Podcast appearances and mentions of Harlan Coben

In this episode, recorded in conjunction with Hay Festival, Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist Jacqueline Wilson. Born in 1945, Jacqueline wrote her first (unpublished) novel, "Meet the Maggots", when she was nine and has since gone on to write more than 100 books; her novels have been translated into 34 languages and have sold more than 40m copies in Britain alone. Jacqueline started her career as a journalist for DC Thomson in Dundee—the bestselling teen magazine Jackie was reportedly named after her—and she published her first story for children, "Ricky's Birthday", in 1973. She is the author of several bestselling children's titles, including "The Story of Tracy Beaker", "Double Act", "Vicky Angel", and several popular series, such as "Girls", "Hetty Feather" and "Sleepovers". Jacqueline has won many literary prizes and was the British Children's Laureate from 2005-07. In the 2025 New Year Honours List she was awarded the Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire. We spoke to Jacqueline about starting out in magazines while in her teens, breaking out in children's books in 1991 with "Tracy Beaker" and writing for adults, most recently in "Think Again".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.You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @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.

Author: Steve Berry Book: THE LIST: A Novel of Suspense Publishing: ‎ Grand Central Publishing (July 22, 2025) Synopsis (from the Publisher): In the vein of David Baldacci, John Grisham, and Harlan Coben—this is Steve Berry like you've never read him before. After a ten-year self-imposed exile, Brent Walker is returning home to Concord, a […] The post STEVE BERRY – THE LIST: A Novel of Suspense appeared first on KSCJ 1360.

In this episode, recorded live at the London Library, Simon and Rachel speak with the screenwriter Jesse Armstrong. Born in Shropshire and educated at Manchester University, Jesse co-created the Channel 4 comedy series "Peep Show" (2003–2015) and "Fresh Meat" (2011–2016), was a writer on "The Thick of It" (2005-2012) and "Four Lions" (2010) and is the creator of the HBO series "Succession" (2018–2023). He has received many nominations and awards, including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for co-writing the film "In the Loop" (2009), and four wins for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. In 2016 Jonathan Cape also published his novel set against the background of the Bosnian War, "Love, Sex and Other Foreign Policy Goals". We spoke to Jesse about his early career as a screenwriter, creating a global hit with "Succession", and his latest film, "Mountainhead".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.You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @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.

