Podcast appearances and mentions of Zahra Hankir

On the next episode of A2 THE SHOW, we're joined by Zahra Hankir, Lebanese author and journalist of Egyptian and Palestinian heritage. Her acclaimed books Our Women on the Ground and Eyeliner explore identity, resistance, and the power of storytelling.We talk about her Palestinian roots, the role of Arab women journalists, and how beauty can be a form of cultural expression and defiance.

In this month's Jen Hatmaker Book Club episode, we speak with the author of A Woman of Intelligence, Karin Tanabe. In this fascinating interview, we learn that Karin originally set out to write a book about WWII women code breakers, but ended up turning it into an ode to the struggles of women finding themselves during early motherhood and the imminent right they have to a future chosen for themselves. The story follows a woman in the 50's who sets out on a spy adventure, departing wildly from her mundane life, and making difficult choices that come with choosing yourself over society's whims. Jen and Karin personally and candidly reflect on the pressures of motherhood, the erasure of self that can come with parenting full time, and the history that brought us to where we are today. Some topic points include:  The fascinating pivot from Tanabe's original book pitch to the creation of "A Woman of Intelligence" Discussion of rarely-taught aspects of U.S. history, including government-funded childcare during WWII Tanabe's approach to crafting complex characters, including the memorable mother-in-law The careful construction of the novel's open-ended finale Join Jen and Karin for an engaging conversation that will leave you eager to dive into "A Woman of Intelligence" and reflect on how far we've come – and how far we still have to go. * * * Resources & Books Mentioned in This Episode: A Woman of Intelligence by Karin Tanabe - https://bit.ly/47GdbxI The Sunset Crowd by Karin Tanabe - https://www.karintanabe.com/copy-of-the-list A Hundred Suns - https://www.karintanabe.com/a-hundred-suns Karin's Booklist - https://www.karintanabe.com/books-w3tou Elizabeth Bentley - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Bentley The Lanham Act of 1940 (Government-Subsidized Health Care) - https://bit.ly/3XS2Uen The Red Scare - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Scare The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan - https://bit.ly/4evbYLG Private Equity: A Memoir by Carrie Sun - https://bit.ly/3Bbgy3w Eyeliner by Zahra Hankir - https://bit.ly/4gDgdqC Guest's Links: Karin's Website: https://www.karintanabe.com/ Karin's Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/karintanabe Karin's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karintanabe Karin's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkarintanabe Connect with Jen! Jen's website - https://jenhatmaker.com/ Jen's Instagram - https://instagram.com/jenhatmaker Jen's Twitter - https://twitter.com/jenHatmaker/ Jen's Facebook - https://facebook.com/jenhatmaker Jen's YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/JenHatmaker The For the Love Podcast is a production of Four Eyes Media, presented by Audacy.  Four Eyes Media: https://www.iiiimedia.com/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zahra Hankir is the author of the book Eyeliner: A Cultural History. She brings Dylan to three places across the globe where eyeliner plays a key cultural role: Egypt, Chad, and Los Angeles.

This episode was recorded on March 27th, 2024.Zahra Hankir is a Lebanese-British journalist, editor and author. She was awarded a Jack R. Howard Fellowship to attend the Columbia Journalism School and holds degrees in politics and Middle Eastern studies. Her first book "Our Women on the Ground" was a bestseller and won the Susan Koppelman award for best anthology in feminist studies. This second book "Eyeliner: A Cultural History" was a New York Times Book Review Editors' pick and had starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal.Connect with Zahra

Seen through Zahra Hankir's eyes, Eyeliner becomes a portal to history, proof both of the stunning variety among cultures and our shared humanity.Hankir's intimate reporting and conversations—with nomads in Chad, geishas in Japan, dancers in India, drag queens in New York, and more— She embraces the rich history and significance of eyeliner and its history. Listen to our conversation with Hankir about Eyeliner and its cultural history.

Maalvika sits down with Lebanese-British journalist and author, Zahra Hankir to talk about her latest book, Eyeliner: A Cultural History. Hankir reveals the rich history of eyeliner and its role in social movements, performances, and everyday life. From ancient Egypt to modern Bollywood, there are over three thousand years of rich history she does justice by examining the place eyeliner holds in society. In this conversation, the ladies discuss Drag Queens and Cholas and men in Arabia, and how, for many, eyeliner isn't just makeup, but an extension of who they are. Plus, two favorite topics: feminist resistance and online beauty culture. Follow Maalvika's personal Instagram: @maalvikabhat and the Podcast Instagram: @showmehowgooditgetspodcast & feel free to shoot a DM if you have topics you'd like to see covered in an episode! Also, check out Maalvika's Tiktok: @maaltoks for even more content. Love you! I hope it gets good.

William Shakespeare once said that the eyes are the window to the soul. We make eye contact with others to show that we're listening, to connect, or simply as a way of saying, "I see you."Cultures around the world have understood the power of eyes for centuries. If you travel to India, Chad, Japan, Iran, or just around the corner from your house, you'll probably see the same thing around the eyes of the people who live there: eyeliner. In her new book, "Eyeliner: A Cultural History," Lebanese-British journalist Zahra Hankir explores beauty, power, identity, and resistance through the lens of the iconic cosmetic. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Elvis, Nefertiti, Elizabeth Taylor, Amy Winehouse och Robert Smith. Alla har de sotat sina ögon svarta med hjälp av kohl, kajal och eyeliner. Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radio Play. Ögat är en kroppsdel som vi alltid – eller i alla fall under de senaste 6000 åren, minst – har försökt försköna, förhöja och förstora på olika vis med hjälp av smink. Och ungefär lika länge har förmanande röster om det onödiga, och odygdiga, med att sminka ögonen höjts. Inte sällan som man samtidigt dissade dem som gillade att klä sig i snygga kläder och smycken.Under antiken, genom renässansen och ända in i vår tid så har det alltid funnits falanger som menat att skönhet inte kan sminkas fram med hjälp av kohl och kajal runt ögonen.Men idag får man nog säga att denna typ av kritiker är i minoritet. För försäljningen av ögonsmink bara ökar och ökar, och allra mest ökar försäljningen av eyeliner och ögonpennor. Det visar en sprillans färsk undersökning av det internationella researchföretaget ”360 Research Reports”.I veckans program träffar vi konstnären Marie-Louise Ekman som är känd för att sminka sina ögon på nyskapande sätt. Vi pratar också med författaren Zahra Hankir, aktuell med boken Eyeliner: A Cultural History, om varför eyelinern är så mycket mer än bara smink. Vi reder också ut vad sminktrenden som går under namnet “unapproachable makeup” egentligen handlar om. Och så tar vi reda på vad som händer om man under ett slutar att spegla sig.

Is there a more universally used beauty product than eyeliner? Not according to author Zahra Hankir, who chats with Lale about her new book Eyeliner: A Cultural History, which looks at the meaning and symbolism of kohl around the world, from Kyoto to Chad, as well as throughout the Middle East—and dives into her own personal history with the enduring piece of makeup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new book about the history of eyeliner spans continents and centuries. Author Zahra Hankir joins us to discuss, 'Eyeliner: A Cultural History', and take calls from listeners about what their eye makeup means to them.  

For centuries, eyeliner has been seen as a staple, and often the only beauty item some women and men wear. In culture journalist Zahra Hankir's latest book, "Eyeliner: A Cultural History," readers learn how eyeliner isn't just some superficial beauty hack and that in many cultures around the world, it has been revolutionized and popularized by people of color for medicinal purposes, authority and its cultural ties.

