Best Folger Shakespeare Library Podcasts (2023)

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Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

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Patrick Page on King Lear and Shakespeare's Villains 40:41

2h ago40:41

40:41

You might recognize Patrick Page from films like Spirited, or shows like The Gilded Age, or from his Broadway roles as Hades in Hadestown for which he was nominated for a Tony. But Page is also an accomplished Shakespearean, with a long relationship with Washington, DC’s Shakespeare Theatre Company, where he’s played Prospero, Macbeth, Coriolanus, …

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Shakespeare For All

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Shakespeare's "Macbeth" Part 1: the Story 21:06

3d ago21:06

21:06

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most concentrated and thrilling tragedies. Macbeth is a warrior lord living in medieval Scotland who starts the play by saving his king — only to then murder the king himself. In this course, you’ll learn Macbeth’s story, explore the complex morality and psychology of Macbeth and his accomplice, Lady Macbeth, and hea…

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Shakespeare For All

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The Wooden O and the Iron Throne: Game of Thrones and Shakespeare Part 3 38:55

10d ago38:55

38:55

Dive into the question of why audiences love Shakespeare’s plays and Game of Thrones so much, despite their depictions of prejudice and violence, and discuss the unique power of tragic art. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Maria Devlin McNair

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Shakespeare For All

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The Wooden O and the Iron Throne: Game of Thrones and Shakespeare Part 2 32:49

17d ago32:49

32:49

Explore the moral tensions and dilemmas that Shakespeare and George R.R. Martin force their audiences to confront, especially in the storylines of their most notable political leaders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Maria Devlin McNair

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Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

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Artificial Intelligence Goes to English Class, with Jennifer Black, John Ladd, and Laura Turchi 37:07

9d ago37:07

37:07

The Folger: Hey ChatGPT! Could you write a six line Shakespearean monologue in iambic pentameter about an interview with Jennifer Black, Laura Turchi, and John Ladd about the challenges and opportunities that ChatGPT presents in the English classroom? Thank you!ChatGPT: Of course, I'd be happy to write a Shakespearean monologue on that topic! Here …

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Shakespeare For All

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The Wooden O and the Iron Throne: Game of Thrones and Shakespeare Part 1 29:33

24d ago29:33

29:33

Discover the real-life history that inspired Game of Thrones and Shakespeare’s history plays, and learn the distinctive ways in which Shakespeare and George R.R. Martin each transform history into art Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Maria Devlin McNair

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Shakespeare For All

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Shakespeare's "Hamlet" Part 3: the Language 41:20

1M ago41:20

41:20

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet contains some of the most famous words, images, and characters in all of literature. In this course, you’ll learn Hamlet’s story, explore its lead character’s mind, and hear its key speeches performed and analyzed by world-class Shakespearean actors and literary scholars. In Part 3, Professor Kewes and Professor Palfrey…

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Shakespeare For All

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Shakespeare's "Hamlet" Part 2: Characters and Questions 25:52

1M ago25:52

25:52

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet contains some of the most famous words, images, and characters in all of literature. In this course, you’ll learn Hamlet’s story, explore its lead character’s mind, and hear its key speeches performed and analyzed by world-class Shakespearean actors and literary scholars. Part 2 turns from the political to the philosoph…

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Shakespeare For All

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Shakespeare's "Hamlet" Part 1: the Story 24:53

2M ago24:53

24:53

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet contains some of the most famous words, images, and characters in all of literature. In this course, you’ll learn Hamlet’s story, explore its lead character’s mind, and hear its key speeches performed and analyzed by world-class Shakespearean actors and literary scholars. In Part 1, you’ll be guided through a detailed a…

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Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

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Lucy Wooding on Tudor England: A History 32:04

1M ago32:04

32:04

We can’t seem to get enough of the Tudor dynasty and its soap-opera twists. But in her book Tudor England: A History, Lucy Wooding argues that to really know the Tudors you must look past the famous names and racy plotlines. While Wooding visits the period’s kings and queens—was Henry VIII the lusty man we imagine? How “bloody” was Mary? What about…

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Shakespeare For All

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Shakespeare's Life, World and Works 5: How to Read Shakespeare 20:36

2M ago20:36

20:36

William Shakespeare, who lived in England from 1564 to 1616, is one of the world’s most popular and most captivating authors. Even four hundred years after his death, his plays still attract audiences around the globe. Why is that? In this course, you’ll learn who Shakespeare was, what kinds of plays he wrote, and what makes his body of work perhap…

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Shakespeare For All

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Shakespeare's Life, World and Works 4: Shakespeare’s Work 9:58

2M ago9:58

9:58

William Shakespeare, who lived in England from 1564 to 1616, is one of the world’s most popular and most captivating authors. Even four hundred years after his death, his plays still attract audiences around the globe. Why is that? In this course, you’ll learn who Shakespeare was, what kinds of plays he wrote, and what makes his body of work perhap…

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Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

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Debra Ann Byrd on Becoming Othello: A Black Girl's Journey 35:12

2M ago35:12

35:12

Theater-maker Debra Ann Byrd has played Othello in three different productions: first, in a staged reading in 2013, then again in 2015 and 2019. Each time, she learned a little bit more about Othello, and about herself. In her one-woman show Becoming Othello: A Black Girl’s Journey, Byrd recounts her experience discovering herself while playing Sha…

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Shakespeare For All

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Shakespeare's Life, World and Works 3: Shakespeare’s Life 11:55

2M ago11:55

11:55

William Shakespeare, who lived in England from 1564 to 1616, is one of the world’s most popular and most captivating authors. Even four hundred years after his death, his plays still attract audiences around the globe. Why is that? In this course, you’ll learn who Shakespeare was, what kinds of plays he wrote, and what makes his body of work perhap…

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Shakespeare For All

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Shakespeare's Life, World and Works 2: Shakespeare’s World 19:12

2M ago19:12

19:12

William Shakespeare, who lived in England from 1564 to 1616, is one of the world’s most popular and most captivating authors. Even four hundred years after his death, his plays still attract audiences around the globe. Why is that? In this course, you’ll learn who Shakespeare was, what kinds of plays he wrote, and what makes his body of work perhap…

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Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

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Ian Smith on Black Shakespeare 39:51

2M ago39:51

39:51

In his new book, Black Shakespeare: Reading and Misreading Race, Dr. Ian Smith of Lafayette College argues that Shakespeare’s plays engage with questions of race and early modern encounters between Africans and Europeans in ways that the discipline of Shakespeare studies have been hesitant to acknowledge. Ian Smith returns to the podcast and talks …

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Shakespeare For All

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Shakespeare's Life, World and Works 1: Why Read Shakespeare 11:16

3M ago11:16

11:16

William Shakespeare, who lived in England from 1564 to 1616, is one of the world’s most popular and most captivating authors. Even four hundred years after his death, his plays still attract audiences around the globe. Why is that? In this course, you’ll learn who Shakespeare was, what kinds of plays he wrote, and what makes his body of work perhap…

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Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

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Talene Monahon on Her New Revenge Comedy, Jane Anger 34:30

3M ago34:30

34:30

In Talene Monahon’s new play Jane Anger, a narcissistic William Shakespeare is wrestling with writers’ block while working on King Lear. When Will’s former flame Jane Anger shows up, he knows she can help him finish the play. But Jane wants something in return. She needs Will’s help to publish a pamphlet she’s written that calls out sexist male pla…

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Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

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Fiona Ritchie on Sarah Siddons and John Philip Kemble 33:51

3M ago33:51

33:51

You may not have heard of Sarah Siddons, but if you’ve seen a production of Macbeth recently, you may have experienced her influence.In the late 18th century, Siddons became one of the first celebrity actors, for her performances in roles including Queen Katherine in Henry VIII, Constance in King John, Volumnia in Coriolanus, and, of course, Lady M…

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Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

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Billy Collins on Writing Short Poems and Reading Shakespeare's Sonnets 34:49

4M ago34:49

34:49

Billy Collins is one of America’s most well-known poets. He served as U.S. Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003. His poetry collections frequently show up on bestseller lists, and his popular readings—three of which we’ve been lucky to host at the Folger—are warm and laughter-filled affairs.In a wide-ranging interview, Collins talks about humanizing Sha…

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Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

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Adrian Noble on How to Direct Shakespeare 28:31

4M ago28:31

28:31

A director makes a play add up to more than the sum of its parts. That's something Adrian Noble knows as well as anyone. Noble has directed numerous productions of Shakespeare’s plays, including Kenneth Branagh’s breakout performance as Henry V in 1984 at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He served as artistic director of the RSC from 1991 to 2002, an…

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Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

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Ian McKellen on Richard III, Macbeth, and Gandalf 32:00

5M ago32:00

32:00

In the second part of our special extended interview with Sir Ian McKellen, he tells us about some of his most famous roles: playing Macbeth opposite Dame Judi Dench, King Richard III with a screenplay he co-wrote, and Gandalf the Grey in The Lord of the Rings films. McKellen is interviewed by Barbara Bogaev.From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. …

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Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

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Ian McKellen on Playing Hamlet 29:45

5M ago29:45

29:45

He played Hamlet in his thirties… and again in his eighties. In between? Edgar, Romeo, Leontes, Macbeth, Coriolanus, Iago, Richard III, Prospero, and King Lear. Plus, of course, Magneto and Gandalf.On this episode, we talk with Sir Ian McKellan. Last year, he played Hamlet in an age-blind production of the play at the Theatre Royal Windsor, returni…

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Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

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What Shakespeare Thought About the Mind, with Helen Hackett 34:26

6M ago34:26

34:26

If you’ve ever been watching Hamlet and asked yourself, “What on earth is Hamlet thinking?!” you’re not alone. But to figure that out, you might have to figure out what Hamlet—and Shakespeare—think about what it means to think. That’s the argument University College London professor Helen Hackett makes in her new book, The Elizabethan Mind: Searchi…

