Something Shakespeare This Way Comes

Most likely to rope their brother into recording a ridiculous podcast episode about Shakespeare? That goes to me!I thought it would be fun to run through a list of the superlatives you find in a high school yearbook and award them to various characters in Shakespeare. You know, best couple, mostly likely to succeed, all that fun stuff. Also, apologies to anyone whose high schools were way too into this. As it turns out, superlatives are mostly really weird!In this episode, catch me trying to spread the awards around instead of going back to the same five characters, become flabbergasted by some of the choices presented me, and enjoy a lot of background noise from my dog, who decided he wanted to be included.If there are any superlatives we don't cover in the episode or you'd like to argue I picked the wrong character for one of these, please let me know! Especially would love to hear from the underrepresented plays.Credit where credit is duePodcast art by Halie BransonMusic recording by josdvg

Farewell to 2025 – may you meet your fitting end at midnight (drowning in a cask of wine, perhaps).The past couple years have seen an absolute boom in Hamlet adaptations and productions. Why is Hamlet so hot right now?In this episode, I tackle the sheer number of Hamlet productions on the scene and how those adaptations wrestle with Shakespeare’s original work and what that says about the times we live in and what we find relatable.Hopefully you didn’t have a Hamlet year, but if you did, then you’re in good company!Let’s hope next year is a little kinder to us all. Adaptations discussed in this episode:Fat Ham – Winner of the Pulitzer Prize 2022Grand Theft HamletHamlet Hail to the Thief – Stage playRiz Ahmed’s HamletKing Hamlet - Oscar Issac documentaryScarlet – Anime adaptationHamnet (book) and Hamnet (movie) Some additional background:Four Hamlets talk about what it’s like playing the roleRiz Ahmed talk to Vanity Fair about his filmA conversation with the creators of Grand Theft HamletCredit where credit is due:Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Are we so back??? I hope so!Thank you to everyone who has patiently waited while I've been working through personal stuff. And congrats to everyone who caught up on the podcast during the break.I am back with an episode near and dear to my heart about whether Shakespeare was, in fact, a bisexual icon.Okay, not entirely. In this episode I talk about the long history of questions surrounding Shakespeare's sexuality, whether queer interpretations of his plays are reading "too much" into them, and talk about a wonderful book I read recently, Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare by Will Tosh.Straight Acting looks at the different facets of Shakespeare's life growing up, going to school, and the theater scene in London and aspects of queerness in the culture at the time that he would have been introduced to and some ways we can see him engaging with it. In particular, I talk about some other writers at the time who were also having fun with gender and sexuality in their works.As always, I love building out that sweet, sweet context.Further Reading:Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeareby Will ToshHomosexuality in Renaissance England by Alan BrayThe Renaissance of Lesbianism in Early Modern England by Valerie TraubFurther Listening:Episode 15: Introduction to Shakespeare's SonnetsEpisode 10: Twelfth Night and Gender Exploration

Has the shrew been tamed or was the taming just the friendswe made along the way?I am back with the third and final episode looking at TheTaming of the Shrew! And, phew, it’s been quite a ride.In this episode, I’ll be discussing contemporary reactionsto The Taming of the Shrew, performances of the play across time, and my final take on the play now that I’ve finished reading way too much about it.When we build out the context surrounding a work of art,that allows us to think about it more deeply and consider the merits or problems with the text we didn’t consider the first time around. It’s a worthwhile exercise, even if you end up still disliking something after doing additional reading.At least that’s what I’m telling myself.Enjoy me taking every last opportunity to diss Petruchio!Next time I’ll talk about something else. Promise.Further Reading and Watching⁠⁠The Taming of the Shrew⁠⁠ by William Shakespeare, specially the Arden ShakespeareThe Woman’s Prize, or, The Tamer Tamed by John Fletcher⁠Shakespeare and feminist performance: ideology on stage⁠ by Sarah Werner"I Will Be Master of What Is Mine Own": Fortune Hunters and Shrews in Early Modern London by Eleanor HubbardThe Tamer as Shrewd in John Fletcher's "The Woman's Prize: Or, The Tamer Tam'd" by Holly A. Crocker"The Taming of the Shrew" with Morgan Freeman⁠, episode of Shakespeare Uncovered from PBS Credit where credit is duePodcast art by ⁠⁠Halie Branson⁠⁠Music recording by ⁠⁠josdvg

Hello boys, I’m back!The long-awaited 10 Things I Hate About You episode is here. Please enjoy listening to me and my brother probably defend this movie too hard. Honestly, for being a late ‘90s romcom, it’s doing a pretty good job of being a Shakespeare adaptation. And has the added advantage of being put against a Shakespeare play that is…more problematic than many of his other comedies.While we are open to other people’s interpretations of thisfilm, we here at Something Shakespeare This Way Comes will not be allowing any Kat slander at this time. Thank you.Warning: This episode has a higher swearing content than most episodes of this podcast (I was too tired to censor them). So please be aware that there will be some four-letter words flung about!Credit where credit is duePodcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

It’s that time of year again to look back at what happened on the Ides of March many years ago and consider how badly the conspirators fumbled the ball.While I will be celebrating March 15 my favorite way, by posting jokes on social media, I wanted to take the time to collect some general thoughts about the assassination of Julius Caesar and the relevance of Shakespeare’s play.When I covered it last year, I thought that the action of play definitely felt relevant, but that the general reception of it seems to fall a little flat. Is there a way to make the play feel more immediate to a modern audience?This year, as the events of the late Roman Republic feel more immediate than ever, I wanted to think about what we might take away from Julius Caesar, the conspirators, and the play Julius Caesar itself. What new takeaways can we draw from old material and how can we contend with those conclusions?If you want to listen to my original episodes on the Ides of March and Julius Caesar:Bonus Episode 4: Beware the Ides of MarchEpisode 14: Can Julius Caesar Still Feel Relevant?Further Reading and ListeningIf you’re looking for a more comprehensive view of Roman history as a whole, I cannot recommend Mike Duncan’s The History of Rome podcast highly enough. Or if you want to focus in on the late Roman Republic, Duncan wrote a book about it: The Storm Before the Storm