People of all genders have rimmed their eyes with pigment for thousands of years. But as Zahra Hankir explains in her new book on the history of eyeliner, its use goes far beyond aesthetics. Eyeliner has also served as a vehicle for identity, self-expression, empowerment and protest. Bedouin men in the deserts of Arabia have worn it to repel the sun – and attract potential mates. Egyptian Queen Nefertiti's celebrated beauty centered on her perfectly winged lines. In modern-day Iran, women wear eyeliner as a form of resistance against an oppressive regime. Hankir joins us to discuss “Eyeliner: A Cultural History.” Guests: Zahra Hankir, author, "Eyeliner: A Cultural History," and "Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World" - Hankir is a Lebanese-British journalist

Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes spoke publicly about her sexuality for the first time last year. Her new memoir, Unique, details how serving in the military in the late 1980s - when it was illegal to be gay in the military – was a major factor in contributing to her decades-long silence. She joins us to speak about her experience. After a reshuffle that left the government with no women in the “big four” offices of state, we speak to Justice Secretary Alex Chalk about the impact of the reshuffle as well as sentencing reforms which will affect women. From Nefertiti to Amy Winehouse, what is the personal and political power of eyeliner? We discuss with Zahra Hankir, author of Eyeliner: A Cultural History. Tish Murtha is a celebrated photographer whose images of working-class life in North East England can be found in the National Portrait Gallery and Tate Britain. But in her lifetime, Murtha struggled to find work of any kind. Now her daughter, Ella, has made a film about Murtha's life and work. We speak to Ella and producer of the documentary, Jen Corcoran. How is our interaction with AI shifting our concepts of intimacy and sexuality as humans? We discuss with Kate Devlin, Reader in Artificial Intelligence & Society at King's College London, and to Trudy Barber, Senior Lecturer at Portsmouth University in Media Studies. In April 2020, Debenhams in Ireland closed all 11 of its stores, informing its staff they had been let go in the process. What ensued were pickets and protests across Ireland that lasted for 406 days. As a new film is released on the subject, we're joined by two women who were involved, Carol Ann Bridgeman and Jane Crowe.

William Shakespeare once said that the eyes are the window to the soul. We make eye contact with others to show that we're listening, to connect, or simply as a way of saying, "I see you."Cultures around the world have understood the power of eyes for centuries. If you travel to India, Chad, Japan, Iran, or just around the corner from your house, you'll probably see the same thing around the eyes of the people who live there: eyeliner. In her new book, "Eyeliner: A Cultural History," Lebanese-British journalist Zahra Hankir explores beauty, power, identity, and resistance through the lens of the iconic cosmetic. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find out how to connect with us by visiting our website.

Kohl. Mebari. Kajal. Eyeliner. It may go by many names, but most people know exactly what this iconic makeup tool is, and how to use it to enhance their eyes. On this week's Getting Curious, journalist Zahra Hankir takes us on a journey through thousands of years of history to learn all about eyeliner. From Queen Nerfertiti in ancient Egypt to the Wodaabe community in Chad to the drag queens on Fire Island, we'll learn all about how people have used this amazing tool in the past, and how they just might use it in the future. Zahra Hankir is a Lebanese-British journalist who writes about the intersection of politics, culture and society. Her work has appeared in publications including Condé Nast Traveller, the Observer, Times Literary Supplement, BBC News, the Los Angeles Times, and The Rumpus. She was awarded a Jack R. Howard Fellowship in International Journalism to attend the Columbia Journalism School and holds degrees in politics and Middle Eastern studies. You can follow Zahra on Instagram @zahrahankir. Her book Eyeliner: A Cultural History is available now. Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Find books from Getting Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn. Our senior producer is Chris McClure. Our associate producer is Allison Weiss. Our engineer is Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall. Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com. Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zahra Hankir, a Lebanese British journalist and the editor of Our Women on the Ground, writes about the intersection of politics, culture, and society, particularly in the broader Middle East. Her work has appeared in publications including Condé Nast Traveler, The Observer Magazine, The Times Literary Supplement, BBC News, Al Jazeera English, Bloomberg Businessweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The Rumpus. She was awarded a Jack R. Howard Fellowship in International Journalism to attend the Columbia Journalism School and holds degrees in politics and Middle Eastern studies.

Cześć! W tym odcinku przyglądamy się książkom, których autorki na różne sposoby podważają zastane schematy. Mamy więc Angelę Davis, która wnikliwie analizuje seksizm, rasizm i kapitalizm, skupiając się przy tym na działaniach czarnych kobiet. Mamy bell hooks, która przygląda się mężczyznom w patriarchacie. I mamy niesamowite dziennikarki z Azji Zachodniej i Afryki Północnej, których głosy w jednym miejscu zebrała Zahra Hankir. W tym zbiorze tekstów autorki zastanawiają się nad tym, czym jest etyka w zawodzie reporterki, a także gdzie w ich kulturze jest miejsce dla kobiet. Ile dziennikarek, tyle odpowiedzi! Polecamy! Książki, o których rozmawiamy w podkaście, to: Angela Y. Davis, „Kobiety, rasa, klasa”, tłum. Dariusz Żukowski, Karakter; bell hooks, „Gotowi na zmianę. O mężczyznach, męskości i miłości”, tłum. Magdalena Kunz, Krytyka Polityczna; „Our women on the ground. Essays by Arab women reporting from the Arab world”, red. Zahra Hankir, Vintage. Za książkę bell hooks dziękujemy wydawnictwu Krytyki Politycznej. Mamy Patronite! Jeżeli chcesz dołączyć do naszego grona Matronek i Patronów, będziemy zaszczycone! Dla tych, którzy zdecydują się nas wspierać, mamy spersonalizowane książkowe rekomendacje, newslettery głosowe, podziękowania na stronie i wiele więcej! Szczegóły tutaj: https://patronite.pl/juztlumacze Zachęcamy do odwiedzin na naszym profilu na Instagramie: https://www.instagram.com/juz_tlumacze i na Facebooku https://www.facebook.com/juz.tlumacze oraz na naszej stronie internetowej https://juztlumacze.pl/ Intro: http://bit.ly/jennush

Zahra Hankir features nineteen Arab women journalists who speak out about what it's like to report on their changing homelands in this first-of-its-kind essay collection.A growing number of intrepid Arab and Middle Eastern sahafiyat—female journalists—are working tirelessly to shape nuanced narratives about their changing homelands, often risking their lives on the front lines of war.From sexual harassment on the streets of Cairo to the difficulty of traveling without a male relative in Yemen, their challenges are unique—as are their advantages, such as being able to speak candidly with other women at a Syrian medical clinic or with men on WhatsApp who will go on to become ISIS fighters, rebels, or pro-regime soldiers.

Loving Lebanon is one thing; living there is another. Generation after generation, surviving in the homeland sometimes costs too much. This essay was written and read by Zahra Hankir, and it was originally published in Guernica. The episode was produced by Alex Atack with support from Dana Ballout. Sound design and mixing was by Paul Alouf and Alex Atack. Bella Ibrahim is our marketing manager. Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $1 a month.

Journalist and writer Zahra Hankir talks about her work and publishing the fantastic collection "Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World." Connect with Zahra: https://instagram.com/zahrahankir / https://twitter.com/ZahraHankir/Created & Hosted by:  Mikey Muhanna , afikraEdited by: Ramzi RammanTheme music by: Tarek YamaniAbout the afikra conversation series:Our long-form interview series, hosted on Zoom, featuring academics and arts ‎and media experts who are helping document and/or shape the history and culture of the Arab world through their ‎work. Our hope is that by having the guest share their expertise and story, the community still walks away with new ‎found curiosity - and maybe some good recommendations about new nerdy rabbit holes to dive into head first. ‎Following the interview there is a moderated town-hall style Q&A with questions coming from the live virtual audience ‎on Zoom.‎ Join the live audience: https://www.afikra.com/rsvp  Follow afikra:‎Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/afikra/Patreon: https://patreon.com/afikraInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_/‎Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official/‎Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikraWebsite: afikra.comAbout afikra:‎afikra is a grassroots movement that has evolved into a global community dedicated to exploring the history and ‎culture of the Arab world. Starting in 2014 in NYC, our mission has always been two-pronged: cultivate curiosity and ‎to build community. We've hosted intimate salon-style events all over the world that feature in-depth presentations on ‎topics related to the Arab world, given by members of our community. What makes afikra different is that our ‎programs and platform is designed to engage our community to ask their own questions, and provide an open ‎community of peers who support each other as we all look for the answers together. Our vision is to build a global ‎community of curious minds who are interested in promoting intellectualism and deepening our communal ‎knowledge of the Arab region.‎

Zahra Hankir, journalist based in Beirut, reports on the situation there one month after an explosion at its port killed more than 200 people.

In this timely bonus episode of season 3, we interview Zahra Hankir, a Lebanese-British journalist who writes about the intersection of politics, culture, and society in the Middle East and Muslim communities around the world. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Vice, BBC News, Al Jazeera English, Businessweek, Roads & Kingdoms, and Literary Hub, among other publications. She was awarded a Jack R. Howard Fellowship in International Journalism to attend the Columbia Journalism School and holds degrees in politics and Middle Eastern studies from the American University of Beirut and the University of Manchester, respectively. She is the editor of the best-selling anthology Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World, which was published by Penguin Books in August 2019. How is Beirut rebuilding after the recent devastating explosion? What unique challenges are female journalists experiencing in the Arab World? How are they able to bravely tell local stories that need to be heard? What myths about life in the Middle East need debunking? Can the media be trusted? These questions and more will be explored in this latest powerful and eye-opening episode.  The Iridescent Podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Play. More about our guest Zahra Hankir: For more info, visit https://www.zahrahankir.com/ Follow Zahra on twitter @zahrahankir Follow Zahra on instagram @zahrahankir  Purchase your copy of Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World wherever books are sold.  Zahra is currently documenting first-person testimonies from survivors of the blast in Beirut. Read the 12 testimonies at https://medium.com/@ZahraHankir.

This is a conversation with Lebanese-British journalist and editor Zahra Hankir. She's the editor of the award-winning, best-selling anthology Our Women on the Ground which features 19 women reporters from the Middle East and North Africa. The book includes essay by Donna Abu-Nasr, Aida Alami, Hannah Allam, Jane Arraf, Lina Attalah, Nada Bakri, Shamael Elnoor, Zaina Erhaim, Asmaa al-Ghoul, Hind Hassan, Eman Helal, Zeina Karam, Roula Khalaf, Nour Malas, Hwaida Saad, Amira Al-Sharif, Heba Shibani, Lina Sinjab, and Natacha Yazbeck. Zahra spoke to me about the formation of this book and how she started following some of these reporters in the context of the 2011 uprisings throughout the region. I also asked her about how women reporters in the region navigate gender-based discrimination to get the stories they want told as well as her reflections on the politics of representation in the Western world. This advertisement at the beginning of the episode is by the Ethiopian group Egna Legna, which The Fire These Times supports. Please consider visiting their website, checking out their crucial work and seeing how you can help them fight the racist Kafala system and patriarchy in Lebanon. You can follow the podcast on Twitter @FireTheseTimes and Instagram @thefirethesetimes. If you like what I do, please consider supporting this project with only 1$ a month on Patreon or on BuyMeACoffee.com. You can also do so directly on PayPal if you prefer. Patreon is for monthly, PayPal is for one-offs and BuyMeACoffee has both options. Music by Tarabeat.

This edition Sharon Davis has a fascinating talk with Lebanese journalist, Zahra Hankir, about her new book - Our Women on the Ground: Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World.

Start your day the right way, with a stimulating discussion of the latest news headlines and hot button topics from The Advertiser and Sunday Mail. Today, hear from H M Naqvi (Writers' Week), Zahra Hankir (Writers' Week), Ben Law (Writers' Week).   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jenny divulges her top reads of 2019 and shares the top reads of sixteen other readers. All of us focus on books we read in 2019; they may or may not have been published in 2019. That's how regular readers work! If you listen past that section, there will also be some discussion of the Best of the Decade in reads and reading experiences.Thanks to all of you who participate, interact, and listen to the podcast! You have made this a marvelous year and decade.  Best wishes in the new year. The next episode will be all about reading goals, so feel free to share your 2020 reading goals with me and I might mention them.Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 176: Best of 2019 with Jenny and Menagerie.Subscribe to the podcast via this link: FeedburnerOr subscribe via Apple Podcasts by clicking: SubscribeOr listen through TuneIn Or listen on Google Play Listen via StitcherListen through Spotify  Books Mentioned: Life and Fate by Vasily GrossmanCastle of Water by Dane KuckelbridgeLent by Jo WaltonFrankissstein by Jeanette WintersonAgainst Memoir by Michelle TeaBrute: Poems by Emily SkajaThe Library of Small Catastrophes by Alison C. RollinsHalal if You Hear Me edited by Safia Elhillo and Fatimah AsgharCan You Forgive Her? by Anthony TrolloppeThe Old Wives' Tale by Arnold BennettThe Way to the Sea by Caroline CramptonThe Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells Foundation by Isaac AsimovTu by Patricia GraceThe Last Act of Love by Cathy RentzenbrinkAll Among the Barley by Melissa HarrisonEast West Street by Philippe SandsThe Great Believers by Rebekah MakkaiLost Children Archive by Valeria LuiselliThe Shape of the Ruins by Juan Gabriel VasquezBirdie by Tracey LindbergThey Will Drown in Their Mother's Tears by Johannes AnyuruThe Museum of Modern Love by Heather RoseCantoras by Caroline de RobertisThe Deeper the Water, the Uglier the Fish by Katya ApekinaGone with the Wind by Margaret MitchellThe Very Marrow of Our Bones by Christine HigdonThe Traveling Cat Chronicles by Hiro ArikawaMetro 2035 by Dmitry GlukhovskyIn the Distance by Hernan DiazMortality by Christopher HitchensTrain Dreams by Denis JohnsonConversations with Friends by Sally Rooney Normal People by Sally RooneyGirl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga TokarczukNobber by Oisin FaganWomen Talking by Miriam ToewsWhen Chickenheads Come Home To Roost by Joan MorganOur Women on the Ground edited by Zahra HankirThe Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan StradalSefira and Other Betrayals by John LanganStrange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi KawakamiThe Book of Night Women by Marlon JamesInto the Wild by Jon KrakauerFired Up by Andrew JohnstonThe Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne FadimanWhite Fragility by Robin DiAngeloThe Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls by Mona EltahawyThis Tilting World by Colette Bellous Other Mentions:Jenny's Full Best of 2019 ListJenny's Best of the Decade List Safia Elhillo and Fatimah Asghar reading at The StrandShedunnit Podcast Related Episodes:Episode 142 - Borders and Bails with Shawn MooneyEpisode 150 - Rife with Storytelling with Sara Episode 154 - Is If If with PaulaEpisode 157 - Joint Readalong of Gone with the Wind with Book Cougars Episode 159 - Reading Doorways with LindyEpisode 160 - Reading Plays with Elizabeth Episode 163 - Fainting Goats with Lauren Episode 166 - On Brand with Karen Episode 167 - Book Pendulum with Reggie Episode 173 - Expecting a Lot from a Book with Sarah Tittle  Episode 174 - Cozy Holiday Reads and TBR Explode 4 Episode 175 - Reading on Impulse with Marion Hill Stalk me online:Jenny at GoodreadsJenny on TwitterJenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy

We discuss some of our favorite books from the past year, and some titles we're excited to get our hands on soon.  Show Notes     Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World, ed. Zahra Hankir      Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem, tr. Sinan Antoon     Palestine + 100, ed. Basma Ghalayini     Palestine as Metaphor, by Mahmoud Darwish, tr. Amira El-Zein and Carolyn Forché       Room 304 or How I Hid from My Dear Father for 35 Years by Amr Ezzat, tr. Nora Amin and Yasmine Zohdi     Souls of Edo, by Stella Gaitano, is available from Rafiki Printing and Publishing     Celestial Bodies, by Jokha al-Harthi, tr. Marilyn Booth; you can watch the clip from their CNN interview on Twitter.     Sentence to Hope: A Sa'dallah Wannous Reader by Sa'dallah Wannous, tr. Nada Saab and Robert Myers     Cairo Since 1900: An Architectural Guide by Mohamed Elshahed     The Magnificent Conman of Cairo by Adel Kamel, tr. Waleed Almusharaf     Impostures by al-Hariri, translated by Michael Cooperson ·      In Pursuit of Enayat al-Zayat by Iman Mersal

Asmaa al-Ghoul was an ambitious young journalist when she started reporting on Gaza – her hometown – for the newspaper she’d dreamed of working for in high school. But through the trauma of uprisings, wars, and a failed marriage, she began to question how much journalism really matters. This week on Kerning Cultures, a special collaboration with Zahra Hankir as she reads Asmaa’s essay from her book Our Women on the Ground.  You can buy Our Women on the Ground on Amazon here. This episode was produced by Alex Atack, with editorial support by Dana Ballout, Tamara Rasamny and Hebah Fisher. Sound design by Mohamad Khreizat, and fact-checking by Zeina Dowidar. Thank you to Zahra Hankir for reading this essay, to Asmaa al-Ghoul, who wrote it, and to Mariam Antar, who translated it from Arabic. Kerning Cultures is a Kerning Cultures Network production. Support this podcast on Patreon for as little as $1 a month. Support the show.

We're joined by Zahra Hankir for Episode 69 of The Beirut Banyan, and we discuss the lead up to the October Revolt, and the central role of women shaping Lebanon's future. Zahra Hankir is a London-based Lebanese journalist who writes about the intersection of politics, culture, and society in the Middle East. She is the editor of Our Women on the Ground, a collection of essays by Arab women journalists reporting from the Arab world. If you're enjoying these episodes, help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing to our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/thebeirutbanyan And subscribe to our podcast from your preferred podcast platform. Follow us on Instagram: thebeirutbanyan Twitter: beirut_banyan Facebook: The Beirut Banyan Website: www.beirutbanyan.com Music by Marc Codsi. Graphics by Sara Tarhini.

How do we know what happens in a war zone? Most info comes from journalists—white, Western, male journalists. Zahra Hankir thinks it’s time we heard from a very different group: Arab women reporting from their communities.Zahra is the curator and editor of a new book: Our Women On the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World —a collection of powerful stories about living and working in conflict zones, all written by women.She first realized how important this work was in 2011, when she was a journalist working at Bloomberg in Dubai, holed up in a highrise trying to report from afar on the Arab Spring. Now she’s collected the work of 19 different journalists—from a Syrian American straddling multiple cultures during tremendous strife to a Yemeni woman explaining the perils of attempting to travel her country without a male relative as chaperone.The stakes are so high with so much of the coverage that these women do because they’re writing about their homelands and they’re writing about their neighborhoods and their villages… There is a level of intimacy there and there is a level of personal connection to the story that informs the way they approach the story, and they go through the struggle of having to remain impartial at the same time, even though it feels impossible.—Zahra Hankir, editor and curator of Our Women on the GroundWe talk about:Why it matters who we hear from, and which stories are centered in conflict reportingWhat it means to be impartial in journalism—and what to do when that’s impossibleThe challenges of being a reporter and a woman in the Arab worldWhy so many women journalists feel guilty pausing from their reporting to tell their own storiesHow hearing women’s stories changes our conception of the truthPlus: Passing the Bechdel test, black girls and horror films, the problem of avoiding politics talk, and, on a lighter note...it’s finally clog season, baby!Links:The book: Our Women On the GroundZahra’s websiteZahra on Instagram and Twitter

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

Diversity in reporting is vital to news that conveys differing perspectives. We speak with Zahra Hankir, journalist and author of Our Women on the Ground to learn more about this issue and some of the stories of these courageous female journalists who’ve risked their lives to report from within the Middle East.

Author Shawn Levy reveals the secrets of Hollywood’s most hedonistic – and iconic – hotel: the Chateau Marmont. Plus Norwegian cult singer-songwriter Jenny Hval tells us about her eagerly anticipated new album ‘The Practice of Love’. We also hear from Lebanese-British journalist Zahra Hankir, editor of ‘Our Women on the Ground’, a new book detailing the experiences of female journalists in the Arab world.

In this episode of the Stratfor podcast, we hear from Zahra Hankir, a journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon, about a collection of essays she has compiled. The essays are a unique - and unprecedented - look into the lives of 19 women journalists who report for western media from and about the Middle Eastern and Arab world. From breaking with traditional female roles to reporting on civil war and its aftermath, these essays provide a remarkable glimpse into an often misunderstood world.