Sarina's second thriller is now out. It's a twisty thriller with a single-mom protagonist and some deep, dark secrets. It's called Dying to Meet You and it is creepy in the best possible way. In this episode, Jennie interviews Sarina about the new book, and about the difference between writing romance and writing thrillers. You may think that's obvious, but Sarina has recently shifted into writing thrillers and she has such a nuanced understanding about what it all means. She gets into what defines a genre, how you have to honor your readers expectations, and the different ways you hold tension when telling a story. It's a masterclass in genre.Books mentioned:Dying to Meet You, Sarina BowenSarina's other thriller, The Five Year LieThe Guest List, Lucy Foley On a Quiet Street, Seraphina Nova Glass Rowan Gallagher is a devoted single mother and a talented architect with a high-profile commission restoring an historic mansion for the most powerful family in Maine. But inside, she's a mess. She knows that stalking her ex's avatar all over Portland on her phone isn't the healthiest way to heal from their breakup. But she's out of ice cream and she's sick of romcoms.Watching his every move is both fascinating and infuriating. He's dining out while she's wallowing on the couch. The last straw comes when he parks in their favorite spot on the waterfront. In a weak moment, she leashes the dog and sets off to see who else is in his car.Instead of catching her ex in a kiss, Rowan becomes the first witness to his murder—and the primary suspect.Digital books at: Amazon | Nook | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | AudiblePhysical books at: Bookshop.org | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indigo | More paperback links here!Transcript below!EPISODE 459 - TRANSCRIPTKJ Dell'AntoniaListeners who I know are also readers—have I got a summer book for you. If you haven't yet ordered Dying to Meet You, Sarina Bowen's latest thriller with just enough romance, you have to. So let me lay this out for you. Rowan Gallagher is a devoted single mother and a talented architect with a high-profile commission restoring a historic mansion for the most powerful family in Maine, but inside, she's a mess. She knows stalking her ex's avatar all over Portland on her phone isn't the healthiest way to heal from their breakup, but she's out of ice cream and she's sick of rom-coms. Watching his every move is both fascinating and infuriating. He's dining out while she's wallowing on the couch. The last straw comes when he parks in their favorite spot on the waterfront. In a weak moment, she leashes the dog and sets off to see who else is in his car. But instead of catching her ex in a kiss, Rowan becomes the first witness to his murder—and the primary suspect. But Rowan isn't the only one keeping secrets. As she digs for the truth, she discovers that the dead man was stalking her too, gathering intimate details about her job and her past. Struggling to clear her name, Rowan finds herself spiraling into the shadowy plot that killed him. Will she be the next to die? You're going to love this. I've had a sneak preview, and I think we all know that The Five Year Lie was among the very best reads and listens of last summer. Dying to Meet You is available in every format and anywhere that you buy books. And you could grab your copy—and you absolutely should—right now.Multiple SpeakersIs it recording? Now it's recording. Yay! Go ahead. This is the part where I stare blankly at the microphone. Try to remember what I'm supposed to be doing. All right, let's start over. Awkward pause. I'm going to rustle some papers. Okay. Now, one, two, three.Jennie NashHey, writers, I'm Jennie Nash, and this is the Hashtag AmWriting Podcast, the place where we talk about writing all the things—short things, long things, fiction, non-fiction, pitches, and proposals. I'm here today to talk to our own Sarina Bowen. Her newest thriller, Dying to Meet You, just came out a few weeks ago, and I've been dying to talk to Sarina about the way she's been switching back and forth between romance and thriller. This is her second thriller. The last one came out last year. That one's called The Five Year Lie. And so we're just here to talk about genre, and romance, and thriller, and how Sarina does it—this back-and-forth kind of code switching between genres. So, welcome, Sarina.Sarina BowenThank you. It's always fun to talk about genre. It's my favorite thing.Jennie NashWell, I just was really struck when I was reading. I've been reading your romances for so long, and you have so many of them, and you're so good at them, and...Sarina BowenWell, thank you.Jennie NashAnd then here we have an entirely new genre that you have entered into in a really big way. And it's not—so this is not about, how do you come up with your idea, or how did you do it? Or—I mean, all those are great questions. We love those. And I've heard you talk about those other places. But what I want to try to get at here is this idea—really, what is genre? So when you think about that, you're sitting down to start one or this other. What do you think about, like, what are the things that—genre? What does the genre mean to you?Sarina BowenWell, I talk about this a lot when I am discussing my books, which is that I don't find that—that the thriller genre and that the romance genres are all that different. Like, each one of those things makes a promise to the reader and then must deliver it by the last page. It's just that the promise is slightly different between those two things. So in a romance, the reader is promised a satisfactory romantic conclusion to the book. And in a thriller, the reader is promised that whatever mess and confusion is established on page one, that it will be rectified and solved by the end of the book—that the chaos will become at least understanding, if not order. So the thing is that the job of the novelist is kind of the same in both situations, which is, we are going to take the main character on a journey, and she is going to learn some stuff before it's over—or it's not really a novel. Now, to be fair, not every novel is constructed like that and does both of those things. Like what—what makes it feel familiar to me in both cases is that I always write an empathetic main character, and not every author of suspense does this. So there are a lot of really popular suspense novels where you're not sure who to root for, and you don't really like any of the characters. And those books can be really exciting and really well written, and there's a total—a huge audience for that. But that is not what I do in suspense space, and that doesn't make me unique. Like, there are a lot of suspense authors who also operate this way. For example, Harlan Coben and Karin Slaughter write best-selling novels of suspense where you always know who to root for from the first chapter. Like, you are given a main character who is a likable human—a flawed person—but still, like, you know, somebody to root for, and you're rooting for that person until the end of the book. So it's not like this is just my special romance author's twist on it—like, it's a thing. It's just that there are other suspense authors who don't operate under that, you know, scenario. So that's one of the reasons why, to me, like, the job feels kind of similar to writing a romance and writing a suspense the way that I do it. It's just that when I'm writing a suspense, first of all, it takes a lot longer, because a suspense reader is really there to match wits with you, and you have to deliver on—on that experience of paying a lot of attention to where the camera is swinging, and to show them some truths that will turn out to be only half-truths, and to make it a really great ride. Like, the roller coaster of a suspense novel requires more engineering than the roller coaster of a romance, and it can be a lot less linear in construction. And, you know, there are complexities that a romance does not need to—to succeed. So yeah, it's not exactly the same job. But, you know, romance requires on a different level a lot of those same narrative tricks. Like, people love to say that romances are formulaic, and I always want to cry, because if that were true, then it would be so easy. And I—I would spend less time sweating at my keyboard if a romance was formulaic, because then I would know what to do. And it's almost harder to hold the tension when the reader knows you're going to get somewhere satisfying. So, you—you know, you have to make sure that couple has some real issues to work through, and that's hard.Jennie NashYeah, we're going to come back to so many things that you're saying because...Sarina BowenOkay.Jennie NashThis is—this is great. But I want to return to something you said at the very beginning, where you were explaining this, which is the promise to the reader, and this idea of a contract that the writer and the reader enter into. When—when a reader starts a book, there's this promise, there's this expectation, there's—And you—it sounds like what I heard from you, which I just think is so interesting, is a very deep respect for the writer—I mean, for the reader's experience. And is that something that you have as a human, or, you know, like, is it—is that just—does that just come from respect for the time somebody's going to spend and that sort of thing? Or is that respect of the genre?Sarina BowenOh, it's both. I mean, of course, we were all readers before we were writers, and I know what I find frustrating and unsatisfying in a book. So I want to deliver a reader experience that aligns with my most satisfying experiences in—in each genre. And it's such a work in progress. Like, over 10 years of delivering stories, my understanding of what really matters is constantly shifting.Jennie NashOoh, can you say more?Sarina BowenYeah. So—I have the things that I like as a reader. So of course, those are going to figure in heavily. Like, I love a good secret unveiled, no matter what genre I'm reading. Like, a secret in romance that comes out and changes everything is just as satisfying as when that happens in suspense, even though it's less necessary. And each genre has its own bell curve of stakes, let's just say. Like, if you picture a bell curve of stakes—for romance, you could have on the lower end, like a rom-com, where the stakes, you know, are only as large as this couple. And in a thriller, like in an international spy thriller, the stakes could be like, the world might end, or—or a bomb might go off in the middle of Times Square, you know. So there's a bell curve of stakes. And as a—as a writer, I'm not suggesting that you can't, you know, move around on that bell curve and make it work for you. But the two genres—you know, the bell curves are in different spots, and you have to figure out where you are on that gradient of possible results, and then figure out where your stakes are coming from. And I guess what it took me a real—a really long time to learn is how much in control I am of what the reader is paying attention to, and what the reader is focused on, and that the best way to write a novel is almost always to ask yourself, what experience do I want the reader to have? And then figure that out. Like, it's almost like—if you think about roller coaster design, and there's just this really fun video on the WIRED Magazine website with an actual roller coaster designer who shows you how it's done.Jennie NashOh that's very cool. We'll get the link for that in the show notes.Sarina BowenYeah, I'll try to find it. But it makes you think about all these things you don't think about when you're getting on it. Like, your view of getting on a roller coaster is that weird little shed where you step into the car, and you know, you pull on your protective stuff, and you think to yourself, like, whoa, I hope it doesn't fail this time—ha ha ha. And then you experience it, you know. And certain parts of the ride are really predictable, like the initial climb—like, no roller coaster starts without that initial climb—and then the first drop. And, you know, parts of the experience, you—you know before you get on what's going to happen. And then other parts of it are just like, you know, a thrill a minute, like waving you around, and, oh, you didn't see that curve coming. And so, you know, looking at that thing and designing it from the outside to have that experience is something I didn't realize I had to do. Like, as a reader of genre fiction, I just experienced everything like the person getting on the roller coaster at the beginning. And it's taken me, like, a decade to realize that, you know, I have to actually view this thing—like, plan ahead. What—you know, what I want people to feel. Like, where do I want them to cry? Where are we going to laugh? Like, how can we put those two things in the same book? And you know, that—that's the job, and I really like it. But it requires a certain amount of analysis, which is why, when I meet somebody who doesn't plan their books, I'm always, like, stunned. Although, you know, it can—it can work.Jennie NashThat idea of what you want the reader to feel is why we're having this conversation. Because I actually can barely stand to read suspense or thrillers, because I get too scared. I really get into it, and I—I freak myself out, and it's been that way for a very long time. But I really wanted to read yours, because I wanted to see this shift in your professional life, and I wanted to see what all the buzz was about, because people are loving these thrillers. And I thought, oh, I surely can handle this now. But it's so hard for me because—and you do such a good job of making that scary tension so palpable, and that what you feel as the reader. And then I was thinking about why the same thing happens in Sarina's romances. I feel something. You know, you're—there's a tension that you're wanting, a resolution that you're—what—you know, wondering, will they? Will they, you know, declare their love for each other? Will they—whatever the thing is? And it just really struck me that I'm in the hands of somebody who's not manipulating that, but has engineered that form. And so it's curious to hear that you're—that's the work you feel that you do. So can you talk about how that is different from plotting the novel—that emotional engineering, if you will? Or is it?Sarina BowenNo, you're right. It is—it is? Um, so one of the things that I feel I'm pretty good at is establishing empathy early in the book. And I—uh, like I said, there are some thriller authors who write entire books without doing that—like, where you're not sure who you're supposed to like. But to me, that actually seems harder, because if you establish empathy for some characters early on, then the stakes are automatically higher.Jennie NashYeah.Sarina BowenBecause the reader cares about that person.Jennie NashYeah.Sarina BowenAnd I read a book a couple years ago that I thought was so good with this, and it was On a Quiet Street by Seraphina Nova Glass. And she establishes empathy with a character in the prologue, and then chapter one establishes empathy with a different one. And she has this sort of medley of voices that tells this story of something dire happening on a quiet street. And the thing is that she does later—is she really shifts your empathy around, where you care about all these people but you can't—like, because somebody is guilty. So, you know, the length of your empathy is actually going to be snipped in a couple of places, which I think is masterful. And I think it's more masterful than the thriller author who, um, doesn't care if you like anybody but is still delivering, like, big shocks. To me, that just has less emotional resonance, and I care less. But apparently, that's unique to me, because if you look at The New York Times bestseller list, it does not reflect my preference for empathy.Jennie NashSo what do you do to create that empathy? How are you doing that work in the start of the book?Sarina BowenOh, wow, I never think about this.Jennie NashI'm sure you—sure you have an answer, though.Sarina BowenNo, I—yeah. Okay, so I guess the reason that my thrillers read a little bit like my romances to you, is that I really like a female main character who is like one of us, who's just trying to get through the day. And maybe she has even a glamorous job, and she's a super successful person, but that doesn't mean she's not, like, a little bit of a mess inside—but a relatable mess. So establishing empathy early on, to me, is just like breathing. Like, you know, we might have this glamorous job, but, my God, the world is just so irritating. Or—right? Or, how did we just, you know, make ourselves sound like—like a dunderhead in front of the hot guy or whatever, you know? Like, to me, that's not hard.Jennie NashRight, right. And so you talked about engineering and complexity as a difference between the two genres, and that the thrillers require more engineering of plot, is what I imagine you're referring to. How do you go about—how does it differ? So here you're creating a character. You're creating empathy for the character. And now these genres are going to go in really different directions. What? What are the steps? Not like, how do you do it, or how do you write a novel, but sort of almost your emotional steps, like, okay, now I need to do X, or now I need to—I want them to feel Y.Sarina BowenRight. Well, one way to think about it—and this works for almost any novel that you'd ever want to write—is you have to look at the sort of landscape of this story you're going to tell, or the plot you think you're going to pull off, and you have to say, what are my "oh s**t moments"?Jennie NashYeah.Sarina BowenWhere do I want the reader to go, oh s**t? And if you don't know that when you start the book—like, I would find that to be a problem.Jennie NashYeah.Sarina BowenAnd you don't have to know exactly where they're standing when this happens, or exactly what page of the book. I'm actually terrible at that. I never know how long anything is going to take. But—but you have to know what that oh s**t moment is. And then you have to sort of back—work backwards from that. Like, okay, well, if I know why that's a big problem and a big deal—like, why is it, and how am I going to set that up? So—and I also think ahead of time about the fun and games part of any book.Jennie NashYeah.Sarina BowenLike, what is the sort of rising action of, like, the learning about it and the deepening of the problem. So I'm working on a romance right now that takes place at a wedding.Jennie NashFun!Sarina BowenAnd I... yeah, well okay, is it, though? Because one of, one the reasons I chose this setting, is that it's a hockey player. And I've written so many hockey books that take place, like, at the arena and at the office. And I'm like; we got to get out of here. Um, so we're both going to a wedding—this—we have to go to the same wedding, and work—everything's going to happen here. And I never write weddings. And then I'm into it, and I'm writing this wedding, and I look at myself and I'm like, you know why we don't write weddings? We don't like weddings very much.Jennie NashWhat don't you like about them?Sarina BowenOh, because they're all the same. I don't know. It's—to me, they feel—I guess I'm not a really reverent person. Like, ceremony isn't a big part of my life, and I don't love it. So—um, so what I was able to do in this book that makes this book something that I can identify with is that neither one of our characters is totally excited to be here, either. So there's some problems like this. There's some real family mayhem that is preventing either of these characters from being like, woo hoo, wedding! Yeah, let's have a good time! And then—yeah, so I have to bring my own experience into it. And then, of course, the ceremony itself—it turns out they're both feeling a lot of things. And, you know, there's this very lovely part right at the beginning. I'm like, okay, okay, so we got here, we can feel the feelings, but we didn't have to, like, every moment of this wedding for—to pull it off. So—um—but I looked at my, like, little scaffolding of what I wanted these characters to experience and what their "oh s**t moments" might be, and then I sort of grafted them onto the typical wedding experience and, you know, tried to find the best matches for that. And that was kind of the work of this book.Jennie NashSo the "oh s**t moment" in a romance is—what would some of those be? Like, oh, I think—I think he likes me, or, oh, I think I like him? Like, is it those ratcheting up of the emotional stakes?Sarina BowenIt's—yes. Like, oh s**t, I can't believe I have revealed myself like this. I have exposed myself like this. I have made myself vulnerable. And then—and then, as the—as the arc goes on, you're like, oh s**t, here's why I don't usually do this...Jennie NashRight.Sarina BowenHere's the reason I didn't want to make myself vulnerable and exposed—because, oh s**t, you know? Like—so you get to—you get to play with that. And hopefully, in most romances, there's a moment when, you know, it looks like it's all going to go wrong.Jennie NashRight. So what strikes me in listening to you, is that, writing about human nature—of course, because they're people and their stories—and the human nature around romance is—well, you said, I don't want to reveal myself or be vulnerable, so you want to protect your heart. And in the thrillers, it's, I want to protect my body and the bodies of the people I love. Is that—is that a fair differentiator? Like, we're trying to keep ourselves safe in some profound way in each of these genres, right?Sarina BowenRight. And we're also trying to avoid betrayal, and, like, to avoid backing the wrong horse in both genres as well.Jennie NashOoh, that's interesting, right? Let's talk about that.Sarina BowenWell—um, in a thriller, one of the best ways to craft a twist is when you get the reader to back the wrong character. And, you know, you have multiple characters, and if—even if you're going along with a relatable protagonist that the reader knows is not going to turn into a bad guy—that person still has people around them, and they're going to trust some of them and not others. And did they pick correctly? So that's the kind of betrayal that makes a good twist. But in a romance, it's the same possibilities. Like, you know, you made yourself very vulnerable to this other romantic partner. And, you know, it might not be a straight-up betrayal of, you know, oh wait, I love someone else. But it could just be a betrayal of priorities, or, you know, of courage.Jennie NashAnd at the end of each of these