As Director-General, Mark Thompson led the BBC for 8 years, and is now CEO of the New York Times. In this in-depth interview, he reflects in detail on his career, and the BBC's challenges both past and present; reveals the demands on a Brit leading an iconic American newspaper, while keeping it relevant and profitable in the digital age; and makes the case that the language of modern politics - dominated with 'truthiness', 'authenticism' and the derision of expertise - is now at odds with the public good.