Episodes

  • 171: Claire Fuller with Nihal Arthanayake

    171: Claire Fuller with Nihal Arthanayake
    Feb 9 2022
    Claire Fuller, who recently won the Costa Novel of the Year for her latest book, Unsettled Ground, joins Nihal Arthanayake on the podcast this week. Together they discuss the importance of music in her creative process, what she doesn't like about being a novelist and how a book by Miranda July might just have kickstarted her writing career.
    Don't forget to follow the show so you never miss an episode, and do leave us a review as it really does help. To find out more about the #PenguinPodcast, visit https://www.penguin.co.uk/podcasts.html.
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    36 mins
  • 170: New Non-Fiction Writers to Look Out For in 2022 with Nihal Arthanayake

    170: New Non-Fiction Writers to Look Out For in 2022 with Nihal Arthanayake
    Jan 26 2022
    Last time we brought you some of the most exciting debut novelists to look out for in 2022, so this week we're introducing you to some of the best new non-fiction writers to add to your reading list this year. It's a veritable treasure chest, from a comic memoir to ornithology, mental health, family and cultural history, and an exploration of how the Earth, as we know it, came to be.
    In this episode, we hear from: 
    • CJ Hauser, author of The Crane Wife, 
    • Mya-Rose Craig, author of Birdgirl, 
    • Teresa Lim, author of The Interpreter's Daughter, 
    • Thomas Halliday, author of Otherlands

    Don't forget to follow the show so you never miss an episode, and please do leave us a review as it really does help. To find out more about the #PenguinPodcast, visit https://www.penguin.co.uk/podcasts.html.
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    35 mins
  • 169: Debut Novelists to Look Out For in 2022 with Isy Suttie

    169: Debut Novelists to Look Out For in 2022 with Isy Suttie
    Jan 12 2022
    A new year = new books, and there are plenty of brilliant new stories to look out for this year. To get your 2022 reading list started, we've brought together five of this year's most exciting debut novelists. Speaking to Isy Suttie, they introduce us to themselves and their books and give us some insight into their inspirations and aspirations. From a darkly comic dystopia to sumptuous historical fiction to a subversive take on modern womanhood and more – there's something for everyone amongst our pick of 2022's must-read debuts.
    In this episode, we hear from:
    • Jessamine Chan, author of The School for Good Mothers
    • Nikki May, author of Wahala
    • Susan Stokes-Chapman, author of Pandora
    • Claire Alexander, author of Meredith, Alone
    • Ayanna Lloyd Banwo, author of When We Were Birds

    Don't forget to follow the show so you never miss an episode, and please do leave us a review as it really does help. Finally, to find out more about the #PenguinPodcast, visit https://www.penguin.co.uk/podcasts.
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    47 mins
  • 168: The Year in Review (Part 2) with Nihal Arthanayake

    168: The Year in Review (Part 2) with Nihal Arthanayake
    Dec 22 2021
    As we approach the end of 2021, we're revisiting some of the most memorable moments on the Penguin Podcast this year.
    Conn Iggulden takes his writing research extremely (and we mean, *extremely*) seriously, Emma Dabiri gives us a tour of her bookshelves, Owen Jones tells us exactly which Keir he named his feline friend after, Hafsa Zayyan's shares why her grandfather sends her letters back to her, Gyles Brandreth reveals his enduring fondness for teddy bears and Ali Smith treasures advice from a favourite writer.
    Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode, and please do leave us a review – it really does help us. And finally, to find out more about the #PenguinPodcast, visit https://www.penguin.co.uk/podcasts.
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    31 mins
  • 167: The Year in Review (Part 1) with Nihal Arthanayake

    167: The Year in Review (Part 1) with Nihal Arthanayake
    Dec 8 2021
    As we approach the end of 2021, we're revisiting some of our favourite moments on the Penguin Podcast this year.
    Zadie Smith and Nick Laird tell us about the unexpectedly colourful spectrum of noise that helps them work, Adam Kay reveals the best way to avoid being distracted by social media while trying to write a book, Ashley Audrain discusses the song that had a huge influence on her debut novel, former director of the British Museum Neil MacGregor shows us what a rhino doesn't actually look like, Shon Faye explains how a shared culture can bring us together, and Barack Obama tells Marcus Rashford about rummaging through a bin for books at a jumble sale.
    Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode, and please do leave us a review – it really does help us. And finally, to find out more about the #PenguinPodcast, visit https://www.penguin.co.uk/podcasts.
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    33 mins
  • 166: Richard Powers with Nihal Arthanayake

    166: Richard Powers with Nihal Arthanayake
    Nov 24 2021
    Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Powers joins Nihal Arthanayake to discuss his thirteenth novel, ‘Bewilderment’.
    Using objects like Bach’s Goldberg Variation 18, an unsmoked hickory nut, and a petrified piece of redwood, Powers transport us to his home in the Great Smoky Mountains, musing on the importance of sense as an entranceway to curiosity, writing as a resistance of habituation, and the centrifugal feeling that connects the work of the artist and the scientist; that of bewilderment. 
    ‘Bewilderment’ is available to order on audiobook now: https://apple.co/3cFCDYf
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    34 mins
  • 165: Stanley Tucci Live at The London Palladium with Dolly Alderton

    165: Stanley Tucci Live at The London Palladium with Dolly Alderton
    Nov 10 2021
    In this special live recording at The London Palladium, Dolly Alderton speaks to award-winning actor and writer Stanley Tucci to discuss his new food memoir, Taste: My Life Through Food.
    Stanley speaks passionately about food, and shares with Dolly the ways in which it’s been inextricably intertwined with his life. He recalls early memories of TV chefs, tells us some favourite recipes, and explains how surviving throat cancer has renewed his appreciation for the simple joy of taste. #PenguinPodcast
    The audiobook version of Taste: My Life through Food is available here: https://apple.co/3oeQfze
    The paperback of Dolly Alderton’s latest novel, Ghosts, is out now: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/316664/ghosts/9780241988688.html
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    42 mins
  • 164: Elizabeth Strout with Isy Suttie

    164: Elizabeth Strout with Isy Suttie
    Oct 27 2021
    The Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout joins Isy Suttie to discuss the third book in her Lucy Barton series, ‘Oh, William!’.
    Using objects like a ring gifted to her by a great aunt and a postcard of the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald as a starting point, Strout muses on the almost mystical process that allows her to inhabit the characters she creates, her preoccupation with class and the shame that so often sits alongside it, and the epiphany that came to her on the comedy stage. #PenguinPodcast
    ‘Oh, William!’ is available to order on audiobook now: https://apple.co/3EbDgV6 
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    38 mins