Sources and Methods

This week we spoke with Rohini Mohan, just back in India following a book tour for her book 'The Seasons of Trouble: Life Amid the Ruins of Sri Lanka's Civil War'. We get into how she wrote and researched the book, how it was edited and her writing process. Show notes for everything mentioned in the episode are available at sourcesandmethods.com

This week we spoke with Azmat Khan, who worked most recently as a senior digital producer and reporter with Al Jazeera America’s flagship current affairs program, America Tonight, where she was responsible for leading the program’s digital strategy and reporting in-depth original stories online - though she’s also been up to a whole lot else, including a move over to Buzzfeed’s investigative reporting team.We discussed what working as a producer means, how she manages information and sources, how she learns new skills, and much more.Go to sourcesandmethods.com for full show notes.

Alex speaks to the programme director of the Quantified Self movement, a group that seeks to encourage tracking of data for better understanding and change of behaviours. We discuss some of Alex's tracking weirdness, the future of the Quantified Self movement and much more. Show notes are available at sourcesandmethods.com.

Matt travels with our guest to Iraq for an interview about politics, war and the way writing can offer a way into the emotional truth of a situation. They discuss Elliot's new novel, his writing process and how he uses words as a means of understanding. Show notes are available at sourcesandmethods.com.

Matt and Alex talk with programmer and note-taker Mark Bernstein. Mark is the force behind the notetaking and outlining software, Tinderbox, much beloved by knowledge workers. This episode is about note-taking, its uses and why people need to think reflexively about the work they're doing. Show notes are available at sourcesandmethods.com.

In this older interview, Alex talks with Gabriel Wyner about his new book, 'Fluent Forever' and how he uses a variety of methods and technologies to learn languages fast and skilfully. Show notes are available at sourcesandmethods.com

Alex and Matt are joined by film and television producer Mark DiCristofaro. He has worked on shows like The Hero, Duck Dynasty, The League, House M.D. and worked for Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson on the recent Golden Globe winning film, The Adventures of Tintin. We spoke to Mark about making stories, how budgets and time constrain how you can tell stories, and much much more. (Shownotes at sourcesandmethods.com)

Alex and Matt are joined by Erin Cunningham, the Egypt-based correspondent for the Washington Post. Erin has previously worked for Global Post and the Christian Science Monitor in Afghanistan and across the Middle East and North Africa. We discuss how she goes about telling the stories of the people who live in places like Egypt, and why she thinks it's important work. We delve into the practicalities of her job and how she keeps track of things going on in the region. SHOWNOTES: http://www.sourcesandmethods.com/podcast/2014/8/10/erin-cunningham

Writer, journalist and polymath Anand Gopal joins us for our inaugural episode. He talks about writing books, reporting in Afghanistan, how he stays on top of the news from a variety of countries, why it's so important to learn languages and many other things.http://www.sourcesandmethods.com/podcast/2014/8/10/anand-gopal