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This is an interview with John Niven about his writing career, particularly his latest book O Brother, which was shortlisted for the 2024 Gordon Burn Prize.

O Brother is about the suicide of his brother. While John was making his way in the music industry and then as a successful writer, starting with his novel Kill Your Friends, his brother remained in Scotland where his life was chaotic. He ultimately hanged himself in a hospital.

John tells the story of their lives, but also investigates why his brother was left alone to be able to kill himself despite being suicidal. In the interview we talk about his efforts to obtain a transcript of his brother's 999 call that led to his admission, as well as how it felt writing about it, the impact on living relatives, and the way writers become observers even at the most tragic moments.

We also talked about the nuts and bolts of any writing discussion, from his advance for Kill Your Friends, how he got his first book deals, how much he made from that first novel, his move into screenwriting, and the shift from fiction to nonfiction.

You can buy John's books here: 

https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/john-niven

John recommended Street-Level Superstar by Will Hodgkinson which you can buy here:

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/street-level-superstar-a-year-with-lawrence-will-hodgkinson/7680905

And you can buy my books here:

https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/andrew-hankinson

Thanks for listening.

This is an interview with Chris Mullin about his 1986 book Error of Judgement, which was an investigation into the conviction of six innocent men for the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974. The book documents his efforts to find the truth, culminating in finding one of the real bombers.

We speak about his career in journalism before the book, when he went to Vietnam in the 1970s to cover the war there, his work for television, his political career, his novel A Very British Coup, and his series of diaries which started with his experiences as an MP during New Labour.

You can buy Chris's books here:

https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/chris-mullin

He recommended How They Broke Britain by James O'Brien which you can read here:

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/how-they-broke-britain-james-o-brien/7546135

And you can buy my books here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Could-Something-Amazing-Your-Raoul/dp/1911344323

https://www.amazon.co.uk/applaud-Either-laugh-Comedy-Cellar/dp/1911617680

Thanks for listening.

In this epsiode I interviewed Michael Holden, an exceptional writer who started his career at Loaded magazine in 1994. He ended up in a psychiatric hospital during that time, which we discuss. After that he wrote for The Guardian Guide before becoming a Hollywood writer. Then he ended up back living with his elderly parents, caring for them.

The result was a book called The Reluctant Carer, which was published in 2022. What is peculiar about it is he published it anonymously. We talk about the pros and cons of that, and why he has decided to finally put his name to it.

You can buy Michael’s book here at Bookshop. 

His original article from The Guardian in 2019, which we discuss, is here.

He recommended Going Mad in Hollywood by David Sherwin, which is at Waterstones.

And you can buy my books here at Bookshop.

Thank you for listening.

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.