Shakespeare Unlimited podcast
William Shakespeare and his works are woven throughout our global culture, from theater, music, and films to new scholarship, education, amazing discoveries, and more. In our Shakespeare Unlimited podcast, Shakespeare opens a window into topics ranging from the American West, to the real history of Elizabethan street fighting, to interviews with Shakespearean stars. As you’ll hear, he turns up in surprising places, too—including outer space. Join us for a “no limits” tour of the connections between Shakespeare, his works, and our world.
Kathryn Harkup on Death by Shakespeare
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 144 It’s quite a list: Hanged. Prison fever. Stabbed. Stabbed. Poisoned. Beheaded. Beheaded. “Malady of France.” Cannonball. Burnt. Bitten. Eaten. Mauled. Shakespeare wrote about a lot of things, but he really wrote a lot about death. Chemist…
Shakespeare and Solace
Folger Director Michael Witmore and his predecessor, Director Emerita Gail Kern Paster, talk about the bits of Shakespeare that bring them comfort.
The Long Life of Shakespeare's Sonnets (18th century – today)
Today, we think of Shakespeare’s Sonnets as a triumph. But Jane Kingsley-Smith shares that in the 1600s and 1700s some readers thought the sonnets inauthentic or immoral, until the 1800s, when writers like William Wordsworth and Oscar Wilde salvaged their good name.
Emma Smith on This Is Shakespeare
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 141 Is there a right way to interpret the plays? No, says Emma Smith, and there’s a good reason for that. In her book This Is Shakespeare, she writes that they are characterized by gaps, including unknowable elements.
James Shapiro on Shakespeare in a Divided America
Even with our country feeling more divided than it has in 50 years, there are still things that tie us all together. Loving our families, cheering on a favorite team, and—according to James Shapiro—Shakespeare.
Abraham Lincoln and Shakespeare
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 139 There are lots of stories about Abraham Lincoln and his passion for Shakespeare. Some are true, while others are made up out of whole cloth. We talk to scholar Michael Anderegg about Lincoln’s love of Shakespeare…
Shakespeare and Folktales
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 138 You probably know where Shakespeare got the ideas for his plays. His Histories come from Holinshed’s Chronicles. Caesar and other Roman plays depend on Plutarch’s Lives. The Comedy of Errors is based on Plautus’s Menaechmi. But what…
Books and Reading in Shakespeare's England
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 137 Do you have a book that means something special to you? 400 years ago, when printed books were a fairly new thing, they meant something to their owners too. But in many ways, what they meant…
The Early Years of Shakespeare's Sonnets (16th and 17th centuries)
Did Shakespeare intend to publish his sonnets? For whom were they written? What can they reveal about their author? We talk to Dr. Jane Kingsley-Smith about her newest book, The Afterlife of Shakespeare’s Sonnets.
The History of Shakespeare in American Schools
We’re willing to bet that at some point in school, you read at least of one Shakespeare’s plays. Did you ever wonder why that is? How did Shakespeare go from popular entertainment to classroom staple? Professor Joseph Haughey takes us back to a time when educators didn’t take Shakespeare seriously and English wasn’t even a subject in school.
Peter Brook
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 134 Peter Brook passed away on July 2, 2022. We remember him with fondness and gratitude for his many contributions to the theater.In this episode, we spend 40 minutes with one of the world’s most influential directors.…
Kenny Leon on Much Ado About Nothing
Director Kenny Leon’s production of Much Ado About Nothing mesmerized audiences during the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park (now available on PBS’s Great Performances). Leon shares how he approaches a new production and how Shakespeare’s comedies speak to our present moment.