Simon and Rachel speak to Robert Harris, the bestselling historical novelist. Robert worked as a journalist, and wrote several non-fiction books, before his first novel, "Fatherland", which imagines a world in which Germany won the Second World War, was published in 1992. He has subsequently written 15 other novels: including the Cicero Trilogy - "Imperium", "Lustrum" and "Dictator" - "Enigma", "An Officer and a Spy" - which won four prizes including the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction - and "Munich". His work has been translated into 40 languages and nine of his books have been adapted for cinema and television. We spoke to Robert about moving from journalism to writing historical fiction, shifting from modern to ancient settings, and about his new novel, "Precipice". 

“Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is published by Ithaka Press. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hatchards⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/alwaystakenotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Rachel and Simon speak to Carissa Broadbent, author of the "Crowns of Nyaxia" and "War of Lost Hearts" series. Before turning to writing, Carissa worked in marketing. Her early books were self-published and became a sensation on social media, particularly TikTok, where videos about her work attract millions of views. "The Serpent and the Wings of Night", the first book in the "Crowns of Nyaxia" series - a tale of "heart-wrenching romance, dark magic and bloodthirsty intrigue" - was a New York Times bestseller immediately after publication. We spoke to Carissa about the "romantasy" genre (combining elements of romance and fantasy), how she moved from self-publishing to a deal with a major publisher, and her latest book, "The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King". 

“Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is published by Ithaka Press. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hatchards⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/alwaystakenotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Rachel speak with the novelist and non-fiction writer Hisham Matar. Born in New York to Libyan parents, Hisham spent his childhood in Tripoli and Cairo and has lived most of his life in London. He is the author of the novels "In the Country of Men", which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and "Anatomy of a Disappearance", as well as two memoirs: "The Return", which was the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize in 2017, the PEN/Jean Stein Award, and the Rathbones Folio Prize, and "A Month in Siena", a meditation on grief, art and human intimacy. His most recent book, published in January, is the novel "My Friends". Hisham is a professor at Barnard College, Columbia University and his work has been translated into over 30 languages. We spoke to Hisham about his early life in Libya and Egypt, the abduction of his father in 1990 and how it shaped his development, and his new novel, "My Friends".  

“Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is published by Ithaka Press. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hatchards⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/alwaystakenotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Rachel and Simon talk to magazine writer and author Samanth Subramanian. Samanth is a contributing writer to the Guardian Long Read, and his writing has also appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, WIRED, Granta, Harper's and 1843, among other publications. He is the author of three books, “Following Fish: Travels Around the Indian Coast,” (which won the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize in 2010), “This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan War” (winner of the 2015 Crossword Prize for Non-Fiction) and his latest, “A Dominant Character: The Radical Science and Restless Politics of J. B. S. Haldane”, published in 2020. We spoke to Samanth about studying journalism as an undergraduate, his transition to narrative journalism, and about the gruelling realities of freelance life.

You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Rachel speak with agent Emily Hayward-Whitlock, head of the book-to-film department at The Artists Partnership. Emily handles the film and TV rights for various literary agencies and publishers, including Rogers Coleridge and White, Serpent’s Tail, Janklow and Nesbit, Unbound, Profile Books and Nosy Crow. Her recent deals include Richard Osman’s bestselling novel, “The Thursday Murder Club”, to Amblin Pictures and Gail Honeyman’s “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” to Hello Sunshine, Reese Witherspoon’s production company. We spoke to Emily about what kinds of books are most attractive for film and TV, how much involvement a writer can expect to have in adaptations of their work and the ascendancy of streaming services.

You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Katy Lee. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Rachel and Simon speak with Patrick Radden Keefe, a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine and author of three books. Patrick's most recent title is the best-selling “Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland.” His work at The New Yorker, where he has been a contributor since 2006, has received the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing. “Say Nothing” received the Orwell Prize for Political Writing and the National Book Critics Circle Award. We spoke to Patrick about his early reporting on the US National Security Agency, his entry to The New Yorker, and the challenge of researching and writing “Say Nothing.”

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/30/herve-falcianis-great-swiss-bank-heist

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/07/how-mark-burnett-resurrected-donald-trump-as-an-icon-of-american-success

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/09/28/the-avenger

You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Katy Lee, who also handles our social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Rachel speak with Phoebe Hurst. As the managing editor of Vice UK, Phoebe is responsible for commissioning and editing stories with a youth-focused lens; she has also written about topics as varied as mental health, plastic waste, and the rise of Pret A Manger. Before that, she was the editor of Munchies, Vice's food channel, and has freelanced for publications including Wired, the Guardian and Dazed. We spoke to Phoebe about getting started in journalism, the joys of a good editor and the fabled “Vice Voice”.