types of stories, the reader feels a sense of—we're back, we've talked about the bell curve—of back to safety, or—or homeostasis, or there's a relief, or it's going to be okay, and everything's okay now. So they have that in common too, right? That intense resolution of the tension.Sarina BowenRight. And then sometimes, in suspense space, you see an author pull this off in a way that all of that is done at the reader's own level, and not at the character's. Like, there's this book I love by Lucy Foley, called The Guest List, and that book is not typical, in that the work of the book is not to solve the crime in real time in the story. The work of that book is for the reader to understand what happened—like, the reader is the sleuth.Jennie NashOh.Sarina BowenBut nobody is actually sleuthing the story... at all. You know what happens, but it's to the satisfaction of you as the reader, but not the people running around in the book.Jennie NashRight, wow that sounds cool.Sarina BowenIt is very cool, but it's still true. Like, the—the work of the book is to figure out what happened, but the people on the page are not figuring out what happened. It's you having the experience that is figuring out what happened, but there's no mystery about it in the actual book. It's really—you would just have to try it.Jennie NashIs it fair to say that your second thriller—the new one, Dying to Meet You—is creepier than the first one, which is, The Five Year Lie? Do you think that's fair to say? Are people saying that? Do you feel that?Sarina BowenYeah, okay—yes, a little. But I think what's a better classification is that Dying to Meet You, sits a little more fully on the thriller shelf. It has a plot arc that is more typical of thrillers that are also on that shelf than The Five Year Lie.Jennie NashOkay, maybe that's what—maybe that's the feeling, because The Five Year Lie—there's a—there's a romance baked into it as well. Like, there is so much going on in there. So that's interesting, that you—did you consciously move in that direction, or did—was it just right for that story?Sarina BowenI think maybe both. I can't even remember now.Jennie NashYeah, yeah.Sarina BowenBut I really loved the premise of Dying to Meet You, and I wanted to play with that. And—I mean, I guess what distinguishes them from a reader standpoint, who's, like, reading the backs of both of those books, maybe, is that there is a dead body at the beginning of one of them and not the other one. So, like, it—it lands more firmly in the reader's expectations, that Dying to Meet You is more thriller-y, because you know—it says in the flap copy, like, this book starts when somebody dies.Jennie NashSo you said that it was a little harder to plan out the—to engineer a thriller and the complexities. And we all know that you are a very fast and efficient writer, so I'd be curious to hear: how much time do you set aside to get the complexities and engineering of the thriller versus the romance? What's the time demand of that?Sarina BowenI think, at least at this point, thrillers still require twice as much work in terms of, like, days.Jennie NashYeah.Sarina BowenYeah. It's like six months instead of three.Jennie NashYeah. Wow. Wow. And is the moving back and forth from one to the other—do you—are you finding that satisfying? Are you finding it difficult? Like, what's that like? Because I know right now—well, you—you're working on a romance, and then thriller number three is coming up. So do you—how are you making those transitions?Sarina BowenWell, I think any writer would agree that the book you're not working on today is always the one that seems more appealing.Jennie NashIt's always a better book…Sarina BowenRight?!Jennie NashSuch a good book.Sarina BowenSo, of course, I'm in the finishing part, on the romance that I'm working on, which is, everybody knows, the hardest part, where you have to make all the toughest decisions. So I just cannot wait to write that thriller.Jennie NashDo you—are you—do you cheat? Are you cheating on your romance? Like, do you—do you cheat and do a little research on the new—new thriller?Sarina BowenWell, I've actually written part of that thriller already.Jennie NashYeah.Sarina BowenI wrote part of it, and then I had to stop and finish this other one. So it's not cheating exactly. It's how I had to do my crazy schedule this year, because I had two deadlines in 2024, and they're closer together than I could execute, like, a whole book in each. But cheating is a wonderful thing to do, because when you're like, technically, I'm writing the romance this month, and almost all my time is spent on that—but when you give your brain permission to, like, not be finishing that other book, it goes in all these exciting places, and it comes up with stuff for you. So even though I'm writing a romance this month, I have made notes in my notebook for, like, four other books, some of which I might never write.Jennie NashOh, that's so funny. Well...Sarina BowenYeah.Jennie NashAnd—and are they thrillers or romance?Sarina BowenOh, just that—we're all over the place here. Like, I have made notes for... a romance in an ongoing series, that I'm not sure if I'm continuing, for an unrelated romance that I might never write, and I have, like, scribbled down plot frameworks for unrelated books in two other genres that I probably—probably will never write.Jennie NashSo it's interesting—that's an interesting habit that you're talking about. Because I often see with writers—there was an agent, and I can't remember who it is, which pains me—but they said something that was just so funny and so clever, which was a criticism of a writer who—the phrasing would be, you know, "puts everything and the kitchen sink into every book." But the way this agent framed it was, it was "no note left behind." You know, every note you have goes into the book—and that—that's not good. And you have such a restraint. It's not like, oh, here's a good idea, I'm going to shoehorn it into what I'm writing now. I'm going to shoehorn it into the thriller. I'm going to, you know, wedge it in here. You—this restraint of where an idea belongs or doesn't belong, or that it might get written or might not get written—where do you think that discernment or restraint comes from?Sarina BowenYou know, it doesn't feel like restraint when I'm in the middle of trying to finish a book. Like, every book feels like—so messy. You know, it's like, if I'm building a roller coaster, like, the parts are laying all over the field right now. Like, that's how it feels at every moment. And even for the end of this book, I have, like, written—scribbled down ideas for, like, nine different scenes, and they're not all going to make it, and they're going to have to duke it out.Jennie NashThe scenes are going to have to duke it out?Sarina BowenYes. And, like, oh, this would be cute. Oh, that would be cute. Oh, this would be cute. But you can't have them all—like, they're not—that just doesn't work. So I'm looking for the best, most efficient way to execute that emotional arc that the end of this book needs.Jennie NashYeah. yeah.Sarina BowenAnd I do—okay, fine, maybe it is restraint, because I do care about efficiency. Like, I'm not just going to write and write and write and write because I had a cute little thing that I wanted somebody to say. Because in order to put all that stuff in, I'm going to need too much, like, filler—junk.Jennie NashYeah, that is restraint, Sarina. That is totally restraint.Sarina BowenWell, honestly, I think one of my strengths—like, writers don't think about their strengths all that often, to be honest. Like, we only think about the stuff that's hard. But one of my strengths has always been that every scene is accomplishing, like, two or three things. Like, no bit of dialog is ever just in there because my brain spat it out when I was sitting at a keyboard. Like, it has to be doing something.Jennie NashYeah.Sarina BowenSo I have to look at this little collection of cute scenes and—um—make it do something. Just yesterday, I thought, wouldn't it be funny if the rookie on the team that shows up for this new season to start—you know, after the wedding—spoke entirely in Gen Alpha slang, like my 19-year-old? So I wrote, like, a little bit of dialog where he does this in a—in the rink, and—and the—the main character of the book is like, oh, my God, I don't even know what you just said. And I'm like, oh, I'm so cute and funny. This is going to be great. And then I realized that I just didn't need a bit of discussion in the rink. So I moved that conversation to a different spot, where the heroine was also present. And, like, she jumps in and responds in Gen Alpha slang and to—like, to solve his issue. And the hero is impressed. So, you know, I just needed—it was a fun idea, but I needed it to work harder.Jennie NashYeah.Sarina BowenAnd then I found a way for it to work harder. But if I hadn't, then that bit was just going to have to be cut. It could just go somewhere else—a different book, a different day.Jennie NashThere's a scene in The Five Year Lie where the main character is on a bus—a very long bus trip with her small child—and it goes on for some time at a place in the novel where the tension is pretty high. And I read it—I read it three times, actually, because I was like, what is going on here? What's... what am I—what am I supposed to take away? Like, what? What's happening here? What's—you know, what is the work that this scene is doing? I was curious about it because it felt—the feeling really shifted for me as the reader, where it was a tension reliever for one thing. Like, the tension was really high, and so it was a sort of a chance to breathe. And then there was something that happened on the bus trip that made things much, much worse for this character, so that they're showing up in an even more vulnerable place. Like—and I started seeing the layers of what was happening on that bus trip. And that—I think that's another strength you have—is that the—you don't show your hand. The reader has to work if they want to figure out what—what are all these scenes doing? Like, because you're just in it as the reader. But it was... it was sort of beautiful. I sort of loved that scene because I saw—well, I was trying to figure it out, but I saw, oh, I see what's happening here. I know what she's doing. Like, this is cool. I don't know, you're very good at—uh, like I said, not showing your hand. It's not—you don't see the mechanism of the engineer when you're reading the books.Sarina BowenWell, thank you. That scene—I actually am. It's the first thing I wrote for that book.Jennie NashWhat?!Sarina BowenWhich is—yeah, I know.Jennie NashThat is so interesting.Sarina BowenIt comes really deep in the book. That's why Jennie is so surprised, because it's, like, near the end. But I wrote that scene in my head—which, you know, you sort of almost never do—five years before the book came out. Like, I was—I was wandering around this town nearby while my kid took a violin lesson, and I thought of that. I'm like; wouldn't it be terrifying if you were on a bus, you know? And I thought it—like, I scared myself with this idea of how vulnerable she is at that moment in time. Like you said, it's a moment of safety, and it sort of is a little bit, because, you know, nobody can get her on the bus. But at the same time, if you read the prologue, you realize that, like, it's not really a moment of safety because—and then also, then I did that thing that makes her even more vulnerable. And that's the thing that scared me. Like, I'm like, oh, that would be really bad. And then I sort of filed that away in my head until I figured out what book it fit in.Jennie NashOh yeah, it's brutal. It's a brutal moment.Sarina BowenBut then—but that actual scene, like, that is a really long bus ride, and I had to keep cutting that scene. Like, I wrote it, and I cut it down, and I cut it down, and I cut it down, because I didn't want it to drag. And it was actually really hard to get that right. But people mention that scene to me a lot, so I'm staying—and they don't say, hey, that scene lasted too long.Jennie NashNo—well, when I say it's a moment of safety, it's—what I mean is, she's gotten away from the immediate threat. So there's a—there's a chance to sort of take a little bit of a deep breath. But as it goes on and on, it—that scene—she's on all the different buses, is what I mean. She's moving toward- like, there's a lot that could be really bad. So it was great. So to wrap up, can you tell us what you want to tell us about Dying to Meet You? So to entice those who like to be—match wits with the writer and be in a tense thriller, and there's a sort of haunted house vibe to this one. Tell us. Tell us about this book.Sarina BowenYeah, so—who doesn't love a creepy old mansion? That's kind of what this book is about. But also, the dedication to this book tells, like, a lot of what I was thinking about when I wrote it. And the dedication is to my sons: "Thank you for sharing your location with me so that I could think up the terrifying plot of this book." And when there's—when my older son had got his—got an e-bike is when I first opened the—that app where I could see his location, because I wanted to make sure he got places safely, because I was really terrified. But that—the weird thing of being able to watch him in real time, like his—the blue dot move on the map—um, I thought that was, like, so existentially creepy. And I just thought—kept thinking to myself, like, what's the worst thing that could happen with this? Like, if I'm—if I find this creepy, you know, what if it really was, you know? And that's just kind of where I went from that. And it turned out to be a really good time.Jennie NashMy husband likes this app called FlightAware that tracks the airplanes. And when my children fly, he's always saying, "Oh, they're over wherever." And I'm like, nope, nope. I want none of this information. I do not wish to know where in the sky my child is hanging,Sarina BowenRight.Jennie NashI don't wish to know that.Sarina BowenYeah, I get it. I get it.Jennie NashSo, Dying to Meet You—out now. So good. Before that, The Five Year Lie. There's a third one coming that you'll be writing soon. So we get Sarina Bowen—romance, thriller, back and forth for the foreseeable future?Sarina BowenI hope so. Let's keep it going.Jennie NashAwesome. Well, thank you for chatting about genre and how you do it. It's always fun to get inside your brain. And for our listeners—until next time, keep your butt in the chair and your head in the game.Jess LaheyThe Hashtag AmWriting Podcast is produced by Andrew Perella. Our intro music, aptly titled Unemployed Monday, was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for their time and their creative output, because everyone deserves to be paid for their work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of the Fully-Booked: Literary podcast, Meaghan and Shirin close out July's theme of book adaptations. They've spent the month chatting about what makes a successful adaptation, what flops, and where things fall in between. This episode is a genre-focused deep dive where they talk about how different categories of books fare when turned into TV or film.They kick things off by acknowledging that life has been chaotic lately, so this one's coming out a little late. Still, they're here and ready to go. Meaghan and Shirin say upfront that it's almost impossible to quantify what makes one adaptation better than another, but that's not stopping them from trying.What Is On Our Nightstands?Before diving into the genres, they each share what they're reading right now. Shirin is working through an ARC of Shadowman by Shola Adeji, part of the Valiant Universe. It's centered on Jack, a college student grappling with his father's death and slipping into strange, dreamlike experiences involving a character named Baron Samdi. It's set in New Orleans and has folkloric and supernatural vibes. She's not far into it yet, but thinks it's promising.Meaghan, on the other hand, has been reading In Deadly Company by L.S. Stratton. It's a murder mystery set in the Hudson Valley with strong Devil Wears Prada energy, full of rich people, secrets, and a locked-room-ish setting.Meaghan loved it, twists, characters, pacing, all on point. She also read The Dark Lord's Guide to Dating and Other War Crimes by Tiffany Hunt, which she described as “assistant to the villain” meets spicy banter-filled fantasy. It's quirky and fun, and she's eagerly awaiting the sequel.Thrillers vs. Cozy Mysteries: Not All Murder Is Created EqualWhen they shift into genre talk, Meaghan and Shirin start with thrillers and mysteries. Right away, they separate the two: darker thrillers versus cozy or lighter mysteries.Thrillers, they argue, work best as movies or limited series. Long multi-season arcs tend to wear thin, especially when you're stretching a single mystery across ten episodes. Think Gone Girl, Nocturnal Animals, or Silence of the Lambs, tight, gripping, and effective because of their shorter format. Limited series can work, but even then, they sometimes feel drawn out (Harlan Coben adaptations, anyone?).Shirin stresses that the actors and writing carry a huge weight in thrillers. The buildup to the twist needs to be well-paced and believable. If actors can't sell that tension or the writing fumbles the reveal, it falls flat.In contrast, lighter mysteries, like Midsomer Murders, Murdoch Mysteries, or Agatha Christie adaptations, thrive in long-running formats. You don't need high stakes every time. People just want to hang out with familiar characters in familiar settings, solving little whodunnits. You can cruise along with those shows forever, and fans love them for that.Fantasy: Go Big or Don't BotherNow fantasy, oh boy. The energy ramps up here. Shirin literally slams pillows in excitement (or frustration?), and Meaghan is right there with her. They both agree fantasy needs to be broken into sub-genres: high fantasy versus urban or low fantasy.High fantasy, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Throne of Glass, etc., demands a serious budget and buy-in. You've got to build worlds, lore, languages, costumes, effects... It's a lot. And if you're not prepared to commit fully, fans will revolt. The pressure to get it right is immense.They mention Shadow and Bone as an example where merging different series caused mixed reactions. And with something like A Court of Thorns and Roses, the rights keep getting picked up and dropped, probably because studios aren't ready to face the backlash if they get it wrong. An animated series might be the safest bet.Crucially, they say fantasy only works when the actors genuinely care. The Witcher started strong because Henry Cavill was obsessed with the source material. He lived and breathed Geralt. When his enthusiasm waned, or he left, the show lost something. Passion matters. Compare that to Twilight, where you could tell some actors didn't care much. But when someone like Michael Sheen shows up, having the time of his life? Magic.They also point out that most fantasy adaptations need to be multi-season or multi-film affairs. One-off fantasy films rarely work unless the story is very small (think The Princess Bride or Stardust). You need time for exposition and worldbuilding, and rushing it doesn't work.Young Adult: Heart Over HypeWhen it comes to YA adaptations, Meaghan and Shirin get pretty honest. It's not a genre itself, but there's a clear tone and audience to consider. YA often centers around identity, growth, and personal challenges. That emotional core matters.The biggest requirement here? Chemistry. The audience needs to believe in the characters. They need to root for them. The Hunger Games worked because you were invested in Katniss. In contrast, 13 Reasons Why lost its way after the first season because it dragged the story far beyond its natural endpoint.They also discuss how some YA adaptations are stretched too thin. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder had 10 episodes when 5 or 6 would have been plenty. If the mystery isn't complicated enough to carry that much screen time, the show starts spinning its wheels.And again, it comes down to casting. If your leads don't have good chemistry, the whole thing feels flat. The Notebook worked because of Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. Meanwhile, other Nicholas Sparks adaptations (The Lucky One, anyone?) suffered from leads who looked like strangers.Sci-Fi: Surprisingly ReliableHere's the twist: neither Meaghan nor Shirin are big sci-fi fans, but they both agree sci-fi adaptations tend to be stronger than fantasy ones. Shocking, right?They break down why. Sci-fi often requires a decent budget and actors who commit to the world, much like fantasy. But it's usually easier to adapt because the audience doesn't expect the same emotional loyalty to worldbuilding. Plus, you don't always need to reinvent entire landscapes; you can keep it grounded or tech-based (Black Mirror style) and still make it work.They list several successful examples: Silo, Murderbot, Foundation, Arrival, Dune, and The Martian. All solid adaptations, many of them series. Meaghan notes that series tend to work better in sci-fi, especially when the story has layers of tech, politics, and existential stakes. And yes, she's looking forward to Project Hail Mary with Ryan Gosling.They also discuss how in sci-fi, the alien or AI character is often made to appear human or at least humanoid (Murderbot, for example), which helps with audience connection. It's rare to see a fully non-human lead in an adaptation, but the human angle often makes the story more accessible.And finally, they touch on a tough truth: many beloved sci-fi and fantasy writers are problematic. They talk about Orson Scott Card (ugh), J.K. Rowling (yeah...), and H.P. Lovecraft (yikes). It's hard to reconcile loving a world while rejecting the views of its creator, but that's the messy reality of adaptations.Final Thoughts and A Look AheadMeaghan and Shirin wrap things up by acknowledging that every genre has been adapted at this point, literary fiction, romance, historical, nonfiction, you name it. But they've seen patterns. Mystery and sci-fi adaptations tend to land well in shorter formats. Fantasy is high risk, high reward. YA is all about vibes and chemistry. And romance? It lives or dies by how much your leads look like they're actually in love.That's a wrap on adaptation month for us. Next week, they're kicking off a brand-new theme for August, and if you've enjoyed this ride so far, stick around. You won't want to miss what's coming next.