This week, Liberty and Rebecca discuss Hollow Kingdom, The Right Swipe, God Land, and more great books. This episode was sponsored by Book Riot Insiders, Penguin Random House and House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig, and David Baldacci’s One Good Deed. Pick up an All the Books! 200th episode commemorative item here. Subscribe to All the Books! using RSS, iTunes, or Spotify and never miss a beat book. Sign up for the weekly New Books! newsletter for even more new book news. Books discussed on the show: Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton God Land: A Story of Faith, Loss, and Renewal in Middle America by Lyz Lenz  The Vexations by Caitlin Horrocks The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker Notes from a Young Black Chef: A Memoir by Kwame Onwuachi and Joshua David Stein A Particular Kind of Black Man by Tope Folarin My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite What we're reading: The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel  The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern More books out this week: Let’s Call it a Doomsday by Katie Henry Outfox by Sandra Brown Agrippina: The Most Extraordinary Woman of the Roman World by Emma Southon Girl on the Block: A True Story of Coming of Age Behind the Counter by Jessica Wragg The American Dream?: A Journey on Route 66 Discovering Dinosaur Statues, Muffler Men, and the Perfect Breakfast Burrito by Shing Yin Khor The Dutch Maiden by Marente de Moor, David Doherty (translator) The Dragon Republic by R. F Kuang In Other Words: An Illustrated Miscellany of the World's Most Intriguing Words and Phrases by Christopher J. Moore Summerlings: A Novel by Lisa Howorth Heaven's Breath: A Natural History of the Wind (New York Review Books Classics) by Lyall Watson Swipe Right for Murder by Derek Milman When I Was White: A Memoir by Sarah Valentine Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law by Haben Girma Life and Other Inconveniences by Kristan Higgins Nottingham by Nathan Makaryk Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge A Crash of Fate by Zoraida Cordova Mitz: The Marmoset of Bloomsbury by Sigrid Nunez and Peter Cameron The Hotel Neversink by Adam O'Fallon Price  A Swirl of Ocean by Melissa Sarno The Runaway by Hollie Overton I Know Everything by Matthew Farrell To the Wren: New and Collected Poems by Jane Mead The Gossamer Mage by Julie E. Czerneda The Long Accomplishment: A Memoir of Struggle and Hope in Matrimony by Rick Moody The Women of the Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell Be Recorder: Poems by Carmen Giménez Smith A Pure Heart: A Novel by Rajia Hassib Berta Isla: A novel by Javier Marías Travel Light, Move Fast by Alexandra Fuller The Dishwasher (Biblioasis International Translation Series) by Stéphane Larue and Pablo Strauss All the Water in the World: A Novel by Karen Raney The Perfect Wife: A Novel by JP Delaney Ziggy, Stardust and Me by James Brandon The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware Sea Witch Rising by Sarah Henning White Flights: Race, Fiction, and the American Imagination by Jess Row The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love with Me by Keah Brown A Nice Cup of Tea by Celia Imrie The Wolf Wants In: A Novel by Laura McHugh Lost You: A Novel by Haylen Beck Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World by Zahra Hankir and Christiane Amanpour House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino City of Windows by Robert Pobi Valerie: A Novel by Sara Stridsberg, Deborah Bragan-Turner (translator) Because You're Mine: A Novel by Rea Frey First Cosmic Velocity by Zach Powers Ellie and the Harpmaker by Hazel Prior Is There Still Sex in the City? by Candace Bushnell Hunter's Moon: A Novel in Stories by Philip Caputo The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán, Sophie Hughes (translator) We Are All Good People Here: A Novel by Susan Rebecca White Hello Girls by Brittany Cavallaro and Emily Henry In the Country of Women: A Memoir by Susan Straight Mayflower Lives: Pilgrims in a New World and the Early American Experience by Martyn Whittock Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood Love at First Like by Hannah Orenstein The Birthday Girl: A Novel by Melissa de la Cruz He by John Connolly Cornelius Sky by Timothy Brandoff Say You Still Love Me: A Novel by K.A. Tucker Careful What You Wish For: A Novel by Hallie Ephron Without a Prayer: The Death of Lucas Leonard and How One Church Became a Cult by Susan Ashline King of King Court by Travis Dandro Motherland: A Memoir of Love, Loathing, and Longing by Elissa Altman How the Light Gets In by Katy Upperman How to Fight Anti-Semitism by Bari Weiss  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Simon and Eleanor speak to Pandora Sykes, journalist and co-host of the hugely successful podcast the High Low. Pandora began her journalistic career at the Sunday Times, where she held the position of fashion features editor and wrote the Wardrobe Mistress column for the paper's Style magazine. She has written for numerous other titles including Elle, the Telegraph, the Guardian, Marie Claire, and the Spectator, and consults widely for a range of brands from Topshop to Cartier. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/when-hungry-bum-attacks-0gp0kqcg9q2 https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/how-bff-marketing-became-the-m-o-for-womens-direct-to-consumer-brands You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

In an episode recorded live at the Well Told longform journalism conference in London, Simon and Eleanor speak with author and journalist Andrew Hankinson. Hankinson has written magazine features for the Observer, Wired and Cosmo, and is author of literary nonfiction book You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life, a retelling of the last eight days of killer Raoul Moat and his stand off with the Northumbrian police in 2010. Hankinson spoke about why he chose to write in the rarely used second person and how he got the idea for his book, as well as how, as a result of bad editing and pay, he has stopped pitching to magazines. We hope you enjoy the episode. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Eleanor speak to Jennifer Croft, who won the 2018 Man Booker International Prize for her translation of Olga Tokarczuk’s Polish novel Flights. Jennifer, currently based in New York, has received a slew of other plaudits for her work, including NEA, Cullman, PEN, Fulbright and MacDowell awards, as well as the inaugural Michael Henry Heim Prize for Translation. Her work has appeared in publications including the New York Times, Granta, Vice, n+1 and the Guardian. We spoke to Jennifer about her entry into translation, her longstanding relationship with Tokarczuk, the potential role of artificial intelligence in translation and her own upcoming memoir Homesick, which she first wrote in Spanish. https://twitter.com/jenniferlcroft You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks to Alex Perry, who is a reporter, author and writer for film and television. His books include The Good Mothers, about the women who exposed the true might of the Calabrian mafia, which was excerpted in the New Yorker. His journalism has additionally appeared in The Guardian, The Sunday Times magazine, TIME, Newsweek, and other publications. Alex spoke to Simon about his first overseas assignment, what it's like reporting from danger zones including Afghanistan in 2001, working as a bureau chief in India and Africa, and how The Good Mothers is currently being developed into a television project. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

As snappy as we seem to like our information these days, each year there are innumerable books of non-fiction that explore our world in great depth and thoughtfulness. These works can help us see the world in a new way, by exploring previously murky arenas of culture, or taking focus on themes that rarely get much breathing space. We have two such authors in The Pod today. Kassia St Clair, whose books have charted the curious histories of colour and fabric and Zahra Hankir, whose forthcoming book compiles essays by women reporting on conflict in the Arab world. What they have in common: selling the value of stories that had been pushed to the periphery – and experiencing the painstaking, nerve-wracking process of getting them published.

