Elizabeth Strout with Isy Suttie

In this special bonus episode, and to mark Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, we step inside her home in Alton to uncover the life she lived there and the objects she treasured most. From first editions to her own annotated books which formed her personal library, we explore how her s ...  Show more

What were our favourite books of the year and what are we most excited to read in 2026? Join the team behind the Ask Penguin podcast to look back at standout titles, memorable podcast moments, and the reading intentions we’re taking into the New Year.Explore all the books mention ...  Show more

With her new memoir, The Critic's Daughter (Norton), Priscilla Gilman explores her relationship with her father, Theater Critic and Yale Drama professor Richard Gilman (as well as with her mom, literary agent Lynn Nesbit). We get into the perils of literary-kid memoir, the NYC bo ...  Show more

Harold Bloom called Persuasion "the perfect novel." Virginia Woolf said "In Persuasion, Jane Austen is beginning to discover that the world is larger, more mysterious, and more romantic than she supposed." In this episode, the first of three parts, Jacke takes a look at Jane Aust ...  Show more

The Bard’s work featured many references to sex and sexuality - some more obvious than others. But what does the work reveal about the sexuality of Shakespeare himself? 

Despite being married with three kids to Anne Hathaway in the sleepy suburbs of Stratford-up ...

Kate Elizabeth Russell is a writer, based in Oregon. Her debut novel, My Dark Vanessa, was published in 2020 and has been translated into thirty-five languages. It’s been both a Sunday Times Bestseller and a New York Times Bestseller. Stephen King himself described it as ‘a hard ...  Show more