Art Bell helped create Comedy Central, ran Court TV, and is now the author of What She's Hiding, a gripping noir thriller that fans of Harlan Coben and Laura Dave will devour.In this episode, Art takes us behind the curtain of his career and creative journey:* How he helped launch one of the most iconic comedy brands in television history.* The high-stakes reality of running live courtroom coverage on Court TV.* Why he turned his storytelling talents to fiction and how real-life experiences shaped his debut thriller.* His advice for anyone looking to transition between creative mediums (or completely reinvent themselves).* His thoughts on the Amazon Kindle Storyteller Award — and why opportunities like this matter for writers everywhere.

In the vein of David Baldacci, John Grisham, and Harlan Coben—this is Steve Berry like you've never read him before. After a ten-year self-imposed exile, Brent Walker is returning home to Concord, a quaint town in central Georgia nestled close to the Savannah River. Two years ago, his father died, and now Brent, hired by Southern Republic Pulp and Paper Company as its assistant general counsel, is returning to care for his ailing mother.For decades, Southern Republic has invested heavily in Concord, creating a thriving community where its employees live, work, and retire. But the genteel sheen of this quiet town is deceiving, and when a list of cryptic code surfaces, Brent starts to see the cracks. Southern Republic's success is based largely on a highly unorthodox and deadly system to control costs, known only to the three owners of the company.  Now, one of them, Christopher Bozin, has had a change of heart. Brent's return to Concord, a move Bozin personally orchestrated, provides his conscience with a chance at redemption. A plan is set into motion, one that will not only criminally implicate Bozin's two partners but also place Brent Walker square in the crosshairs of men who want him dead—with only one course left available -to find and reveal the shocking secret of the list.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.