This episode is a true example of what happens when you don't make yourself stop falling down the research rabbit hole.We're back with more The Taming of the Shrew and looking specifically the two main romantic leads. What is Petruchio's deal? What is Kate's? And why is everyone so obsessed with them?I wade my way through a reading of the play, several books, and a number of articles to see what people have said about these two characters to get a better idea of why the conversation surrounding this play is so lively.Initially, I thought this was something I could get through quickly. But it turns out, I had way more feelings about it than anticipated. So enjoy a discussion of a romantic male lead who might actually be the worst person ever and a romantic female lead who maybe makes no sense?Enjoy, and gird your loins for an eventual part three!Further Reading and Watching⁠The Taming of the Shrew⁠ by William Shakespeare (I read the Arden edition, which always has lovely introductions)Shakespeare and feminist performance: ideology on stageby Sarah Werner"Performing Marriage with a Difference: Wooing, Wedding,and Bedding in 'The Taming of the Shrew" by Amy L. SmithShakespeare for Students: Book 2 by Catherine C Dominic"Comic Structure the Humanizing of Kate in The Taming of the Shrew" by John C. Bean, chapter in In The Women’s part: feminist criticism of Shakespeare, edited by Carolyn Lenz"From Shrew to Subject: Petruchio's Humanist Education ofKatherine in 'The Taming of the Shrew'" by Elizabeth Hutcheon"The Taming of the Shrew" with Morgan Freeman, episode of Shakespeare Uncovered from PBSFurther ListeningEpisode 35: The Taming of the Shrew, Context and ConfusionCredit where credit is duePodcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠Music recording by ⁠josdvg

Our long-awaited Shrew series has begun! And I have discovered that I committed myself to doing three episodes surrounding a play that maybe I don’t like?But regardless of whether I’m going to banish Petruchio to my rejected list, there are still interesting things to talk about concerning The Taming of the Shrew, because of course there are! It’s Shakespeare. There’s always something to talk about.So let’s do that. In this episode we’re talking the plot ofthe play, why so much of it involves men putting on disguises and pretending to be someone else, what is up with the Christopher Sly setup that seemingly goes nowhere, and the play’s complicated relationship with another play that hasalmost exactly the same title.As always, I did discover a couple things to appreciateabout this play after doing some intensive reading. It never fails to delight me how research can make my experience of a Shakespeare play better. Enough to redeem this particular play? Time will tell.Join me for an introduction to this complicated play that has proved to be tricky for modern audiences. Then, next episode, we’ll really get into the controversy surrounding this one.Further ReadingThe Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare (I read the Arden edition, which always has lovely introductions)Shakespeare After All by Marjorie Garber, the “The Taming of the Shrew” chapter“‘I Will Be Master of What Is Mine Own’: Fortune Hunters and Shrews in Early Modern London" by Eleanor Hubbard (This is the article that talks about a real divorce case in early modern England)Credit where credit is duePodcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

The Academy recently announced its Best Picture nominees,and while there’s been plenty of discussion over how good those nominees are, not even enough people are discussing how Shakespeare these movies are.I’m here to the change that by starting with the only nominee I’ve seen so far: Conclave. How Shakespeare is this movie about electing the pope?Well, seems like it has the potential to be pretty Shakespeare, doesn’t it. Join me on my first foray into a little series I’m calling “How Shakespeare Is It” as I look at this interesting little Best Picture nominee and the parts of it that are Shakespeare (or not) and then rate it.Then, give me some suggestions for what else I rate based onhow Shakespeare it is! Or which Best Picture nom I should tackle next.Credit where credit is duePodcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

This episode is brought to you by the newsletters about books that I subscribe to and my ability to sometimes overthink things. This time around we are talking books! First-person perspective! Theater! Soliloquy! Do you find it true that in the modern books you read, there’s more action than introspection and thought? Do books seem to be cinematic, already poised perfectly for an adaptation to the screen? If we remove the insight into a character’s mind, how effective is the book? We love books for how close they bring us to characters and often turn a side eye when movies tried to capture that interior knowledge through voiceover. What about when we turn it over to the stage? How can the theater capture characters, their inner thoughts, and show the perspective of a single person? And how did Shakespeare do that? Some fun musings abound this episode. Thinking about interiority in theater, how Shakespeare lets us get into character’s thoughts (or not), the purpose of stage directions, and ultimately land on the position that all art is interconnected and what a beautiful web we weave. Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

How often have you seen a quote on a beautifully colored background with the claim that the words are from William Shakespeare himself? If you’ve spent any amount of time on the internet, then probably at least a handful of times. But there are pitfalls when it comes to taking what seems to be good advice from Shakespeare himself. One of them being that most of what was written by Shakespeare are words said by characters in his plays who often have other things going on that have nothing to with being generally inspirational. Join me as I consider why it’s helpful to more thoughtfully consider inspirational quotes being passed off as Shakespeare and look at a couple of popular quotes people do like to use. We’ll determine the original context of those quotes and what they mean once you ground them in the plays they’re from. Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Do you consider something to be a Shakespeare adaptation if it features a female protagonist who dresses up as a boy? Is this basic concept now considered quintessentially Shakespearean? Or does there need to be an added je ne sais quoi to make it count? That is the central question concerning the 1985 teen comedy Just One of the Guys, which the internet claims is loosely based on Twelfth Night. The phrase “loosely based” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in this case. In this episode we consider the elements of Just One of the Guys that make the case for it being a Twelfth Night adaptation, how it deals with gender presentation in a more serious way than you’d expect from a goofy comedy, and whether teen comedies lend themselves in general to Shakespearean adaptation. Happy new year, everyone! Further Listening Ep. 25: Shakespeare in Adaptation Ep. 10: Twelfth Night and Gender Exploration Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

