logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2025
56m 1s

Why are generations at war with each oth...

PENGUIN BOOKS UK
About this episode

Which multi-generational novels inspired White Teeth? Where does Zadie Smith turn for her next great read? And our Penguin team is back to solve your reading dilemmas - whether you're after fascinating memoirs, this year's pick of prize-winning books, or stories perfect for Autumn. 


Discover all the books mentioned on this episode: Click here



Zadie Smtih is one of the most distinctive, exciting and widely loved writers of her generation: she’s the twice shortlisted, once winner of the Women's Prize, also shortlisted for the Booker and has been twice named among Granta’s Best Young British Novelists. Her debut, White Teeth, blazed onto the best-seller lists, and established her as a defining generational voice. Her follow-up work includes the critically and commercially acclaimed NW, On Beauty, and Swing Time. Zadie Smith’s latest work is Dead and Alive: the keenly awaited new collection of essays, in which she brings her unique skills and observations to bear across a dazzling range of subjects.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Oct 14
Is death metal the secret to writing a bestseller? with Elif Shafak
What can Little Women teach modern boys about sisterhood? How does food become a language of love and grief? How does writing in a third language shape your creative rhythm? And why can finishing a masterpiece feel like a tragedy?This week on Ask Penguin, Rhianna is joined by bes ... Show More
52m 20s
Sep 30
How do you adapt East of Eden for screen?
How do you begin breaking down a 600-page American epic to bring it to the screen? How did Florence Pugh capture the essence of the central character Cathy? How did John Steinbeck’s secret writing journals help the screenwriters? And what should you read next if you loved reading ... Show More
19m 50s
Jul 15
How can I help someone fall in love with reading? with Nadia Shireen and Jonathan Douglas
Can you read a cookbook cover-to-cover like a thriller? Does your reading level predict a longer life? Why is a punk chef’s memoir the ultimate weapon for reluctant readers? And how do we inspire children to read if we don’t have the time to read to them? In this special episode ... Show More
46m 51s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2024
Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith is a British novelist, essayist, and short story writer. She is the author of six novels and her first book White Teeth was completed during her final year at Cambridge University. Published in 2000, White Teeth became an instant international bestseller - winning num ... Show More
53m 10s
May 2024
Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith grew up in north west London and studied English at Cambridge University. After a publisher’s bidding war when she was just 21, her debut novel White Teeth became a huge critical and commercial hit on publication in 2000 and won several awards including the Orange Pri ... Show More
43m 44s
Aug 2024
The Vision of Novelist Zadie Smith (‘The Fraud’)
Last fall, Zadie Smith published her prescient historical novel The Fraud. We return to our conversation with the beloved author this week, on the heels of our latest sit-down with writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner. At the top, Smith details her most recent book (7:48), her instinctiv ... Show More
1h 8m
Oct 2023
Zadie Smith on Dickens, Hypocrisy & Justice
This week David talks to the novelist Zadie Smith about Charles Dickens: what he means to her, why we still read him, and what’s missing from the Dickensian view of the world. It’s a conversation about other writers as well – Turgenev, George Orwell and Toni Morrison – and about ... Show More
49m 18s
Jul 2025
Zadie Smith Reads “The Silence”
Zadie Smith reads her story “The Silence,” from the July 7 & 14, 2025, issue of the magazine. Smith, a winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, among others, is the author of two short-story collections and six novels, including “NW,” “Sw ... Show More
36m 12s
Sep 2023
Zadie Smith’s Guilty Pleasure is Rap Feuds
Chioma and Chloe talk to Zadie Smith about her style (David Byrne suits and intimidating looks), what she wore to her college interview, internet wormholes she falls into, and how she felt when she finished her new book, The Fraud – her first piece of historical fiction. Learn mo ... Show More
31 m