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.
Richard II on the Radio
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 151 The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating to theater in the United States. Broadway and regional theaters are dark, and Shakespeare festivals across the country have cancelled their seasons. So it wasn’t a surprise when The Public…
Maggie O'Farrell on Hamnet
Anne and William Shakespeare’s son Hamnet died in 1596, when he was 11 years old. We don’t know too much more about him. But author Maggie O’Farrell’s new novel, Hamnet, delves into his story and comes away with…
Directing Shakespeare
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 149 No two theater directors approach Shakespeare’s plays in the same way. When it comes to setting, blocking, costuming, casting, and cutting, there are countless ways directors can shape Shakespeare to make his works their own. With this…
The Booksellers
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 148 The Folger Shakespeare Library started with Henry and Emily Folger, two collectors who loved books and Shakespeare and had the means to pursue what they loved. They were supported by booksellers, who make their livelihoods poring…
Lucy Munro on The King's Men
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 147 Who were the actors who first performed Shakespeare’s plays? Shakespeare was a member and shareholder of a company called the King’s Men. You might know the names of some of his fellow members, like Richard Burbage,…
Jonathan Bate on the Classics and Shakespeare
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 146 Every artist needs inspiration. In this episode, we talk to Sir Jonathan Bate. His book How the Classics Made Shakespeare, published by Princeton University Press in 2019, explores the Greek and Roman authors, narratives, and ideas…
Sandra Newman on The Heavens
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 145 A young woman falls asleep in the 21st century and slowly finds herself slipping into 16th-century England, where she falls in love with an obscure young poet named Will. Sandra Newman’s new novel The Heavens crosses…
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…
The Long Life of Shakespeare's Sonnets (18th century – today)
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 142 Today, we think of Shakespeare’s Sonnets as a triumph. We read them, puzzle over them, and recite them. We compare our significant others to summers’ days, beweep our outcast states, and never admit impediments to the…
Emma Smith on This Is Shakespeare
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 141 Is there a right way to interpret Shakespeare’s plays? No, says Emma Smith, and there’s a good reason for that. In her new book, This Is Shakespeare, she writes that Shakespeare’s plays are characterized by gaps—unknowable…
James Shapiro on Shakespeare in a Divided America
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 140 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 James Shapiro—Shakespeare. Shapiro is an…