by 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 topics, from the mysteries of slush piles and per-word rates, to how data are changing the ways newspapers do business and how to pitch a book. patreon.com/alwaystakenotes
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
4/2/2017
Email Addresses
1 available
Phone Numbers
0 available
April 15, 2025
<p>Simon and Rachel speak with <a href="https://x.com/joshi?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Joshi Herrmann</a>, the founder of local journalism startup <a href="https://millmediaco.uk/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Mill Media</a>. Joshi founded The Mill, a newsletter covering Greater Manchester, as a one-man band in June 2020. The company now has staff writers and editors across six British cities: <a href="https://manchestermill.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Manchester</a>, <a href="https://www.glasgowbell.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Glasgow</a>, Birmingham, <a href="https://www.livpost.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Liverpool</a>, Sheffield and <a href="https://www.the-londoner.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">London</a>. Mill Media is known for deeply reported long reads and its paid newsletter model; it is read by more than 150,000 email subscribers. The company has received investment from figures including Sir Mark Thompson, chief executive of CNN and a former BBC director-general. Joshi was formerly editor-in-chief of <a href="https://thetab.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Tab Media</a>, and he has reported for the Times, the Telegraph, the Guardian and the London Evening Standard. We spoke to Joshi about working at the Standard, his stints at the Tab, and his current venture, which is looking to reinvent local journalism.</p><p><br></p><p>We have recently also overhauled our offer for those <a href="https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Fc%2Falwaystakenotes&xid=787488c585&uid=57080101&iid=1f64d6b196&pool=cts&v=2&c=1739808059&h=072da2e69a27a92aafdc958749f48230cadf3295f41d847012f2fd24f83c02e4">who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon</a>. Our central reward is a - now greatly expanded - sheaf of successful journalistic pitches, which we've solicited from friends of Always Take Notes. In the package we now have successful pitches to, among others, the New York Times, the Guardian, the New Yorker, the Financial Times, the Economist, the London Review of Books, Vanity Fair, Outside magazine, the Spectator, the Sunday Times, Esquire, Granta, the Literary Review, Prospect, Bloomberg Businessweek and GQ. Anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more will receive the full compendium. Other rewards include signed copies of our podcast book (see below) and the opportunity to take part in a monthly call with the two of us to workshop your own pitches and writing projects. </p><p><br></p><p>A new edition of “Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is available now. The updated version now includes insights from over 100 past guests on the podcast, with new contributions from Harlan Coben, Victoria Hislop, Lee Child, Megan Nolan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Philippa Gregory, Jo Nesbø, Paul Theroux, Hisham Matar and Bettany Hughes. You can order it via <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Always-Take-Notes-greatest-writers-dp-1804188867/dp/1804188867/ref=dp_ob_title_bk">Amazon</a> or <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/always-take-notes/simon-akam/rachel-lloyd/9781804188866">Waterstones</a>.</p><p><br></p><p>You can find us online at <a href="http://alwaystakenotes.com/">alwaystakenotes.com</a>, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.</p>
April 1, 2025
<p>Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist <a href="https://nnedi.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Nnedi Okorafor</a>. Nnedi is a prolific writer of science fiction and fantasy for adults, young adults and children; her best-known titles include the <a href="https://nnedi.com/books/the-binti-series/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">"Binti" trilogy</a>, <a href="https://nnedi.com/books/lagoon/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">"Lagoon"</a>, the <a href="https://nnedi.com/books/akata-witch/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">"Nsibidi Script" series</a> and <a href="https://nnedi.com/books/who-fears-death/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">"Who Fears Death"</a>. Nnedi has won the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature as well as the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Locus and Lodestar awards. Several of her books are currently being adapted for TV. We spoke to Nnedi about the hospital stay that led her to start writing, breaking into the worlds of science fiction and fantasy, and her latest novel, <a href="https://www.gollancz.co.uk/titles/nnedi-okorafor-2/death-of-the-author/9781399622950/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">"Death of the Author".