You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Katy Lee, who also handles our social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Rachel and Simon speak with prolific novelist Alexander McCall Smith. Alexander was a professor of Medical Law, before turning his hand to writing fiction. His first book, “The White Hippo”, a children’s title, was published in 1980. But it wasn’t until the appearance of the highly successful “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” series that Alexander became a household name. The series has now sold over twenty million copies in English alone. Alexander’s various series of books have been translated into forty-six languages. Others include the “44 Scotland Street” novels and the Isabel Dalhousie books. Recently, he launched the Ulf Varg series of ‘Scandi blanc’ novels set in Sweden. Alexander talked to us about his rapid writing pace, the moral questions of detective novels and the idea of cultural appropriation.

You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Katy Lee, who also handles our social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks with the writer and novelist Linda Grant. She began her career as a journalist, writing for the Guardian and the Independent on Sunday, before publishing “The Cast Iron Shore”, her first novel, in 1996. Her subsequent books include “Remind Me Who I Am, Again” (1998), “When I Lived in Modern Times” (2000), “Still Here” (2000), “The People on the Street” (2005) and “The Clothes on their Backs” (2008). Her work has variously won or been nominated for a clutch of prizes, including the Orange Prize for Fiction, the Man Booker Prize and the Letter Ulysses Prize for Literary Reportage. Linda talked about literary touchstones, writing great dialogue and “A Stranger City”, her latest novel.

You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Katy Lee, who also handles our social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Rachel and Simon speak with the prolific and genre-bending author Geoff Dyer. Geoff’s many books include the novel “Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi,” “But Beautiful” (about jazz), “Yoga For People Who Can’t Be Bothered To Do It,” “Zona” (about Andrei Tarkovsky’s film “Stalker”) and, most recently, “Broadsword Calling Danny Boy” (on the film “Where Eagles Dare”). His books have been translated into twenty-four languages and he currently lives in Los Angeles where he is Writer in Residence at the University of Southern California. We spoke with Geoff about his early life and his entry into writing, fiction versus non-fiction, and the economics of his writing life.

You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is run by Katy Lee. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist Amanda Craig. After a brief spell in advertising and PR, Amanda became a journalist—writing for the Sunday Times, the Observer, the Telegraph and the Independent—and went on to win the Young Journalist of the Year and the Catherine Pakenham Award. Amanda is now a full-time novelist and her latest book, “The Golden Rule”, was published in June. We talked to Amanda about writing interconnected stories, the economics of the publishing industry and her experience of libel law.

You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is run by Katy Lee. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. The photo credit for Amanda's photograph is Charlie Hopkinson.

Simon and Rachel speak with journalist and author Toby Young. He has written for the Times, the Sun on Sunday, the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph and has been a columnist at the Spectator since 1998. His book, “How to Lose Friends & Alienate People”, about his stint at Vanity Fair, became a bestseller and was adapted into a film starring Simon Pegg. Toby co-founded the West London Free School and is the chief executive of the Free Speech Union. We talked to Toby about his entry into journalism, his contrarian instincts and whether there is a “business of outrage”.

You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is run by Katy Lee. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Rachel and Simon speak with the author Anne Enright. Anne has written two collections of stories, one book of non-fiction and six novels. “The Gathering”, which was published in 2007, won the Booker Prize; Anne has also received the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award. In 2015 she was appointed the first Laureate for Irish Fiction and in 2018 she received the Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature. We spoke to Anne about creative writing programmes, her loathing of routine and writing “Actress” during the emergence of the #MeToo movement.

penguin.co.uk/authors/1009089/anne-enright.html

penguin.co.uk/books/1069718/the-gathering/9780099501633.html

penguin.co.uk/books/1118568/actress/9781787332065.html

You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is run by Katy Lee. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Rachel and Simon speak with the historian Bettany Hughes. A specialist in ancient and medieval history, Bettany is the author of five books: “Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore”, “The Hemlock Cup, Socrates, Athens and the Search for the Good Life”, “Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities”, “Venus & Aphrodite” and “The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World”. Alongside writing, Bettany is an experienced broadcaster, having written and hosted more than 50 TV and radio documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Netflix, among others; more than 250m people worldwide have watched her programmes. She is the co-founder of SandStone Global, a TV, film and audio production company. We spoke to Bettany about discovering a passion for ancient history as a child, balancing book-writing with television work and her latest book, “The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World”. 

“Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is published by Ithaka Press. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Hatchards⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠.

You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/alwaystakenotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Rachel and Simon speak with Matthew Syed, an author and journalist who writes about the practices and techniques that underpin high performance. He has written six books on the subject - including the best-sellers "Bounce" and "Black Box Thinking" - and has worked as a consultant with many leading organisations. He is also a journalist for The Times and a regular contributor to television and radio. In his previous career, Matthew was the England table tennis number one for almost a decade. We spoke to Matthew about his hugely successful popular science books, how he combined table tennis with breaking into journalism, and the challenges of writing a column.

You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is run by Katy Lee. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Rachel and Simon speak with Louise Doughty. Louise is the author of nine novels, including “Apple Tree Yard”, a number-one bestseller which was adapted as a four-part series by the BBC. Her sixth novel, “Whatever You Love”, was nominated for the Costa Novel Award and Orange Prize for Fiction; her eighth novel, “Black Water”, was chosen by the New York Times as one of their Notable Books of the Year. Her work has been translated into 30 languages. We spoke to Louise about creative writing programmes, the vexing “chick lit” label and her extensive research process.

https://www.louisedoughty.com/

https://louisedoughty.com/apple-tree-yard/

https://louisedoughty.com/whatever-you-love/

https://louisedoughty.com/black-water/

You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is run by Katy Lee. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks with the travel writer Guy Stagg. In 2013 Guy, who had grown up in Paris, Heidelberg, Yorkshire and London, walked from Canterbury to Jerusalem. "The Crossway," an account of this journey, was published by Picador in 2018. The book won an Edward Stanford Travel Award and was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, the RSL Ondaatje Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award, and the Deborah Rogers Foundation Award. We spoke to Guy about travel writing in the age of Tripadvisor, his long walk to Jerusalem, and how that experience turned into a book. https://www.guystagg.co.uk/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1509844597/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is run by Eoin Redahan. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Rachel and Simon speak with the journalist Hadley Freeman. She has been a staff writer at the Guardian since 2000, working in London and the US on the fashion desk, as a features writer and as a columnist. She has contributed to other publications including the British and American editions of Vogue, and written several books. We spoke to Hadley about fashion journalism, the challenges of column writing and her family memoir, “House of Glass”. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/oct/01/nicolas-cage-if-i-dont-have-a-job-to-do-it-can-be-very-self-destructive https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/apr/29/tony-slattery-had-very-happy-time-went-slightly-barmy https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780008322632/house-of-glass-the-story-and-secrets-of-a-twentieth-century-jewish-family/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is run by Eoin Redahan. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Rachel speak with Colum McCann, who is the author of six novels and three collections of stories. His novel, "TransAtlantic", was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2013, and his previous novel, "Let the Great World Spin", won the National Book Award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and was a New York Times bestseller. His work has been published in 40 languages and he teaches on the MFA program at Hunter College in New York. We spoke with Colum, who was born in Dublin but now lives in New York, about his fiction, his teaching and his new, genre-busting novel "Apeirogon". http://colummccann.com/ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/feb/24/apeirogon-a-novel-by-colum-mccann-book-review http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/creativewriting/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is run by Eoin Redahan. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Rachel speak with Alysoun Owen, editor of the “Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook” and the “Children’s Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook”, and the author of the “Writers’ & Artists’ Guide to Getting Published”. She has worked in the publishing industry, both in Britain and overseas, for more than 25 years; in 2012 she established her own consultancy. Alysoun talked about the history of the yearbook, first published in 1906, as well as how its content - and how the industry at large - has changed. https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/store/9781472947512/writers-artists-yearbook-2020/ https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/store/9781472950215/writers-artists-guide-to-getting-published/ https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/store/9781472947635/children-s-writers-artists-yearbook-2020/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is run by Eoin Redahan. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Rachel and Simon speak with lyricist Tim Rice, who has worked in music, theatre and films since 1965. In collaboration with composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim wrote song lyrics for “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Evita.” He has since worked with other distinguished popular composers such as Elton John (“The Lion King,” “Aida”) and Alan Menken (“Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast”). His awards include three Oscars, four Tonys, five Grammys and one Emmy. Tim spoke about his collaborations with different composers, his songwriting process and the business of musicals. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is run by Eoin Redahan. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Tim Rice photograph is by Charles Francis.