Rachel and Simon speak to the historian Hallie Rubenhold. Born in Los Angeles, Hallie moved to Britain as a graduate student; after completing an MA and an MPhil, she worked for a time as a curator for the National Portrait Gallery and as a commercial art dealer. In 2005 she published her first book, "The Covent Garden Ladies", about "Harris's List", a directory of London's prostitutes. Hallie followed it up in 2008 with "Lady Worsley's Whim", about the 18th century's most notorious adultery trial. Both books have been adapted into television dramas. Hallie then turned to fiction - publishing "Mistress of My Fate" and "The French Lesson" - before returning to non-fiction with "The Five: The Women Killed by Jack the Ripper" in 2019. The book went on to win the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction and became a Sunday Times bestseller. We spoke to Hallie about moving from the world of museums to the world of writing; researching and publishing "The Five"; and her latest book, "Story of a Murder".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 (eight 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.You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @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 academic Viet Thanh Nguyen. Born in Vietnam, Viet came to the United States as a refugee in 1975. He completed a PhD in English at Berkeley, moved to Los Angeles for a teaching position at the University of Southern California, and has been there ever since, now as a chair of English and Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity. Viet's first novel, "The Sympathizer", published in 2015, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and became a New York Times bestseller. HBO also turned "The Sympathizer" into a TV series in 2024, directed by Park Chan-wook. Viet's other books include "The Committed", a sequel to "The Sympathizer", "Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War" (a finalist for the National Book Award in non-fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award) and "Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America". We spoke to Viet about branching from academia into writing fiction, "The Sympathizer", and "The Cleaving," an anthology of work by Vietnamese diaspora writers.  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 (eight 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.You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @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.

This week, John Maytham shares his thoughts on three very different but equally compelling reads. His top pick is Nobody’s Fool by Harlan Coben, a twist-filled thriller about former detective Sami Kierce, who’s forced to confront a traumatic, unsolved mystery from his past when a woman he thought was dead reappears in his life. John calls it “a book that keeps you guessing.” He also highlights Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a beautifully layered novel exploring the emotional lives of four Nigerian women, each navigating identity, love, and loss across continents and crises. Finally, John reflects on Enchanted Ground by Steven Lovatt, a deeply personal journey from grief to renewal, as the author seeks meaning and belonging in a world disconnected from nature and history. Three books, three very different voices—but each, in its own way, a story of reckoning with the past and searching for truth. Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit is a podcast of the CapeTalk breakfast show. This programme is your authentic Cape Town wake-up call. Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit is informative, enlightening and accessible. The team’s ability to spot & share relevant and unusual stories make the programme inclusive and thought-provoking. Don’t miss the popular World View feature at 7:45am daily. Listen out for #LesterInYourLounge which is an outside broadcast – from the home of a listener in a different part of Cape Town - on the first Wednesday of every month. This show introduces you to interesting Capetonians as well as their favourite communities, habits, local personalities and neighbourhood news. Thank you for listening to a podcast from Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit. Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays between 06:00 and 09:00 (SA Time) to Good Morning CapeTalk with Lester Kiewit broadcast on CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/xGkqLbT or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/f9Eeb7i Subscribe to the CapeTalk Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/sbvVZD5 Follow us on social media CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist Jojo Moyes, live at Hay Festival. Jojo started her career as a journalist before publishing her debut novel, "Sheltering Rain", in 2002. Jojo's subsequent books - which include "Me Before You", "After You", "Still Me", "The Giver of Stars" and "Someone Else's Shoes" - have been translated into 46 languages and sold some 60 million copies worldwide. In 2016 Jojo adapted "Me Before You" into a film that grossed more than $200 million at the global box office. We spoke to Jojo about her early career as a journalist at the Independent, moving into writing fiction and her big break with "Me Before You" in 2012, and her new novel, "We All Live 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 (eight 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.You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @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 to the journalist and author Ben Macintyre. Ben is the bestselling author of books including "A Spy Among Friends", "Agent Sonya", "Agent Zigzag", "Colditz", "Operation Mincemeat", "SAS: Rogue Heroes" and "The Spy and the Traitor". He is a columnist and Associate Editor at The Times, and has worked as the newspaper's correspondent in New York, Paris and Washington. Several of his books have been made into films and television series, including "Operation Mincemeat", "A Spy Among Friends" and "SAS: Rogue Heroes". We spoke to Ben about his work as a journalist for The Times, his long journey to becoming a successful non-fiction author, and his latest book, "The Siege", about the Iranian embassy hostage crisis - and subsequent special-forces raid - in London in 1980. 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 (eight 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.You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @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 the novelist and journalist Diana Evans. Born and brought up in London and Lagos, Diana started her career as a journalist. She has written for publications including the Guardian, Harper's Bazaar, the New York Review of Books, Time and Vogue. After she completed an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, Diana published her debut novel, “26a”, in 2005; the book won the inaugural Orange Award for New Writers and was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel and the Commonwealth Best First Book. “The Wonder”, which drew on Diana's own experience as a dancer, followed in 2009. Diana's third novel, “Ordinary People” (2018), was widely feted: it won the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Literature and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction, the Rathbones Folio Prize and the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. Her fourth book, “A House for Alice” (2023), was also shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. We spoke to Diana about “I Want to Talk to You and Other Conversations”, a collection of her journalism, publishing “26a” and moving between fiction and non-fiction. 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 (nine 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.You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @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.

Ralph McAllister reviews Nobody's Fool by Harlan Coben published by Century

Simon and Rachel speak to the novelist and non-fiction writer Andrew O'Hagan. Born in Glasgow, Andrew is the author of seven novels – including "Be Near Me", "Mayflies" and  "Caledonian Road" – and three books of non-fiction: "The Missing", "The Atlantic Ocean" and "The Secret Life". He is editor at large at the London Review of Books and has written over 150 pieces for the publication, starting with a Diary in 1993 about James Bulger's murder and the cruelty of children to other children. Other LRB pieces have covered the sinking of his grandfather's ship, the Grenfell Tower disaster and Prince Harry. Andrew has has been nominated for the Booker Prize, was voted one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists in 2003, and won the E. M. Forster Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. We spoke to him about coming to London from Scotland and making his way, combining journalism and fiction, and his latest novel, "Caledonian Road". We've also made another update for those ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We've added 40 new pages of 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. This means the whole compendium now runs to a whopping 160 pages. And we're excited to announce that for people who contribute $10/month we're now releasing bonus mini-episodes. If you'd like to know what these will sound like, there's a sample episode with Lee Child that you can listen to for free on our Patreon now. Thanks to the help of our sponsors, Scrivener, the first ten new signs-ups at $10/month will additionally receive a lifelong license to Scrivener worth £55/$59.99. This specialist word-processing software helps you organise long writing projects such as novels, academic papers and even scripts. But we only have ten to give out so, if you're interested, please check it out as soon as you can. Other Patreon rewards include signed copies of our podcast book (see below) and the opportunity to take part in a monthly call with the two of us to workshop your own pitches and writing projects. 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.You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @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.

“Not Even Doctor Phil Can Fix This.” The Psychological Mystery series starts with a traffic stop and escalates into a web of twisted secrets and deadly consequences. Serial killers are exposed, and the existence of a Secret Army is threatened. A investigative journalist conspires to reveal more secrets and an assortment of characters and events propel Farmerville towards tragedy. More mystery unfolds with a pig farm, Gitmo, pedophiles, nightmares, ghostly therapy sessions, cave kids, a furnace, another serial killer, a table with a history, and an axe or two. Intertwining plots twists run rampant making it clear that something sinister is at play. Farmerville may be for you If you like the writing of Harlan Coben, Caroline Kepnes, and Jesse Q. Sutanto.

Vikas Adam masterfully draws listeners into this nonstop thriller featuring disgraced former NYPD detective Sami Kierce. AudioFile Editor Robin Whitten and host Jo Reed discuss the way that Adam expertly voices a wide range of characters, keeping listeners engaged. The story begins with a secret from more than 20 years earlier, when Sami, fresh from college, backpacked through Europe and had a brief romance with a beautiful American woman. Fast-forward to the present: Twists and turns come quickly as Sami investigates the disappearance of a wealthy young woman and threats to his family. Adam perfectly matches Harlan Coben's emotional beats, enhancing every tense moment in this roller-coaster thriller.  Read our review of the audiobook at our website Published by Hachette Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile's website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rachel and Simon speak to the novelist and non-fiction writer Dani Shapiro. Dani is the author of 11 books; her memoirs include "Slow Motion", "Devotion", "Still Writing" and "Hourglass". "Inheritance", about the secret that had been hidden from Dani by her parents for more than 50 years, was a bestseller. Dani has also written novels including "Black & White", "Family History" and "Signal Fires"; the latter was named a best book of 2022 by NPR, Time magazine and the Washington Post, among others. Alongside writing, Dani hosts a podcast, "Family Secrets", and teaches writing workshops around the world. We spoke to Dani about her celebrated early memoir, "Slow Motion", about moving between fiction and writing about her own life, and about "Inheritance", an investigation into her parentage. We've also made another update for those ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We've added 40 new pages of 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. This means the whole compendium now runs to a whopping 160 pages. And we're excited to announce that for people who contribute $10/month we're now releasing bonus mini-episodes. If you'd like to know what these will sound like, there's a sample episode with Lee Child that you can listen to for free on our Patreon now. Thanks to the help of our sponsors, Scrivener, the first ten new signs-ups at $10/month will additionally receive a lifelong license to Scrivener worth £55/$59.99. This specialist word-processing software helps you organise long writing projects such as novels, academic papers and even scripts. But we only have ten to give out so, if you're interested, please check it out as soon as you can. Other Patreon rewards include signed copies of our podcast book (see below) and the opportunity to take part in a monthly call with the two of us to workshop your own pitches and writing projects. 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.You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @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.

