I woke up one day this past week with a nervous flutter in my chest, drank entirely too much coffee, and, after taking a quick shower and dawning a button down, hopped into the car and drove across University Bridge to KUOW’s studio in U. Village. I was due for a remote recording session with none other than BBC World Service—in London!

It didn’t take very long to get over the butterflies. Asya, the London-based BBC interviewer, is a master at her work—calming her interviewees, asking thought...