Jane Ferguson, NO ORDINARY ASSIGNMENT: A Memoir
Totally Booked with Zibby
Zibby Owens
4.5 • 644 Ratings
🗓️ 6 December 2023
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Zibby interviews Jane Ferguson about NO ORDINARY ASSIGNMENT, a fascinating memoir that chronicles her career as a Middle East and South Asia war correspondent spanning thirteen years. Jane writes candidly about her industry and her motivations for choosing such a perilous career, linking her unpredictable home life, childhood anxiety, and constant sense of displacement to her ability to handle fear and chaos in conflict zones. Jane also details her transition from fashion and lifestyle stories to frontline reporting in war-torn countries. She reflects on the emotional toll of her work, particularly her experience in Syria, and the lingering effects of trauma. Tune in if you're interested in journalism, the complexities of conflict coverage, and personal resilience.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, I'm Zibi Owens, and you're listening to Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books. |
| 0:06.7 | This 30-minute podcast features a new author interviewed by me every single day, 365 days a year, for about 30 minutes. |
| 0:14.9 | I am also the publisher for Zibi Books, which publishes 12 books a year in fiction and memoir. |
| 0:21.9 | Our books are already out now. |
| 0:23.5 | You can check it out on ZippyBooks.com. |
| 0:25.6 | And we have a magazine called Zibby Mag where we have lots of wonderful essays and lifestyle |
| 0:31.2 | features. |
| 0:31.8 | That's at Zibbymag.com. |
| 0:33.1 | We have classes at Zippy Classes.com. |
| 0:35.4 | And I recently opened a bookstore in L.a called zibby's bookshop |
| 0:40.3 | at one one one three montana avenue at 11th street in san monica i hope that you are able to |
| 0:47.0 | enjoy some of our other offerings but this here podcast is the basis of all of it and started in |
| 0:53.3 | 2018 and no matter what i do this is basically my of all of it and started in 2018. And no matter what I do, this is |
| 0:56.1 | basically my favorite thing. Enjoy. |
| 1:02.4 | Jane Ferguson is the author of No Ordinary Assignment, a memoir. Jane is a Polk, Emmy, Peabody, |
| 1:08.5 | OPCA, and DuPont Award-winning foreign correspondent for PBS NewsHour, |
| 1:13.0 | contributor to the New Yorker, and McGraw Professor of Journalism at Princeton University. |
| 1:16.9 | Now based in New York City, she has over 13 years of experience living and reporting in the Middle East |
| 1:21.7 | and reporting from the Arab world, Africa, and South Asia. |
| 1:25.2 | Her work focuses on U.S. foreign policy and defense, conflict, diplomacy, and human rights. |
| 1:30.1 | With an emphasis on in-depth magazine-length broadcasting, Jane's reporting is characterized by exclusive groundbreaking access, thoughtful storytelling, and character-driven reporting. |
| 1:39.1 | Welcome, Jane. Thank you so much for coming on moms, don't have time to read books to discuss no ordinary assignment a |
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