Sophie McBain
@sophiemcbain.bsky.social
Award-winning features writer and book reviewer for the Guardian, the Times and New Statesman magazine. Portfolio & contact info: sophiemcbain.com
Had such a great time interviewing George Saunders for @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/books/2026/j...
’How do you really tell the truth about this moment?’: George Saunders on ghosts, mortality and Trump’s America
The Lincoln in the Bardo author is back with another metaphysical tale. He discusses Buddhism, partisan politics and the terrifying flight that changed his life
theguardian.com
Kate Mossman is literally the best of the best www.newstatesman.com/long-reads/2...
The strange fate of Flight 2069
Months before 9/11, a passenger seized control of a Boeing 747 and nearly crashed it into the Sahara. Everyone survived but no one quite recovered. How do you measure the cost of a disaster averted?
newstatesman.com
Well worth a read on the impact of AI on critical thinking and education "Are we living in a golden age of stupidity?" By @sophiemcbain.bsky.social
Are we living in a golden age of stupidity?
From brain-rotting videos to AI creep, every technological advance seems to make it harder to work, remember, think and function independently …
theguardian.com
@lindastone.bsky.social Hi Linda, I'm a journalist for the Guardian and tried contacting you via your website without luck - I wondered if you might have a few minutes to chat for a piece I'm working on? Can explain more via email - sophie dot mcbain at gmail dot com. Thank you!
These kinds of pieces are so important - terrifying and very upsetting to think of how much scientific and medical progress is being set back by Trump’s cuts, the lives that could have been saved and now won’t be
The Boston Globe@bostonglobe.com · last yr.Harvard scientists paved the way for a pioneering cancer immunotherapy that has added years to patients' lives. Now their work is under an all-out assault, after the Trump administration cut nearly $3 billion in research funding to Harvard.
I haven't been able to post this because have been forced off-line thanks to concussion, but I was thrilled to make the cover of @theobserveruk.bsky.social 's The New Review with this piece on miracle survivor stories
*NEW MONTHLY RECORD* Boston has moved up to 101F, the hottest June day ever recorded in the city (since at least 1872). #wbz
Sometimes parenthood is realising that you, once a self-respecting and relatively normal individual, now move around the house alone humming "move it like a mango, party like a pear" to yourself
This state only exists in the morning, in the shower, when you remember that thing you said decades ago. Yeah. You know what you said.
@evaholland.bsky.social hey Eva - I'm working on a story and it made me think of your book Nerve, I wondered if you might be free for a v brief interview about it? Please could you DM me or email sophie dot mcbain at gmail dot com? Thanks so much!
Our rates have increased across the board. For the autumn issue, we've just commissioned a feature for £1,000.
The Fence@thefence.bsky.social · last yr.SEND US YOUR BEST IDEAS We're commissioning for our autumn and winter issues. Do you have a five-star feature in your locker? Have a read of the pitch guide and get in touch with us at editorial@the-fence.com. First-time writers are, of course, especially welcome. www.the-fence.com/about/pitch-...
This story is completely chilling
James Ball@jamesrball.com · last yr.Alexander Taylor died by "suicide by cop" after coming to believe OpenAI had 'killed' his ChatGPT girlfriend Juliet. He grabbed a knife and ran at police. His father used ChatGPT when writing his son's obituary. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...
www.newstatesman.com/politics/202... 💥 EXC: For my first edition of the New Statesman as editor, I went on the road with Keir Starmer, discovering a man far more emotional than I expected, struggling to articulate his deepest feelings — and those of the country he leads👇
What Keir Starmer can’t say
The Prime Minister believes he will heal Britain – but can he find the words?
newstatesman.com
The eight year old, a propos of nothing: “when I am famous I’m going to have a strict rule of not signing body parts”
“There are no monsters, and all of them are real.” I talked with @sophiemcbain.bsky.social about HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY - about #StarTrek, astrobiology, an #18thCentury “Irish giant,” race, nation, tech, and more. 1/2 💙📚 🧪 🗃 #earlymodern #histsci #histmed #SFF #monsters #politics #HAMH
Humans: A Monstrous History
Podcast Episode · Intelligence Squared · 17/02/2025 · 39m
podcasts.apple.com
For @theguardian.com I spoke to the novelist Yiyun Li whose new memoir, about losing both of her sons to suicide, might wind you with its emotional force. Some conversations will stay with you always, and this was one of them www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
‘My sadness is not a burden’: author Yiyun Li on the suicide of both her sons
As her memoir of losing her sons is published, the author talks about radical acceptance, and how writing fiction helped her to prepare for tragedy
theguardian.com
Had to fill out 26 - TWENTY-SIX! - forms for my daughters to attend five half-days of summer camp. Can it really be essential to know the date they last had covid, the dates of all international travel in the past 12 months etc. to supervise some t-shirt tie-dyeing and a few games of tag?
This is one of the finest pieces of journalism you’ll read
Joe Bernstein@bernstein.bsky.social · last yr.My father was a Nazi hunter, until he was killed in the Lockerbie bombing, when I was four. Now, a man will stand trial for the crime. What does it mean, after nearly forty years, to seek justice for the crimes of history? My new cover story for the Times Magazine: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/20/m...
My father was a Nazi hunter, until he was killed in the Lockerbie bombing, when I was four. Now, a man will stand trial for the crime. What does it mean, after nearly forty years, to seek justice for the crimes of history? My new cover story for the Times Magazine: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/20/m...
My Father Prosecuted History’s Crimes. Then He Died in One.
nytimes.com
For @theguardian.com I spoke to the novelist Yiyun Li whose new memoir, about losing both of her sons to suicide, might wind you with its emotional force. Some conversations will stay with you always, and this was one of them www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
‘My sadness is not a burden’: author Yiyun Li on the suicide of both her sons
As her memoir of losing her sons is published, the author talks about radical acceptance, and how writing fiction helped her to prepare for tragedy
theguardian.com
…. 8 year old: *sigh* “mothers, they can be as vicious as a lion or as docile as a cat”
Loved interviewing Katie Kitamura for @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...
Novelist Katie Kitamura: ‘As Trump tries to take away everything I love, it’s never been clearer that writing matters’
The Japanese-American author of unsettling new novel Audition talks about why fiction isn’t frivolous, family life with fellow writer Hari Kunzru, and how US authors are facing a critical moment
theguardian.com
Sun, blossom, picnickers, swanboats, influencer photoshoots everywhere. *whispers* “Has spring really sprung in Boston this time?”
Just another journalist, staring at their ideas list on their Notes app, still waiting to be added to the Highly Classified War Plans 💣💥 🤐 group chat