Eleanor and Simon speak to Farrah Storr, editor-in-chief of the British edition of Cosmopolitan magazine. In her current role since 2015, Farrah was previously the launch editor of Women’s Health. She has won a slew of awards, including 'New Editor of the Year' in 2014 and 'Editor of the Year' (Men's and Women's category) in 2018 from the British Society of Magazine Editors, and is also author of the book The Discomfort Zone. Farrah spoke about the evolution of her career, whether 'women's magazine' is still a useful term, the position of reported journalism in Cosmopolitan and how the magazine now shows a wider variety of women's bodies than in the past. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks to Dan Franklin, associate publisher at Jonathan Cape and one of the most celebrated book editors in the United Kingdom. Franklin talked about how the world of books has evolved since he started his career in the 1970s, the experience of editing some of Britain's most well known literary novelists, including Ian McEwan and Julian Barnes, and also publishing some more eclectic books, including Michael Jackson's autobiography 'Moonwalk' and Madonna's 'Sex.' You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Eleanor speak with Rebecca Mead, a longtime staff writer at the New Yorker magazine who recently returned to the UK after many years in the United States. Rebecca spoke about her early career as a fact-checker, how she moved into writing her own features, first at New York magazine and later for the New Yorker, and lifted the lid on some of the internal processes at the celebrated magazine, from the process of assigning stories to the practicalities of spending months reporting individual assignments. She also spoke about My Life in Middlemarch, her book length tribute to George Eliot's great nineteenth century novel. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks with Mark Haddon, who won the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year award for his bestselling novel A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Haddon also teaches creative writing for the Arvon Foundation and Oxford University. He spoke to Simon about how writing and illustrating children's books provided a stepping stone to writing for adults, and about his very first (unpublished) novel, which could be published as a warning "for young men who think they're rather clever". Haddon also discussed the distance he keeps from Curious Incident, as well as his upcoming novel Porpoise. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Eleanor speaks with Alexa von Hirschberg, a senior commissioning editor at Bloomsbury Publishing. Alexa began her career in 2007 at Canongate Books. In 2008 she joined Bloomsbury as an editorial assistant, working with authors including Colum McCann, Lawrence Norfolk, Margaret Atwood and William Boyd. Today her list includes Kate Tempest, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Aminatta Forna, Alexei Sayle and Laurie Penny. We spoke about how Alexa found her way through the British publishing landscape, the experience of editing Reni Eddo-Lodge and the demands of writing cover copy for Margaret Atwood. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Eleanor speak to crime writer Ian Rankin, the multi-million copy bestseller of over thirty novels and creator of detective John Rebus. Ian's books have been translated into thirty-six languages and adapted for radio, the stage and the screen. He is the recipient of four Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Awards, including the Diamond Dagger, the UK’s most prestigious award for crime fiction. We spoke to Ian about the changing face of crime fiction, his struggles during his early years as a writer, and subsequently the lived experience of enormous literary success. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks with Hermione Lee, the biographer known for her lives of Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton, Willa Cather and Penelope Fitzgerald. She has chaired the judges of the Man Booker Prize, is a fellow of both the Royal Society of Literature and the British Academy, is published in the Guardian and regularly contributes to arts programmes on Radio 4. Until last year, Hermione was President of Wolfson College Oxford. Simon interviewed Hermione about her entry into academia, the process of writing biographies versus journalism, and the surprising misconceptions around biography as a genre. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Eleanor Halls and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Kassia speak with Richard Skinner, director of the fiction programme at the Faber Academy, one of a number of creative writing schools established outside the traditional university context in recent years. Richard created the academy's flagship 'Writing a Novel' six-month course in 2009 and since then has worked with hundreds of writers. Notable graduates include SJ Watson, whose debut novel Before I Go To Sleep became an international bestseller and Andreas Loizou, whose The Devil's Deal was translated into nine languages. In his own life Richard is a novelist, poet and critic. We spoke about how the Faber Academy course works, and also put to him some of the common criticisms levelled at creative writing programmes. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia and Simon speak with Cal Flyn, a Scottish author and journalist. Cal worked as an investigative reporter for The Sunday Times and data reporter at the Telegraph before turning to literary non-fiction. Her first book Thicker Than Water, which dealt with colonialism in Australia and intergenerational guilt, was published in 2016 and selected by The Times as one of the best books of the year. Her second book, Islands of Abandonment, is expected in 2021. We spoke to Cal about breaking into, and breaking out of, newspaper journalism, about the complexities of writing about her own family, and the art of navigating the world of literary grants and residencies. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia and Simon speak to Rory Stewart, the MP for Penrith and the Border and the author of Occupational Hazards and The Places in Between, a New York Times bestseller. We spoke to him about his influences and how his feelings about walking memoirs and travel literature have evolved. He also spoke in greater depth about how he came to write The Places in Between and how his relationship with his father was pivotal to his most recent book, The Marches. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks to Clare Conville, the co-founder of literary agency C+W (formerly Conville and Walsh). Listed by the Observer as one of “Our top 50 players in the world of books”, Clare previously worked as an editor at Random House, before co-founding Conville & Walsh in 2000. Between them Clare’s clients have won or been nominated for nearly every major literary prize in the UK, including the Man Booker Prize, the Orwell Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction. We discussed the development of Clare's career, her long standing interest in children's writing, the art of selling a book and the change in the literary climate fostered by creative writing courses. http://cwagency.co.uk/agent/clare-conville http://cwagency.co.uk/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia and Simon chat to Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times since 2005. We discussed his early career in journalism, which included stints at The Scotsman and a fellowship at the Washington Post, before his move to the Financial Times. He also spoke about his plans for the newspaper, both when he first took over as editor in 2005 and how these may have changed more recently as the idea of globalism has become more fraught. We also discussed some recent pieces he's been involved with, including the controversial interview with Steve Bannon. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Kassia speak to Joanne Harris, author of the 1999 novel Chocolat, which was filmed a year later starring Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench and Johnny Depp, as well as numerous other best sellers including Gentleman and Players, Runelight and Peaches For Monsieur le Curé. Joanne talked about her early career as a teacher, dealing with unhelpful advice, the experience of writing a huge best-seller and subsequent movie adaptation, and her prolific, and occasionally acerbic, presence on social media. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Olivia Crellin edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Kassia speak to Niall Ferguson, conservative historian and author of The Ascent of Money and The Pity of War. He talked about his career, financial pressures and the dynamics of writing as a popular historian in the world of academia. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Ed Kiernan edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Kassia speak to Louisa Joyner, editorial director at publisher Faber & Faber. Louisa moved to Faber in 2016 from Canongate, and previously worked at HarperCollins, where she published Costa Book of the Year winner Nathan Filer’s The Shock of the Fall and commissioned Curtis Sittenfeld's re-write of Pride and Prejudice - Eligible. Louisa spoke to us about entering publishing from academia, her approach to the editorial process, where Faber fits in today's market, and where she sees the industry going in future. https://twitter.com/louisajoyner You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Liz Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia speaks to Jeremy Gavron, author of The Book of Israel, (winner of the Encore award), A Woman on the Edge of time and Felix Culpa, a novel pieced together from lines from over eighty other books. Jeremy spoke honestly about many of the relationships that have informed his work, including those with agents and editors and also with his mother, whose story he tells in A Woman on the Edge of Time. https://scribepublications.co.uk/books-authors/books/felix-culpa https://scribepublications.co.uk/books-authors/books/a-woman-on-the-edge-of-time1 You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Olivia Crellin edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia and Simon speak to Lucy Hughes-Hallett, author of The Pike, a biography of Italian rake Gabriele d'Annunzio, which won all three of the UK's most prestigious prizes for non-fiction for 2013 - The Duff Cooper Prize, the Samuel Johnson Prize, and the Costa Biography of the Year award. Lucy spoke to us about the rhythms of her work, her relationship with agents and publishers, and her literary treatment of heroism. https://lucyhugheshallett.com/ https://twitter.com/lucyhh You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Ed Kiernan edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia and Simon speak to Jonathan Shainin, who runs the Long Read section of the Guardian. He spoke to us about his nomadic career, which took him from New York (and the New Yorker), to Abu Dhabi, India, and back to New York, before coming to London to set up the Long Read in 2014. Jonathan discusses the differences between US and UK editing styles, where the Long Read fits into the wider Guardian ecosystem, and how venturing abroad can fit into the career of an editor as well as a writer. https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/the-long-read https://twitter.com/gdnlongread You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Elizabeth Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia and Simon speak to romance novelist Julia Kelly about her portion of the literary universe - romance fiction is a billion-dollar industry. Julia talked to us about how she came to write her first books, the importance of marketing and social media for romance writers, the pros and cons of self-publishing in this genre, and why the happy ending remains non-negotiable. She also discussed the impact of the #metoo movement on the world of romance. http://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/authors/Julia-Kelly/575597749 https://www.juliakellywrites.com/ http://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/The-Light-Over-London/Julia-Kelly/The-Matchmaker-of-Edinburgh-Series/9781501172922 You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Olivia Crellin edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia and Simon interview screenwriter and playwright Peter Moffat, whose work includes the series Cambridge Spies, Criminal Justice - later the basis of HBO's The Night of - and Silk, as well as the TV films Hawking and Einstein & Eddington. Peter spoke about moving from his early career as a lawyer into writing, the distinctions between British and American approaches to producing TV drama, and the role of both intensive research and muzak-free coffee shops in his writing routine. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0595584/ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hbos-night-how-peter-moffat-who-wrote-bbcs-original-version-inspired-story-915914 You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Ed Kiernan edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia and Simon interview Helen Lewis, deputy editor of the New Statesman. She spoke to us about what her current role entails, the training she received as a sub-editor at the Daily Mail (and what it was like to work there). Helen candidly discussed the importance of networking, feminism, sub-editing and longform journalism. She also revealed a brilliant tip for powering through writers' block. https://www.newstatesman.com/2016/01/where-bodies-are-buried-0 https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/27/hot-feminist-by-polly-vernon-reducing-revolution-to-sloppy-self-help You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Elizabeth Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks to Max Hastings, the best-selling military historian and erstwhile foreign correspondent and newspaper editor. They discussed Max's early career - how 1960s and 70s Fleet Street really was, without the benefit of rose-tinted spectacles - his experiences in the Falklands in 1982, the development of his book writing, from early ventures to his doorstopper World War Two histories, and the evolution of military history as a genre. http://www.maxhastings.com/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Olivia Crellin edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia and Simon speak to Hannah Westland, the publisher at Serpent's Tail, an independent imprint that published Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin and Sarah Perry's The Essex Serpent. She spoke to us about her early career — she started out as a literary agent — some of the projects she's currently working on and the role of independent firms in the publishing marketplace. https://serpentstail.com/ https://twitter.com/hannahwestland?lang=en You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook atfacebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Ed Kiernan edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon speaks to Laura Palmer, publishing director for fiction at Head of Zeus, an independent publishing house in London. Laura co-founded Head of Zeus in 2012, having started her career at Quercus Books, and she also worked at Corvus, the commercial fiction imprint of Atlantic Books. We spoke about what 'commercial fiction' precisely means, whether 'women's fiction' is still a useful label, best practice for aspirant writers and editors, and whether the Kindle has boosted public appetite for erotica. http://headofzeus.com/ Sophie Hannah - Why and How I Plan My Novels https://sophiehannah.com/why-and-how-i-plan-my-novels/ Save the Cat! - A step-by-step guide to telling the perfect story https://www.amazon.co.uk/Save-Cat-Only-Screenwriting-Youll/dp/1932907009 Head of Zeus - Submissions portal http://headofzeus.com/submissions-login Head of Zeus - Internship application http://headofzeus.com/about-us You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Liz Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia and Simon chat to Ben Judah, the journalist and author of This is London and Fragile Empire. He told us about how he got into writing, the influence on his work of Polish reportage styles and why he's decided to take a little break from Twitter. (We were on Skype, so please excuse the odd rough patch.) https://www.amazon.co.uk/This-London-Life-Death-World/dp/1447274792 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fragile-Empire-Russia-Vladimir-Putin/dp/0300205228 http://standpointmag.co.uk/dispatches-jan-10-ben-judah-siberia-gulag-stalin http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/dispatches-january-february-2014-hunting-lynx-with-the-old-believers-ben-judah-tuva-siberia You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Ed Kiernan edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia and Simon interview Patrick Kingsley, a correspondent with the New York Times. Patrick previously covered migration and the Middle East for The Guardian, based in Cairo and Istanbul. His first book, How To Be Danish (2012), was an exploration of contemporary Danish society. His second book, The New Odyssey (2016), chronicled the European refugee crisis, and was one of NPR's books of the year. Now based in London, Patrick is also a past winner of the annual foreign reporting award at the British Journalism Awards. We spoke about how foreign correspondency works — the intricacies of fixers, bureau chiefs and deadlines, Patrick's motivation to go abroad, some of his major pieces for the Guardian, his earlier experiences of student journalism and how he has combined his newspaper reporting and book writing. https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2010/sep/06/gap-year-thailand-full-moon-party https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/22/cairo-prison-abu-zabaal-deaths-37-prisoners https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/09/hashems-journey-a-lesson-in-humility-and-heroism https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/world/middleeast/the-jihadi-who-turned-to-jesus.html?_r=0 You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Ed Kiernan edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Zahra Hankir is a London-based freelance journalist who is currently editing a book of essays by Arab women reporters for Penguin. She previously worked at Bloomberg News in Dubai before joining Facebook as a content specialist in 2016. Here, she discusses how to successfully pitch a non-fiction book, and her favourite journalistic tips and tricks, and skewed media coverage of the Middle East. "When the Arab Spring broke out, so many of my friends were doing such great coverage, Arab women from all around the region. But they were not commanding the narrative; the people commanding the narrative were Western males. The women’s voice is rarely heard. That doesn’t only shape the narrative, I think it distorts the narrative." Alphabet City is a series of conversations with women and non-binary writers, hosted and produced by Jessica Holland, with music by Megaflora.  

