Always Take Notes – Details, episodes & analysis

Simon and Rachel speak to Jason Burke, the international security correspondent for the Guardian. Jason has been a foreign correspondent for almost 30 years, reporting from the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and Africa. He writes regularly on terrorism and is the author of five books: "The New Threat from Islamic Militancy" (which was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in 2016); "The 9/11 Wars" (described by The Economist as "the best overview of the 9/11 decade in print"); "Al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam" and "On the Road to Kandahar - Travels through Conflict in the Islamic World". His latest book, "The Revolutionists - The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s", was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford prize in 2025. We spoke to Jason about his career as a longtime foreign correspondent, the emotional costs of covering conflict, and researching and writing "The Revolutionists".    In addition to the standard audio format, the podcast is now available in video. You can check us out on YouTube under Always Take Notes. Join us on April 21st as we interview Michael Morpurgo at the Lantern Theatre in Bristol. You can get your tickets here.  We’ve also made (yet) another update for those ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We’ve added a further 70 pages of new material to the package of successful article pitches that goes to anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more, including new pitches to the New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek, and the Guardian Long Read. The whole compendium now runs to a magisterial 230 pages. For Patreons who contribute $10/month we’re now also releasing bonus mini-episodes. Thanks to our sponsor, Scrivener, the first ten new signs-ups at $10/month will receive a lifelong license to Scrivener worth £55/$59.99 (six are left). This specialist word-processing software helps you organise long writing projects such as novels, academic papers and even scripts. Other Patreon rewards include signed copies of the podcast book and the opportunity to take part in a call with Simon and Rachel.A new edition of “Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is available now. The updated version now includes insights from over 100 past guests on the podcast, with new contributions from Harlan Coben, Victoria Hislop, Lee Child, Megan Nolan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Philippa Gregory, Jo Nesbø, Paul Theroux, Hisham Matar and Bettany Hughes. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rachel and Simon speak to the art historian and author Katy Hessel. While working at a London art gallery, Katy set up @thegreatwomenartists, an Instagram account dedicated to celebrating female artists, as well as "The Great Women Artists Podcast". In 2022 she published "The Story of Art without Men", which became a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller and won Waterstones Book of the Year. (She has recently adapted it into an illustrated book for children.) In 2025 she published "How To Live An Artful Life", a collection of quotes for every day of the year, drawing on her interviews with artists including Marina Abramović, Tracey Emin and more. We spoke to Katy about falling in love with the world of museums and art history as a child, the virtues of Instagram and putting together "How To Live An Artful Life". In addition to the standard audio format, the podcast is now available in video. You can check us out on YouTube under Always Take Notes.  Join us on April 21st as we interview Michael Morpurgo at the Lantern Theatre in Bristol. You can get your tickets here.  We’ve made another update for those ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We’ve added 40 pages of new material to the package of successful article pitches that goes to anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more, including new pitches to the New York Times, the Washington Post and the BBC. The whole compendium now runs to a whopping 160 pages. For Patreons who contribute $10/month we’re now also releasing bonus mini-episodes. Thanks to our sponsor, Scrivener, the first ten new signs-ups at $10/month will receive a lifelong license to Scrivener worth £55/$59.99 (seven are left). This specialist word-processing software helps you organise long writing projects such as novels, academic papers and even scripts. Other Patreon rewards include signed copies of the podcast book and the opportunity to take part in a monthly call with Simon and Rachel. A new edition of “Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is available now. The updated version now includes insights from over 100 past guests on the podcast, with new contributions from Harlan Coben, Victoria Hislop, Lee Child, Megan Nolan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Philippa Gregory, Jo Nesbø, Paul Theroux, Hisham Matar and Bettany Hughes. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode Simon and Rachel speak to the prolific novelist Anthony Horowitz.  