Rachel and Simon speak with magazine writer Sophie Elmhirst, a freelance journalist. As well as writing regularly for the Guardian Long Read and The Economist’s 1843 Magazine, on subjects ranging from millennial culture to the inner workings of the tampon business, Sophie is a contributing editor at The Gentlewoman and Harper’s Bazaar. She talked about her decision to enter, leave, and re-enter journalism, producing longform features and how she manages multiple commissions at once. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/feb/11/tampon-wars-the-battle-to-overthrow-the-tampax-empire https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/culture/2012/10/unquiet-mind-hilary-mantel https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/oct/31/intimate-terrorism-domestic-abuse-coercive-control-farieissia-martin https://www.1843magazine.com/features/meet-alexa-inside-the-mind-of-a-digital-native You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is run by Eoin Redahan. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks with Simon Lancaster, who runs Bespoke Speechwriting Services and has written speeches for top politicians and the CEOs of some of the biggest companies in the world, including Unilever, Rio Tinto, and Nestle. Simon is the author of “Speechwriting: The Expert Guide” and “Winning Minds: Secrets from the Language of Leadership.” He is a fellow at Henley Business School, lectures at Cambridge and Oxford Universities, and regularly appears as a media pundit on oratory. Simon told us about his experience writing speeches for British politicians, how the fundamentals of rhetoric have remained consistent across time, language and culture, and how speechwriting is distinct in the business world. https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20010904204643/http://www.dti.gov.uk:80/ministers/speeches/johnson160500.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrF1THd4bUM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEqINP-TuV8 You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is run by Eoin Redahan. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Rachel speak with Kiley Reid, the bestselling author of “Such a Fun Age”. A recipient of the Truman Capote Fellowship at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, “Such a Fun Age” is her debut novel. The book was the subject of a 10-way bidding war while the television and film were acquired by Lena Waithe, an Emmy-award winning writer and producer, ahead of its publication. Kiley talked about how her experiences informed the book’s plot, the process of workshopping a novel and what it’s like to adapt your own work for the screen. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is run by Eoin Redahan. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux. Born in Massachusetts, as a young man he worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi and taught at universities in Uganda and Singapore. He published his first novel, "Waldo", in 1967, and since then has written numerous works of fiction and non-fiction, including "The Great Railway Bazaar" (1975), "The Mosquito Coast" (1981), "Riding the Iron Rooster" (1983), and "Mr. Bones: Twenty Stories" (2014). In 2015 Paul was awarded a Royal Medal from the Royal Geographical Society for "the encouragement of geographical discovery through travel writing". His other awards include the American Academy and Institute of Arts & Letters Award for literature; the Whitbread Prize, and the James Tait Black Award. His novels "Saint Jack", "The Mosquito Coast", "Doctor Slaughter" and "Half Moon Street" have all been adapted for film and television. We spoke to Paul about building a career as both a travel writer and a novelist, his relationship with V.S. Naipaul, and his new novel, "Burma Sahib." 

“Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is published by Ithaka Press. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Hatchards⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠.

You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/alwaystakenotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Rachel and Simon speak with Giles Hattersley, the features director of the British edition of Vogue magazine. Giles studied English at Warwick University and completed an MA in fashion journalism before joining the Sunday Times in 2003. Working his way up from an intern on the Style section, he joined the News Review later that year and went on to become the paper's youngest ever chief interviewer, aged 25, writing profiles of everyone from Beyonce to Richard Dawkins. In 2007, he briefly became editor-in-chief of Arena magazine, before returning to The Sunday Times. In 2017, he was hired by Edward Enninful as features director of British Vogue, where he oversees the magazine's arts, politics, celebrity, lifestyle and social trend coverage. Giles talked about his entry into journalism at the Sunday Times, the position of writing in the overall Vogue package, and the Meghan Markle guest editor experience. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/toffs-stiffies-and-world-domination-x5r7wc6lk https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/jane-fonda-on-ageing https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/ariana-grande-british-vogue-interview You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is managed by Eoin Redahan, our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Rachel speaks with Lisa Taddeo, the bestselling author of “Three Women”, a non-fiction book exploring love and longing in America. Her journalism has appeared in Esquire, Playboy and New York magazine, and her short stories have won two Pushcart prizes. Lisa is currently working on a novel, due to be released in 2020. Lisa talked about the process of writing “Three Women”, imagining the last days of Heath Ledger for Esquire and the best time to get in touch with an editor. https://classic.esquire.com/article/2008/4/1/the-last-days-of-heath-ledger You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is managed by Eoin Redahan, our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Rachel speak with Jay Rayner, the restaurant critic of the Observer. After studying politics at Leeds University, where he edited the student newspaper, Jay entered national newspaper journalism, winning Young Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards in 1992. The restaurant critic of the Observer since 1999, Jay has also worked extensively in television, including as a judge on Masterchef, and written several books. Jay talked about how, in his view, there is no such thing as “food writing” (just writing that happens to be about food), his lesser-known stint as a novelist and his celebrated hatchet job on Le Cinq, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is managed by Eoin Redahan, our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