Kassia interviews Nikesh Shukla, a TV and fiction writer. We spoke about his novels Coconut Unlimited and Meatspace, and how he came to edit The Good Immigrant, the collection of essays about race and immigration and what it means to be a model "good immigrant" in the UK. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Olivia Crellin edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia and Simon interview Antony Beevor, the celebrated military historian. Best known as author of Stalingrad, the runaway success which on publication in 1998 transformed military history as a genre, Antony has also written on the Spanish Civil War, the battles of Crete and Berlin, and D-Day. His latest book Arnhem – The Last German Victory, will be published in May 2018. Antony, who is also a former chairman of the Society of Authors, has sold more than seven million books in 32 languages. They discussed Antony's early move from serving as an army officer to writing, the experience of an unexpected smash with Stalingrad, the techniques he uses to marshal vast quantities of material, and his creative collaboration with his wife Artemis Cooper, who is also a writer. http://www.antonybeevor.com/ https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/antony-beevor/5016/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Olivia Crellin edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon interviews Sam Knight, a British writer who works mainly for the Guardian and the New Yorker and specialises in longform pieces on unusual topics, such as the UK sandwich industry and the psychology of a stalker. They discuss his entry into journalism, his love of classic American nonfiction and how he puts features together. https://harpers.org/archive/2014/02/a-god-more-powerful-than-i/ https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/24/how-the-sandwich-consumed-britain https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/30/follow-the-white-ball You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Ed Kiernan edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia speaks to Joelle Owusu, an editor at Unbound, the innovative publishing company that aims to use crowd-funding to shake up the way books are produced, paid for and disseminated. Joelle explained how Unbound's business model works, how it compares to traditional publishing, and how they aim to give voice to writers that have traditionally faced a sceptical response from the industry. She also discussed her own career, which has seen her make an unlikely move from petroleum geology to editorial. https://unbound.com/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Liz Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia and Simon interview Candice Carty-Williams, senior marketing executive at Vintage Books. She spoke to us about the nuts and bolts of marketing a book and the role data play. She also discussed how she wrote her debut novel "Queenie", which was acquired by Orion earlier this year for a six-figure sum and will be published in 2019. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Olivia Crellin edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia and Simon spoke to Nick Summers, a features editor for Bloomberg Businessweek who at time of recording was based in London but is now in New York. Nick talked us through his commissioning and editing process and spoke about some fascinating pieces he's worked on recently including one on an Wall Street informant who double-crossed the FBI and another that looked into exactly what it is that IBM does (and whether it's any good at it). Stories discussed: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-03-23/-bro-i-m-going-rogue-the-wall-street-informant-who-double-crossed-the-fbi https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-05-22/ibms-eps-target-unhelpful-amid-cloud-computing-challenges You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Liz Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon interviews Oliver Franklin-Wallis, commissioning editor at British Wired. Oliver edits — and writes — longform features for the magazine. He discusses his background and entry to journalism, dos and don'ts of the pitching process and stories about the future of death, the Ebola crisis and the 'Hyperloop.' Stories discussed: http://www.wired.co.uk/article/alkaline-hydrolysis-biocremation-resomation-water-cremation-dissolving-bodies http://www.wired.co.uk/article/post-ebola-syndrome http://www.wired.co.uk/article/hyperloop-hype-machine Books discussed: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mountains-Mind-Fascination-Robert-Macfarlane/dp/1847080391 https://www.amazon.co.uk/H-Hawk-Helen-Macdonald/dp/0099575450 You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Liz Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia and Simon interview Kiran Millwood Hargrave, an award-winning children's novelist as well as a poet and playwright. She revealed what motivates her to write, her previous struggles with her mental health, and how she manages her finances. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-Stars-Kiran-Millwood-Hargrave/dp/1910002747 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-at-End-Everything/dp/1910002763/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=P971NT2SPAQHBKY75N6Y https://www.chickenhousebooks.com/authors/kiran-millwood-hargrave/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Olivia Crellin edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Kassia and Simon interview Tom Standage, deputy editor of The Economist. They spoke about Tom's long career at the publication, why there is a no-bylines policy and some of The Economist's newer projects, such as a virtual-reality reconstruction of the Mosul Museum in Iraq, containing artefacts destroyed by Islamic State in 2015. More information on this project can be found below: https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2016/05/virtual-reality You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Elizabeth Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon and Kassia interview literary agent Patrick Walsh, who runs PEW Literary in London and formerly co-founded Conville & Walsh. They discuss the complexities journalists can face moving into book writing, the art of the nonfiction proposal, the expansion of the Chinese market and the thrill of the deal. http://www.pewliterary.com/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Elizabeth Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Simon interviews Tom Jennings, director of the Logan Nonfiction Programme at the Carey Institute for Global Good in upstate New York in the US, where Simon stayed earlier this year. They spoke about Tom's career and the importance for writers of grants and fellowships like the one organised by the Carey Institute. If you're fascinated — or slightly intimidated — by residencies and grants, this episode is for you. More information on the Logan Programme and the Carey Institute is available at the links below: http://careyinstitute.org/programs/nonfiction/ http://careyinstitute.org/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and James Edgar designed our logo.

