Which Penguin books shocked society and became cultural icons? With Jack Edwards and Penguin Editor, Simon Prosser
Ask Penguin
Penguin Books UK
4.1 • 550 Ratings
🗓️ 3 September 2025
⏱️ 65 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Outrageous, iconic and unforgettable - these are some of the books Penguin have been publishing over its 90-year history. As part of a special content series called 'The books that shaped us' on Penguin.co.uk, we invited readers from the world of publishing, comedy, and music to explore must-read titles across the decades. The Internet's resident librarian Jack Edwards and Penguin editor Simon Prosser discuss their curated reading lists, and explore the impact of the books that shocked society and became pop culture phenomena in this special episode, recorded live at Waterstones Picadilly
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi everybody, I am Rianne Dillon. Welcome to Ask Penguin. It's the podcast series from Penguin Books. It's the show that takes you inside books and publishing. So welcome to this very special podcast episode coming to you from the biggest bookshop in Europe. Did you guys know that? The regulars, the regulars knew it. |
| 0:24.6 | So we're recording in Waterstones Piccadilly right in the heart of London. So since 1935, Penguin has |
| 0:32.2 | published books that have shaped the world that we live in. So as part of a special content series on penguin.com. |
| 0:38.1 | UK, the penguin team have been delving in to nine decades worth of penguin books and |
| 0:44.1 | selecting titles that have shocked us, comforted us, set our imaginations alight, alongside |
| 0:50.3 | co-editors from the world of books, music and also comedy, politics, they've created |
| 0:55.8 | reading lists that explore the topics that have shaped the world that we live in today. |
| 1:00.0 | So for this conversation, we wanted to dive into two of those themes with the people who championed |
| 1:05.5 | those very special titles. These are the books that have shocked us as a society, influenced the way that writers |
| 1:13.0 | approach their work and changed what we see in modern bookshops, the titles that have |
| 1:17.6 | leapt off the page into art, music, cinema, even the way that we speak. So a massive hello to |
| 1:25.1 | everybody here in person today and to everybody listening at home. We're |
| 1:29.1 | delighted to have you with us. So joining me to discuss the stories behind these standout titles |
| 1:34.0 | from the last 90 years, I'm delighted to welcome Simon Prosser and Jack Edwards. |
| 1:40.1 | Hey. Thank you so much for joining us both. So Simon is the publishing director of publishing imprint Hamish Hamilton and the editor of so many prize-winning writers. |
| 1:52.2 | Names like Zadie Smith, Bernardine Evaristo, Ali Smith, Arundtty Roy, Robert McFarland, Hanif Qureshi, to name just a few there. And Jack Edwards is known |
| 2:04.1 | as the internet's resident librarian, a cultural catalyst. Jack's audience of three million people |
| 2:10.1 | have earned him a place as one of the most influential names in book history. He's creator |
| 2:15.0 | in residence for Hay Festival, a keynote speaker at Singapore Writers |
| 2:18.8 | Festival and Gothenburg Book Fair and the digital host of the Booker Prize and recently |
| 2:23.9 | launched his own book club, Inklings, which is a special community of book lovers. So thank you |
| 2:29.3 | so much for joining us both. Thanks for having us. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you. So both of you have been involved |
... |
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