It has come to my attention that I recently uploaded this with the wrong audio attached. Cool! It's about T.S. Eliot now, I promise. This episode we are discussing my man T.S. Eliot, who wrote era defining poetry but also penned probably the most famous one-star review of the Hamlet that exists. What was his problem with Hamlet (the play) and Hamlet (the character), exactly? We’ll be looking at that notorious essay and the argument that Eliot crafts in it. Then we will also consider some other factors that play into this Hamlet opinion, including why Eliot’s real ire might lie with an entirely different group of poets, and his Shakespeare opinions in other critical essays that he wrote throughout his life. Did I end up reading more critical essays than I expected to when putting this episode together? Yes. Did I feel like I gained new insight into the squabbles that happen in the land of literary criticism? You bet. And we love literary-based petty squabbles. Listen to find out why T.S. Eliot called Hamlet an “artistic failure,” what play he hated more than Hamlet, and how relatable Eliot is for finding his younger self cringe. Further Reading “Hamlet” by T.S. Eliot (Also known as “Hamlet and His Problems.” The essay that started it all.) “T. S. Eliot's Impudence: "Hamlet", Objective Correlative, and Formulation" by Bradley Greenburg (This is the article that talks about Eliot’s real target of his Hamlet essay.) “T. S. Eliot and Shakespeare” by Phillip L. Marcus (This article walks through multiple references to Shakespeare throughout Eliot’s works.) “Soiled in the Working: Hamlet and Eliot” by Theodore Weiss (A rebuttal of Eliot’s essay.) “Seneca in Elizabethan Translation” by T.S. Eliot (Read Eliot diss Titus Andronicus for yourself.) “Ben Jonson” by T.S. Eliot (A defense of Ben Jonson, but he also has some nice things to say about Shakespeare.) Further ListeningEpisode 16: One-Star Shakespeare, Hamlet Edition with Guest Ben Roman Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Happy long weekend surprise episode drop! We are having fun this time with various tales of Shakespeare lore that I've stumbled across in my reading over the last year of doing the show but haven't included because most of these stories have been judged to be dubious in some way. But just because something isn't true doesn't mean it isn't also a fun story or bit of gossip. And honestly who isn't interested in a story who shows off Shakespeare as maybe a bit of a saucy fellow? When it comes to Shakespeare as with many other famous figures from hundreds of years ago, sometimes it can be hard to distinguish fact from fiction and you have to consider a whole series of factors before you can place a story in the "probably true" or "probably not true" column. In the case of a couple of these stories, I'm willing to be swayed! Enjoy some Shakespeare myths, as a little treat. Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

We’re back with more Ben Jonson! This episode we consider Jonson’s works, his plays for public and private theater, his poetry, and his relationship with the court. When it comes to how he conducted his career, was also look at the how he differed from Shakespeare. Not as a point of judgement, but just to give us a more complete picture about what men did with their writing and how this (ironically) makes it more unfair to try to compare them. Ultimately, knowing more about Jonson helps us know more about the sixteenth and seventeenth century stage, and that can only be a good thing. Plus, it’s always fun to run across a new Jonson quip. Further Reading Ben Jonson: A Life by Ian Donaldson The Cambridge Companion to Ben Jonson by Richard Harp The Complete Critical Guide to Ben Jonson by James Loxley Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Hi, everyone! Things got a little away from me this week, what with a national election demanding all my attention and energy, so I'm bringing back an old episode. In this episode, I talk about the Shakespeare we had to read in high school, what those plays were, and some thoughts about why that is. Whether you loved or hated the Shakespeare unit in high school, you probably had to suffer through at least one play. (And, it was probably Romeo and Juliet!) How do you feel about Shakespeare now? Have you tried reading or watching a play since high school? Or were you scarred by that unit, turned away, and never looked back?

Welcome back, gentle listeners, to season 2 and the long-awaited discussion of Ben Jonson! Shakespeare’s colleague, friend, maybe sometimes frenemy, it’s up to us to decide. But definitely someone who knew him and admired (perhaps somewhat begrudgingly) his work. After diving into the world of biography and various survey and companion type books, I now have a more complete picture of Ben Jonson the guy, and am delighted to inform everything that there is the same amount of nerdy minutia to dive into as there for Shakespeare. In this episode, we’ll talk about Ben Jonson’s life, what we know about him and why we know it, what we don’t know about him, and how we can look at him in relation to Shakespeare. Having more context on the time and people is always a helpful exercise when you want to understand history better and might I suggest that we stop writing Shakespeare biographies and maybe start reading about his fellow playwrights too? Next time, I’ll be looking at Jonson’s works, his relationship to the theater, why he kept getting in trouble with the censors, and how he’s the same (or not) as Shakespeare. It’s good to be back, friends! Further Reading Ben Jonson: A Life by Ian Donaldson Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

What’s it like to go to the theater to see Shakespeare but then see a play about his works instead of seeing one of his works? Pretty rad, actually! In this episode, I’m covering The Book of Will, a play by Lauren Gunderson about the efforts behind the printing of the First Folio. The First Folio is one of the most revered books in the English language and often has this air of grandeur about it that makes it feel unreal. Is it the untouchable work of a complete genius and we can only grovel at its feet? Not exactly. The First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays was the result of years of effort from his friends to get them compiled, edited, typeset and printed. Once you started reading into the publication of the book, you start to learn all these fun quirks about it and the errors it contains that make it very human. Gunderson’s play largely captures the human element of the story, what Henry Condell and John Heminges went through to get the First Folio printed and why they wanted to do it in the first place. It’s an accessible story that holds Shakespeare’s words in high esteem without asking you to be intimately familiar with all his works. This is the last short episode before we start the next season in two weeks! Can’t wait to get into it. Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Are you interested in an early 90s indie film that has some Shakespearean elements and has also become a queer cult classic? Let’s all just assume the answer is yes here. In this episode, I revisit the 1991 film My Own Private Idaho, which some people claim is a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV plays, and that’s true…ish. If you decide to watch because of the Shakespearean elements, then stay for an interesting story performed movingly by a young River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves. We’ll get a little into the plot of the movie, how it involves Shakespeare and how much the Shakespeare bits even count. Then we’ll consider the emotional core of both the Henry plays and this movie. Season two is drawing closer! One more short to go before kicking off with full-length episodes again. Further watching My Own Private Idaho (1991) Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Ghostlight is an indie film that at first blush seems to be dealing with some pretty well-worn tropes: we have a family dealing with the aftermath of a traumatic event and has the lead character develops his emotional intelligence through the power of theater. Sound like a bunch of other movies? It does, but this film is a testament to the fact that if you do a familiar trope well, the result can still end up being impactful. This movie exercises drama and humor while also approaching Romeo and Juliet in a fresh new way. While Romeo and Juliet itself can feel overdone, especially if your exploring the first stirrings of young love, Ghostlight offers a new perspective not often explored. Thanks to my guest, Amanda Bain-Wysocki, for bringing this movie to my attention, seeing it with me, and then discussing it with me! I’m guessing that you probably haven’t heard of this small little indie film, but I’d recommend checking it out if you’re of the Shakespearean persuasion. (And even if you’re not, there’s still something you can get from the film.) This is the first of three shorts before the start of season 2 in October! Further watching and listening Ghostlight (2024) Drive My Car (2021) – Not related to Shakespeare but also worth watchingEpisode 8: Romeo + Juliet (1996) with guest Amanda Bain-Wysocki Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Welcome to the end of season 1 and our year in review! In this episode, I reflect a little on the year I just had, how I got the podcast started and chose a title, the topics I’ve covered, any new opinions or insight I have and a look into my most (and least) popular episodes. We close out with some pretty awesome questions asked by all of you! Just stumbled across this episode and didn’t get a chance to submit your question beforehand? Reach out anyway! I’ll get it answered in a future episode. Thanks to everyone who has joined me in the first year. We’ve had some fun. Here’s to year two! Further listening Might I suggest any of my previous episodes? Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Another episode, another silly movie about Shakespeare. This time, I forced my brother to watch Anonymous, the 2011 Roland Emmerich film that puts forth the hypothesis that Edward de Vere was the real author of Shakespeare’s plays. Whatever you think about the authorship question and the validity of the Oxfordian theory of authorship, can we all agree that this movie is not very good nor very convincing? We touch on several of the main characters in the movie, which portrayal we liked the most and least, and get a little bit into some of the main points the movie is trying to promote. This is not a deep dive into the world of Shakespeare doubters. We’re just having some fun. There is a secret cut of this episode where we get more into it, but as Ben said, gotta save that for the Patreon. And because the Patreon doesn’t exist, the air of mystery remains. Next time I’ll be back with reflections on one year of podcasting! Don’t forget to send any questions you might have my way. Further reading and watching Anonymous (2011) (Although I have to admit, I don't really recommend this one.) Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

