Simon Hattenstone

Simon Hattenstone

@shattenstone.bsky.social

Guardian interviewer/features writer, with a thing for prison and miscarriages of justice (well not a thing for them as such, a thing for writing about them). Proud Mancunian/Salfordian. City fan of some vintage

9.7K followers234 following565 posts

Simon Hattenstone reposted

THE NERVE
@thenerve.news

We have news… our first award nomination! Innovation of the year at the British Journalism Awards Thank you to all our subscribers and especially the 5000 paying members who fund our journalism. You are the best of people. 💪🙏❤️ Big thanks too to @pressgazette.co.uk We are honoured. 🫡

Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

The Guardian commissioned a forensic biologist to examine the bloodstain patterns from the crime scene at White House Farm. Her findings suggest that Jeremy Bamber's sister Sheila took her own life with the rifle www.theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-i...

theguardian.comThe White House Farm massacre - exclusive: new forensic evidence suggests Sheila Caffell killed herself. Is Jeremy Bamber innocent?In 1985, Bamber was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing five members of his family. Now analysis of crime scene photographs by a leading forensic biologist could exonerate him. Warning: this ar...

Simon Hattenstone reposted

Steve Rose
@steverose7.bsky.social

ANNOUNCEMENT: As of Monday, I will be a full-time FEATURE WRITER for the Guardian, as opposed to assistant features editor. Which means you'll get more of my writing, and no more commissioning - so send pitches to the Guardian features team. Looking forward to it!

Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

This is Karl Bushby's amazing story (nowt to do with me, by the way – but great to interview him) www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

theguardian.com‘Some things are worth dying for’: Karl Bushby’s incredible 28-year walk home, through deserts, kidnappers and polar bearsOn his record-breaking trek, Karl Bushby was held at gunpoint, arrested, menaced by a polar bear and left by two separate girlfriends. Now he’s nearing home after 28 years – and he has a few stories t...
Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

This is my piece on City.I told a friend it's like going through the stages of grief in reverse. For me, first it was acceptance (when I wrote this) and now it's anger with the club. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

theguardian.comWe Manchester City fans fear relegation and losing trophies … but club are bang to rightsDespite the club’s shocking attempts to legally filibuster the charges out of existence for the past three years, we’ve rightfully failed

Simon Hattenstone reposted

Vicki Hird MSc FRES
@vickihird.bsky.social

Great review by @patrickbarkham.bsky.social of @derekvsderek film. this says much from derek the dairy farmer "We’re tied a bit by the price of milk, but we just keep going, we keep struggling on and we love what we do” Good for discussing future changes needed... www.theguardian.com/film/2026/se...

theguardian.com‘The man’s a psychopath when it comes to hedgerows’: Derek vs Derek, the unexpectedly heartwarming doc about farmers at warOne Devon farmer, called Derek, is committed to rewilding his land. His neighbour, also a Derek, tends cattle and crops. What happened when a film-maker decided to follow the bickering pair?
Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

I talk to the Rooneys about marriage, typecasting, the media, Wagatha Christie, Auschwitz, learning from history and how Wayne dealt with the heat of Fergie's hairdryer www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

theguardian.com‘We’ve been on a good run lately. We’ve not had a row for weeks!’: Coleen and Wayne Rooney on marriage, mistakes and making reality TVHis on-pitch triumphs (and off-pitch scandals), her turn as Wagatha Christie … for years, the football power couple have made headlines, despite efforts to keep their lives private. So why are they no...
Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

I found the way Mary Austin talked to me about Freddie Mercury and his impact on her life incredibly moving – and surprising. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/s...

theguardian.comThe extraordinary untold story of Freddie Mercury: Mary Austin on her best friend – and love of her lifeHe was Queen’s flamboyant frontman. She was his shy girlfriend, dreaming of marriage until they both realised he preferred men. Thirty-five years after his death, in the week he would have turned 80, ...
Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

I can't think of anyone who was as wonderful in so many ways as Dolly Parton – singer, songwriter, actor, raconteur, entrepreneur, philanthropist, educator, groundbreaker extraordinaire. And she went through life without a stain. Who does that? And who is EVERYONE'S hero? Love you Dolly

Simon Hattenstone reposted

Rachel Sylvester
@rachelsylvester.bsky.social

New Scandinavian wings at Wandsworth and Pentonville jails have seen a 45% fall in assaults, 57% drop in self harm and halving of staff absence rates - fascinating results from trial into a more rehabilitative approach to prisons observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

observer.co.uk‘Scandi wings’ offering pianos, pool and tea parties coul...A unit in London’s Wandsworth prison has been transformed using methods from Sweden and Norway that prioritise rehabilitation over retribution
Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

This is an extract from the amazing Hiroshima memoir by Kiyoshi Tanimoto, which was mysteriously buried in the archive of the writer John Hersey. (My interview with his fab daughter Koko, the baby of Hiroshima, is linked to it) www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

theguardian.com‘Everywhere there were pitifully injured people’: how a newly unearthed memoir captures the devastation of HiroshimaIn an exclusive extract from his memoir, Kiyoshi Tanimoto describes the terrifying trip across the city to locate his wife and child
Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

The inspirational Koko Kondo was a baby when the A bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. She talks to me about survival, why she turned her back on the city before returning to keep the memory alive, and the mystery of her father's recently discovered memoir www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

theguardian.com‘I never mentioned it for 25 years. I didn’t want to be a victim of the bomb’: Hiroshima survivor Koko Kondo on horror, anger and forgivenessOn that fateful day in 1945, Kondo was just a baby in her mother’s arms. She talks about her father’s newly discovered eye-witness account of the aftermath – and why she decided to continue his work a...
Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

Did you know a barrister is facing jail just for reminding a jury they have the right to vote with their conscience? This historic right has kept trials fair since 1670. We can't let it be silenced now. Add your name to defend fair trials👇 you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...

you.38degrees.org.ukSign to protect the right to a fair trialImagine being called for jury duty, but advised against using your own common sense. ❗A top barrister is now facing contempt of court proceedings, simply for reminding a jury of their rights. If judg...
Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

One final bit of disingenuous myth-making from Rachel Reeves. "I said when I was appointed Chancellor that I would judge my time in office if the lives ordinary working class people have been improved" No, she didn't. Like Starmer, she always talked about 'working people'. There's a difference.

Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

Farewell to the wonderful, chuckling, change-jangling, head-nodding, hard-nosed, kind-hearted, colleague-supporting, scoop-smashing investigative journalist David Hencke. An exceptional reporter. And an exceptional man.

Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

I’m a fat, black, happy girl – they were always going to try to tear me down’ Lizzo tells me about her fall from grace, fighting back and what hurts most about the allegations made against her www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...

theguardian.comLizzo answers her critics: ‘I’m a fat, black, happy girl – they were always going to try to tear me down’Three years ago, the pop star was riding high after a sellout tour. But then a slew of shocking accusations from her former dancers changed everything. Where does she go from here?
Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

Anybody interested in the case ofJeremy Bamber, who has been imprisoned for 41 years after being convicted of killing five family members, should watch this. Jeremy Bamber: Proof of Innocence - The Missing Phone Call – TX, Monday 8th June - 9pm @channel5_tv

Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

I thought I was going to interview Derek Jacobi. And I ended up interviewing Derek and his husband Richard Clifford. Bloody wonderful they are. Properly life affirming, funny and full of soul www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ma...

theguardian.com‘I want to hit 100’: Derek Jacobi on Aids, ageing and failing to boil an eggThe giant of stage and screen is 87 and still hates looking in the mirror. At home with his husband, he talks about weeping, sleeping with Daniel Craig, terrifying directors and the joys of white wine...
Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

'Starmer's managed to get both the left and the right to fucking hate his guts. I just want someone to speak and you believe them, and we haven’t had that in so long I’ve forgotten what it’s like.' Danny Dyer plays the diplomat with me. (For a bit.) www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ma...

theguardian.com‘Men are so frightened of being too cuddly or affectionate’: Danny Dyer on going from hardman to heart-throb in RivalsThe actor has always been full of surprises – and now thanks to Jilly Cooper’s bonkbuster he’s become a romantic lead. As the series returns, he talks about marriage, masculinity and meditation
Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

I spoke to John Robins about his book, Thirst. He's brilliant on alcoholism and is a lovely man (though he tells me i might not have said so a few years ago) www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

theguardian.com‘I wanted alcohol to take me to a place where I was not’: comedian John Robins on the moment he realised he had a drinking problemFor most of his life, John Robins assumed he got more out of alcohol than it took from him. Now he knows it was the other way round
Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

Sarah Green's parents mother ran the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps, which controlled every aspect of their members' lives and abused children. She tells me how she eventually escaped the US cult that almost destroyed her. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m...

theguardian.comMy mom, the cult leader: ‘She told us what to wear, when to pray, how we would have sex. We were prisoners’Deborah Green was a charismatic woman who established a ‘free love ministry’ in California, claiming to be a vessel for God. She was also a controlling, cruel sadist. Her daughter Sarah talks about he...

Simon Hattenstone reposted

TC Dunlop
@tcdunlop.bsky.social

This is brilliant…😍

Simon Hattenstone@shattenstone.bsky.social

Woody Brown is non-speaking, autistic and a brilliant new novelist. I interviewed him, and he's bloody amazing. Would be great if you could share www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m...

theguardian.com‘I was in the pit of despair’: Non-speaking autistic novelist Woody Brown on his journey from write-off to writerAs a child, Brown was underestimated, infantilised and dismissed by specialists and teachers. Now 28, he has written an acclaimed debut novel set in an adult day care centre that gives people like him...
Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

Woody Brown is non-speaking, autistic and a brilliant new novelist. I interviewed him, and he's bloody amazing. Would be great if you could share www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m...

theguardian.com‘I was in the pit of despair’: Non-speaking autistic novelist Woody Brown on his journey from write-off to writerAs a child, Brown was underestimated, infantilised and dismissed by specialists and teachers. Now 28, he has written an acclaimed debut novel set in an adult day care centre that gives people like him...
Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

'This is Elvis Aaron Presley, and you make me feel like dancing' In 153 years of interviewing I don't think I've ever met anybody with stories like Leo Sayer. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/m...

theguardian.comThe unbelievable life of Leo Sayer! The songs, the sex, being swindled – and a spooky phone call from ElvisHe lit up the 1970s with a string of hits, before falling out of the public eye. But was any man ever more connected? He discusses extraordinary encounters with Muhammad Ali and Keith Moon – and why h...
Simon Hattenstone
@shattenstone.bsky.social

This is my interview with the inspirational Corinne Bailey Rae. She's brilliant on grief and what the music press wanted from women in the noughties www.theguardian.com/music/2026/m...

theguardian.comCorinne Bailey Rae: ‘If you weren’t tits-out-for-the-lads, they called you middle of the road’Her first album was a huge hit – then she faced the sudden tragedy of her husband’s early death. She describes the rupture of grief, her return to music and the harsh reality of fame as a woman in the...