Oftentimes our sources did it for us. Several days before we broke the story, the only accuser who had given an on-the-record interview was Laura Madden, a former assistant in Miramax’s London office who was living a quiet life as a stay-at-home mother in Wales. (This was before she was joined by Ashley Judd.) Madden was understandably very nervous, and we could feel that she was wavering. She had a good reason: Madden had recently battled breast cancer, she needed a second mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, and it looked as if the publication of the article was going to coincide with the procedure. We felt horrible: Under those circumstances, how could we ask her to be the sole woman on the record?

As the final hour approached, Madden gathered her teenage daughters and told them she had something to share. They thought it was about the impending operation. Instead Madden told them what Weinstein had done to her all those years before (he denies it) and that she had shared the story for a newspaper article.

The girls were shocked — they couldn’t picture their own mother in that situation. But they opened up and started to tell her about similar things that had happened to some of their school friends. It was Madden’s turn to be shocked — she had no idea this was happening among the kids.

The next morning, with the surgery date nearing, Madden sent us an email:

I feel I am speaking out on behalf of women who can’t because their livelihoods or marriages may be affected. I am the mother of 3 daughters and I do not want them to have to accept this kind of bullying behavior in any setting as “normal.” I have been through life changing health issues and know that time is precious and confronting bullies is important. My family are all supportive of my decision. I am happy to go on record.

What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received, and how did you put it to use on this story?

MEGAN TWOHEY One of my first bosses told me that if I wasn’t a little scared of my job every day, it was time to get a new job. I’ve applied this advice in various ways over the years. I view that pit in my stomach as a good thing, a signal that I’m taking on the types of new challenges that will force me to grow. One of the best pieces of journalism advice was tacked above the desk of one of my first editors: “If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out.” It’s a reminder to always follow through with the due diligence to ensure the integrity of your reporting.

JODI KANTOR Dean Baquet, our executive editor, won’t remember this, but when I worked for him in the Washington bureau, covering the Obamas, I set out to write a book about them and panicked so badly at the start of the project that I wanted to give up. I asked him: What if I spend all those months reporting and don’t learn anything new? He told me not to make a decision on that basis. At the outset of a reporting project, he said, the only test is whether you’re asking good questions — hard ones. Otherwise the project was not worth doing.

You broke a story that led to a huge cultural shift. Do you think it has changed the way we think about journalism?

Our story helped spur a staggering amount of change (which had been building for years, thanks to activists like Tarana Burke, Anita Hill, legal thinkers, fellow journalists and many others). That’s the question we explore in our book — why this story, how does social progress occur, especially at a time when so much feels stuck. But we were actually relying on the classic standards of investigative journalism, tools our colleagues across the newsroom use every day: careful interviewing, persistent digging, searches for documents, corroboration. As Megan’s editor’s sign said: If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out.