We are back and this week we are talking Shakespeare adaptation! What are the different types of adaptation, what do they accomplish, and what makes some stand out from the rest? We’re talking movies, books, and plays in this episode, featuring a collection of Shakespeare content I’ve been consuming as I try to think through what makes something stand out and what makes something merely meh. On the docket we’re thinking about: high school Shakespeare adaptation, movies that reference Shakespeare but don’t fully commit to the bit, the “person who gets cast in a Shakespeare production and then their life becomes Shakespeare” film, what is making commentary on Shakespeare, and then some pieces that think about his life and his works. There’s so much out here! The list could have grown, but I wanted to think in categories and themes, and as such, there’s a lot still to think about. But this has been a helpful exercise in starting to guide my thoughts on what I want to catch and what I might want to miss. We’re coming up on a year of Something Shakespeare This Way Comes! Please reach out with any comments, questions, or suggestions as I put together the year-end recap! Further Reading Episode 5: Shakespeare in Love (1998) with Ben Roman Episode 13: Saltburn (2023) and Dead Poets Society (1989) with Gabbi Miller Further reading and watching 10 Things I Hate About You (film) The Lion King (original animated film) Anyone But You (film) These Violent Delights and These Violent Ends by Chloe Gong (books) My Own Private Idaho (film) Were the World Mine (film) Ghostlight (film) Macbitches by Sophie McIntosh (play) Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (book) The Book of Will by Lauren Gunderson (play) Shakespeare in Love (film) Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Spoiler alert for this week’s episode: Judi Dench is super cool and also has a ton of interesting stuff to say about Shakespeare. This episode we’re talking Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, a collection of conversations about Shakespeare’s plays and character between Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea, a longtime actor and director who has a history of working with Dench. Even if you are not the world’s biggest Shakespeare fan, I seriously think picking up this book (or listening to it!) could be worth your while. I discuss some aspects of the book I found illuminating, some of which probably reveals that I’ve never acted onstage and should never be allowed to do so. These items include, Dench’s take on a couple of well-known characters, her approach to acting, and some tips for performing Shakespeare. Also, you’ll find out which Shakespeare play Judi Dench hates. Ooh, intriguing right? Literally, how can you resist. Further Reading Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench, Brendan O’Hea Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Would you classify yourself as a straight up astrology nerd or someone who barely knows your sign and that’s where you’d like to leave it? What about when it comes to Shakespeare? In the spirit of having fun, in this episode I talk to repeat guest Gabbi Miller about which astrological signs different Shakespeare characters would be. I come supplying the knowledge about Shakespeare, she comes with the details about popular astrology. I came up with this idea mostly because I thought it would make for an interesting conversation, but I was curious to know how much a role astrology would have played in the lives of Shakespeare’s contemporaries. Turns out, astrology was thriving in early modern England and you can find Shakespeare grappling with that fact in the text of his own plays. Of course he did. Join us on a silly little romp through some of Shakespeare’s most notable characters and even a quick glance at the man himself. Further Reading "Causes in Nature: Popular Astrology in King Lear" by Phebe Jenson. Published in Shakespeare Quarterly (Winter 2018) Further Listening Episode 13: Saltburn (2023) and Dead Poet's Society (1989) (to hear more Gabbi) Episode 17: What Your Favorite Shakespeare Play Says About You (for more silliness) Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

In 1769, a famous actor decided to host a giant event in honor of the man who helped make him famous: Shakespeare. It did not go as planned. While the Shakespeare Jubilee ended up being kind of a disaster, its aim to uphold the genius of Shakespeare ended up panning out pretty well. After all, a few hundred years later, we are all singing the praises of this immortal poet. In this episode, we talk about people’s attitudes toward Shakespeare and his plays, why they were performed so consistently across time, and how several French writers once derided Shakespeare’s works as the writing of an amateur. How much can one event influence the national perception of a writer? While it’s not entirely unclear, the events of the one and only Shakespeare Jubilee did have some effect on the growing scholarship and seriousness with which people viewed Shakespeare’s works. Further Reading What Blest Genius? The Jubilee that Made Shakespeare by Andrew McConnell Stott Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Say what you want about Achilles, but everyone definitely does know his name. This episode we're talking all things Achilles. What the ancient Greeks thought about him, how he shows up in The Iliad, extreme fanboy Alexander the Great, his character in Troilus and Cressida, and some more modern takes on him as well. We'll be talking a lot about the nature of his relationship with Patroclus and if it's possible to settle the age-old question of whether they were boyfriends. Plus, can we write him off for his brutal violence? How nuanced of a dude is he, anyway? Further Listening Greek Mythology Retellings and Troilus and Cressida (to listen my first episode on mythology and Shakespeare) The Role of the Gods in Mythology (my episode on what the gods do for mythology and why they aren't in Troilus and Cressida) Further Reading"Shakespeare's 'Manly' Parts: Masculinity and Effeminacy in Troilus and Cressida"by Gary Spear (Shakespeare Quarterly, Winter 1993) The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Bonus content for my fellow Greek mythology nerds out there! This episode we are talking the role of the gods in the Trojan War, how they appear in The Iliad, and how they show up in other retellings of the war, including Shakespeare, of course. Really, this was all an elaborate excuse for me to talk about the 2004 movie Troy. Join me as we consider why the gods are involved in mythology and the Trojan War aside from the fact that they are super fun to read about. What does their appearance and meddling mean for the people and what does it mean for our understanding of the action? Does a telling of the Trojan War work if you cut the gods out entirely? Just a few of the fun topics we'll be exploring in this episode. Further reading and watching The Iliad by Homer (I read the Robert Fagles translation because that's what was available at the library but I really want to get my hands on the Emily Wilson translation) Circe and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes (or, if you want something Trojan War related, check out A Thousand Ships) Troy (2004) Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare Credit where credit is due Art by Halie Branson Music recording by josdvg

