Chasing Hope: A Reporter's Life by Nicholas Kristof

BATB score: 9/10 👏

Best as: Bill Gates’ 2025 recommended read is 700 pages long; took BATB a distracted 1 month to complete - enjoyed most of the chapters tho

Best to: a memoir of a New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner sharing the behind the scenes of Tiananmen Square, the Yemeni civil war, the Darfur genocide in Sudan, sex slave in Southeast Asia, Cuba warlords and so much more reportings

BATB lingering thought: now where’s the line between passive reporting and onsite, I am the closest bystander, who can help you right now? when do we take a photo? be a helpful human? and/or walk away?

Best for: a day in a life of a news reporter; eloquently written, covering serious news, not paparazzi gossip star tabloid

Best quotes: “Good journalism is always going to embarrass people, wound their pride and in some cases set back their careers and harm family members.”

“When people have been repressed for decades and finally sense a chance at freedom, they don’t want to settle for a bit less repression.”

“Lies written in ink can never disguise facts written in blood.”

“Her wings are cut and then she is blamed for not knowing how to fly.”

“They were poor, but what they wanted most of all wasn’t a redistribution of wealth but a redistribution of respect.”

“There are decades when nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen.”