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A review by niamhreviews
Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News by Emily Maitlis
5.0
I was very kindly given an e-ARC of this book through Netgalley, Michael Joseph and Penguin Random House UK.
Have you ever wondered what went into making news stories? What happened before and after the cameras began to roll, what was going through the interviewers mind when they asked the all important questions? This book, a memoir of some of the most memorable moment in journalist Emily Maitlis' career attempts to give just a small peek into the life of the Newsnight host. This is not a book about her childhood nor one about the way she got into news. Instead, it's a unique perspective on some of the most influential figures and the biggest events that have stunned global society that she has met and debated over the course of her career at Newsnight.
Maitlis is a born writer; her prose is sharp, funny and personable. You can truly feel the emotion pouring through the pages as you read. She is a deeply empathetic person and you can see how, even when she's grilling her subjects, she has for some a great respect and for others, simmering contempt. Moreover, she is observant, as any good journalist should be and translates the small idiosyncrasies that reflection can bring into fascinating accounts of some of the world's most incredible figures.
I have my personal favourite chapters, of course. Maitlis opens the book with her account of meeting Donald Trump at his Miss America Pageant, his Scotland golf course and his New York tower and, rather than focusing on an interview, chooses to examine her thoughts on the man himself. It's fascinating to read her opinions on him and how, though she never says she dislikes him, it's clear she has little respect for a man who would hand you rancid steak and tell you it was filet mignon.
Some of her chapters are witty and humorous: she describes an interview with hero Jon Stewart about his film Rosewater, another where David Attenborough cleverly calls Brexit a study in anthropology, interviewing Anthony Scaramucci live on television two minutes after meeting him and even meeting some Las Vegas Chippendales to discuss the #MeToo movement. But where Maitlis really shines is in the hard hitting stuff, the interviews that were complex and messy and hard to talk about. With frankness and empathy, she talks about her interviews after Harvey Weinstein was revealed to be a predator: one with actress Emma Thompson and the other with Weinstein's former assistant. With great emotion she discusses the aftermath of the Grenfell Fire, which happened in her community, and her volunteering at pop-up shelters for members of her neighbourhood who needed help. Her criticism of the government is most biting here: she interviewed Theresa May shortly after and is, as she writes, dissatisfied with the response of the PM. She writes of her dispatches from Budapest, where migrants from Syria gathered, hoping to find a better life in Europe.
This book is excellent. A series of snapshots that run together with the knowledge we are being let into an exclusive club, one that viewers don't get to see once Newsnight has gone off the air. 'Airhead' is frank, funny, personable and most importantly, necessary. A great study in human psychology by one of Britain's finest journalists.
'Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News' by Emily Maitlis will be released in the UK on May 28th, 2019.
Have you ever wondered what went into making news stories? What happened before and after the cameras began to roll, what was going through the interviewers mind when they asked the all important questions? This book, a memoir of some of the most memorable moment in journalist Emily Maitlis' career attempts to give just a small peek into the life of the Newsnight host. This is not a book about her childhood nor one about the way she got into news. Instead, it's a unique perspective on some of the most influential figures and the biggest events that have stunned global society that she has met and debated over the course of her career at Newsnight.
Maitlis is a born writer; her prose is sharp, funny and personable. You can truly feel the emotion pouring through the pages as you read. She is a deeply empathetic person and you can see how, even when she's grilling her subjects, she has for some a great respect and for others, simmering contempt. Moreover, she is observant, as any good journalist should be and translates the small idiosyncrasies that reflection can bring into fascinating accounts of some of the world's most incredible figures.
I have my personal favourite chapters, of course. Maitlis opens the book with her account of meeting Donald Trump at his Miss America Pageant, his Scotland golf course and his New York tower and, rather than focusing on an interview, chooses to examine her thoughts on the man himself. It's fascinating to read her opinions on him and how, though she never says she dislikes him, it's clear she has little respect for a man who would hand you rancid steak and tell you it was filet mignon.
Some of her chapters are witty and humorous: she describes an interview with hero Jon Stewart about his film Rosewater, another where David Attenborough cleverly calls Brexit a study in anthropology, interviewing Anthony Scaramucci live on television two minutes after meeting him and even meeting some Las Vegas Chippendales to discuss the #MeToo movement. But where Maitlis really shines is in the hard hitting stuff, the interviews that were complex and messy and hard to talk about. With frankness and empathy, she talks about her interviews after Harvey Weinstein was revealed to be a predator: one with actress Emma Thompson and the other with Weinstein's former assistant. With great emotion she discusses the aftermath of the Grenfell Fire, which happened in her community, and her volunteering at pop-up shelters for members of her neighbourhood who needed help. Her criticism of the government is most biting here: she interviewed Theresa May shortly after and is, as she writes, dissatisfied with the response of the PM. She writes of her dispatches from Budapest, where migrants from Syria gathered, hoping to find a better life in Europe.
This book is excellent. A series of snapshots that run together with the knowledge we are being let into an exclusive club, one that viewers don't get to see once Newsnight has gone off the air. 'Airhead' is frank, funny, personable and most importantly, necessary. A great study in human psychology by one of Britain's finest journalists.
'Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News' by Emily Maitlis will be released in the UK on May 28th, 2019.