Author Information:

Helena Merriman is an award-winning journalist, author and documentary-maker. Helena wrote, produced and presented Tunnel 29 – the BBC podcast series about a group of students who dug a tunnel under the Berlin Wall in 1962. The podcast has had over 6m downloads and was listed by The New Yorker as one of their top five podcasts of 2019. It won the Foreign Press Association’s Podcast of the Year, Rose D’Or Best Audio Entertainment and Best Radio Podcast and Moment of the Year at the British Podcast Awards. Helena is the author of Tunnel 29, published in August, 2021, by Hodder Books. The TV rights were bought by Sister Productions and the series will be directed by Johan Renck (dir. Chernobyl.) Kirkus described the book as ‘a fascinating account of a daring escape from a repressive regime as well as a vivid portrait of life in Berlin in the early days of the wall.’ Helena has worked as a reporter all over the world, with long stints in Jerusalem, Egypt and Washington DC. She has spent time with resistance fighters on the frontline in Libya, reported on the Egyptian uprising from Cairo, interviewed protesters in Yemen, investigated illegal fishing in Sierra Leone and covered Obama’s re-election campaign. in 2014, Helena co-created The Inquiry podcast for the BBC – a weekly current affairs programme which explores the most contentious issues of our times. She hosted the show for the next four years, reporting on everything from Islamic State to Artificial Intelligence, climate change and the 2008 banking crisis. In 2017 it won Best Current Affairs podcast at the British Podcast Awards. She is now working on her next series for BBC Sounds and Radio 4. It will be released in January, 2022. helenamerriman.com Twitter: @helenamerriman Instagram: @helenamerriman