The Shakespeare Mindset: Improve your life the Bard way not the hard way

"To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first." I'm still quite new to this Shakespeare business, but the more I read and see the more I find out about who I truly am. Imagine a world full of self-aware people. Go on, dig deeper with me, you'll thank me for it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Can one desire too much of a good thing?" Shakespeare asks in As You Like It, and in this episode I explore how to navigate this complex emotional state with Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Oxford University and author of the delightfully accessible This Is Shakespeare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"The croaking raven doth bellow for revenge." Why can't we humans just get over ourselves? How can we deal with revenge the bard way? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale, vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man." It's okay to be bored, Shakespeare shows us how to live without our phones - not yet, you have to listen to the episode first. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Present fears are less than horrible imaginings." Only one thing is certain about this world - uncertainty. True 425 years ago. True now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break." There's no right or wrong way to deal with grief, but as the man says if we want to move forward we need to acknowledge it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"This England never did nor never shall Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror, But when it first did help to wound itself." As a teenager in the 1970s battling racism I'd always thought of Shakespeare as the embodiment of English nationalism. In this delightful episode Michael Dobson, head of the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-upon-Avon, explains why I couldn't have been more wrong. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so" Today we look at the fuss around who wrote Shakespeare and how his works can help us uncover the truth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown." If you want to be a leader at work or in your community, beware the pitfalls. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast." You've assassinated the supreme leader. Now what? Today I'm looking at Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, and why if you're going to be bold you need to consider the consequences ahead of acting. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Dreams, indeed, are ambition, for the very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream." This week Dave talks to the writer Stefan Stern about how to get on in the world without resorting to murder most foul. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"I wasted time, and now doth time waste me."Why are we so obsessed with time? And why do we think we have so little of it? Shakespeare has an answer or two. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Our doubts are traitors, And makes us lose the good we oft might win, By fearing to attempt." What's holding you back in life? Shakespeare knows, and I'm here to tell you how to fix it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to The Shakespeare Mindset, where modern day problems are solved by the world's greatest ever writer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.