2020 sees a new co-host join Always Take Notes - Rachel Lloyd, assistant editor for Books and Arts at The Economist. In this episode Simon and Rachel speak with Alexandra Pringle, the editor-in-chief of Bloomsbury Publishing. Alexandra began her career at Art Monthly, before joining the pioneering feminist press Virago in 1978, where she edited the Modern Classics series before becoming editorial director. After stints at Hamish Hamilton and as a literary agent, Alexandra joined Bloomsbury in 1999. Alexandra talked about the importance of finding the right agent, how the industry has changed over the course of her career and the impact of Pottermania on Bloomsbury.  You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd and produced by Nicola Kean. Our social media is managed by Eoin Redahan, our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Eleanor speak with Charles Moore, who was handpicked by Margaret Thatcher to write her authorised biography – he has just published his third and final volume, Herself Alone. Prior to writing about Mrs Thatcher, Charles was editor of the Spectator between 1984 and 1990, and editor of the Daily Telegraph between 1995 and 2003. Charles spoke about editing Boris Johnson's copy, his one journalistic regret, and his heated tête-à-têtes with Margaret Thatcher. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks with freelance journalist Tanya Gold, who has written for a broad range of publications in both the UK and the US. Tanya discussed her investigation into anti-semitism in the Labour Party for the American magazine Harper's, her experience at the centre of a Twitter storm earlier this year after she criticised Nike's plus-sized mannequins, her decision 15 years ago to first write about her struggles with alcohol, and her plans for a potential book on that subject. https://harpers.org/archive/2018/10/among-britains-anti-semites/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/obese-mannequins-selling-women-dangerous-lie/ https://www.theguardian.com/global/2019/sep/22/how-to-survive-a-twitter-storm-tanya-gold-fat-shaming https://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/jul/07/drugsandalcohol You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

In this episode, Eleanor spoke with The Telegraph's chief film critic Robbie Collin, who joined the paper in 2011. Robbie discussed starting his career at News of the World and his most formative films, the difficulties of seeing so many films in one week, his trickiest interviews, and his infamous encounter with actor Joaquin Phoenix. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

In this episode, Eleanor spoke with editor-in-chief of ES Magazine Laura Weir, who after a stint at Elle and The Sunday Times, was headhunted from Vogue in 2016 to head up the redesign of the weekly magazine published by London's Evening Standard newspaper. Laura discussed the new direction in which she has taken ES Magazine, what makes a quintessential ES Magazine story, the difficulties that come with writing a weekly column, and the problem with today's pitching standards. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Eleanor speak with Simon Robinson, global managing editor at Thomson Reuters. Simon joined the news service in 2010 and ran investigations and enterprise reporting in Europe, Middle East and Africa for six years, editing major series on Iran, Russia and migration. Between 2017 and 2019 he was regional editor for EMEA, running Reuters' biggest region. Between 1995 and 2010, Simon was a correspondent and then editor for Time magazine, reporting from more than 50 countries. Simon spoke about what the work of a newswire involves and how it has changed, his own career progression from starting out in Australia to foreign correspondency, and the changing aspirations of the journalists he manages. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks with Anna Davis, founder and director of Curtis Brown's creative writing school, which launched in 2011. Anna worked for Curtis Brown for more than a decade as a literary agent before setting up Curtis Brown Creative. Previously she was a lecturer on Manchester University’s MA in novel writing. She is also a former Guardian columnist, and the author of five novels, published around the world in 20 languages: The Dinner, Melting, Cheet, The Shoe Queen and, most recently, The Jewel Box. Anna talked to Simon about how Curtis Brown Creative differs to university writing courses, her entry into the publishing world and how to write a novel. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Rachel speak with the journalist and author Madhumita Murgia. She is currently the Financial Times' first Artificial Intelligence Editor, where she covers developments in AI globally and broader issues including surveillance, data privacy and tech regulation. Before she joined the FT, she was head of technology at the Daily Telegraph, and associate editor at Wired magazine. Her first book, "Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI" was recently shortlisted for the inaugural Women's Prize for Non-Fiction. Madhu holds two Master's degrees - one in journalism and one in clinical immunology. We spoke to her about making the move from science to journalism, becoming the FT's first AI editor, and about her new book. 

“Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is published by Ithaka Press. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Hatchards⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠.

You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/alwaystakenotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks with Ferdinand Addis, the author of Rome: Eternal City, a narrative history of Rome which spans 3,000 years over some 650 pages. Ferdinand read Classics at university before embarking on a career as a journalist and author. He wrote three short books for the publisher Michael O'Mara before moving on to his epic biography of Rome, which was published last year. He is now working on a history of Roman Britain. Ferdinand spoke about the origins of his interest in Rome, gave a robust defence of the classics, and discussed whether ‘popular historian’ is a useful term. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rome-Eternal-City-Ferdinand-Addis/dp/1781851883 You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks with Canadian magazine writer May Jeong, who spent five years reporting on Afghanistan, and is best known for her months-long investigation in to the bombing of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Kunduz for The Intercept. This story won her the 2017 South Asian Journalists Association’s Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Report on South Asia, as well as the Prix Bayeux Calvados Award for War Correspondents in the Young Reporter category. May's work has also appeared in other publications including the New York Times, Harper's and the London Review of Books. In this episode, May talked about why she decided to cover conflict, her preference for magazine over newspaper journalism, and her latest venture into writing fiction. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks with Jeffrey Archer, a novelist whose books have sold more than 275 million copies worldwide. Archer wrote his first novel aged 34, when a failed business deal left him heavy in debt. His third novel, Kane and Abel, sold over a million copies in its first week of release in 1979. He has now written more than 20 novels, alongside short stories, a play and non-fiction, and is published in 97 countries and more than 33 languages. Archer was deputy chairman of the Conservative Party in the 1980s and in 1999 stood as the  Conservative candidate for mayor of London. In November that year, he withdrew his candidacy, having been charged with perjury and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. He served two years in prison. Archer spoke about the experience of life as a best-selling author, how he combines a rigorous writing routine with lack of pre-planning of plot, and his relationships with publishers and editors. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Eleanor and Simon speak with Zahra Hankir, journalist and editor of Our Women on the Ground, an anthology of essays from Arab women reporting from the Arab world, published this month by Penguin. Zahra spoke about her personal connection as an Arab woman to these journalists, their stories and their work. She discussed the difficulties of compiling and editing an anthology broaching delicate political topics that could prove dangerous to their writers. She also talked about whether she ever worries about feeling professionally pigeonholed by her heritage and "specialist subject". You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Eleanor speaks with Jamie Glazebrook, the executive producer of hit BBC series Peaky Blinders, whose fifth series will air later this year. Peaky Blinders, which has won a slew of television awards, follows the exploits of the eponymous Birmingham-based gang in the years after the First World War. Jamie discussed whether we have reached peak TV, the influence of the streaming giants and whether the TV and film industry still has a class problem. Jamie himself has developed and produced television in the UK since the nineties – working for many leading production companies including Talkback, Tiger Aspect and HatTrick. His credits include The 11'O Clock Show, High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman, and BAFTA-nominated The IT Crowd. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Eleanor and Simon speak with Ruth Padel, who is a poet, novelist, critic and Professor of Poetry at King’s College London. Ruth spoke about her verse biography of her great-great-grandfather Charles Darwin, as well as her upcoming verse biography of Beethoven, Beethoven Variations. Ruth also discussed her brief tenure as Professor of Poetry at Oxford in 2009, and her view on the new generation of Instagram poets. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks to James Graham, one of Britain's best known contemporary playwrights who has also written widely for film and television. James' first award was the Pearson Playwriting Bursary in 2006. His big break came when his 2012 play This House, written for the National Theatre and set in the British parliament in the 1970s, enjoyed a sell out run and garnered widespread critical acclaim. His subsequent work includes the 2017 play Ink, about the early days of Rupert Murdoch, and this year's film Brexit: An Uncivil War, which was broadcast on Channel 4 and HBO and starred Benedict Cumberbatch. James spoke about how he broke into writing for the theatre and later television, his methods for researching and creating drama based on both recent and historical political events, and the economics of the business. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks to Christina Lamb, one of Britain’s leading foreign correspondents who has documented conflict across the world, from Afghanistan to Rwanda. Currently chief foreign correspondent for the Sunday Times, Christina discussed balancing her war reporting duties with her work as an author, including writing I Am Malala and her most recent book Our Bodies, Their Battlefields, about women in war. She also talked about getting arrested and deported in Pakistan while reporting for the Financial Times, and the impact her work has had on her mental health. http://christinalamb.net/articles/it-was-what-we-feared.html http://christinalamb.net/articles/yazidis.html You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Eleanor speak to Jon Lee Anderson, a staff writer at the New Yorker magazine and veteran war correspondent. Jon Lee began his career in the early 1980s, reporting on Central America. As a New Yorker staff writer since 1998, he has reported from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Somalia, Liberia and many other countries. Jon Lee spoke about about the myths and realities of conflict journalism, the time he discovered the hidden grave of Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara, and the experience of profiling Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/10/19/the-dictator-2 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Che-Guevara-Revolutionary-Jon-Anderson/dp/0553406647 You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks with Anna Codrea-Rado, a freelance journalist who has written for titles including the New York Times and Wired, and who now advocates for better conditions for freelancers, through her #FairPayForFreelancers campaign, her popular newsletter The Professional Freelancer, and FJ&Co, a platform that provides tools and resources and organises events. Alongside discussing her campaigning, Anna, who studied journalism at Columbia in New York, talks about the potential pitfalls of journalism degrees, including the way they can contribute to elitism within the industry. She also discusses the pressure she felt to become a "real journalist" while working on an alumni magazine, before she became staff at the Guardian and then VICE, and her own later moves to establish herself as a freelancer. https://twitter.com/annacod?lang=en https://twitter.com/fjandco https://theprofessionalfreelancer.substack.com/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Rachel speak with the novelist and biographer Nicholas Shakespeare. He began his career as a journalist, working for the Times and the Telegraph, before turning to book-writing in the 1980s. His debut novel, "The Vision of Elena Silves" (1989), won the Somerset Maugham Award; "The Dancer Upstairs" was named the best novel of 1995 by the American Libraries Association and a film adaptation was directed by John Malkovich. "The High Flyer" (1993) and "Snowleg" (2004) were both longlisted for the Booker Prize. His non-fiction work includes an acclaimed biography of the English travel writer Bruce Chatwin. We spoke to Nicholas about his early life and living all over the world, combining novels and non-fiction, and his new biography of James Bond creator Ian Fleming. 

“Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is published by Ithaka Press. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Hatchards⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠.

You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/alwaystakenotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Eleanor speak to British magazine writer Ed Caesar, who was recently made a contributing writer at the New Yorker and whose work has also appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic, Wired, GQ and numerous other publications. Ed talked about his early career at the Independent, his decision to go freelance, breaking into the American market and the challenges of balancing his writing work and travel with his domestic commitments. He also discussed why he chooses not to live in London. https://edcaesar.co.uk/2011/05/04/isner-mahut-endless-tennis-gq/ https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/01/house-of-secrets https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/13/magazine/uss-wasp-lost-world-war-ii-aircraft-carrier.html You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Eleanor speak to Ann Goldstein, who translated Elena Ferrante's phenomenally successful Neapolitan novels (My Brilliant Friend and its three sequels) out of Italian and into English. Ann also had a long and distinguished career as an editor at the New Yorker, where she rose to become head of the copy department. Ann spoke about the process of literary translation, the challenges of working with a writer whose identity she did not know, and also how the world of magazines has changed since she began her working life in the 1970s. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Eleanor speaks to Kamal Ahmed, editorial director of BBC News and one of Britain’s most prominent journalists. He joined the BBC in April 2014 as business editor after a 20-year career in newspapers, including the Guardian, the Observer and the Sunday and Daily Telegraph. Kamal spoke about reshaping the BBC for a younger, more-open minded generation, and about the difficulties of maintaining a publicly apolitical stance. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.