Logroll Andrew Hankinson

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 Vicethe role played by business cardsthe importance of making yourself contactable having to respond to sources at all hourshow the story took over her lifestruggling to get the story commissionedhow journalism awards helped change thatwarnings 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 doinggiving 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.