Why do people dislike Twelfth Night? Because it's the internet, sometimes the reasoning is silly, but as when it comes to any piece of art, there's always a valid reason to dislike something. Could it be because you dislike the genre of the play? Maybe! I'm on vacation this week, so bringing you a previously recorded episode before finding our way back to the mythology discussion. Please enjoy my brother and I bouncing off each other as we consider one star reviews of Twelfth Night. I try not to get defensive as people come for this play with varying degrees of success. Listening to this conversation a second time, I was at times disappointed in myself for not getting more scholarly in response, but that's the risk with having to respond to things in real time. Plus, if you want a more scholarly take on Twelfth Night, you can go listen to my episode on it! Further listening Twelfth Night and Gender Exploration (my podcast episode on the play) One-Star Shakespeare, Hamlet Edition (if you haven't listened to this one yet) Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Lovers of Greek mythology (and Shakespeare), rise up! If you thought you might like Shakespeare better if he just talked about a mythological figure for once, you’re in luck. In Troilus and Cressida, Shakespeare covers some of the last days of the Trojan War, including some of the mythical heroes you all know and love, turns most of them into complete jerks, and then features a pair of young lovers who are torn about by circumstance and don’t end up dead. This don’t end up dead thing has annoyed a lot of people for a number of years. In this episode, I get into some of the weirdness that is this play, interpretations of the characters, and how Shakespeare is basically fitting into the mold of the modern boom of books centered around women in Greek mythology and how they all saw these stories playing out. There’s a lot of good stuff going on, and I suggest you give it a try even though you’ve probably never heard of Troilus and Cressida and maybe don’t care. Don’t you care about the Trojan War? Who doesn’t!? (Don’t answer that.) This play has the interesting potential to really blow up the scene as maybe the most modern feeling of all of Shakespeare’s plays that is directly engaging with a popular Greek myth. But it’s also really weird and sort of uncomfortable to get through, so it could remain obscure for everyone by the nerds. Further Reading Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare (This Arden edition has a really great introduction that gives a ton of context and background.) The “Troilus and Cressida” chapter from Shakespeare After All by Marjorie Garber “‘Rule in Unity’ and Otherwise: Love and Sex in ‘Troilus and Cressida’"by James O'Rourke (This has a ton of interesting stuff in it about Cressida) “He Do Cressida in Different Voices” by Barbara Hodgdon “Ulysses Is Not the Hero of ‘Troilus and Cressida’” by Tim Spiekerman (This author makes a detailed argument over why Ulysses is not such a great guy, going against the traditional reading of the play.) “The Tragedy of Existence: Shakespeare's ‘Troilus and Cressida’"by Joyce Carol Oates (I don’t agree with all her points, but she makes an interesting case.) Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠⁠Halie Branson⁠⁠ Music recording by ⁠⁠josdvg⁠

Ever have to do close reading for a literature class and did you find it kind of fun or incredibly painful? Maybe you just spun some masterful BS to hit the word count. Today we’re going to be approaching Shakespeare much in the same way, thinking about why we do close reading and then giving it a try. It’s probably not surprising that as an English major, I usually ended up finding close reading to be a useful or interesting exercise and it’s not a muscle I often have to flex now that I’ve been out of a school for…awhile. With the use of some randomizer tools to help me land on a play and an act, I landed on a passage spoken by Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, which is perfect for being a play I enjoy and also because she is a delightful character who you might want to hear more about! I try to dig all I can out of about 20 lines of dialogue to determine what it can tell us about Beatrice, the structure of the play, and some cool new things to say to people who ask you when you’re getting married. If you’d like to follow along, you can find full text of the play the Folger Shakespeare Library website or come find me on Instagram @somethingshakespearepod. Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Do you have a favorite Shakespeare play? Do you consider your favorite to be on brand for you? And does anyone else feel extreme pressure when asked what their favorite book is to give a perfect answer even though such a thing isn’t possible? In this episode, we’ll be having a little fun, looking at a selection of Shakespeare plays and determining what kind of person you are if, say, Hamlet is your favorite. (Spoiler alert: you might be a depressed Millennial.) My own guesses will be accompanied by responses from my family and friends on social as to why they picked certain plays as their favorite. I’m hoping that this episode can also serve as a sort of exploration of some of the different kinds of stories Shakespeare tells and the characters that populate them so you that you can determine if maybe it’s time to revisit a play you didn’t get the last time you read or watched it or if maybe it’s time to give a play a chance at all. There’s a little something for everyone here, but we’ll have to come back for a part two to cover the rest of the spread. Further Reading The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope (I first read this book at the suggestion of a librarian, who completely nailed my interests. It's set right before Elizabeth becomes queen, so in the same general time period as Shakespeare!) The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin (The first book in the Broken Earth trilogy. These books are so good and have nothing to do with Shakespeare.) Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠⁠Halie Branson⁠⁠ Music recording by ⁠⁠josdvg⁠