</a> </p><p><br /></p><p>We have recently also overhauled our offer for those <a href="https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Fc%2Falwaystakenotes&xid=787488c585&uid=57080101&iid=1f64d6b196&pool=cts&v=2&c=1739808059&h=072da2e69a27a92aafdc958749f48230cadf3295f41d847012f2fd24f83c02e4" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon</a>. Our central reward is a - now greatly expanded - sheaf of successful journalistic pitches, which we've solicited from friends of Always Take Notes. In the package we now have successful pitches to, among others, the New York Times, the Guardian, the New Yorker, the Financial Times, the Economist, the London Review of Books, Vanity Fair, Outside magazine, the Spectator, the Sunday Times, Esquire, Granta, the Literary Review, Prospect, Bloomberg Businessweek and GQ. Anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more will receive the full compendium. Other rewards include signed copies of our podcast book (see below) and the opportunity to take part in a monthly call with the two of us to workshop your own pitches and writing projects. </p><p><br /></p><p>A new edition of “Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is available now. The updated version now includes insights from over 100 past guests on the podcast, with new contributions from Harlan Coben, Victoria Hislop, Lee Child, Megan Nolan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Philippa Gregory, Jo Nesbø, Paul Theroux, Hisham Matar and Bettany Hughes. You can order it via <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Always-Take-Notes-greatest-writers-dp-1804188867/dp/1804188867/ref=dp_ob_title_bk" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amazon</a> or <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/always-take-notes/simon-akam/rachel-lloyd/9781804188866" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Waterstones</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>You can find us online at <a href="http://alwaystakenotes.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">alwaystakenotes.com</a>, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.</p>
March 18, 2025
<p>Simon and Rachel speak to the novelist <a href="https://benokri.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Ben Okri</a>. Born in Minna, Nigeria, Ben came to England as a child. He attended school in London before returning to Africa with his parents on the eve of the Nigerian Civil War. He came once more to the UK in 1978 and studied at Essex University. Two years later he published his first novel "Flowers and Shadows". A second, "The Landscapes Within", appeared two years afterwards, before two collections of short stories in 1986 and 1988. In 1991 <a href="https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/ben-okri-how-i-wrote-the-famished-road" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">his novel "The Famished Road" won the Booker Prize</a>, the first time a black writer received that award. Ben's subsequent work includes the novel "Astonishing the Gods" (chosen by the BBC in 2019 as "one of the 100 novels that has shaped our world"), the epic poem "Mental Fight" and the play "The Outsider". We spoke to Ben about his early life in Nigeria and Britain, winning the Booker Prize, and his latest novel, "<a href="https://benokri.co.uk/books/madame-sosostris-and-the-festival-for-the-brokenhearted/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Madame Sosostris & the Festival for the Broken-Hearted</a>". </p><p><br /></p><p>We have recently also overhauled our offer for those <a href="https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Fc%2Falwaystakenotes&xid=787488c585&uid=57080101&iid=1f64d6b196&pool=cts&v=2&c=1739808059&h=072da2e69a27a92aafdc958749f48230cadf3295f41d847012f2fd24f83c02e4" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon</a>. Our central reward is a - now greatly expanded - sheaf of successful journalistic pitches, which we've solicited from friends of Always Take Notes. In the package we now have successful pitches to, among others, the New York Times, the Guardian, the New Yorker, the Financial Times, the Economist, the London Review of Books, Vanity Fair, Outside magazine, the Spectator, the Sunday Times, Esquire, Granta, the Literary Review, Prospect, Bloomberg Businessweek and GQ. Anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more will receive the full compendium. Other rewards include signed copies of our podcast book (see below) and the opportunity to take part in a monthly call with the two of us to workshop your own pitches and writing projects. </p><p><br /></p><p>A new edition of “Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is available now. The updated version now includes insights from over 100 past guests on the podcast, with new contributions from Harlan Coben, Victoria Hislop, Lee Child, Megan Nolan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Philippa Gregory, Jo Nesbø, Paul Theroux, Hisham Matar and Bettany Hughes. You can order it via <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Always-Take-Notes-greatest-writers-dp-1804188867/dp/1804188867/ref=dp_ob_title_bk" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Amazon</a> or <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/always-take-notes/simon-akam/rachel-lloyd/9781804188866" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Waterstones</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>You can find us online at <a href="http://alwaystakenotes.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">alwaystakenotes.com</a>, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.</p>
Waterstones
BBC Radio 4
London Review Bookshop
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
Backlisted
Daylight Productions and Sony Music Entertainment
BBC Radio 4
The TLS
Dan Simpson
The Spectator
Shakespeare and Company
Women’s Prize Podcast/ Bird Lime Media
The London Review of Books
Financial Times
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