Anthony is the author of the teen spy Alex Rider series, which has sold more than 19 million copies worldwide. The books have been adapted into a film and a show on Amazon Prime Video. Anthony has also written two continuation novels for Sherlock Holmes, "The House of Silk" and "Moriarty"; three for James Bond, "Trigger Mortis", "Forever and a Day" and "With a Mind to Kill"; and mystery novels featuring book editor Susan Ryeland and Detective Daniel Hawthorne. Anthony has also written extensively for television, where he created the ITV series "Foyle's War", "Collision" and "Injustice" and the BBC series "Crime Traveller" and "New Blood". We spoke to Anthony about moving from advertising to children's books and TV and then on to adult novels, his breakthrough with Alex Rider, and his latest book, "Marble Hall Murders". In addition to the standard audio format, the podcast is now available in video. You can check us out on YouTube under Always Take Notes.  We’ve made another update for those ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We’ve added 40 pages of new material to the package of successful article pitches that goes to anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more, including new pitches to the New York Times, the Washington Post and the BBC. The whole compendium now runs to a whopping 160 pages. For Patreons who contribute $10/month we’re now also releasing bonus mini-episodes. Thanks to our sponsor, Scrivener, the first ten new signs-ups at $10/month will receive a lifelong license to Scrivener worth £55/$59.99 (seven are left). This specialist word-processing software helps you organise long writing projects such as novels, academic papers and even scripts. Other Patreon rewards include signed copies of the podcast book and the opportunity to take part in a monthly call with Simon and Rachel. A new edition of “Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is available now. The updated version now includes insights from over 100 past guests on the podcast, with new contributions from Harlan Coben, Victoria Hislop, Lee Child, Megan Nolan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Philippa Gregory, Jo Nesbø, Paul Theroux, Hisham Matar and Bettany Hughes. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon and Rachel speak with novelist David Mitchell. Raised in Worcestershire in England, Mitchell later spent eight years living in Japan. The author of nine novels, including "Cloud Atlas", "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" and most recently "Utopia Avenue", David has been nominated for the Booker prize five times. His work has appeared in over 30 languages. David's novel "The Bone Clocks" (2014) won the World Fantasy Book Award and his screenwriting credits include "Matrix: Resurrections". We spoke to David about his 'multiverse' approach to fiction, the smash hit that was "Cloud Atlas", and his screenwriting work. This episode is sponsored by Curtis Brown Creative, the writing school attached to the major literary agency. CBC has provided an exclusive discount for Always Take Notes listeners. You can use the code ATN20 for £20 off the full price of Plot & Story – The Deep Dive, or any other four- or six-week online writing course. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rachel and Simon speak with journalist and author Sian Meades-Williams. She has written for publications including the Guardian, the Independent, the Times and the New York Times and is the creator of Freelance Writing Jobs, a media-industry newsletter. In 2021 she launched the Freelance Writing Awards and in March 2022 she published "The Pyjama Myth", a guide to "the highs, lows and in-betweens of life in the competitive world of freelance writing". We spoke to Sian about getting into journalism, making her first steps as a freelancer and her new book. This episode is sponsored by Curtis Brown Creative, the writing school attached to the major literary agency. CBC has provided an exclusive discount for Always Take Notes listeners. You can use the code ATN20 for £20 off the full price of Writing a Memoir, or any other four- or six-week online writing course. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon and Rachel speak with the journalist and author Toby Harnden. A dual British and American citizen, Toby spent a decade as a Royal Navy officer before becoming a journalist. A former foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph who has reported from 33 countries, Toby was imprisoned in Zimbabwe, faced prosecution in Britain for protecting confidential sources, and was vindicated by a public inquiry in Ireland. He specialises in terrorism and war: his books include "Bandit Country: The IRA & South Armagh" (1999), "Dead Men Risen: An Epic Story of War and Heroism in Afghanistan" (which was published in 2009 after a fraught battle with the British Ministry of Defence and later won the Orwell Prize) and "First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11". We spoke to Toby about getting into journalism after leaving the military, writing about the IRA and the war in Afghanistan, and his latest book "First Casualty". This episode is sponsored by Curtis Brown Creative, the writing school attached to the major literary agency. CBC has provided an exclusive discount for Always Take Notes listeners. You can use the code ATN20 for £20 off the full price of Writing a Memoir, or any other four- or six-week online writing course. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist Ruth Ozeki. In the 1980s Ruth worked in film, first as an art director and production designer for low-budget horror films, then as a writer, producer and director of independent films. "Halving the Bones" (1995), a documentary about her family history and the process of bringing her grandmother's remains from Japan, was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Her first novel, "My Year of Meats", was published in 1998 and "All Over Creation" followed in 2003. In 2010 Ruth was ordained as a Soto Zen Buddhist priest. "A Tale for the Time Being", published in 2013, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and has been published in more than 30 countries. We spoke to Ruth about her childhood interest in writing, the mutually reinforcing practises of novel-writing and Zen Buddhism, and her new novel, "The Book of Form and Emptiness", recently shortlisted for the Women's Prize. This episode is sponsored by Curtis Brown Creative, the writing school attached to the major literary agency. CBC has provided an exclusive discount for Always Take Notes listeners. You can use the code ATN20 for £20 off the full price of Writing a Memoir, or any other four- or six-week online writing course. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon and Rachel speak with journalist and author George Packer. A staff writer for the Atlantic and a former staff writer for the New Yorker, George is the author of "The Unwinding: Thirty Years of American Decline", which was a New York Times bestseller and won a National Book Award. His other nonfiction books include "The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq", "Blood of the Liberals", which won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award in 2001, and "Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century". He has also written two novels, "The Half Man" and "Central Square". George's writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Mother Jones, Harper's, and other publications. We spoke to George about writing his latest book "Last Best Hope" while in lockdown, working at the New Yorker and the Atlantic, and the journalistic climate today. This episode is sponsored by Curtis Brown Creative, the writing school attached to the major literary agency. CBC has provided an exclusive discount for Always Take Notes listeners. You can use the code ATN20 for £20 off the full price of Writing a Memoir, or any other four- or six-week online writing course. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rachel and Simon speak with journalist and author Christina Patterson. She began her career in publishing and worked as a literary programmer for the Southbank Centre; from 2000 to 2003 she was director of the Poetry Society. She joined the Independent and wrote columns and interview pieces as well as investigations into nursing, for which she was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in 2013. Christina published her first memoir, "The Art of Not Falling Apart" in 2018, and "Outside, the Sky is Blue: A Family Memoir", in February. We spoke to Christina about memoir-writing, her time working at newspapers and her portfolio career today. This episode is sponsored by Curtis Brown Creative, the writing school attached to the major literary agency. CBC has provided an exclusive discount for Always Take Notes listeners. You can use the code ATN20 for £20 off the full price of Writing a Memoir, or any other four- or six-week online writing course. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon and Rachel speak with the novelist and screenwriter David Nicholls. In 2009 David's novel "One Day" was a global bestseller, published in 40 languages, and he is also the author of "Sweet Sorrow", "Us", "The Understudy" and "Starter for Ten". On screen, David has written adaptations of "Far From the Madding Crowd" and "When Did You Last See Your Father?", as well as turning his own novels, "Starter for Ten" and "One Day", into feature films. His adaptation of Edward St. Aubyn’s "Patrick Melrose", starring Benedict Cumberbatch, was nominated for an Emmy and won a BAFTA for best writer. Other works for TV include episodes of "Cold Feet", "Tess of the D’Urbervilles" and two-part love story "The 7.39". We spoke to David about starting out as an actor, his huge success with "One Day" and his parallel career as a screenwriter. This episode is sponsored by Curtis Brown Creative, the writing school attached to the major literary agency. CBC has provided an exclusive discount for Always Take Notes listeners. You can use the code ATN20 for £20 off the full price of Plot & Story – The Deep Dive, or any other four- or six-week online writing course. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices