Podcasts and recordings
Explore Shakespeare and his world with our podcasts and recordings.
Shakespeare Unlimited
When British radio listeners voted William Shakespeare their “British Person of the Millennium,” the honor was entirely understandable. Shakespeare and his works are woven throughout not only English-speaking culture, but global culture. As you’ll hear in this podcast, Shakespeare turns up in the most interesting places—not just literature and the stage, but science and social history as well. Join us for this “no limits” podcast tour of the fascinating and varied connections between Shakespeare, his works, and the world around us.
Find Shakespeare Unlimited on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Recent episodes
James Ijames on Fat Ham
The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright tells us about his hilarious adaptation of Hamlet.
Marion Turner on The Wife of Bath: A Biography
Marion Turner’s new book is a biography of Geoffrey Chaucer’s most famous character.
Patrick Page on King Lear and Shakespeare's Villains
Patrick Page tells us how he gets inside the mind of Lear in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s 2023 production.
Artificial Intelligence Goes to English Class
Our panelists talk us through the challenges and opportunities that AI tools like ChatGPT present when it comes to teaching Shakespeare.
Margo Hendricks on Shakespeare, Race, and Romance
Margo Hendricks joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about her research in pre-modern race studies and her romance and mystery novels.
More Podcasts and Recordings
Shakespeare in American Life
Explore Shakespeare’s influence on American performance, politics, and popular culture in this radio documentary narrated by Sam Waterston.
The Folger Shakespeare Audio Editions
Listen to full-cast dramatizations of the unabridged texts of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, available from Simon & Schuster Audio.
Shakespeare's Birthday Lectures
Every year, the Folger celebrates Shakespeare birthday with a public lecture from a Shakespearean. Listen to recordings of recent talks from scholars including Julia Reinhard Lupton, Wendy Wall, Jonathan Bate, Stephen Greenblatt, and others.
Shakespeare Anniversary Lecture Series
In 2016, the Folger Institute’s Center for Shakespeare Studies commemorated the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death with a series of public lectures. Listen to talks by Michael Witmore, Tiffany Stern, Kim Hall, and others.
Men of Letters: Shakespeare's Influence on Abraham Lincoln
Three books sat on Abraham Lincoln’s White House desk. One of them was the works of Shakespeare—a writer Lincoln cherished throughout his life. Learn about Shakespeare’s enduring influence on Lincoln and on Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth, as well as why Shakespeare continues to occupy a special place in the hearts of political leaders.
'Now Thrive the Armorers": Arms and Armor in Shakespeare
Shakespeare’s plays dramatize a military culture in transition, as Richard II’s knights on horseback give way to Othello’s career army men. Featuring Jeffrey Forgeng of the Higgins Armory Museum and Barbara Mowat, Co-Editor of The Folger Shakespeare.
Line by Line
Listen to select recordings from the Folger’s archive of poetry readings.
Lend me your ears.
–Julius Caesar, 3.2