The Penguin Podcast

The Boy in The Filter Bubble (Eli Pariser full talk)

[Download mp3]

Eli Pariser visited Penguin to speak to us (and now you) about his new book The Filter Bubble - What the Internet is Hiding from You.

Eli's 'filter bubble' is a concept that's about to change the way you think about the internet – it certainly changed the way we do. And if you're at all interested in online privacy, or the dilemmas involved in having companies like Google and Facebook tailor your internet landscape for you, we can't recommend the book enough. 

 

---

Listen to this episode

The Boy in The Filter Bubble by Penguin Books UK | Download mp3

 

Thanks for listening.

 

---

Related Books

• 
  The Filter Bubble
  Eli Pariser

Summer Reading (with Nicci French, Robert Penn and others)

[Download mp3]

For your Summer Reading Special enjoyment, we've got holiday book tips from Nicci French (Blue Monday), Felix Riley (The Set-up) and Jussi Adler-Olsen (Mercy). And then there's Matthew De Abaitua (The Art of Camping) on the countercultural side of camping, and Robert Penn (It's All About the Bike) on the democratic and genetic benefits of cycling.

Don't go on holiday without this episode. Unless you've already left. In which case we hope you're having fun!

 

---

Listen to this episode

Summer Reading by Penguin Books UK | Download mp3

 

And if you want to know a little more about It's All About the Bike, here's a video of Rob:

---

Related Books

• 
  The Art of Camping
  Matthew De Abaitua
• 
  It's All About the Bike
  Robert Penn

• 
  Blue Monday
  Nicci French
• 
  The Set-up
  Felix Riley
• 
  Mercy
  Jussi Adler-Olsen

A Historical Fiction Roundtable

[Download mp3]

For this episode of the podcast, five of our favourite authors sat down to discuss their shared experiences writing historical fiction, as well as their own unique perspectives on the past.

 

---

Listen to this episode

A Historical Fiction Roundtable by Penguin Books UK | Download mp3

 

---

Harry Sidebottom (author of the Warrior of Rome series) discusses how the 3rd century was an era of rapid change that is wonderfully obscure to most. A. L. Berridge (Honour and the Sword) talks about why the contrasts between nobility and brutality in 17th Century England fascinate her. Karen Maitland (The Gallows Curse and Company of Liars) considers why she finds the myth and magic of the Middle Ages so captivating, as well as how she creates parallels between the historical and the modern to create a sense of familiarity for the reader. Stewart Binns (Conquest) talks about turning to his own time at school to find a heroic adventure from the 11th Century Norman Conquest. And Kate Williams (The Pleasures of Men) discusses the expansion of Britain and of cities in the Victorian era, and the, often overlooked, dark underworld that flourished.

We hope you like it!

 

---

Related Books

• 
  The Caspian Gates
  Harry Sidebottom
• 
  Honour and the Sword
  A. L. Berridge
• 
  The Gallows Curse
  Karen Maitland
• 
  Conquest
  Stewart Binns

Bloggers' Night

Back in April we held the inaugural Penguin Bloggers' Night. Think of it like an evening of speed dating, where the internet had a gaggle of new books and authors vie for its affections. And here's your chance to listen to that gaggle: 

 

---

Listen to this episode

Bloggers' Night by Penguin Books UK | Download mp3

 

---

Joe Dunthorne, author of the fantastic, film-spawning debut novel Submarine, read from the equally fantastic Wild Abandon, out in August.

Luke Williams, introduced his debut novel The Echo Chamber, and its narrator Evie, who hears things other people can't hear.

Jean Kwok explained the autobiographical background to her Girl in Translation.

Ross Raisin braved a Glaswegian accent to read from his second novel Waterline.

Rebecca Hunt brought Churchill's Black Dog of depression to shaggy, slobbery life in Mr Chartwell.

Helen Gordon gave her art critic narrator an awkward car journey in a reading from her debut, Landfall, published in October.

And Booker-shortlisted author Hisham Matar read from Anatomy of a Disappearance, his profound, moving new book about a young boy struggling to deal with the loss of his mother.

 

Thanks for listening! And thanks to Suzi Feay for hosting the night. And if you were at the event, please do leave us a comment letting us know!

---

Related Books

• 
  Wild Abandon
  Joe Dunthorne
• 
  The Echo Chamber
  Luke Williams
• 
  Girl in Translation
  Jean Kwok
• 
  Waterline
  Ross Raisin
• 
  Mr Chartwell
  Rebecca Hunt
• 
  Landfall
  Helen Gordon
• 
  Anatomy of a Disappearance
  Hisham Matar

 

---

Related Links

Visit host-for-the-night Suzi Feay's website.

Read Spinebreaker Olivia Scott-Berry's write-up of the night and watch videos of all the readings.

 

The Past

Historical fact and historical fiction take over the Penguin Podcast for this episode all about writing and the past. Sarah Blake talks about her World War II novel The Postmistress, as well as the difficulties and rewards of writing about a different time; John Stubbs takes us back to the 17th Century to introduce us to two reprobates of the English Civil War; and Penguin audiobooks editor Ravina Bajwa introduces an excerpt from Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl read by Helena Bonham Carter.

We hope you enjoy it!

