PODCAST · education
Julian Girdham
by Julian Girdham
Thinking, writing, reading, teaching.Happy to be bought some coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/juliangirdham
Episodes
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Othello scene by scene 8
The second half of Act 2 scene 3, as Iago gets things into line before the central scene of the play, Act 3 scene 3. Brief comments also on 3.1 and 3.2.
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Othello scene by scene 7
Act 2 scene 3 is a busy one, with a lot of action moving quickly, in advance of the central scene of the play, Act 3 scene 3, which is only a few minutes' acting away. This episode is on the first part of the 2.3.
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Othello scene by scene 6
Completing Act 2 scene 1, and a brief mention of Act 2 scene 2.
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Othello scene by scene 5
The play moves to Cyprus, far away from so-called 'civilised' Venice, a move marked by a significant sea-storm. More on www.juliangirdham.com
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Othello scene by scene 4
The 4th episode looks at the final part of Act 1 scene 3, a conversation between Roderigo and Iago, which is followed crucially by the latter's first soliloquy. More at www.juliangirdham.com.
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Othello scene by scene 3
This episode is on the first part of Act 1 scene 3, the first of the quasi-judicial scenes in the play, in which the Duke of Venice shows how to exercise judgment correctly. More on www.juliangirdham.com.
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Othello scene by scene 2
Othello is calm when faced with Brabantio's accusations. Later, we see how similar they are in their certainty about falsehoods. More as always on www.juliangirdham.com.
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Othello scene by scene 1
The first scene in Othello in a series which will look at the whole play.
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'To Autumn' by John Keats
It's the perfect time of the year to re-read the masterpiece ode by John Keats, 'To Autumn'.
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King Lear scene by scene 12
The final episode: the cataclysmic events which define this play and mark it as Shakespeare's darkest tragedy.
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King Lear scene by scene 11
The penultimate episode, number 11, looks at Act 4 scene 7, and Act 5 scenes 1 and 2, a relatively quiet section between the tumultuous Act 4 scene 6 and the climax of the play.
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King Lear scene by scene 10
In episode 10 I whizz through three quick scenes first - Act 4, scenes 3, 4 and 5, and then pay proper attention to the immense and complex scene 6.
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King Lear scene by scene 9
Here, I look at Act 4 scene 1 in the aftermath of Gloucester's blinding, and in addressing Act 4 scene 2 give an overview of Albany's character through the play.
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King Lear scene by scene 8
The notorious brutalising of Gloucester in Act 3 scene 7 opens up a consideration of images of blindness and seeing throughout the play - a key idea.
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King Lear scene by scene 7
Episode 7 of King Lear scene by scene looks at Act 3 scene 4 (the second one in the storm) and scene 6 (the mock trial). Scene 5 is skipped - little to say.
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King Lear scene by scene 6
We move into Act 3 with the first three scenes, and in scene 2 into the storm which dominates the central part of the play.
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King Lear scene by scene 5
In this episode, I look at the very significant but very short Act 2 scene 3, followed by the much more meaty Act 2 scene 4. They are both connected by the idea ‘nothing’.
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King Lear scene by scene 4
This time, three short scenes which mark Lear’s growing isolation, and a sense that darker forces are gathering strength: Act 1 scene 5, Act 2 scene 1 and Act 2 scene 2.
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King Lear scene by scene 3
Act 1 scene 3 (briefly) and scene 4 are the focus this time: themes of loyalty and service, and of course of blindness, which is everywhere. Also, dog-owners look away.
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King Lear scene by scene 2
In the second scene of the play, we are introduced to the unique feature of this tragedy by Shakespeare, the sub-plot, opening with the fascinating villain Edmund.
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King Lear scene by scene: 1
The first in a series on individual scenes in the play King Lear, for teachers and pupils. This looks at Act 1 scene 1, the explosive opening scene which sets off the subsequent catastrophe.
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Richard Yates: his life and works, discussed by John Fanagan
An interview with John Fanagan, who has been discovering the works of the American novelist Richard Yates (1926-92). Somewhat neglected since his death, this has changed thanks to the success of the recent film of his novel Revolutionary Road. John discusses Yates's 'disaster area' of a private...
