Site of the week: The Penguin Podcast

Penguin is the first of the UK's major publishers to jump on the podcasting bandwagon, with the Penguin Podcast, and they are making a pretty good fist of it. The fortnightly radio show has so far consisted of extracts from audio books, including Zadie Smith's On Beauty and Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down, plus author interviews and lots of Jamie Oliver. Which is odd, as he's not the most articulate of chaps. But Penguin are upping their game from next week with a podcast of the unabridged audiobook of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, in five instalments. The classic yuletide tale is read by the actor Geoffrey Palmer and the first serving will be on December 15. Penguin has always made an effort with online marketing - their website is one of the liveliest among publishers, with an interactive reading group section, quizzes, giveaways and so on - and podcasting seems like a natural development for a publisher with a varied list of audioboks from which to cull material. Wisely, the podcast is backed up with a blog which features background information on the items featured in the show and a clear explanation of the different ways in which would-be listeners can access the programme.