To give or not to give a one-star review? That can sometimes be the question when you are faced with reading and rating a classic that doesn’t live up to the glorious tales everyone has been telling about it. And that’s especially true when it comes to one of Shakespeare’s most famous and highly renowned plays, Hamlet. Whether you love or hate Hamlet (or even just feel sort of meh about it), we can’t deny that it has a particularly large impact on popular culture, containing multiple turns of phrase that we still use regularly today. I asked Ben to return and look up some bad reviews of Hamlet so that we could start talking about the aspects of the play people don’t like – and how it’s largely okay to not like a classic piece of literature. Of course, he found some kind of ridiculous arguments, but overall the reviews serve as a nice reminder that Shakespeare can be difficult to understand, that certain characters in this place generate a lot of opinions, and even that the practice of publishing and copyright used to be different! Also, a surprise appearance from T.S. Eliot. Further Listening One-Star Shakespeare (the original episode) Shakespeare in Love with Guest Ben Roman (if you like listening to Ben) Further Reading “Hamlet” an essay by T.S. Eliot Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Do the sonnets really prove that Shakespeare was gay? Listen, when has anything ever proven anything about Shakespeare? More than any other piece of writing he left behind, Shakespeare's sonnets invite a lot of speculation and excitement about his biography. Throughout time people have thought that they would be able to figure out who this young man is and the identity of the woman that he must have had an affair with. But there's just as much peril trying to read autobiography into the sonnets as there is in trying to read autobiography into his plays. The sonnets are an art form and a literary experiment all on their own. It is exciting that we don't know when they were written, whether they were published behind Shakespeare's back, or even who they are dedicated to, but for all the excitement these things generate about the details of Shakespeare's life, we have to remember that the sonnets are also a highly stylized aesthetic tool. Join me as I explore the details that scholars have pored and argued over and how these things have helped create some interest and excitement over a body of work that often gets passed over in favor of a bunch of (admittedly very good) plays. Sonnet collection referenced The Sonnets and Narrative Poems of William Shakespeare, ed. William Burto and Sylvan Barnet The Sonnets and Other Poems by William Shakespeare, ed. Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen Shakespeare's Sonnets: Revised (The Arden Shakespeare) ed. Katherine Duncan-Jones The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets by Helen Vendler Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

The Ides of March have come and gone but I’m not quite done talking about Julius Caesar (the guy) or Julius Caesar (the play). This play is harder to get into than some of Shakespeare’s other delightful works. To help explain why and to try to figure out where Shakespeare was coming from, I’ve read some Plutarch, gotten more context for how a sixteenth century audience might have thought about Roman history and looked at a lot of memes online. When everyone’s favorite comparison about a distinguished figure in history is to talk about how he’s the same thing as a salad, what does that mean for how we relate to a play written about him? Plus, some bonus thoughts on ways to set up a modern adaptation of the play. Further Reading William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Plutarch’s Lives of Noble Grecians and Romans (see The Life of Brutus and The Life of Julius Caesar) Gary Miles, “How Roman are Shakespeare’s ‘Romans’?” Heather James, “Shakespeare’s Classical Plays” from the New Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare Marjorie Garber, “Julius Caesar” from Shakespeare After All Credit where credit is due Art by Halie Branson Music recording by josdvg

Do you get super excited to tell everyone to "Beware the Ides of March" every year or are you normal? Julius Caesar is a tricky play because I think it largely comes across as boring with a cool stabbing scene tucked into the middle of it. But, the events surrounding the assassination of Julius Caesar were extremely dramatic and held a lot of emotional weight and significance, in addition to having long lasting political ramifications. If you've only ever seen this play as boring and talky or if you've never learned anything about Roman history, then this is the episode for you! I get into some context of the history of Rome and of Julius Caesar himself so you get the full scope of the political scene at the time and why, ultimately, a group of Caesar's friends decided that he needed to die. Happy Ides of March, everyone! Further Reading and Listening The History of Rome podcast by Mike Duncan (really, anything by Mike Duncan is a good bet) Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Have you ever watched a movie and thought it was really giving Shakespeare vibes even though it wasn’t based on one of his plays? In this episode we are playing fast and loose with the meaning of adaptation by looking at two movies that are in conversation with Shakespeare but aren’t adaptations in the traditional sense. Join me and Gabbi Miller as we talk the scandalous and shocking Saltburn and the English class staple that is Dead Poets Society. Both movies grapple with A Midsummer Night’s Dream in one way or another and hold up Shakespeare in some way although one does so a little more obliquely than the other. We discuss how both movies reference and represent Shakespeare, how we can see elements of his work creep into the movies even when not explicitly referenced, and how both also manage to be in dialogue with queer interpretations, although some of that was maybe by accident. If you haven’t seen Saltburn yet, please be aware there are massive spoilers afoot. There are for Dead Poets Society too but that one’s been around for awhile and probably already traumatized you in high school. Further viewing Saltburn (2023) Dead Poets Society (1989) Were the World Mine (2008) (This is not discussed but is an additional recommendation from me if you want more modern takes on A Midsummer Night’s Dream!) Further reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream (obviously) Pandora’s Jar by Natalie Haynes offers up some excellent looks into overlooked or misinterpreted women from Greek myth and offers up a scathing look at Theseus and what a jerk he was. Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Do Romeo and Juliet belong in the highest levels of Shakespeare canon or are they more mid? I explore this question and more in this episode, as I work my way through some of Shakespeare's most beloved plays and most notorious couples to decide where they should be ranked on a tier system of my own devising. The main method I used to determine where couples should fall was mostly vibes and how I felt at the time of recording, although at this moment I stand by my decisions. Plays covered in this episode: Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. If you want to see the completed ranking, you can find it on my website. Or, if you want to watch the YouTube video, go to my newly minted YouTube channel. Credit where credit is due Art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Who wants to relive English class from when you were a teenager? What if I'm the one doing it? I've been thinking lately about the Shakespeare we read in school and how sometimes that introduction can make or break your relationship with him. And it made me wonder...was my experience reading Shakespeare in high school similar to everyone else? Did we all have to read Romeo and Juliet (spoiler: yeah, pretty much) and Much Ado About Nothing (spoiler: not really)? I went and asked my family and friends what Shakespeare they read in high school and took a tally of the results. Some of what I found was more or less what I expected. Some of it...was a little more surprising than that. In this episode, I cover what I learned about the frequency of certain plays that are taught in high school and mix that was my own experience reading plays in high school, reflecting on what I thought about them then and what my relationship with those plays looks like today. For anyone who has difficulty following a list when they hear it out loud or wants to see the results rather than live in suspense, visit my website or Instagram to see the complete list. No Further Reading this episode unless you want to read all the plays discussed here! Credit where credit is due Art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

