{"podcast":{"title":"Ask Penguin","slug":"ask-penguin-555431","podcast_index_feed_id":555431,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/d2a69c65-3300-4484-abcb-ea3e7d712478","website_url":"https://www.penguin.co.uk/discover/podcast","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/60eecae845fc69e6c03398b2/1759395784307-946f7f84-df95-4115-8e44-621373467698.jpeg","author":"Penguin Books UK","episode_count":266,"summary":"What 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-16T10:21:13.437335+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ask-penguin-555431"},"episode":{"title":"What are the best novels about infidelity? With Sophie Mackintosh","slug":"what-are-the-best-novels-about-infidelity-with-sophie-mackintosh","published_at":"2026-05-06T23:05:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ask-penguin-555431/what-are-the-best-novels-about-infidelity-with-sophie-mackintosh","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ask-penguin-555431","url":"https://shows.acast.com/thepenguinpodcast/episodes/what-are-the-best-novels-about-infidelity-with-sophie-mackin","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/thepenguinpodcast/e/69fb4c747272023359a158ce/media.mp3","summary":"What’s the difference between flash fiction and the short story? Why are we drawn to literature’s most flawed characters? And what would be the ideal fictional world for adulterers?    Hosted by Rhianna Dhillon, on this episode of  Ask Penguin , we’re answering your questions with our best book recommendations and talking to Booker Prize-longlisted novelist Sophie Mackintosh about her new novel  Permanence . The book follows Clara and Francis – a couple in love, but in secret. When they wake in a strange city, they can finally be together. But as they move between this world and their ordinary lives, cracks begin to show, and they are forced to ask - how long can their love survive?   Discover all the books mentioned in this episode here Sophie Mackintosh is the author of four novels, including  The Water Cure  and  Cursed Bread.  She has been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Women's Prize, has won a Betty Trask Award, and has been selected as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists. She has been published in  Granta, The White Review  and  TANK  magazine   among others.   For more information about the National Year of Reading, click here https://goallin.org.uk   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"What’s the difference between flash fiction and the short story? Why are we drawn to literature’s most flawed …","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2482,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ask-penguin-555431/episodes/what-are-the-best-novels-about-infidelity-with-sophie-mackintosh/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ask-penguin-555431/what-are-the-best-novels-about-infidelity-with-sophie-mackintosh.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}