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Terry Dolan on Geoffrey Chaucer
An interview with Professor Terry Dolan about the life, times and works of the great Middle English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, especially his masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales. Professor Dolan talks about the nature of English society at the time, and discusses pilgrims such as the Knight, the…
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Macbeth revision 1: the crucial moment
The first revision podcast on the play Macbeth opens with an analysis of the crucial soliloquy beginning Act I scene vii, 'If it were done...' These revision podcasts are designed to freshen up thinking in the weeks leading up to the Leaving Certificate. [Made in May 2009].
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Macbeth revision 2: the real Lady Macbeth
The second revision podcast on Macbeth examines the role of Lady Macbeth, who is too often reduced to a simplistic black and white character, but who should be considered as a real woman, complex and sometimes fragile. This talk looks at the nine scenes in which she appears. [Made in April 2009].
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Macbeth revision 3: King Macbeth - law and order in Scotland.
The third Macbeth revision podcast prior to the Leaving Certificate is 'King Macbeth: law and order in Scotland', and looks at the nature of monarchy in the world of Shakespeare's text, examining the idea of the natural order, and looking at Duncan's rule at the start of the play. Some historical...
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Macbeth revision 4: Malcolm the hero?
The fourth Macbeth revision podcast in a series leading up to the Leaving Certificate looks primarily at the latter part of the play. It leads on from last week's session, which examined the nature of order and law in the early part of the play. This considers particularly Malcolm and Macduff in...
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Macbeth revision 5: the witches and the supernatural
The 5th Macbeth revision podcast, leading up to the Leaving Certificate, examines the influence of the 'weird sisters' and the supernatural on the events of the play, particularly on Macbeth's own thoughts and actions. It concentrates on the witches' influence in the early part of the play. [Made...
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Macbeth revision 6: quotation auto-test
Here are ten quotations from Macbeth: pause after each, and think about who spoke the words, and the context, and then listen to the answers and a commentary on the quotation. These commentaries examine the quotations as key moments in the play, linking them to the rest of the text, and again...
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Macbeth's tragic end: 7.
The last of seven Macbeth revision sessions deals with Macbeth as he faces his end in Act V, and analyses the crucial speech in Act V scene v, 'Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrrow...' It looks at why we consider his story tragic, given the horrendous deeds he has committed. [Made May 2009].
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Voices of Poetry 2020
In 2020, the annual Voices of Poetry evening moved online. Normally, we would be round a single spotlight in the Big Schoolroom listening to words in different languages from all over the world. This time, words were sent from all over the world inwards, to be gathered virtually in this recording.
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Seamus Heaney's 'Sunlight'
Our 30th podcast is one of an occasional series on poems on the Irish Leaving Certificate English course. This examines Seamus Heaney's poem 'Sunlight', one of the dedicatory poems called 'Mossbawn', which open his 1975 collection North. 'Sunlight' is a poem of great warmth, recreating a scene…
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'Hamlet' revision podcast 4: the first soliloquy
Our 29th podcast is the fourth in a series looking at the play Hamlet leading up to the Leaving Certificate next month, and is a close examination of Hamlet's first soliloquy, 'O that this too too solid flesh...', putting the speech in its context and looking at how it expresses the character's...
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'Hamlet' revision podcast 3: the first scene
Our 28th podcast deals with the first scene in the play Hamlet, which sets a mood of uncertainty, and prefigures some central themes of the play, such as the disruption of the natural order, identity and revenge. The first two podcasts in our revision series prior to the Leaving Certificate exams...
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4 Characters in 'Hamlet'
Our 27th podcast gathers together the final four short 'audioboos' from our series 10 Characters from 'Hamlet', which deal with these characters: Ophelia, The Player King, Osric, The First Gravedigger. Click here for the first six characters. The series looks at the 'lesser' characters in the…
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Patterns of Poetry 9-15
Our 26th podcast brings together seven more 5-minute talks from the Patterns of Poetry series, which was runner-up in the 2010 Edublog Awards in the category 'Best Educational Use of Audio.' The talks are, in order: (9) Rhyme, (10) Repetition, (11) The Sonnet, (12) Punctuation, (13)…
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6 Characters in 'Hamlet'
This podcast gathers together the first five short 'audioboos' from our series 10 Characters from 'Hamlet', which deal with six characters: 1) Fortinbras, 2) Horatio, 3) Laertes, 4) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, 5) Polonius. Another podcast will put together the remaining four when complete. The...
