Suswati Basu
Head of Audience / Deputy Editor / Podcast Host at How To Be... Podcast
Suswati Basu is an award-winning multilingual editor with significant experience in digital media at Channel 4 News and ITV News, who most recently worked as Head of Audience and Deputy Editor of NationalWorld. She has been shortlisted for the Guardian Mary Stott Prize, and has also been longlisted for the Guardian International Development Journalism Award. Suswati was nominated for the International Women's Podcast Award 2022 and Sonic Bloom Award 2023 for her mental health show How To Be Books Podcast.
As part of her work, she has interviewed everyone from Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Shirin Ebadi to top scientist Professor Tim Spector OBE on their books. She is passionate about world news, culture, human rights, DEI, gender, mental health, the social model of disability, race, and social politics.
- London, UK
- suswatibasu
- in/suswatibasu
Publications
- How To Be...28 articles
- How To Be... Podcast15 articles
- How To Be... Podcast15 articles
- The Sun1 article
- Freelance Journalist
- Freelancer
- Dataminr
Writes Most On
Visual allure vs. literary substance: the persistent influence of book covers in reader choices10 May 2024—How To Be...“Never judge a book by its cover” — it’s a classic adage, yet many people still enjoy selecting books based on the magical and mystical designs on the book jacket. While an eye-catching cover isn’t meant to tell you that the content is worth reading, it can certainly draw enough attention to make people take notice. But is this a cynical marketing ploy, or should we indeed judge a book by its cover? Iconic designs that capture the imagination There’s no denying that some book covers are...
Why so many adults are reading YA books – it’s not just escapism3 May 2024—How To Be...I might be stating the obvious, but life is hard right now for many of us around the world. So much so, it may even be affecting our reading habits. A new study suggests that more millennials are reliving their youth by indulging in young adult novels. So, the question we ask is: Why are more adults reading YA? Changing demographics: the rise of adults reading YA According to a new study commissioned by Farshore, HarperCollins Children’s Books, and Nielsen Book, the UK book industry’s data...
Should you read books you hate? Why I’m avoiding Liz Truss’ memoir19 Apr 2024—How To Be...“Life’s too short to read a bad book,” James Joyce once said. In another week of literary happenings, former UK Prime Minister Liz “the Lettuce” Truss released her controversial memoir, “Ten Years to Save the West,” and I did everything possible to avoid reading it. Of course, I perused several reviews, which gave me sufficient information about the kind of crap tripe she is peddling in it. It was then revealed that the book violated the rules set for ministers publishing works about their...- Book summary apps: are they a gateway to reading?12 Apr 2024—How To Be...There’s no doubt that our attention spans have increasingly shrunk as a consequence of social media and new technologies. On top of that, our busy lives have made reading nearly impossible for some. As a result, more and more people are finding ways to make books palatable, and thousand-page works are becoming a thing of the past, as we’ve recently discovered. At the heart of this shift is the advent of book summary apps, which cater to this growing need. But does this harm our ability to...
Should books be shorter? Elon Musk thinks so6 Apr 2024—How To Be...Not a week goes by without hearing about Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and it’s usually not a good sign. This week, the chief executive of X (formerly known as Twitter) took to his platform to criticise the lengths of books, suggesting that AI could transform the seemingly insurmountable task of reading. Hence, we ask: Are books generally too long, or are we missing the point if all we care about is the length? Musk’s controversial take on book lengths Musk responded earlier this week to an X post by...
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