Nobody's Fool by Harlan Coben. A former detective turned private investigator is stunned when the woman he thought had died 22 years ago suddenly appears in the back of a lecture he's giving, and as soon as they make eye contact, disappears. Her death has haunted him all these years but the possibility she could still be alive has never occurred to him – and now he needs to track her down and find out the truth. From the pen (or the keyboard!) of a terrific and well established thriller writer. Northbound by Naomi Arnold. Naomi is a local journalist who decided to walk the entire length of the Te Araroa trail on her own. There have been books from other people about taking on that challenge, but hers is a really gritty, no holds barred account of the slog of it – the mud, the fear, the loneliness and the exhilaration of achieving something so momentous, all by herself. It's clear there's a very caring network on the trail even though the walkers pass one another like ships in the night. There's also a lot of kindness from people around who keep an eye out on them and offer food and support. This book is a lovesong to the trail and the NZ outdoors; and to the power of communities. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Simon and Rachel speak with ⁠Joshi Herrmann⁠, the founder of local journalism startup ⁠Mill Media⁠. Joshi founded The Mill, a newsletter covering Greater Manchester, as a one-man band in June 2020. The company now has staff writers and editors across six British cities: Manchester⁠, ⁠Glasgow,⁠ Birmingham, ⁠Liverpool⁠, Sheffield and ⁠London⁠. Mill Media is known for deeply reported long reads and its paid newsletter model; it is read by more than 150,000 email subscribers. The company has received investment from figures including Sir Mark Thompson, chief executive of CNN and a former BBC director-general. Joshi was formerly editor-in-chief of ⁠Tab Media⁠, and he has reported for the Times, the Telegraph, the Guardian and the London Evening Standard. We spoke to Joshi about ⁠working at the Standard⁠, his stints at the Tab, and his current venture, which is looking to reinvent local journalism.We have recently also overhauled our offer for those ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Our central reward is a - now greatly expanded - sheaf of successful journalistic pitches, which we've solicited from friends of Always Take Notes. In the package we now have successful pitches to, among others, the New York Times, the Guardian, the New Yorker, the Financial Times, the Economist, the London Review of Books, Vanity Fair, Outside magazine, the Spectator, the Sunday Times, Esquire, Granta, the Literary Review, Prospect, Bloomberg Businessweek and GQ. Anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more will receive the full compendium. Other rewards include signed copies of our podcast book (see below) and the opportunity to take part in a monthly call with the two of us to workshop your own pitches and writing projects. 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.You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @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.

Harlan Coben is an award-winning author of 37 bestselling mystery and thriller novels, including 'Fool Me Once', 'The Boy from the Woods', 'Tell No One', and the internationally acclaimed Myron Bolitar series. With 80 million books in print worldwide, his gripping stories have been adapted into numerous hit films and television series on Netflix and Amazon Prime. 'Nobody's Fool', Coben's new novel, is available now.Brought to you by Eason – Ireland's favourite bookseller.Follow the show: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookshelfpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bookshelfpodcast Follow Ryan: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/instatubridy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Known for his suspense thrillers, Harlan Coben is a #1 Sunday Times bestselling author with more than eighty million books in print worldwide, including the multi-award-winning Myron Bolitar series.

Harlan Coben has authored close to 40 books with some seriously good writing.  His latest, Nobody's Fool, takes a detective from an already existing book and TV series, blows up their story and creates mysteries within mysteries.  Great plot twists, memorable characters and page turning action are all here…how does he turn great books out over and over?  Tune in and find out.    Find books mentioned on The Book Case: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned in this week's episode: Nobody's Fool by Harlan Coben Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben Drop Shot by Harlan Coben Fade Away by Harlan Coben  Back Spin by Harlan Coben One False Move by Harlan Coben The Final Detail by Harlan Coben Darkest Fear by Harlan Coben  Promise Me by Harlan Coben Long Lost by Harlan Coben Live Wire by Harlan Coben Home by Harlan Coben Think Twice by Harlan Coben Caught by Harlan Coben Just One Look by Harlan Coben  I Will Find You by Harlan Coben The Stranger by Harlan Coben Aurora by David Koepp The Time of the Child by Niall Williams The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain Valediction by Robert B. Parker Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist Nnedi Okorafor. Nnedi is a prolific writer of science fiction and fantasy for adults, young adults and children; her best-known titles include the "Binti" trilogy, "Lagoon", the "Nsibidi Script" series and "Who Fears Death". Nnedi has won the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature as well as the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Locus and Lodestar awards. Several of her books are currently being adapted for TV. We spoke to Nnedi about the hospital stay that led her to start writing, breaking into the worlds of science fiction and fantasy, and her latest novel, "Death of the Author". We have recently also overhauled our offer for those ⁠⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠. Our central reward is a - now greatly expanded - sheaf of successful journalistic pitches, which we've solicited from friends of Always Take Notes. In the package we now have successful pitches to, among others, the New York Times, the Guardian, the New Yorker, the Financial Times, the Economist, the London Review of Books, Vanity Fair, Outside magazine, the Spectator, the Sunday Times, Esquire, Granta, the Literary Review, Prospect, Bloomberg Businessweek and GQ. Anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more will receive the full compendium. Other rewards include signed copies of our podcast book (see below) and the opportunity to take part in a monthly call with the two of us to workshop your own pitches and writing projects. 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.You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @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.

See How They Fall by Rachel Paris Turner Corp, a luxury goods empire, has been rocked by the death of its founder. As his three sons gather at the family's opulent estate for a long weekend, tensions rise when an illegitimate heir is introduced - and no one could predict the tragedy that follows. Skye, who married into the dynasty, is uneasy in her husband's world, hiding her own secrets while trying to maintain a normal life for their six-year-old daughter. The weekend quickly morphs into any parent's worst nightmare, leaving Skye desperate to uncover the truth about the Turner family. Mei, the detective assigned to the case, faces pressure from her superiors to close the investigation swiftly. However, as she begins to unpick the complex web of lies and betrayal, she realizes that pulling at these threads might just bring down an empire... Nobody's Fool by Harlan Coben A year after the devastating events that took place in Fool Me Once, a secret from former Detective Sami Kierce's college days comes back to haunt him. The present day is hard enough for Kierce, but his past isn't through with him yet. MALAGA, 2000 Sami Kierce, a young man backpacking in Spain with friends, wakes up one morning. He is covered in blood. There's a knife in his hand. Beside him, the body of a woman. Anna. Dead. He begins to scream. NEW YORK CITY, 2025 Kierce, now a disgraced detective, is teaching night classes when he recognizes a familiar face in the crowd. Anna. It's unmistakably her. But as soon as he makes eye contact with her, she runs. For Kierce there is no choice. He knows he must find this woman and solve the mystery that still haunts his every waking moment. His investigation will bring him face-to-face with his past. Soon he discovers that some secrets should stay buried...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Harlan Coben talks new book, 'Nobody's Fool'; Showdown escalates between Trump and judge over deportation flights; Juju Chang and Byron Pitts talk 45th anniversary of 'Nightline' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Harlan Coben talks new book, 'Nobody's Fool'; Showdown escalates between Trump and judge over deportation flights; Juju Chang and Byron Pitts talk 45th anniversary of 'Nightline' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A chat with Art Bell, a writer and former television executive known for developing and launching the Comedy Channel (later Comedy Central) while at HBO, about his first novel, the thriller What She's Hiding. Websiteartbellwriter.com Instagram@artbellauthor Simon & Schuster Book PageWhat She's Hiding Amazon linksAmazon.caAmazon.com About What She's Hiding For readers of Harlan Coben and … Continue reading "Episode 190: Art Bell – What She's Hiding" Source

Simon and Rachel speak to the novelist Ben Okri. Born in Minna, Nigeria, Ben came to England as a child. He attended school in London before returning to Africa with his parents on the eve of the Nigerian Civil War. He came once more to the UK in 1978 and studied at Essex University. Two years later he published his first novel "Flowers and Shadows". A second, "The Landscapes Within", appeared two years afterwards, before two collections of short stories in 1986 and 1988. In 1991 his novel "The Famished Road" won the Booker Prize, the first time a black writer received that award. Ben's subsequent work includes the novel "Astonishing the Gods" (chosen by the BBC in 2019 as "one of the 100 novels that has shaped our world"), the epic poem "Mental Fight" and the play "The Outsider". We spoke to Ben about his early life in Nigeria and Britain, winning the Booker Prize, and his latest novel, "Madame Sosostris & the Festival for the Broken-Hearted". We have recently also overhauled our offer for those ⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠. Our central reward is a - now greatly expanded - sheaf of successful journalistic pitches, which we've solicited from friends of Always Take Notes. In the package we now have successful pitches to, among others, the New York Times, the Guardian, the New Yorker, the Financial Times, the Economist, the London Review of Books, Vanity Fair, Outside magazine, the Spectator, the Sunday Times, Esquire, Granta, the Literary Review, Prospect, Bloomberg Businessweek and GQ. Anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more will receive the full compendium. Other rewards include signed copies of our podcast book (see below) and the opportunity to take part in a monthly call with the two of us to workshop your own pitches and writing projects. 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.You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @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 the author and academic Clair Wills. She is the Regius Professor of English Literature at the University of Cambridge and the author of several non-fiction books. ⁠"That Neutral Island: A History of Ireland During the Second World War"⁠, published in 2007, won the PEN Hessell-Tiltman History Prize; ⁠"Lovers and Strangers: An Immigrant History of Post-War Britain" ⁠(2017) won the Irish Times International Non-Fiction Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. Her latest book, ⁠"⁠⁠Missing Persons, Or My Grandmother's Secrets"⁠ (2024), won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. We spoke to Clair about combining an academic career with writing for a broad audience, her insider/outsider perspective on Irish culture, and writing about her family and Ireland's Mother and Baby Homes in "Missing Persons". We have recently also overhauled our offer for those ⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠. Our central reward is a - now greatly expanded - sheaf of successful journalistic pitches, which we've solicited from friends of Always Take Notes. In the package we now have successful pitches to, among others, the New York Times, the Guardian, the New Yorker, the Financial Times, the Economist, the London Review of Books, Vanity Fair, Outside magazine, the Spectator, the Sunday Times, Esquire, Granta, the Literary Review, Prospect, Bloomberg Businessweek and GQ. Anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more will receive the full compendium. Other rewards include signed copies of our podcast book (see below) and the opportunity to take part in a monthly call with the two of us to workshop your own pitches and writing projects. 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.You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @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.

