The Penguin Podcast

We’ve travelled across the globe to famous cities for this Urban-themed podcast. Paul French tells us about his extraordinary book, Midnight in Peking, taking us to the the capital city of Beijing and an audio extract from James Joyce's classic short story, Araby, from Dubliners brings us back to North Richmond Street in Dublin. What's more, Greg Baxter reads an extract and talks to us about his new book The Apartment, where he alludes to "an old European capital", which described so richly yet never named.

This episode is devoted entirely to WellPenguin aiming to get you ready for summer, with some sound advice from a selection of our fantastic authors. If you're after that great bikini body, Danni Levy, author of The Pyramid Diet, and the author of Six Weeks to OMG, Venice A. Fulton, provide their top exercise and nutritional tips. We also have some spiritual help from Anna Hunt, author of The Shaman in Stilettos, telling us how we can use shamanic wisdom to improve our emotional well being. Last, but not least, we’re targeting addictions with an extract from the audiobook edition of Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking.

Here at Penguin we're getting very excited about all the Jubilee celebrations that are coming up and so, in order to get you all in the mood to celebrate, we’ve got a very special Jubilee themed podcast! Not only have we got an interview with authority on all things royal, Sarah Bradford, but we’ve also had Kate Williams in to give us the lowdown on both Queen Elizabeth’s coming diamond Jubilee and how Queen Victoria celebrated the same event. To shake things up a bit we’ve included a reading from Sue Townsend’s hilarious book The Queen and I…and, if that’s not enough for you, we’ve got an imaginary boxing match between the Queen and Henry VII. Who will win – our Diamond Queen or the Winter King?

[Download MP3 ] With the Diamond Jubilee right around the corner, everyone at Penguin is feeling very proud to be British so we've got a very British podcast for you all. We've got an interview with Simon Winder, editor of...

Today we have podcast special to mark the global publication this week of The Sign, a major new historical work written by the Cambridge art historian Thomas de Wesselow examining the birth of the Christian religion nearly 2000 years ago in ancient Palestine. As one of the world’s core religions, Christianity has shaped the course of human history. Yet until now, historians have been unable to explain how it really began. How did a 1st-century preacher called Jesus manage to spark a new religion? It is one of the biggest and most profound of all historical mysteries. Now, after years of secret research, the author of The Sign puts all the pieces of the puzzle together and presents a radical, controversial and convincing answer. De Wesselow's revolutionary findings have been kept a secret until today, and in this interview, the author and his editor at Penguin, Joel Rickett, discuss this groundbreaking work of history.

In this month’s podcast we’re celebrating Mother's Day. We've got an interview with Rachel Khoo, author of The Little Paris Kitchen, and she'll be giving us a recipe perfect for celebrating the big day on Sunday! Virginia McKenna, famous for Born Free, took time out from recording the audiobook edition of An African Love Story to speak to our audiobook producer ,Roy McMillian, and, if that wasn't enough, we've got an extract from the brilliant Millions Like Us!

In this month’s podcast we’re celebrating the bicentenary of Charles Dickens with a podcast special devoted to the great man. We’re featuring a chat between Claire Tomalin, author of Charles Dickens: A Life, and her editor Tony Lacey, as well as an extract from the audiobook edition of her work; we also have some remastered content from an old archive recording of Dombey & Son!

[Download MP3] This month's podcast has a “New Year, New You” theme, so we asked a selection of our authors to provide some inspiration for 2012. First, so we can all remember why we made those brutal new years resolutions,...

In this special podcast, recorded with producer and engineer Roger Moutenot, Hollis Hampton-Jones reads from the opening of her novel, Comes the Night.Drawing on her personal experiences as a model in Paris, she produces an eye-opening insight into the fashion world as well as dealing boldly and compassionately with a range of taboo and controversial subjects. A stark, unflinching novel with a dark heart, Comes the Night chronicles 19 year old Meade’s fevered and tormented journey through the frothy, glossy world of fashion and the shadowy recesses of love.