23 APR 2024 · I spoke to Sally Hayden about her book My Fourth Time, We Drowned.  It's about people who tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Africa to Europe but ended up locked in detention centres in Libya. The book won the Orwell Prize and was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize. She describes it as a 'book of evidence'. We talked about:  - her early reporting on the story while working for Vice - the role played by business cards - the importance of making yourself contactable  - having to respond to sources at all hours - how the story took over her life - struggling to get the story commissioned - how journalism awards helped change that - warnings from MI6 that her life was in danger  - working out what the book would be  - finding an agent and publisher who believe in what you're doing - giving away her prize money You can buy her book here:  https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/my-fourth-time-we-drowned-seeking-refuge-on-the-world-s-deadliest-migration-route-sally-hayden/6026367 She recommended Against A Tide of Evil by Mukesh Kapila: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Against-Tide-Evil-Whistleblower-Twenty-First/dp/0991099338 And you can buy my books here: https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/andrew-hankinson Thanks for listening.

16 FEB 2024 · This episode features David Whitehouse discussing his Gordon Burn Prize-shortlisted nonfiction book About A Son. It's about Colin Hehir's battle to know the truth about his son's murderer. The book is written in second-person, which we get into. We also discuss why David switched from novels to nonfiction, his start in men's magazines, how he got the material for this book, and finally ethics, including a decision by David which surprised me. You can buy David's books here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/about-a-son-a-murder-and-a-father-s-search-for-truth-david-whitehouse/7277920 https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/bed-david-whitehouse/3460206 https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/mobile-library-david-whitehouse/3501647 https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-long-forgotten-david-whitehouse/165838 David recommended Stay True by Hua Hsu, which is here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/stay-true-winner-of-the-pulitzer-prize-in-memoir-hua-hsu/7512493 And you can buy my books here: https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/andrew-hankinson Thanks for listening.

2 FEB 2024 · In this episode I interviewed Keith Blackmore, who edited Philip Gould’s book When I Die, which was published after Philip had died. Philip was one of the architects of New Labour, but in 2011 he had cancer. Keith, then the deputy editor at The Times, started serialising an essay Philip had written about his experience, which later formed part of the book. A few months later, Philip died, after which his family asked Keith to edit this book, When I Die. In the interview we talk about how Keith became involved and the way newspaper editing can make for gripping narrative, but mostly we talked about how he gathered all the words Philip had left behind, Philip’s writing style, and how Philip documented his death so beautifully. You can buy the book here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/when-i-die-lessons-from-the-death-zone-philip-gould/1858616?ean=9780349139111 Keith also recommended A Death in Malta by Paul Caruana Galizia . You can buy that here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/a-death-in-malta-an-assassination-and-a-family-s-quest-for-justice-paul-caruana-galizia/7419825?ean=9781529151558 If you want to have a look at Tortoise, go here: https://www.tortoisemedia.com/ And finally, my books are here: https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/andrew-hankinson Thank you for listening.

26 JAN 2024 · A slightly different episode, this time I spoke to David Wolf, editor of The Guardian Long Read, about their new magazine-format publication comprising some of their best pieces. David previously worked for Prospect magazine, so we talked a bit about his road to becoming editor of Guardian Long Read, before getting into the mechanics of producing longform journalism, what can go wrong, and what the experience is at the editor's end of things. You can buy the magazine here: https://guardianbookshop.com/the-guardian-long-read-9781399968713 David recommended two books. which are here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crossing-Line-Year-Land-Apartheid/dp/0892553251 And here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/this-house-of-grief-helen-garner/482318?ean=9781399606806 And finally, you can buy my books here: https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/andrew-hankinson Thanks for listening.

8 DEC 2023 · I spoke to David James Smith about his book The Sleep of Reason, which is about the murder of James Bulger. David is a tremendous journalist who has written features for places like The Sunday Times Magazine and Esquire. We talked about his early career in journalism and how he came to be commissioned to write a book about the murder of James Bulger weeks after it happened. We spoke about the ethics of the book and how he wrote it, including ingratiating himself with the solicitor of one of the murderers, getting to know police and attending the trial. You can buy the book here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-sleep-of-reason-the-james-bulger-case-david-james-smith/3222824?ean=9780571340569 He recommended The New Journalism by Tom Wolfe: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/new-journalism-tom-wolfe/121601?ean=9780330243155 And my books are here: https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/andrew-hankinson Thanks for listening.

2 NOV 2023 · This is an interview with Will Storr about his book The Status Game, which was named a book of the year by The Times and was recently championed on Joe Rogan's podcast. Will is my friend and former features editor. We started off talking about how he got into journalism, his early Gonzo-influenced magazine work at Loaded, and how he shifted into becoming an award-winning journalist for broadsheets. We also talked about his other books, including The Science of Storytelling, which is about how and why people tell stories; we talked about when he went undercover with Nazis; about writing in the dark; and about working out how much he should be present in his books. You can buy Will's books here: https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/will-storr Will recommended Tom Kizzia's Pilgrim's Wilderness: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/pilgrim-s-wilderness-a-true-story-of-faith-and-madness-on-the-alaska-frontier-tom-kizzia/4407020?ean=9780307587831 And my books are here: https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/andrew-hankinson Thanks for listening.

3 MAY 2023 · This was a hugely revealing conversation with David Blum, who now works for Audible, but once wrote books. We started off talking about David's early journalism career, including the famous 1985 New York Magazine article about the Brat Pack, a phrase he coined. He then wrote the book Flash in the Pan which came out in 1992. It was about a New York restaurant, invested in by actor Matt Dillon. For 15 months David embedded himself at the restaurant as it was launched and slowly failed. We talked about why the book didn't sell well, the impact on his career, the reaction of those he was writing about, and his career afterwards, including the book having a second life after being championed by Anthony Bourdain, who called the book "painfully hilarious". We also talked about his techniques, how he got dialogue down, how he gained access not just at the restaurant but to the Brat Pack, and his use of raw material on the page. You can buy Flash in the Pan here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/flash-in-the-pan-david-blum/3506245?ean=9781439193778 David recommended George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London, which is here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/down-and-out-in-paris-and-london-george-orwell/4817584?ean=9780008442651 And finally, my books are here: https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/andrew-hankinson Thanks for listening.

6 FEB 2023 · For this episode I spoke to American writer Jo Ann Beard about her latest collection Festival Days and her previous collection The Boys of My Youth. We talked about fact, fiction, creative writing, journalism, how her experience of a workplace shooting in which people died changed her writing career, writing for the New Yorker, writing about death or proximity to death, how she feels about using people's stories, and how she constructs her work piece by piece, very, very slowly. I found out about Jo Ann's work from William Fiennes, who told me about an essay called The Fourth State of Matter, which is included in The Boys of My Youth and was published by the New Yorker. Here is a link to that essay: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/06/24/the-fourth-state-of-matter You can buy Festival Days here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/festival-days-jo-ann-beard/5000893?ean=9780316497220 You can buy The Boys of My Youth here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boys-My-Youth-Ann-Beard/dp/0316085251 She recommended Mothers of Sparta by Dawn Davies: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mothers-Sparta-Memoir-Dawn-Davies/dp/125013370X The other book she recommended was The Tender Land by Kathleen Finneran: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tender-Land-Family-Love-Story/dp/0618340742 Finally, you can buy my books here: https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/andrew-hankinson Thank you for listening.

30 DEC 2022 · For this episode I spoke to Sam Knight about his book The Premonitions Bureau, published by Faber. It's nonfiction, about a phsyciatrist, a journalist, and an experiment they ran for a while to see whether people could predict the future. I won't give the ending away. You can buy Sam's book here: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-premonitions-bureau-a-sunday-times-bestseller/9780571357567 The book he recommended is The Storm is Here by Luke Mogelson: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-storm-is-here-america-on-the-brink/9781529418712 And you can buy my books here: https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/andrew-hankinson Thanks for listening.

13 OCT 2022 · In this episode I interview Michela Wrong about her book Do Not Disturb, which is about the murder of Rwanda's former head of intelligence Patrick Karegeya. We talked about her interviews with people who had been asked to murder Karegeya, what it was like to criticise Rwandan president Paul Kagame, and how it felt when he responded on national television. We also discussed her experience reporting on the genocide and how the book addressed journalism's ability to report on such events. You can buy Michela's books here: https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/michela-wrong The book she recommended was Naples '44 by Norman Lewis: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/naples-44-an-intelligence-officer-in-the-italian-labyrinth/9780907871729 And finally is a link to my books: https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/andrew-hankinson Thanks for listening.