Always Take Notes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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