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Patterns of Poetry 1-8
Our 24th podcast puts together in one handy track the first eight of the Patterns of Poetry talks, first published via Audioboo. The eight talks are all under 5 minutes each and are, in order: (1) Introduction, (2) Titles, (3) Alliteration, (4) Personification, (5) Symbols, (6) Onomatopoeia, (7)...
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King Lear revision podcast 6: the end of the play
Our 23rd podcast is the final one of 6 on King Lear. This looks at the end of the play, considering how the famously bleak ending is constructed by Shakespeare. Lear so nearly becomes a play with a comic ending (like its sources and Nahum Tate's rewritten 1681 version). Instead, there is no...
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King Lear revision podcast 5: blindness and seeing
Using the notorious scene in which Gloucester is blinded as a starting point, this talk looks at ideas of blindness and seeing throughout the play, particularly in the stories of the two old 'blind' men, Lear and Gloucester. Lear undergoes a humanising process of development, and starts to 'see'...
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King Lear revision podcast 4: quotation auto-test
Our 21st podcast features ten quotations from King Lear; you can pause your computer or MP3 player after each, and test yourself on who spoke the words, and their context, and then listen to the answers and a commentary on the quotation. These commentaries examine the quotations as key moments in...
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King Lear revision podcast 3: Kent and Albany, two good guys
Our 20th podcast is the third in a series of revision sessions on King Lear, prior to the Leaving Certificate. This talk examines the role of two minor but important characters in the play, the Dukes of Kent and Albany, and how they affect the central story and its themes. Both are decent men;...
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King Lear revision 2: 'All's cheerless, dark and deadly'
Our 19th podcast is the second in a series of revision talks on King Lear, prior to the Leaving Certificate in early June. The first one examined Act I scene i. This second podcast looks at the extreme bleakness of Shakespeare's vision in the play, especially through its treatment of religion and...
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King Lear revision 1: the opening scene
Our 18th podcast is the first in a series of weekly revision talks on Shakespeare's King Lear, leading up to the Leaving Certificate in early June. Like last year's Macbeth revision podcasts, these are designed to freshen up thinking. Each lasts about 10-15 minutes. The first King Lear talk...
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'This Moment' by Eavan Boland
Our 17th podcast is the second in a series dealing with individual poems on the Leaving Certificate course (following the first on Yeats's 'The Wild Swans at Coole'). This one deals with 'This Moment' by the contemporary Irish poet Eavan Boland, examining how this apparently simple lyric achieves...
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Blogging in Schools
Our 16th podcast since we started six months ago is a joint effort with the Science Department's Frog Blog, in which teachers Jeremy Stone, Humphrey Jones and Julian Girdham discuss the value and purpose of blogging in schools, particularly for subject departments. The podcast (or, as the...
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'The Wild Swans at Coole' by W.B. Yeats
Our fifteenth podcast is the first of this academic year, and is also the first in a series of podcasts on individual poems on the Higher Level Leaving Certificate course. This one is on W.B. Yeats's poem 'The Wild Swans at Coole', and sets the poem in its literary and historical background. The...
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Henry James's 'The Portrait of a Lady'
Podcast 14: our final podcast of this academic year, just in time for some satisfying holiday reading, is an interview with former colleague John Fanagan, who talks about Henry James's great 1881 novel The Portrait of a Lady. Set in England and Italy, the book examines the progress of the…
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Actiontrack: an interview with Nick Brace
Our 13th podcast is an interview with the Artistic Director of the Actiontrack Performance Company, Nick Brace. Actiontrack have been coming to us since 1993, working with II formers in March, and with Transition Year in particular at the end of each year in 'showbuilds'. Nick discusses the…
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The Great Hunger: MacIntyre, Kavanagh, Jameson
Our 12th podcast is an interview with Department member Evan Jameson, about the highly successful part he look in the Balally Players' production of Tom MacIntyre's The Great Hunger, his 1983 adaptation of the epic poem by Patrick Kavanagh (the first part of the poem is on the Leaving Certificate...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Thinking, writing, reading, teaching.Happy to be bought some coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/juliangirdham
HOSTED BY
Julian Girdham
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How many episodes does Julian Girdham have?
Julian Girdham currently has 50 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Julian Girdham about?
Thinking, writing, reading, teaching.Happy to be bought some coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/juliangirdham
How often does Julian Girdham release new episodes?
Julian Girdham has 50 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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Julian Girdham is created and hosted by Julian Girdham.
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