#148: Oliver Bullough, journalist and author

<p>Simon and Rachel&nbsp;speak to the journalist and author <a href="https://twitter.com/OliverBullough?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" target="_blank">Oliver Bullough</a>. After studying history at university Oliver moved to Russia, where he worked first for an English-language magazine in Saint Petersburg, then for <em>The Times of Central Asia</em>&nbsp;in Kyrgyzstan, and subsequently for Reuters, where he covered&nbsp;the war in Chechnya. Oliver's&nbsp;early books - "<a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/56616/let-our-fame-be-great-by-bullough-oliver/9780141037745" target="_blank">Let Our Fame Be Great</a>" in 2010 and "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jun/07/last-man-russia-bullough-review" target="_blank">The Last Man in Russia</a>" in 2013 - examined respectively&nbsp;the Caucasus and a dissident Orthodox priest.&nbsp;His more recent books have focused on financial crime, with "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/07/moneyland-oliver-bullough-review" target="_blank">Moneyland</a>" in 2018 and this year with "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/mar/21/butler-to-the-world-by-oliver-bullough-review-bent-britain-at-your-service" target="_blank">Butler to the World</a>". Oliver's journalism also appears in the&nbsp;<em>Guardian</em>, the <em>Sunday Times</em>, the <em>New York Times</em>, and&nbsp;<em>GQ</em>. We spoke to Oliver about writing about oligarchs in the year that Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, navigating the complexities of English libel law, and the response to&nbsp;"Butler to the World".</p> <p>You can find us online at <a href="http://alwaystakenotes.com/" target="_blank">alwaystakenotes.com</a>, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is <a href="http://patreon.com/alwaystakenotes" target="_blank">patreon.com/alwaystakenotes</a>. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designe