Airhead by Emily Maitlis review – up close with Trump and the Dalai Lama

The chief presenter of BBC Newsnight vividly chronicles the pains and perils of news televisionEmily Maitlis’s book isn’t an autobiography. By the end we are none the wiser about what she was like as a child, her personal relationships or the pivotal moments that led to her becoming arguably the BBC’s sharpest interviewer and lead presenter of Newsnight. While she does devote a chapter to her experience of being stalked, Airhead is mostly a compendium of her biggest interviews with politicians, celebrities, thinkers and, in one case, an actual living god. In showing us what happens in front of the camera as well as the chaos behind it, her aim is less to tell her life story than reveal the blood, sweat and tears that go into planning and delivering the news. “Unlike print there is no room for annotation or commentary as you go along,” she writes in the introduction. “What appears on the screen is what people see. Everything else is just interpretation.”And so we accompany Maitlis as she is dispatched to Paris to cover the Bataclan terrorist attack; to Hong Kong to report on the umbrella democracy protests, and to Boone County, Iowa, for a Democratic caucus in a snow-smothered farmhouse. There are one-to-ones with Donald Trump, Tony Blair, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, the former civil rights activist Rachel Dolezal, Emma Thompson, James Comey and more, and here the presenter is able to share the build-up and comedown around each exchange. Some accounts work better than... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #simon cowell #bill clinton

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Chair of A-Level Law Review resigns over editing of transgender article

The chairman of the editorial board of A-Level Law Review, Ian Yule, has quit his role after an article he wrote for the education magazine was heavily edited and put through a sensitivity reading from transgender rights charity Mermaids. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-10 16:33:55 UTC ]
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How Stephen Miller went from teen troll to Trump whisperer

Review of ‘Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda’ by Jean Guerrero Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-08-07 12:00:30 UTC ]
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Print Unit Sales Close July With 15% Increase

Another week with double-digit gains in all but one category led to a 15.1% jump in unit sales of print books from the comparable period in 2019 at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #15% increase #double-digit gains #print books


HBG Offices to Remain Closed Until Further Notice

HBG CEO Michael Pietsch said that the publisher will not reopen its Manhattan and other offices until further notice and that company employees will receive a six week notice ahead of any office reopenings. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hbg offices #company employees #office reopenings


Better titles for ex-Trump staffers’ memoirs.

Another day, another announcement of a memoir from a former Trump collaborator. This time, it’s Fiona Hill, an ex-advisor who testified in Trump’s impeachment inquiry, whose “views about the future of a polarized America” will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2021. I have nothing... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-08-06 19:59:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fiona hill #impeachment inquiry #houghton mifflin harcourt #memoir


Review: The demons that dogged Charles Dickens

Veteran biographer A.N. Wilson takes on one of the most popular, prolific and puzzling writers in English literature in "The Mystery of Charles Dickens." Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-08-06 14:00:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #charles dickens #english literature


Self-Publishing Is a Gamble. Why Is Donald Trump Jr. Doing It?

His next book, “Liberal Privilege,” comes with an unusual distribution plan and no publishing house behind it, making it something of a curiosity in the industry. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-08-06 09:00:27 UTC ]
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Taking Trump at his word

In September 2016, Salena Zito, who was then covering voters in The Heartland, wrote of the then-candidate Donald Trump, in a column for The Atlantic: “the press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally.” The phrase quickly slipped into... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-08-03 12:05:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #open internet #british government #finance minister #news corp


Waterstones closes university branches in Hull and Essex

Waterstones has announced its branches at Hull University and Essex University will not reopen and are to close permanently. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-02 19:59:27 UTC ]
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Bestselling Author Predicts The 3 Cards Of 'Trump's Evil Plan' For Reelection

Don Winslow warns that Trump is planning a "big loud" October surprise attack on Biden. Continue reading at HuffPost

[ HuffPost | 2020-07-31 08:24:11 UTC ]
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Trump tried to shut him down, but Robert Mueller was his own worst enemy

Review of ‘True Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Investigation of Donald Trump” by Jeffrey Toobin Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-07-30 07:51:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #robert mueller #true crimes


Amid a virus surge and government repression, Hong Kong’s oldest bookstore is closing.

I know that fingers can’t “plod,” but that is what they are doing now, delivering upsetting news that encapsulates this shitty year. As Hong Kong teeters on the edge of a serious coronavirus outbreak and democratic institutions continue losing a war of attrition with the Chinese government, the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-07-29 18:53:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #government repression #hong kong #oldest bookstore #chinese government #bookstore


Penguin Classics Science Fiction review – a fresh look at brave new worlds

Sci-fi preconceptions are challenged by little-known marvels from James Tiptree Jr, Angélica Gorodischer and othersThe border between science fiction and mainstream literature is more permeable than booksellers or publishers would have us think. Double Booker prize-winner Margaret Atwood’s... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-07-27 06:00:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #recent novels #penguin classics #general reader #personal canon #kurt vonnegut #science fiction


A deep dive into President Trump’s doublespeak and other rhetorical tricks

Studying his language helps explain how he came to power, writes Jennifer Mercieca. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-07-24 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #deep dive #president trump


Mary Trump Book Drove Sales Gains Last Week

Unit sales of print books rose 11.5% last week as Mary L. Trump's 'Too Much and Never Enough' sold over 337,000 print units at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The juvenile nonfiction category had a 21.3% increase. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #3% increase


Amazon Charts: Rankin and Trump rule the charts

Mary L Trump's Too Much and Never Enough (S&S) has done more than enough to reach the top of the Amazon Charts, zipping straight to the top of the Most-Sold: Non-Fiction chart, as Ian Rankin's In a House of Lies (Orion) holds the Most-Sold: Fiction top spot. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-21 22:13:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ian rankin #amazon charts #zipping straight #non-fiction chart


Hampshire Country Council to close eight libraries

Hampshire County Council has revealed it intends to close eight of its 48 council-run libraries and reduce the opening hours of those remaining by an average of 20%. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-20 14:34:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #opening hours #libraries


The Trump administration’s terrible record on coronavirus data

Recently, the Trump administration told hospitals to stop sharing data on COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Instead, hospitals were to share information with a private company contracted by the Department of Human and Health... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-07-17 11:55:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #die welt #literary editor #memoir


Powell's Bookstores Remain Closed, Owner Concerned

The owner of Powell's Books, with five locations in Portland, Ore., says the stores will remain closed due to health concerns, and noted that once the company's PPP loan runs out, it will face "painful choices." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #health concerns