In the immortal words of Viola, “I am the man.” That’s right, we are talking about Twelfth Night and everyone’s enduring obsession with how it plays with gender, what it tells us about gender, and how all the gender expansiveness is not something solely conceived of by a modern audience. You like Viola? We talk Viola. You like hearing about strange biological misconceptions of people living in the 1500s? We got that too. You want to hear my fan theory for a sequel of the play would take us? We’ve got it all. This cast is stacked with great characters and we’re going to celebrate that too (unless your favorite is Orsino, then I’m extremely sorry for what you’re about to hear). Let’s get to the carousing!   Further reading: The Arden Shakespeare Twelfth Night (seriously the introduction is so long but it’s packed with great stuff and then you get the play as a bonus) “The Homoerotics of Shakespearean Comedy” by Valerie Traub (from the book Shakespeare, Feminism, and Gender) “You’ll be the man!” Homophobia and the Present in Performances of Twelfth Night and Romeo and Juliet by Adrian Kiernander (from the book Presentism, Gender, and Sexuality in Shakespeare)  “Shakespeare in Transition: Pedagogies of Transgender Justice and Performance” by Sawyer Kemp (chapter in the book Teaching Social Justice Through Shakespeare: Why Renaissance Literature Matters Now)  “Shakespeare, Sexuality and Gender by Stephen Orgel” (from The New Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare) Shakespeare After All by Marjorie Garber (the chapter on Twelfth Night, of course) Credit where credit is due Art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

What kind of guy do you think Shakespeare was? This episode, we’re delving into the world of imagination as we consider the proud tradition of storytelling and speculation when it comes to Shakespeare biography. Stephen Greenblatt’s National Book Award Winning biography of Shakespeare weaves a rich tapestry that gets inside the mind of one of England’s greatest playwrights. At times these efforts are illuminating and demonstrate a breadth of knowledge of the culture of the time. At other times, it feels like maybe the author just doesn’t like Shakespeare’s wife very much. When all you have are limited details of a person, how do you try to round out their portrait to feel more real? Authors have been attempting to tackle this for years and Greenblatt is part of that tradition. For a little more information on Shakespeare biography, try a couple of my earlier episodes: Bonus Episode 1: A Brief Shakespeare Biography Episode 4: Historical Context and Shakespeare Biography Further Reading and Listening Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt Shakespeare, Anyone? podcast episode, “Mini: Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare’s Wife” The New York Times book review, ‘Will in the World’: Reinventing Shakespeare The Guardian book review, Stephen, Will and Gary too Review in Shakespeare Quarterly (Autumn 2005) Review of Shakespeare’s Freedom in Comparative Drama Review (Fall 2011) Review in Harvard Review (2005) Review in College Literature (Fall 2006) Read Antony and Cleopatra and judge the relationship of the main characters yourself! Credit where credit is due Art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

IN FAIR VERONA we set our scene and Baz Luhrmann presents us a fever dream of a film. Amanda Bain Wysocki joins me to discuss the classic 1996 film William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, the punk rock Shakespeare adaptation many Millennials discovered as their gateway drug to the Bard. Between Amanda’s special edition DVD and insight into the director’s commentary and me scraping various articles from the internet, together we’re able to provide an analysis of the film that looks like at why it is so loud and chaotic, why that choice does work with the intent of the play, how the movie successfully takes teenagers seriously, and extra love thrown at Mercutio in particular. (Plus we consider some problematic elements at play here.) Don’t like this play or movie? Then we defy you, stars! But, really, we have a rich text here well worth pulling apart. Further Reading and Viewing William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996) (If you still have a DVD player, looks like you can still find the special edition DVD! Otherwise, look to streaming.) Romeo and Juliet (the original play) Interview with Baz Luhrmann for Signet in 1996 (archived for posterity) “Behind the Red Curtain of Verona Beach: Baz Luhrmann’s William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet” by Toby Malone in Shakespeare Survey, 2012. Strictly Shakespeare? Dead Letters, Ghostly Fathers, and the Cultural Pathology of Authorship in Baz Luhrmann's "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet" by Courtney Lehmann in Shakespeare Quarterly, 2001 “Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet: On set with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes” by Rebecca Ascher-Walsh for Entertainment Weekly, 1996. Credit where credit is due Art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Spoiler alert: Everyone dies. Except when they don't. But the title character does. Except when they don't. The is the second part of my two part series on how genre applies to Shakespearean drama. (If you haven't listened to the previous episode on comedy and tragicomedy, you might want to check that out first.) When it comes to tragedies, is it fair to say that those are the plays where everyone dies and leaves it at that? Did Aristotle really have all the answers when it comes to what playwrights were doing centuries later? Is it fair to say that nobody understands what Troilus and Cressida is doing? We're going to get into it! Stick around for a critical look at the history plays including why they used to have cooler titles, why Richard III is a cool character, and why we should maybe give these plays a tad more credit. Further Reading The First Folio (see more about the First Folio and the infamous catalogue page) Aristotle's Poetics Joyce Carol Oates, "The Tragedy of Existence: Shakespeare's 'Troilus and Cressida'" The New Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare, particularly the chapters: “Shakespeare’s tragedies” by Michael Neill “Shakespeare’s English history plays” by Ton Hoenselaars The Bedford Companion to Shakespeare by Russ McDonald, particularly the chapter: “Theater à la Mode: Shakespeare and the Kinds of Drama” and accompanying primary documents Some Shakespearean tragedies: Hamlet Romeo and Juliet Troilus and Cressida And some Shakespearean histories: Richard III Henry IV, part 1 and Henry IV, part 2 Richard II Credit where credit is due Art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

This episode started as an article, but it turns out you would all prefer to listen to stuff, so now it’s a podcast episode! You want to listen to stuff, not read stuff, and I respect that. So, I dug out a little article I wrote after doing some research and recording on The Tempest and have created an audio version of it for your listening pleasure. In this episode, I look at Michel de Montaigne’s “Of Cannibals,” one of the essays in his classic larger collection of essays. I had seen references that this particular work influenced The Tempest, and I was curious to see if the influence in the play was readily apparent.   While we can’t give Montaigne full marks for his understanding of native Brazilian culture, we can at least give him props for serving it back to the Europeans who read his work. Further Reading The version of Essays I have sitting on my bookshelf is the Penguin Books edition translated by JM Cohen Find it free on Project Gutenberg. And, of course, you could always try reading The Tempest itself. Credit where credit is due Art by Halie Branson Music recording by josdvg

