“Understanding is a radical act. It's only through understanding the world that we can change it. Journalism is what makes that understanding possible."

When I was starting out in journalism, a reporter pulled me aside and gave me the talk that all young journalists need. They don't know they need it, but they do. It went like this:

You're not writing for someone sitting in an armchair. You're not writing for someone contemplating your words in the reflection of the moonlight. You're writing for someone on the bus, late for a meeting, their other hand clasping the rail, who's barely paying attention to a thing you're saying. Your job is to get that information into their head as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Years later, the kind of work I do has expanded. It covers TV, radio, books, podcasting and public speaking, as well as journalism. But the basic rule remains the same. The job is to explain the world. To make it vivid and arresting. To make complicated things easy to understand. To show why things are the way they are and how they can be improved.