The National Gallery turns 200 this month. I had a little look at its past and present economist.com/culture/2024/0…

With the help of Stephen Follows, I answered a very important question: is there less sex on screen these days?
economist.com/culture/2024/0…

NEW EPISODE: Historian Bettany Hughes💙 speaks to Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd about her new book 'The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World', the relationship between her writing and TV work and coming face to face with history inside the Great Pyramid.

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The Frame Blog Always Take Notes And for the podcast-averse they recently did a book, which I gave to my literary agent Better Half and which she says is full of useful things. Just in case it’s helpful to any new writers out there 🙂

The Frame Blog BTW, these people do an interesting podcast (not just on Apple 🙂) which, cumulatively, reveals a good deal of the realities of writing and publishing. New authors in particular could do well to listen to many episodes:
Always Take Notes

NEW EPISODE: Travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux speaks to Simon and Rachel about his relationship with V.S. Naipaul, how he’s made a living as a freelance writer and why travelling is all about solving problems.

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Thanks Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd for having me on for a wide-ranging conversation on the impacts of AI, my motivations and reporting on big tech. Your podcast guests were an inspiration when I first started writing my book!

I wrote about Beyoncé, “Cowboy Carter” and why musicians cross over into different genres: economist.com/culture/2024/0…

I reviewed “The Witch of New York”, which recounts the trials of Polly Bodine in the mid-19th century and charts the birth of “tabloid justice”: economist.com/culture/2024/0…

We're delighted to have been included on British GQ's list of the 60 best podcasts for commuting, cleaning and everything in between! Find our episodes with Peter Frankopan, Monica Ali, Ian Rankin and more here:
alwaystakenotes.com

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NEW EPISODE: Bestselling crime novelist Jo Nesbø tells Simon and Rachel about coming to writing after being in Norwegian rock band “Di Derre”, the similarities between jokes and crime fiction and why a writer can lie in bed and call it work.

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I wrote about cuteness, which is increasingly a subject of serious inquiry

economist.com/culture/2024/0…

NEW EPISODE: Novelist and short-story writer Jhumpa Lahiri speaks to Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd about winning a The Pulitzer Prizes, learning to write in Italian and the fellowship that allowed her to start thinking of herself as an artist.

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NEW EPISODE: The novelist Adam Thirlwell speaks to Simon and Rachel about publishing his first book at 24, the British attitude towards writing about sex and his new, deliberately anachronistic historical novel “The Future Future”.

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NEW EPISODE: Novelist and historian Philippa Gregory (Philippa Gregory) shares her thoughts on the relationship between history and fiction, seeing “The Other Boleyn Girl” go to Hollywood and her new book, “Normal Women”, which covers 900 years of history.

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A handsome stack of Always Take Notes spotted in Sydney, Australia Brunswick Bound

Today on “The Intelligence' podcast, Rachel Lloyd recounts the riotous history of eggnog, and we try the old recipe that is said to turn “respectable men into beasts” econ.st/3TrVEEm

For a Christmas drink, eggnog does not have a heartwarming history. Read how the creamy tipple inspired a riot in the 19th century econ.st/3Rr9mEz 👇

Which is the best TV series you’ve watched this year? We have a few favourites. Explore our recommendations econ.st/3T1S0AP 👇

The best, by the best, of 2023 !! 📚

Head to Stanfords in time for Christmas !!🎄

Tom Parfitt Peter Frankopan Bettany Hughes💙 Levison Wood Caroline Dodds Pennock Anthony Sattin Tim Hannigan Louise Minchin Leon McCarron Irene Vallejo Tom Chesshyre Noo Saro-Wiwa Rachel Lloyd