 

---

Listen to this episode

The Past by Penguin Books | Download mp3

 

---

Related Books

• 
  The Postmistress
  Sarah Blake
• 
  Reprobates: The Cabaliers of the English Civil War
  John Stubbs
• 
  The Diary of a Young Girl (audio edition)
  Anne Frank
• 
  The Diary of a Young Girl (paperback)
  Anne Frank

Death

David Shields, author of The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead, and John Gray, author of The Immortalization Commission: The Strange Quest to Cheat Death, sit down in the Penguin offices for a long conversation about mortality; David Vann talks about the deaths that animate his books Legend of a Suicide and Caribou Island; and Paul Murray reads a section of his epic, comic, tragic, brilliant novel Skippy Dies in which (spoiler alert!) Skippy dies.

Yes, for this episode of the podcast we're thinking about death. We hope you enjoy it.

 

---

Listen to this episode

Death by Penguin Books | Download mp3

 

---

Related Books

• 
  The Immortalization Commission
  John Gray
• 
  The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead
  David Shields
• 
  Caribou Island
  David Vann
• 
  Skippy Dies
  Paul Murray

---

Related Links

Listen to the the Start the Week appearance David Shields talks about on the podcast
Read The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James, the book John Gray and David Shields both rave about on the podcast.

A Celebration of David Foster Wallace

On the 15th April 2011, tax day in the United States, over 200 people gathered in the gallery at Foyle's on Charing Cross road to celebrate the life and work of the late David Foster Wallace as well as to launch his posthumous novel, The Pale King.

Paul Murray kicked things off by reading the opening of the book, Catherine O'Flynn then read from Infinite Jest and finally Michael Pietsch, David's editor, and Bonnie Nadell, his lifelong agent, spoke in conversation with Jonathan Derbyshire, the culture editor at the New Statesman, about David's work, publishing The Pale King and the tragic loss of a great friend and tremendous talent.

Due to some technical difficulties on the night, the recording is not as pristine as we would have hoped. However, it was such an interesting and incredibly moving occasion, that we wanted to share it in its entirety.

 

---

Listen to this podcast

A Celebration of David Foster Wallace by Penguin Books | Download mp3

 

---

Related Books

• 
  The Pale King
  David Foster Wallace
• 
  Skippy Dies
  Paul Murray
• 
  The News Where You Are
  Catherine O’Flynn

---

Related Links

One of our favourite reviews of The Pale King: John Jeremiah Sullivan writes brilliantly about the book, and about Wallace, at GQ

Romance of the Thin Man and the Fat Lady

Today on the podcast, author Robert Coover reads the short story 'Romance of the Thin Man and the Fat Lady'.

It's a story for grown-ups and a couple of times Robert uses grown-up language, so please bear that in mind when deciding whether to listen.

But it's also a great story, and we hope you enjoy it. Robert's one of the most influential and exciting writers of the past four decades. His writing can be dark, bawdy, carnivalesque, gruesome and very funny. 

Romance of the Thin Man and the Fat Lady is the title story of Coover's new Mini Modern Classic, and was originally published in the staggering collection of short stories Pricksongs & Descants, which is about to be published as a Penguin Modern Classic.

Robert's also a co-founder of the Electronic Literature Organization and a teacher of hypertext and virtual reality writing, and if you haven't yet listened to our podcast episode in which he discusses the future of storytelling, you should!

 

---

Listen to this podcast

Romance of the Thin Man and the Fat Lady by Penguin Books | Download mp3

 

---

Related Books

• 
  Romance of the Thin Man and the Fat Lady
  Robert Coover
• 
  Pricksongs & Descants
  Robert Coover
• 
  Briar Rose & Spanking the Maid
  Robert Coover
• 
  Gerald's Party
  Robert Coover

---

Related Links

Robert interviewed on our podcast about the future of storytelling

yes

The Future

For this episode of the podcast, we’re talking about ‘the future’. Robert Coover leads us towards the future of storytelling: as a novelist and short story writer he’s been one of the most influential authors of the past fifty years, but he’s also been thinking about electronic literature since before there was a World Wide Web.

We spoke to him about the possibilities of hypertext writing and the immersive virtual reality of ‘CaveWriting’. Evgeny Morozov, the author of The Net Delusion, has more than a few thoughts about the future of the internet, and it’s not all as glorious and cyber-utopian as you might hope. And Jaron Lanier wants you to change the way you behave online, and provides a guide staying human in the age of wikis and the internet Hive Mind.

We hope you like it.

 

---

Listen to this episode

The Future by Penguin Books | Download mp3

 

Related Books

• 
  Pricksongs & Descants
  Robert Coover
• 
  Briar Rose & Spanking the Maid
  Robert Coover
• 
  The Net Delusion
  Evgeny Morozov
• 
  You Are Not a Gadget
  Jaron Lanier

---

Related Links

The Electronic Literature Organization
Evgeny on Twitter
Jaron’s homepage

Episode 0.4 – Ramblin' Man

In another bonus episode (call us bashful but we're not quite ready to call this a relaunch yet - there will be an episode number 1 sometime soon though, oh yes), Nat Segnit reads from his very funny debut novel Pub Walks in Underhill Country, a tour around some scenic walks in the West Midlands and one man's collapsing psyche.

We hope you like it.

---

Listen to this podcast

Ramblin' Man by Penguin Books | Download mp3

---

Related Links

Pub Walks in Underhill Country