Kassia and Simon interview Alice Fishburn, editor of the Financial Times Weekend Magazine. They discuss how she got her start in journalism, where the magazine sits within the rest of the FT’s offerings, and why longform journalism seems to be valued less in the UK than the US. Some of the FT Weekend Magazine pieces mentioned in the interview are: ‘Has science cracked the peanut allergy?’: https://www.ft.com/content/682bb942-4583-11e7-8d27-59b4dd6296b8 ‘Out of road: driverless vehicles and the end of the trucker’: https://www.ft.com/content/2d70469c-140a-11e7-b0c1-37e417ee6c76 You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and James Edgar designed our logo.

Kassia interviews Irish novelist Sara Baume on the publication of her second book, 'A Line Made By Walking.' Sara spoke candidly about switching careers, what makes her write, how she got her first book deal and the financial realities of life as a full-time novelist. Her first book, published in 2015, was 'Spill Simmer Falter Wither. https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Line-Made-Walking-Sara-Baume/1785150413/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1501513781&sr=1-1&keywords=a+line+made+by+walking https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Line-Made-Walking-Sara-Baume/1785150413/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1501513781&sr=1-1&keywords=a+line+made+by+walking You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and James Edgar designed our logo.

Simon and Kassia interview Stig Abell, editor of the Times Literary Supplement and former managing editor of the Sun. Stig has also reviewed books for the Spectator and ran the Press Complaints Commission. We discussed his career, his plans for the TLS, the impact of Facebook on print media and why he remains optimistic about its future. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and James Edgar designed our logo.

Simon and Kassia interview Sharmaine Lovegrove, who is the publisher at Dialogue Books – a new Little, Brown imprint that aims to showcase work by writers neglected by traditional British publishing. Sharmaine has previously run a bookshop in Berlin, been literary editor of ELLE Magazine and co-founded Dialogue Scouts, a consulting company that looks for books to be adapted for film and television. Sharmaine talks about the importance of bringing new voices into the often cliquey world of British publishing, how she got her start in the industry, and what she aims to achieve at Dialogue. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and James Edgar designed our logo.

Kassia interviews Nicola Solomon, chief executive of the Society of Authors, the British trade union for all types of writers, illustrators and literary translators. The SoA specialises in protecting authors' interests in negotiations and disputes with agents and publishers. Nicola discusses freedom of expression, explains how the publishing industry has changed over the past century and how to get a fair book contract. www.societyofauthors.org/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and James Edgar designed our logo.

Simon and Kassia interview Peter Frankopan, a historian at Oxford University and director of the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research. His latest book 'The Silk Roads : A New History of the World' proved a No 1 bestseller all over the world, topping the nonfiction charts in India, Pakistan, China and the UK, where it remained in the Top 10 for 10 months. Peter discusses what it feels like to be at the centre of a publishing whirlwind, the unlikely circumstances in which he first got his literary agent, and his views on the current political scene. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and James Edgar designed our logo.

In this episode, Simon interviews Giles Wilson, the founding editor of the BBC News Magazine and now creative director at Harpoon Productions. Giles discusses how and why the BBC started commissioning longer written pieces online, and the future of longform journalism in the UK and beyond. The three stories Giles mentions are: * Reykjavik Confessions www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/…ec_7617/index.html * The Village and the Girl www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt…-a0eb-4ef064900f92 * The Uncatchable www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/…ec_8700/index.html You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook atfacebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. This episode was edited by Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Thanks to The Two Chairmen pub in Westminster for hosting our live events.

In the third episode of Always Take Notes, Simon and Kassia interview Laura Barber, publishing director at Portobello Books and editorial director at Granta. Laura discusses the differences between the two imprints she works on; how books can be both bought off-proposal from agents or — less often — commissioned by publishers; and the kinds of writing that she finds exciting. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook atfacebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. This episode was edited by Ed Kiernan. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Thanks to The Two Chairmen pub in Westminster for hosting our live events.

In the second episode of Always Take Notes, Simon and Kassia talk to Imogen Pelham. Imogen is a literary agent at Marjacq, an agency based in London, where she represents both literary fiction and non-fiction authors. She explains the mysteries of book advances and the different ways she sells novels and non-fiction to publishers. Imogen also spoke about how to get into the industry, and gives tips to aspiring authors and agents. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, @takenotesalways on Twitter, and facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Kassia St Clair and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. This episode was edited by Olivia Crellin. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Thanks to The Two Chairmen pub in Westminster for hosting our live events.

In the first episode of the Always Take Notes podcast Simon and Kassia interview Jonathan Beckman, the deputy editor of 1843 (the lifestyle and culture magazine from The Economist) and author of the award-winning 'How to Ruin a Queen.' Jonathan previously worked at the Literary Review, where he ran the Bad Sex Awards – indeed that's how Kassia first met him… You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, @takenotesalways on Twitter, and facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Kassia St Clair and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. This episode was edited by Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Thanks to The Two Chairmen pub in Westminster for hosting us.

This week Lebanese-British journalist Zahra Hankir joins us to speak about her book Eyeliner: A Cultural History, which is a deep dive into one of the world's oldest cosmetic practices. From its origins in Ancient Egypt to contemporary drag, we traverse the globe in a two-part episode to discuss the ways that eyeliner has connected us over more than 3,000 years of human history.Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion? Our website and classesOur InstagramOur bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titlesOur Sponsors:* Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/DRESSED* Check out Happy Mammoth and use my code DRESSED for a great deal: happymammoth.com* Check out Rakuten: www.rakuten.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/dressed-the-history-of-fashion/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In part II of this episode, we continue our conversation with Lebanese-British journalist Zahra Hankir who joins us all this week to speak about her book Eyeliner: A Cultural History, which is a deep dive into one of the world's oldest cosmetic practices. From its origins in Ancient Egypt to contemporary drag, we traverse the globe in a two-part episode to discuss the ways that eyeliner has connected us over more than 3,000 years of human history.Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion? Our website and classesOur InstagramOur bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titlesOur Sponsors:* Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/DRESSED* Check out Happy Mammoth and use my code DRESSED for a great deal: happymammoth.com* Check out Rakuten: www.rakuten.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/dressed-the-history-of-fashion/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy