Franz Wild on investigating the rich and powerful
Simon and Rachel speak to Franz Wild, who has been the Bureau of Investigative Journalism's CEO and editor-in-chief since July 2025. Previou...
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Always Take Notes
Always Take Notes is a fortnightly podcast from London for and about writers and writing. Hosts Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd speak to a diverse range of people in the industry on a variety of...
Episodes
20 of 250 episodes
Charlotte Mursell on working at Mills & Boon, the romantasy boom and spotting a bestseller
In this episode Rachel and Simon speak to Charlotte Mursell, publisher at Orion Fiction. Charlotte started her career at the romance publish...
David Walsh on his 13-year pursuit of cycling drug cheat Lance Armstrong and whether collision sports have a future
Simon and Rachel speak to David Walsh, chief sports writer at the Sunday Times. David began his career reporting for the Leitrim Observer in...
Madeleine Milburn on running her own literary agency, discovering "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" and what makes a perfect book-club book
Rachel and Simon speak to the literary agent Madeleine Milburn. She started her career in publishing as a foreign rights assistant at A P Wa...
Matt Haig on his early struggles as a literary novelist and the unexpected success of his memoir "Reasons to Stay Alive"
Simon and Rachel speak to the novelist and non-fiction writer Matt Haig. Matt's work includes the novels "The Humans", "How to Stop Time" an...
Amanda Harris on the economics of publishing, setting up her own literary agency and what makes a worthwhile celebrity book
Rachel and Simon speak to the literary agent Amanda Harris. Amanda started her publishing career in publicity, first at Pan Macmillan, then...
Jeff Maysh on optioning dozens of his magazine stories to film and TV production companies and the roots of his interest in crime
Simon and Rachel speak with the journalist Jeff Maysh. Jeff's work, specialising in narrative non-fiction with cinematic structure, and focu...
Vicki Willden-Lebrecht on screens, the reading crisis and building a business around illustrated children's books
Rachel and Simon speak with the literary agent Vicki Willden-Lebrecht. Vicki set up The Bright Agency in 2003; today the company represents...
Tom Rob Smith on his bestselling debut "Child 44", screenwriting for the BBC and FX, and taking a different approach in his new novel "Twenty Years Together"
Simon and Rachel speak with the novelist and screenwriter Tom Rob Smith. Tom wrote his first novel, "Child 44", about a serial killer in Sov...
Siri Hustvedt talks about her marriage to the novelist Paul Auster - and writing about him after his death in “Ghost Stories”
Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist and essayist Siri Hustvedt. Born in Minnesota in 1955 to a Norwegian mother and American father, Si...
John Lanchester on his novelistic portrayal of London on the brink of a financial crisis in "Capital" and intergenerational strife in his new book "Look What You Made Me Do"
Simon and Rachel speak with the novelist and journalist John Lanchester. John has written six works of fiction including "The Debt to Pleasu...
Kathryn Stockett on the success (and controversy) of "The Help" and taking 17 years to publish a follow-up novel, "The Calamity Club"
Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist Kathryn Stockett. Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Kathryn moved to New York after universi...
Michael Morpurgo on how his novel about a horse in the First World War gained a spectacular second life on stage and screen
In an episode recorded live in Bristol, Simon and Rachel speak with the children's author Michael Morpurgo. A former primary-school teacher,...
Lauren Groff on book bans, artificial intelligence and what novels set in the past reveal about the present
Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist and short-story writer Lauren Groff. Lauren is the bestselling author of the novels "The Monsters o...
Jason Burke on his career as a foreign correspondent and unravelling 1970s terror networks in his new book
Simon and Rachel speak to Jason Burke, the international security correspondent for the Guardian. Jason has been a foreign correspondent for...
Katy Hessel on making museums accessible, writing "The Story of Art without Men" and the value of an art-history degree
Rachel and Simon speak to the art historian and author Katy Hessel. While working at a London art gallery, Katy set up @thegreatwomenartists...
Doug Naylor on creating iconic 80s and 90s TV, a hit novelty song and books for children
Simon and Rachel speak with Doug Naylor, who co-created the hit 1990s science-fiction comedy "Red Dwarf". After abandoning his university st...
Mary Beard on "The Odyssey", "Gladiator 2" and why popular culture is always in dialogue with the ancient world
Rachel and Simon speak with the author and academic Mary Beard. Mary is a professor emerita of classics at Cambridge University and the Clas...
Jacques Testard on setting up Fitzcarraldo Editions, publishing fiction in translation and those blue-and-white covers
Simon and Rachel speak to Jacques Testard, the founder and publisher of Fitzcarraldo Editions, an independent house based in London that, si...
Nicole Vanderbilt on how Bookshop.org is taking on Amazon through recommendations, not algorithms
In this episode Rachel and Simon speak to Nicole Vanderbilt, managing director of Bookshop.org in the UK. She joined Bookshop - an online bo...