new podcast series Radical Thinking with Aditya Chakrabortty has already managed to generate many such moments. Each time it happens, you can almost hear the expression changing on the guest’s face. At one point, I switched from audio to video to witness the change and then watch as they refined their thoughts.

The effect is riveting. It’s also by design.

“We didn’t want this podcast to be a boxing match,” says Kirsty Major, a Guardian deputy opinion editor and an executive producer of Radical Thinking.…