This week, Brooke, Shan, Meka, Stacy, Georgina, Shannon, and Natalia are sharing some of their most anticipated March releases. Titles mentioned include:Kelly Andrew, I Am Made of DeathRachel Reid, The Shots You TakeSarah Beth Durst, The WarblerLucy Score, Story of My Life (Story Lake #1)Harlan Coben, Nobody's FoolTJ Alexander, A Gentleman's GentlemanKaren Rose, Dead Man's List (San Diego Case Files #3; Romantic Suspense #31)Alexandra Kennington, Blood Beneath the Snow (Blood & Souls #1)Ava Morgyn, The Bane WitchEtta Easton, The Love SimulationIndia Hayford, The Song of the Blue Bottle TreeSandra Brown, Blood MoonOlivia Waite, Murder By Memory (Dorothy Gentleman #1)Emily Carpenter, Gothic TownElora Cook, In the Company of KillersLouisa Masters, Grave SituationJamie Pacton & Rebecca Podos, Homegrown MagicJ.C. Cervantes, The Anatomy of MagicSusan Mallery, Beach VibesLauren Willig, The Girl From Greenwich StreetBreanne Randall, Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things (Sisters of Light and Shadow #1)You can always contact the Book Bistro team by searching @BookBistroPodcast on facebook, or visiting:https://www.facebook.com/BookBistroPodcast/You can also send an email to:TheBookBistroPodcast@gmail.comFor more information on the podcast and the team behind it, please visit:https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/book-bistro

Highlights of what's new in streaming for the week of March 1, 2025. Hulu Deli Boys, season 1 (Mar. 6) Netflix The Potato Lab, season 1 (Mar. 1) Hot Wheels: Let's Race, season 3 (Mar. 3) Andrew Schulz: Life (Mar. 4) With love, Meghan, season 1 (Mar. 4) Harlan Coben's Just One Look (Mar. 5) The Leopard (Mar. 5) Medusa, season 1 (Mar. 5) Larissa: The Other Side of Anitta (Mar. 6) Tyler Perry's Beauty in Black, season 1, part 2 (Mar. 6) Chaos: The Manson Murders (Mar. 7) Delicious (Mar. 7) Formula 1: Drive to Survive, season 7 (Mar. 7) Japan's Number One Jerk Salaryman, season 1 (Mar. 7) Nadaaniyan (Mar. 7) Plankton the Movie (Mar. 7) When Life Gives You Tangerines, season 1 (Mar. 7) Disney+ Daredevil: Born Again, season 1 (Mar. 4) Max Celtics City (Mar. 3) Jellystone!, season 3b (Mar. 6) Heretic (Mar. 7) Paramount+ Sin City Gigolo: A Murder in Las Vegas (Mar. 4) Peacock The Royal We (Mar. 2) Prime Video Fear, season 1 (Mar. 4) Picture This (Mar. 6) MGM+ Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue (Mar. 2) AMC+ Dark Winds, season 3 (Mar. 3) Starz Power Book III: Raising Kanan, season 4 (Mar. 7)

Simon and Rachel speak with the novelist Tim Winton. Widely considered one of the greatest living Australian writers, Tim has written 13 novels; his work has been translated into 28 languages. Since his first novel, "An Open Swimmer", won The Australian/Vogel Literary Award in 1981, he has also won the Miles Franklin Literary Award - the most prestigious prize for Australian writing - four times, for "Shallows", "Cloudstreet", "Dirt Music" and "Breath". Tim, who lives in Western Australia, has also twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize for "The Riders" and "Dirt Music". We spoke to Tim about writing and publishing his debut book in his early 20s, his views on Australian literary culture, and about "Juice", his latest novel, set in a post-apocalyptic future ravaged by climate change. We have recently also overhauled our offer for those who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon. Our central reward is a - now greatly expanded - sheaf of successful journalistic pitches, which we've solicited from friends of Always Take Notes. In the package we now have successful pitches to, among others, the New York Times, the Guardian, the New Yorker, the Financial Times, the Economist, the London Review of Books, Vanity Fair, Outside magazine, the Spectator, the Sunday Times, Esquire, Granta, the Literary Review, Prospect, Bloomberg Businessweek and GQ. Anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more will receive the full compendium. Other rewards include signed copies of our podcast book (see below) and the opportunity to take part in a monthly call with the two of us to workshop your own pitches and writing projects. 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.You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @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.

There is nothing on a cold winter's day like comfort TV with a twist you know is coming. Missing You, the latest Netflix adaptation of a Harlan Coben novel, delivers. We talk about dating apps, music and personality, loss and MUCH more!Email us: KillerFunPodcast@gmail.comFollow us on Facebook: fb.me/KillerFunPodcastAll the Tweets, er, POSTS: https://x.com/KillerFunPodInstagram: killerfunpodcast

Rachel and Simon speak with the journalist and author Hannah Barnes. Hannah worked at the BBC for 15 years, specialising in investigative journalism for both television and radio. Prior to joining the "Newsnight" team in 2016, she was a daily editor on the "Today" programme on Radio 4. In 2023 Hannah published "Time to Think: The Inside Story of the Collapse of the Tavistock's Gender Service for Children"; the book was quoted in parliament, became a Sunday Times bestseller and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing and the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. In 2024 she joined the New Statesman as an associate editor and writer. We spoke to Hannah about "Time to Think", her work at the BBC and her current role. 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. 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 journalist and author Michael Lewis. Michael grew up in New Orleans and in the 1980s he worked on Wall Street. His first book "Liar's Poker" (1989) relates his experience at the investment bank Salomon Brothers. His subsequent books include "Moneyball" (2003), ostensibly about baseball but also about the way markets value people, "The Blind Side" (2006) about a black teenager taken in by a white evangelical family who becomes an American football player, and "Flash Boys" (2014) about the legal - but questionable - practice of high-frequency trading. Michael's writing has also appeared in Vanity Fair, the New Republic, and Bloomberg. We spoke to Michael about moving from finance to writing, his subsequent books, and his most recent project, "Going Infinite", on the rise and fall of crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried.  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. 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.

The Los Angeles area wildfires have forced more than 100,000 people from their homes. Aaron Samson and his 83-year-old father-in-law, who has Parkinson's disease, escaped on foot from the Palisades Fire after they were forced to get out of their car.While many who evacuated from the fires in California don't know if their homes survived, others found a way back — only to see that there was nothing left. For those who found their house was still standing, they said their town itself was in ruins.FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell joins "CBS Mornings" to talk about the federal government's response to the Palisades Fire, which has burned over 17,000 acres in Los Angeles County and left entire neighborhoods destroyed.On Thursday, a funeral processional will move across Washington, D.C., transporting former President Jimmy Carter's casket from the U.S. Capitol to the National Cathedral for his official state funeral. President Biden will deliver one of the eulogies as all of the former living presidents are expected to attend.Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin joins "CBS Mornings" to discuss the lasting impact of Jimmy Carter's presidency and his contributions to the nation as the country honors his life at his state funeral.The classic game show "Hollywood Squares" is getting a fresh update. CBS Mornings co-host Nate Burleson got a sneak peek.Harlan Coben joins CBS Mornings to talk about "Missing You," the global TV hit he executive produces. Based on his novel, the show follows Det. Kat Donovan as she investigates the case of a missing person.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rachel and Simon speak with the literary agent Clare Alexander. For the first portion of her career she worked in publishing, starting out in 1973 in the rights department at Penguin; after stints at Hamish Hamilton and Viking she became editor-in-chief of Macmillan and Picador. Clare published first novels by Helen Dunmore, Alex Garland, Amitav Ghosh, Haruki Murakami and Donna Tartt. In 1995, while at Viking, she was the editor of the winners of the Booker Prize, the Orange Prize (now the Women's Prize) and the Whitbread Award (the erstwhile Costa Book Awards) - the first editor ever to achieve this hat-trick. In 1998 Clare became a literary agent. Her client list includes Diana Evans, Helen Fielding, Armando Iannucci, Nicholas Shakespeare, Rory Stewart and Colin Thubron. We spoke to Clare about her early career as an editor, becoming an agent in the late 1990s, and working with authors including Pat Barker, Mark Haddon and Sebastian Faulks. 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. 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.

