Penny is a contributing editor at the New Statesman and the author of several books on feminism, and they have also written for American television shows including The Haunting of Bly Manor and The Nevers.

[1][2] Penny was born in London, England, to two lawyers of Irish, Jewish and Maltese descent,[3] and grew up in Lewes[4] and Brighton.

[13] and also appeared on Channel 4's satirical current affairs programme 10 O'Clock Live[14] and on BBC Two's Newsnight.

[16] In October 2012, The Daily Telegraph ranked Penny as the 55th most influential left-winger in Britain, describing them as "without doubt the loudest and most controversial female voice on the radical left",[17] and the knowledge networking company Editorial Intelligence awarded Penny its "Twitter Public Personality" award.

[24] Penny has also written for streaming TV, contributing to episodes of the Netflix show The Haunting of Bly Manor and HBO's The Nevers, and acted as a story editor on Carnival Row.