About us.

Always Take Notes is a podcast for and about writers and writing that aims to be informative (tackling vexing questions including how to negotiate fees, what makes an excellent book pitch and how to write for TV). We aim for a deliberately broad church, and past guests have included historians Peter Frankopan, Antony Beevor, Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Niall Ferguson and Max Hastings, novelists Anne Enright, Mark Haddon, Ian Rankin, Joanne Harris and Jeffrey Archer, journalists Sirin Kale, Patrick Radden Keefe and Samanth Subramanian and the editors of the Financial Times, the Times Literary Supplement, Cosmopolitan, Hello! and British GQ.


Photo by Damian Zaleski on Unsplash

Who we are

  • SIMON AKAM

    Co-host of Always Take Notes, Simon is the author of "The Changing of the Guard" on the post-9/11 evolution of the British Army. His writing has appeared in publications including the New Yorker, the London Review of Books, The Economist, The Guardian, Outside, the New York Times, and GQ.

  • RACHEL LLOYD

    Co-host of Always Take Notes, Rachel is the deputy culture editor of The Economist. Rachel edits and writes reviews and essays for the newspaper and the website.

  • ARTEMIS IRVINE

    Artemis produces Always Take Notes and manages its social media channels. She is a freelance radio and podcast producer who has made programmes for the BBC, ITV, Politico and the Natural History Museum.

  • JAMES EDGAR

    James, who created our visual identity, is a freelance graphic designer. He has worked on “Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course”, “Marmalade” and “The Secret Lives of Colour”. He also lectures at Plymouth College of Art.

  • JESSICA DANNHEISSER

    Jessica, who created our score, is a composer for film, television and theatre. Recent scores include Six Wives With Lucy Worsley, the Emmy award-winning World War II From Space, Rubbish and The Tempest.