To kick off 2025, Kate revisits her conversation with author Harlan Coben. Harlan Coben is the #1 New York Times author of 33 novels, including Win, The Boy From the Woods, Run Away, Fool Me Once, and Tell No One. His books are published in 45 languages and he currently has 75 million books in print worldwide. Harlan is the creator and executive producer of several Netflix television dramas including Stay Close, The Stranger, Safe, The Five, The Innocent, and The Woods. He's a winner of the Edgar Award, the Shamus Award, and Anthony Award; the first author to win all three. Follow To Dine For:Official Website: ToDineForTV.comFacebook: Facebook.com/ToDineForTVInstagram: @ToDineForTVTwitter: @KateSullivanTVEmail: ToDineForTV@gmail.com Thank You to our Sponsors!American National InsuranceFollow Our Guest:Official Site: HarlanCoben.comFacebook: Harlan CobenInstagram: @HarlanCobenTwitter: @HarlanCobenFollow the Restaurant:Official Website: Albert's Ho-Ho-KusFacebook: Albert's HoHoKusInstagram: @AlbertsHoHoKus Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's the first show of 2025! Andy & Steve will discuss Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl streaming on Netflix, Hundred of Beavers, The Dammed, and Porcelain War.  Andy & Steve’s 2025 Hot List Steve’s List:  1. Paddington in Peru 2. Mickey 17 3. Novocaine 4. 28 Years Later 5. How to Train Your Dragon (live) Andy’s List:  1. Fantastic Four 2. Superman: Legacy 3. Naked Gun reboot (Liam Neeson) 4. Karate Kid: Legends 5. Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning   Streaming:  Movies Coming to Streaming: Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl(N)   Series Coming to Streaming: What If…? S3 (D+) Dexter: Original Sin (P+) Squid Game S2 (N) Harlan Coben’s Missing You (N) Isadora Moon (Max)     Listen to The Movie Show with Andy Farnsworth and Steve Salles on Fridays from 11 am to 1 pm on 102.7 FM & 1160 AM, kslnewsradio.com, or on the KSL NewsRadio App. Follow the show on Facebook at @TheMovieShow and text "Movie" to 57500. (Message and data rates may apply; Text STOP to cancel; Message frequency varies) The Movie Show podcast is sponsored by Megaplex Theatres, Utah's premiere movie entertainment company. 

Georgie is joined by Harlan Coben on the podcast this week! Harlan is a New York Times bestselling author of 35 novels and his work, including 'Fool Me Once' which quickly became Netflix's most streamed show of 2024, has been adapted to screen various times. SPEAKING of Netflix, Harlan chats to Georgie about his upcoming show, 'Missing You', which is coming out on January 1st. Mark it in your diaries! Georgie asks Harlan how he builds his brilliant stories and finds out more about adapting his work from the page to our televisions.

Wayne Sleep, Ben Miller, Rosalind Eleazar and Lou Conran join Stuart Maconie for this week's Loose Ends, with music from The Lottery Winners.Dance icon Wayne Sleep waltzes in to tell us stories of his life - all detailed in his new autobiography, Just Different. Tales of his friendships with Princess Diana, Freddie Mercury, David Hockney and fellow ballet legend Rudolph Nureyev intermingle with insights into his working-class upbringing and the difficulties of trying to make it as the shortest principal dancer ever to get into the Royal Ballet. Told he would always have to spin twice as fast and jump twice as high to succeed, Stuart hears all about the trials, tribulations and backstage gossip that make up Wayne's world. With notable appearances in Slow Horses, Howards End, Rellik and the Personal History Of David Copperfield, as well as striding such prestigious stages as the Royal Court and the National Theatre, Rosalind Eleazar is set to return to the small screen this New Year. Starring in the Netflix production of Harlan Coben's Missing You, filmed across the north west of England, she's here to tell us all about her new role as Detective Kat Donovan. Award-winning comedian and writer Lou Conran has been storming stages up and down the country since 2005 with her innate brand of sharp wit and honest and open humour. 2025 will see her twenty year anniversary as a performer and off the back of a sold out UK tour, she's about to embark on a tour of New Zealand, and joins Stuart to tell us about the year ahead. The actor and comedian Ben Miller is of course known for The Armstrong & Miller Show, the Johnny English and Paddington films, Death in Paradise, Bridgerton - but over recent years has turned his hand to writing children's books. From his Elf series to the recent The Night I Met Father Christmas, he joins Stuart to talk about his new character – Robin Hood…aged 10¾. And we'll hear all about his new TV series Austin which will be on our screens in 2025. Robbie Williams, Noel Gallagher, Boy George, Shaun Ryder and Frank Turner are just some of the huge names The Lottery Winners have in their phonebook. Formed in the mining town of Leigh 15 years ago, The Lottery Winners set out to work the UK gig circuit and perfect their now acclaimed stagecraft. And it all paid off when their last album went to No.1 in the UK. Their fourth original album KOKO is due out in February with a tour closely following…and another one with Robbie Williams following that! They join Loose Ends to play two songs - Superpower and Worry. Presenter: Stuart Maconie Producer: Elizabeth Foster Production Co-ordinator: Lydia Depledge-Miller

Highlights of what's new in streaming for the week of December 28, 2024. Netflix Maestro in Blue, season 3 (Dec. 28) I Am the Secret in Your Heart (Dec. 30) Suffocating Love (Dec. 30) Avicii - I'm Tim / Avicii - My Last Show (Dec. 31) Michelle Buteau: A Buteau-ful Mind at Radio City Music Hall (Dec. 31) Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever (Jan. 1) Dr. Stone, season 3 (Jan. 1) Harlan Coben's Missing You (Jan. 1) The Love Scam (Jan. 1) Cunk On Life (Jan. 2) Bandidos, season 2 (Jan. 3) Love Is Blind: Germany (Jan. 3) Selling the City, season 1 (Jan. 3) Shafted, season 1 (Jan. 3) Umjolo: My Beginning, My End (Jan. 3) Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Jan. 3) Max AEW Dynamite: Fight for the Fallen (Jan. 1 at 8 p.m. EST) Peacock Lockerbie: A Search For Truth (Jan. 2)

Simon and Rachel speak to the author and lawyer Philippe Sands. He is the author of books including "East West Street", which won the Baillie Gifford prize in 2016 and the British Book Awards Non-Fiction Book of the Year in 2017, and "The Ratline" in 2020. His latest book is "The Last Colony" (2022). Philippe's work has been translated into more than 30 languages. In parallel to his writing career, Philippe is Professor of the Public Understanding of Law at University College London and a practising barrister at 11 Kings Bench Walk. He frequently appears as counsel before the International Court of Justice and other international courts and tribunals. We spoke to Philippe about combining international law and writing, blending history and memoir in "East West Street", and about representing - and writing about - the Chagos islanders.  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. 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.

In our final regular podcast of the year, we speak to the legendary Nicola Walker (26:53) about The Split: Barcelona, as well as Harlan Coben and Nicola Shindler (1:28:19) for Netflix's Missing You. Plus, we go all festive and sift through some of the great telly coming your way over the Christmas period, including A Ghost Story For Christmas (1:44:29), The Christmas episode of Doctor Who (1:49:06), and the latest season of Steven Knight's SAS: Rogue Heroes (1:55:26). We also find time to open Santa's sack and answer your questions in a bumper Christmas postbag, before signing off for a little chocolate-assisted R&R. Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 12 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+ at empire.supportingcast.fm.

Rachel and Simon speak to the journalist and author Reni Eddo-Lodge. She started blogging and writing journalism while a student; one post, published in 2014 and called “Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race” eventually led to a book of the same name in 2017. The book won the Jhalak Prize as well as a British Book Award for Narrative Non-Fiction. In 2020, amid the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, “Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race” topped Britain's bestseller list; Reni became the first black British author to achieve that. Elsewhere she has written for the New York Times and Vogue, among other publications. We spoke to Reni about starting out in journalism, writing “Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race” and the experience of its success.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.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.

For the 200th episode of Always Take Notes Simon and Rachel speak with the novelist Frederick Forsyth. He began his career in the Royal Air Force in 1956, before leaving to pursue journalism. Frederick worked for Reuters, the BBC, and as a freelancer; part of his early career was spent covering French affairs, including the attempted assassination of Charles de Gaulle. That provided the inspiration for "The Day of the Jackal", his first novel, which was published in 1971. Frederick's subsequent thrillers include "The Odessa File", "The Dogs of War," "The Fourth Protocol" and "The Fist of God", and he has sold over 70 million books worldwide. He also had extensive involvement with MI6 - the British overseas intelligence agency - starting in the 1960s. Many of Frederick's works have been adapted for the screen, including a new TV version of "The Day of the Jackal", which premiered in 2024. We spoke to Frederick about his career as a foreign correspondent, turning to fiction with "The Day of the Jackal", and his relationship with the intelligence services.  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. 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.

Actor Martin Clunes, who although now has hung up his stethoscope, will forever be Doc Martin for some. But, these days he's busy meeting remarkable animals; from search-and-rescue dogs to mine-sniffing rats and therapy horses. The mighty Sabrina Pace-Humphreys is here, she's a trailblazing ultra-runner, author and activist, who not only tackles gruelling terrain but also breaks down barriers; encouraging diversity every step of the way. Richard Armitage is an actor, author and voice-over artist who has thrilled us for over two decades - from Spooks, The Hobbit and North & South to Harlan Coben's hit Netflix dramas - making him the only man on the programme for whom spying, dragons and Victorian etiquette are all in a day's work.All that, plus we have the Inheritance Tracks of the comedian, broadcaster and soon to be celebrity gladiator contestant...Ellie Taylor. Presenters: Nikki Bedi and Huw Stephens Producer: Ben Mitchell

Linda discusses founding the sex crimes unit of the Manhattan DA's office - first in the nation - and when Mariska Hargitay and Dick Wolf shadowed her to help develop the concept for the new show Law & Order: SVU, recounts writing her first novels while still working more than full time as a prosecutor, her writing process for her bestselling Alex Cooper novels, addresses the responsibility of filmmakers of the growing number of docu-series that are often fictionalized for dramatic effect and the mounting number of lawsuits against Netflix, her all-star dinner group of top mystery writers (including Nelson DeMille, Lee Child, Harlan Coben and Mary Higgins Clark), and Linda and I make a toast to the memory of the great Nelson DeMille.