Stay ConnectedWhat should I read next? Ask Penguin is the podcast where your quirkiest, trickiest, and most urgent book questions get answered. Hosted by Rhianna Dhillon, we bring bestselling authors and Penguin insiders to explore some of your favourite books and discover new ones that you are yet to read.
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Howard Jacobson joins Nihal in the studio to chat about his new book ‘Live a Little’. Howard, who has written sixteen novels including Booker prize-winning ‘The Finkler Question’, brings objects that have inspired him including a playbill and a painting. He also tells the story of the time Kylie Minogue called him ‘a b**tard’ (in a good way). #PenguinPodcast
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Mark Haddon tells Katy Brand how art inspires him – choosing objects including an oil painting and a David Hockney print to explain. The award-winning ‘Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ author also talks about his new book ‘The Porpoise’ based partly on the legend of Antiochus, it also features tales of time travel, pirates and semi-naked wrestling. #PenguinPodcast
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Nigella talks about her first cookbook ‘How To Eat’, which is 20 years old and has now been made into an audiobook. She tells Katy why she thought this would the only book about food she would write, why some of her ideas have changed since writing and what her rider is when working abroad. Nigella beings in some objects that inspire her including a tea caddy and a photograph of her kitchen table.
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Bestselling Turkish-British author Elif Shafak, chats to Nihal about the brilliant idea behind her new novel ’10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World’ (10:38 is the period of time a brain can still be active after death). Elif, who has also received standing ovations at Ted Talks and is an academic and journalist, explains how she finds it impossible to write without noise and brings with her objects that inspire her work including a pair of headphones and a wooden statue of Don Quixote.
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'The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read’ by Philippa Perry recently topped the Sunday Times Bestseller List and has been called ‘a parenting book for people who don’t normally buy them’. Philippa, a psychotherapist and broadcaster, talks about not judging parents, how there is no 'good and bad' and what to do about screen time. Philippa’s objects that inspire her writing, include a tiny pair of walking boots and a TV remote control. We also hear an extract from the audiobook. #PenguinPodcast
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John Boyne, bestselling author of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ chats to Nihal Arthanayake about harnessing ideas around his new YA book ‘My Brother’s Name is Jessica’. John brings objects into the studio that have inspired him including a football, a locked black box and reveals the reason behind his Kate Bush tattoo. #PenguinPodcast #KateBush #JohnIrving #JohnBoyne
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Booker prize-winning author Ian McEwan visits the Penguin studio to talk about his new novel ‘Machines Like Me’ - set in an alternatives 1980’s in which synthetic humans are on sale. Ian and Katy talk about the ethics of AI, why drinking wine on the top of a mountain is good for your health and how being an A list Hollywood screenwriter can be ‘the ruin of many an English novelist’. Ian’s objects of inspiration include steel drinking cups and a drawing of a squirrel’s skull. #PenguinPodcast
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What happened when engineers fixed an aeroplane window with bolts ever so slightly too short (spoiler: the pilot did not stay seated). Mathematician and stand-up comedian (yes, he does both), Matt Parker, explains to Katy Brand how maths mistakes in everyday life can have BIG consequences. He brings with him the rogue aeroplane bolts to the studio as well as objects that have helped him write his latest book ‘Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors’. #PenguinPodcast
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In this special edition, Katy Brand selects highlights from past episodes featuring Stephen Fry, Salman Rushdie, Ruby Wax, Zadie Smith, Caitlin Moran, Romesh Ranganathan, Reggie Yates, Ian Rankin, Michael Palin, Pat Barker, Arundhati Roy, Michael Morpurgo and many more. #PenguinPodcast
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Man Booker prize winner Marlon James tells Nihal why his new novel ‘Black Leopard, Red Wolf’ is a sort of African ‘Game of Thrones’. The Jamaican author of ‘A Brief History of Seven Killings’ talks about objects that inspire his creativity including comic books, superheroes and how he loves to draw maps. #PenguinPodcast
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