ABOUT………..WRITING ………..RADIO ………..PHOTOS ………..VIDEO ………..

I’m a freelance journalist, published by the BBC, RTÉ, The Irish Times, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, Radio Canada, Le Point, La Presse and many others. For the past decade, I’ve also been a writer for German educational magazine Spotlight.
Previously based in Belgium and Canada, I came home to Scotland five years ago to cover the referendum – and stayed. I’ve interviewed a diverse range of characters in my time, from EU politicians to Mohawk tribal chiefs, from Vatican saint-makers to voodoo mambos.
I do both print and broadcast – in English and French. Contact me here.
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RECENT WORK – WORLD

Global Ear: Dé:Nash

The Wire (08/19)
Hungarian rapper Dé:Nash digs deep into his country’s collective consciousness, satirising the Fidesz regime’s use of ancient legend, historical grievances and conspiracy theories to craft a new national narrative.

Revenge on the newsstands

RTÉ (07/19) @12.19mins
The story behind the relaunch of Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet, once owned by Lajos Simicska, former BFF of PM Viktor Orbán. Now owned by Fidesz cronies, its return to the newsstands was carefully timed …

Hungarian rapper takes on Viktor Orbán

New Statesman (06/19)
As poster boy for Europe’s far-right, Viktor Orbán is not short of critics. But perhaps the least anticipated voice of resistance to the regime is Dénes Hans Sallai, a 23-year-old rapper with a keen eye for the absurd.

’Licence to kill’

New Internationalist (05/19)
Cameroon’s bloody conflict between the regime and separatist rebels has been raging nearly three years. Government forces wield their ‘licence to kill’ liberally, with utter impunity.

Revolutionary spirit of a narco-state

The Irish Times (4/19)
In Guinea-Bissau, labelled Africa’s first narco-state around a decade ago, I meet a group of young rappers fighting a no-hope narrative of coups, corruption and cocaine.

Interview: Guinea-Bissau’s president

Al Jazeera (03/19)
José Mário Vaz, president of Guinea-Bissau, appeals to world for help in fighting the cocaine cartels that he says are still using the fragile state as a trafficking hub.

Pakistan’s A-list hairdresser

Spotlight (04/19)
A day in the life of Shammal Qureshi, hairdresser and confidante to Pakistan’s glitterati: “I might be an expensive hairdresser, but I’m a damn cheap psychologist.”

A narrow escape

BBC Radio 4 (12/18) @5.52 mins
From Cameroon, where anglophone separatists and military are locked in a bitter conflict largely hidden from the world’s view. I met Lucy, who escaped with 6-yr-old granddaughter Favour Pride – but only just.

‘People shot without any reason’

The Irish Times (12/18)
The road to Buea, in Cameroon’s anglophone southwest region, is lined with abandoned plantations. Elite soldiers patrol on armoured pick-ups, rifles at the ready to shoot rebel “Amba Boys” hiding out in the bush.

RECENT WORK – CULTURE

Cherry: A life stranger than fiction

Spotlight (07/19)
Nico Walker served as an army medic in Iraq’s ‘Triangle of Death’. Returning home with severe PTSD, he turned to heroin and bank robberies. Now in prison, he has reinvented himself as a bestselling novelist.

London walking tour

Spotlight (07/19)
A leisurely stroll through one of the world’s greatest cities, taking in Bloomsbury, Holborn, Soho and the West End. Starts with Boudica, ends with Shakespeare. Featuring the ace retro illustrations of Martin Haake.

My home is my castle

Spotlight (05/19)
Brits have long been obsessed with owning their own homes. But our anxieties today are a long way from the warm nostalgia of ‘Our House’, the 1980s hit song by Madness. Downright unhealthly, according to one expert.

GREATEST HITS

Inside Hungary’s post-truth laboratory New Internationalist (08/18)	Pakistan’s bonded labourers fight back The Irish Times (07/18)	Imran Khan battles conspiracies in Pakistan election The Irish Times (07/18)
. A kilo of cocaine . BBC Radio 4 (04/18)	. Making honey from Africa’s killer bees . The Guardian (12/17)	. Philip Taylor – La politique, je l’ai dans le sang . Le Point (12/17)
. Interview with Liberian president George Weah . The Irish Times (10/17)	. Liberia’s forgotten child soldiers . Al Jazeera (10/17)	. A dictator in the family . The New Statesman (02/17)
. Trans people risk lives in Turkey . GlobalPost/PRI (12/16)	. Interview with Gambian president . The Irish Times (12/16)	. Lunch with Boris Johnson’s Turkish cousin . The Irish Times (05/16)
. Being Muslim in France . Al Jazeera (12/15)	. Paris attacks report . GlobalPost (11/15)	. Fighting Russia’s propaganda machine . GlobalPost (08/15)
. It’s a ‘No’ from Greece . vieuws.eu (07/15)	. A prison without bars . Al Jazeera (03/15)	. Making maple syrup . BBC News (05/14)
. The crack-smoking mayor . BBC News (11/13)	. Trouble in paradise . Noseweek South Africa (05/13)	. Interview with Alex Salmond . La Presse (08/12)
. In search of Philip Marlowe . The Montreal Gazette (05/12)	. Beaver or polar bear? . BBC Radio 4/World Service (12/11) @ 17.54 mins	. ‘Illegal’ midwives on call . The Montreal Gazette (08/11)
. Canada’s contraband capital . BBC (04/11)	. Deadly Secret . Canada’s History (04/11)	. Spirits of a community . The Montreal Gazette (02/11)
. Holiday in Asbestos . The Guardian (05/10)	. Death of a godfather . BBC World Service (11/10) @ 11.20 mins	. Chagos people press to return home . GlobalPost (09/10)
. War and peace . Police Review (07/10)	. Fighting for their identity . The Irish Times (07/10)	. Holy rivalry over Kateri . The Montreal Gazette (03/10)