Penguin Books have come up with a rather neat little hook to get people off their iPods and curled up with a book, an open fire, and a comforting mug of brownian motion this winter; they’ve started a regular podcast in which they hope to include the latest news and extracts from Penguin Books.

What a terribly good idea. The first release is not without technical quirks – e.g. the volume varies widely between the articles and the incidental discussion – but all in all, the venture is to be applauded.

It’s been picked up by boingboing, so it’s likely to be very highly subscribed.

There’s an accompanying blog which is also very neatly designed, the only missing bit at the moment is the capability to trackback.