P: Why did you decide to go back to London?

James Corden brings a gleeful buoyancy to his CBS late-night show, whether he’s bantering simultaneously with all his guests or dueting with stars as he drives.

But CBS’ smoothly produced “The Late Late Show” suggests just how much Corden invests in his work, which was affirmed in a conversation amid preparations for the show’s upcoming visit to Corden’s native England.

For starters, he described pingponging between Los Angeles, where his show is based, New York to attend the premiere of “Ocean’s 8” (he has a small part in the movie) and London to do pretaped elements.

He discussed what “The Late Late Show” means to him and how much he puts into it, with the U.K. trip, an encore to last year’s, an example. The shows from London’s Methodist Central Hall will air at 12:37 a.m. Eastern Monday through Thursday on CBS and Tuesday to Friday on Britain’s Sky One.

Scheduled guests include Cate Blanchett, Cher, Chris Pratt, Orlando Bloom, Damian Lewis, J.J. Abrams and Niall Horan and the Foo Fighters. Paul McCartney joins Corden for a “Carpool Karaoke” segment, with Andrew Lloyd Webber in a new “Crosswalk the Musical.”

In an Associated Press interview, Corden also refused to cede ground on the political humour that infuses so much of late-night in the Donald Trump era, saying his show is as topical as any - in its own way.

Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity. James Corden hosts at the 60th annual Grammy Awards earlier this year at Madison Square Garden in New York.

ACorden: It’s ambitious. It’s a huge amount of effort to take the