The Nine Dots Prize is a prize for creative thinking that tackles contemporary societal issues. The aim of the Prize is to promote, encourage and engage innovative thinking to address problems facing the modern world.

We look for entries that are based on evidence and research but that are written creatively for a wide audience. This podcast talks with three successful authors about their experiences with writing non-fiction in a creative way and hears their tips and techniques for success.

We talk to Anne Applebaum, who reads from her book Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944–1956 (Allen Lane), and discusses her other recent books Gulag: A History (Doubleday) and Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine (Penguin Randomhouse). Adam Kay discusses collating his diaries into a book form and reads from the result This Is Going To Hurt (Picador). And Maria Farrell outlines how she used fiction as a way to communicate complex ideas. Maria read from her work, Falling for Mishi (™), which was written for the Internet Society's Global Internet Report.