Last year when I entered the world of journalism, Emily Maitlis’ work was recommended to me early on. I began by watching her infamous interview with Prince Andrew and, slowly but surely, I switched to BBC Two at 22:45 for Newsnight. My appreciation for Maitlis began to grow and I came to the conclusion that my first read of 2021 would be Airhead by Emily Maitlis.
Watching Maitlis on Newsnight or listening to her on Americast, it is clear she makes the journalist world look seamless and always planned. However, in Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News, all the preconceptions I had as an aspiring journalist were washed away. I should have guessed this would happen by the simple nine words written on the blurb.
“if you think you know the news, think again”
Maitlis begins the book with a 2 a.m. wakeup call that she desperately tries to not answer. From this moment onwards, I was lost in the book. Before I knew it, I had been unmasked to Donald Trump’s life (before his presidency), Simon Cowells inability to begin work before 3 p.m., Maitlis herself meeting an *actual* God, and an extraordinary hour with David Attenborough, all in just 100 pages.
One chapter that stuck out for me was “Emma Thompson on Harvey Weinstein”. Prior to reading Airhead, I hadn’t watched this interview, so being introduced to the planning beforehand was a treat. Maitlis exposes her texts to Thompson prior to the interview, explaining her worries of coming across as “annoying”. Despite this, Maitlis persists anyway – something she will go on to thank herself for.
Throughout this chapter, I read the lines in both Maitlis’ and Thompson’s voice, enjoying each and every sentence we receive that lets us in on Maitlis’ thoughts whilst she is speaking. From her first question, “Is Harvey Weinstein somebody that you would call a friend?”, missing the several references to Trump’s behaviour, and Thompson developing the interview from being about one Hollywood centred man to every woman who has a story tell; this interview was fascinating. A chapter amongst many that, once finished, had me putting Airhead down and frantically searching for the interview so I could watch as well as read.
“Anthony Scaramucci on the White House Lawn” was another chapter that I found so intriguing. Entering the White House for the first time, we are made aware of how painful asking a question is in the press briefing room. We experience the panic when Emily Maitlis thinks she has nothing to give back to London but it is her cameraman, Jack, who saves the day upon spotting “The Mooch”.
I don’t want to spoil this chapter for any future journalists but this was one of the memorable Airhead moments. Unplanned, unbelievable, and extremely last minute; but here, Maitlis proves that she is never unprepared.
Within Airhead, Emily Maitlis takes us on a behind-the-scenes journey of her life. As Maitlis describes in her end thought, Airhead succeeded to “illuminate the combination of careful thought and utter chaos” as well as teaching me much more about differentiating the events that may occur in my own neighbourhood with distant news, how to react when you feel like a system has failed you, and what to do if I ever get arrested in Cuba!
Airhead is both an enjoyable and educational book with Maitlis telling a new significant story.
Yasmin Walker
Featured image courtesy of Annelies Geneyn via Unsplash. This image has in no way been altered. Image license available here.