News: Australia wakes up to Outlaws Inc after “sensational” ABC Breakfast show interview
This morning I was a guest on Australia’s no.1 breakfast show on ABC. During the link-up interview with host Mike Rowland (a still from the show, above), we talked about how the cut-throat economics of the global marketplace in everything from aid delivery to the food in our supermarkets feeds a shadow industry of mercenary…
Analysis: Black PR, white noise: How grey goo is killing the news media (and the news media doesn’t seem to mind).
This is a post about a systemic failure in our media organisations when it comes to reporting, and it has nothing to do with Rupert Murdoch or plagiarism. It starts in Soho and ends in Syria. If you’re a journalist, you’ll probably know it already, so apologies – though a couple of events recently,…
Upcoming: Spiegel, advertising and social media campaigns to spearhead German release
Outlaws Inc will be released on 30th September in Germany. The book’s German title is Tödliche Fracht – das heimliche Geschäft mit Waffen und Drogen (“Deadly Cargo – the secret trade in weapons and drugs”). German publisher Ullstein/Econ is supporting the launch with advertising, a social media campaign and campaigns in Spiegel Online. as well as traditional press…
Free download: Listen to Matt’s BBC 5Live interview
Download and enjoy the full 25min clip of Matt’s discussion of the anti-heroes of his book Outlaws Inc. with BBC Radio 5Live‘s Giles Dilnot! It’s an M4a/iTunes compatible soundfile. Download here
Launch party goes with a bang
The champagne launch party for Outlaws Inc. went with a bang this week at London’s Goldsboro Books, with nearly 200 attendees and word of mouth putting the book at No.2 on Amazon‘s true-crime bestseller list by the following morning. Attendees included many of the detectives, diplomats and monitors in the book itself, plus a couple…
Matt talks about Outlaws Inc. on BBC Radio 5Live
Listen to the first discussion of Outlaws Inc. on Wednesday 1 June’s edition of Up All Night, BBC Radio 5Live’s night-time show – also available on BBC iPlayer. Matt talked to Giles Dilnot about the adventures, investigative work and accidents that informed the book. Once it’s vanished from iPlayer, I’ll try to post a recording…
Outlaws Inc. UK launch event!
The first virgin cases of Matt’s non-fiction thriller/true crime book Outlaws Inc. will be broken open at a launch reception at London’s Goldsboro Books. For a place on the guest list, more information, or interview opportunities and press material, email matt [at] mattpotterbooks [dot] com or h.guthrie [at] macmillan [dot] co [dot] uk.
First preview of Outlaws Inc. hits US newsstands!
The first preview of Outlaws Inc. hit the stands this week courtesy of Libraries Journal. And here it is! Outlaws Inc.: Under the Radar and on the Black Market with the World’s Most Dangerous Smugglers. Bloomsbury, dist. by Macmillan. Aug. 2011. 288p. ISBN 9781608195305. $25. When communism collapses, some Russian military men get together and…
Google, Skype, Hotmail & the FSB: Russia’s hidden heart
Very interesting city, Ekaterinburg. It’s known for a number of reasons, all of which are to do with its somewhat shadowy, secretive character. It was the scene of the Romanov family’s assassination by the Bolsheviks, and the fount of the whole Anastasia controversy/red herring. During World War II, the Russian government created a secret second…
The lighter side of Moscow’s customs officials
News from today’s Moscow Times suggests all that glaring and journalist-deporting Russian customs and border officials have been doing recently may just be a front to disguise their real fun-loving side. What other conclusion can we possibly draw from this video, showing a group of Moscow customs men and the mime-along pop video they made…