Make ‘em laugh! Make ‘em cry? Make ‘em feel…weird??? We are talking genre! Specifically the genres of Shakespeare’s plays, how we started to categorize the plays into these genres in the first place, and how that’s affected our reading of and study of the plays since. I also cover what constituted a comedy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and how it’s not as straightforward as you would think. Afterwards, I dive into the tragicomedies, which have been confusing people even more for hundreds of years. This episode is a part one! Next time I’ll be covering tragedies and histories. So come back for part two!   Further Reading: Why We Should Celebrate the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio: https://lithub.com/why-we-should-celebrate-the-400th-anniversary-of-shakespeares-first-folio/   The First Folio (see more about the First Folio and the catalogue page at the Folger Shakespeare Library website: https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeare-in-print/first-folio/)   The New Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare, particularly the chapters: “Shakespeare’s comedies” by Stanley Wells “Shakespeare’s tragicomedies” by Janette Dillon   The Bedford Companion to Shakespeare by Russ McDonald, particularly the chapter: “Theater à la Mode: Shakespeare and the Kinds of Drama” and accompanying primary documents   Shakespeare After All by Marjorie Garber, especially the introductory information and the chapter on The Merchant of Venice Some Shakespearean comedies: The Comedy of Errors Twelfth Night The Merchant of Venice And some Shakespearean tragicomedies/romances: The Tempest The Winter’s Tale Cymbeline For more on The Tempest, listen to my episode on The Tempest as theater metaphor Credit where credit is due Art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Today we are taking a little detour into the world of internet reviews of the classics. What are people saying about The Tempest, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet exactly? Sometimes, nothing good.   The internet these days is so driven by the algorithm but in a weird way that forces us to give the things we like five stars and to vigilantly defend against anything one star. The world of book reviews can be the wild west at time and just seeing a star value doesn’t often give you the full picture. Classics are often flooded with one stars because people are often forced to read them against their wills. But also, can it be valid to give classics a one star? Sometimes!   I have a curated list of some fun or insightful reviews to bring your way. A highly recommended pastime. Also, send me your favorite one-star reviews or submit your own one-star review of a Shakespeare play (or classic) that you hated reading for school!   Further Listening Episode 1: The Tempest and Theater as Metaphor Episode 2: The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) Episode 3: Shakespeare in Love (1998) with guest Ben Roman   Credit where credit is due Art by Halie Branson Music recording by josdvg

But hark! What light from yonder window breaks? It is Shakespeare in Love and this episode I’m joined by a guest to discuss it. Join us to hear about historical accuracy (or lack thereof), how Elizabethan in theater could in some way resemble Hollywood, and whether it tracks that Shakespeare became a great playwright because he fell in love with a random noblewoman who just wants to act on stage. This is a bit goofier than some of my other episodes as my brother and I bounce off each other, but I did try to bring some of the context to the discussion. But this might be the only situation in which I would discuss Shakespeare and Michael Bay’s Armageddon in the same breath. Given the plot of the movie, there's a fair amount of discussion about sex, so I'm marking this one as explicit and you might want to listen to this one without kids present. Want to read some of the reviews from when the movie first came out? Roger Ebert’s review Variety review Washington Post review (This review has some weird late ‘90s baggage in it!)   Here’s the 2023 article in The Atlantic that praises the movie 20 years on.   I highly recommend Be Kind Rewind’s YouTube video Harvey Weinstein and the Oscars: How Gwyneth and Shakespeare in Love Won Credit where credit is due Art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Who would have thought that picking up Bill Bryson's little Shakespeare biography would unlock so many thoughts in my brain? I picked up this bio to read because it was available at the library and pretty easy to get through. Then, I had a lot of thoughts and feelings I pursued some other biographical things that turned into this episode. Today we'll be talking about Bill Bryson's take on the Bard, but through the lens of historical context. What information do we have from the past, what are the limitations of the historical record in general, and when it comes to the questions about Shakespeare's life, will we ever all be able to just...let it go? Join me as we dive into all this and more (including a lengthy tangent about Anne Boleyn). Strap in, friends! Further Reading Bill Bryson, Shakespeare: The World as Stage If you want to know a little more about Anne Boleyn (beyond Wikipedia but without reading anything too academic), try Susan Bordo, The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at England's Most Notorious Queen Greene's Groats-Worth of Wit (this is a scan of the original printing with pretty good notes underneath) Henry Chettle's apology to Shakespeare, or someone he refers to as the "best of living writers" (this is a scan of the original with no notes, so good luck reading the old school printing) Copy of the drawing Johanne de Witt made of the interior of The Swan theater (the only known Elizabethan representation of the interior of a playhouse) Credit where credit is due Art by Halie Branson Music recording by josdvg

What's this mine eyes spy? A bonus episode? Yea, verily! My next full episode is going to start getting more fully into Shakespeare biography, as in, biographies that have been written about him and what those works do or don't do with the details we have of his life. But to better appreciate that discussion, we need to first know what the details of his life are, as we understand them. In this bonus episode, I give a quick rundown of the facts of Shakespeare's life so you have more complete context for future discussion of his biography and the world that he lived in. Credit where credit is due Art by Halie Branson Music recording by josdvg

Knock knock, who’s there? It’s me, with an episode on The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), the latest film adaptation of the Scottish play. Directed by a Cohen brother and produced by A24, the movie does give some low-key horror vibes, especially in the creeptastic portrayal of the Weird Sisters. Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand are unsurprisingly great. But what is this adaptations deal, exactly? It’s using the original language, but a heavily edited version of the text and a simplified approach to the performance of that language. How much does this affect its role as an adaptation of a play? I wrestle with these issues and a few more in this episode. Also, did some lazy searching and couldn’t find a credible source to confirm that Macbeth is the originator of knock knock jokes. Further Learning Macbeth by William Shakespeare Pop Culture Happy Hour's episode on the movie (as always, they have a good discussion) The New Yorker's critical review of the movie Crash Course on YouTube has some good overview videos on the play: Watch Part 1, Watch Part 2 Credit where credit is due Art by Halie Branson Music recording by josdvg