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Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

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John Adams Gives Antony and Cleopatra the Operatic Treatment 35:37

6M ago35:37

35:37

Celebrated American composer John Adams’s newest opera takes its inspiration from Shakespeare. . Adams talks with host Barbara Bogaev about how he turned a five-act play into a two-act opera—which scenes got the hook, new lines written in the style of the Bard, and what Shakespeare may have thought of the play’s characters. The Sunday, September 18…

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Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

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Paterson Joseph: Julius Caesar and Me (Rebroadcast) 34:31

7M ago34:31

34:31

This summer marks the tenth anniversary of a landmark production for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Their 2012 Julius Caesar was Britain’s first ever high-profile production of a Shakespeare play with an all-Black cast—a milestone that came 76 years after it was first done in the US and 15 years after it was first done in Canada. The production fea…

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Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

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Shakespeare, Chaucer, and the Tabard Inn, with Martha Carlin (Rebroadcast) 19:58

7M ago19:58

19:58

What if Shakespeare and his friends had gotten together and carved their names on the wall of an inn made famous by Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales? In 2015, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee history professor Dr. Martha Carlin found an anecdote in a little-known, unpublished manuscript that suggests such a link between these two great English write…

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Shakespeare For All

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Antony and Cleopatra Part 3 - The Language 35:04

8M ago35:04

35:04

Part 3 features close-readings of three key scenes in which Antony and Cleopatra articulate their cosmic self-conceptions in language so transcendent that it helps transform their vision into reality. Speeches and Performers: Enobarbus, Act 2, “The barge she sat in …” (Andrew Woddall) Antony, Act 4, “I will o’ertake thee, Cleopatra …” (Scott Ripley…

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Shakespeare For All

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Antony and Cleopatra Part 2 - The Language 27:21

8M ago27:21

27:21

Part 2 explores the play’s varied and conflicting perspectives on its leading characters. From the Roman point of view, Antony and Cleopatra are figures who fall from greatness, and their story is a tragedy or even, at times, farce; but from other points of view, Antony and Cleopatra represent a kind of success that could scarcely be achieved or ev…

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Shakespeare For All

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Antony and Cleopatra Part 1 - The Story 26:21

8M ago26:21

26:21

Antony and Cleopatra, the last of Shakespeare’s Roman plays, is an epic story that begins with the material of politics and history but expands into the realm of romance, poetry, and myth. Following the events of Julius Caesar – Caesar’s assassination and the triumph of Mark Antony and Octavius Caesar in the resulting civil wars – Antony and Caesar…

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Shakespeare For All

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Titus Andronicus Part 3 - The Language 41:00

8M ago41:00

41:00

Part 3 features close-readings of several significant scenes that show how religion, race, and literary tradition function within the violent world of Titus Andronicus and sometimes provoke that violence. Speeches and Performers: Titus, Marcus, and Publius, Act 4, “Terras Astraea reliquit …” (Jonathan Oliver) Aaron, Lucius, and the Goths, Act 5, “A…

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Shakespeare For All

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Titus Andronicus Part 2 - The Characters 27:29

8M ago27:29

27:29

Part 2 opens with a discussion of the place of Rome in Renaissance culture. It then analyzes the Roman classical sources – sources his audience knew well – that Shakespeare uses to construct his plot, and how Shakespeare’s use of those sources calls their moral values into question. It goes on to discuss the elements of the play that have generated…

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Shakespeare For All

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Titus Andronicus Part 1 - The Story 26:48

8M ago26:48

26:48

Shakespeare wrote numerous plays and poems engaged with ancient Roman history. Shakespeare’s Renaissance culture had ancient Rome as its foundation stone. Roman language and literature were at the heart of English Renaissance education, and Rome was held up as a model for English civilization. But in Titus Andronicus, the earliest of his Roman work…

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Shakespeare For All

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Cymbeline Part 3 - The Language 37:54

8M ago37:54

37:54

Part 3 features close-readings of three key speeches that reflect together the central structuring element of the story: how characters fall in order to rise. Speeches and Performers: Iachimo, Act 2, “The crickets sing …” (Mark Quartley and Donald Sumpter) Imogen, Act 3, “Why, I must die…” (Gabrielle Sheppard) Posthumus, Act 5, “Yea, bloody cloth…”…

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Shakespeare For All

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Cymbeline Part 2 - The Characters 26:06

8M ago26:06

26:06

Part 2 begins with a discussion of the sexual violence and jealousy depicted in the play. It goes on to examine how the play’s sprawling romance plot represents, in symbolic but recognizable form, origin stories for some significant historical phenomena: Britain’s own monarchy, the Renaissance culture of Europe, and what would have been for Shakesp…

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Shakespeare For All

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Cymbeline Part 1 - The Story 25:25

8M ago25:25

25:25

Cymbeline is an epic romance that spans British history, the Roman Empire, religious epochs, and the central themes of Shakespeare’s career. Set in ancient Britain at the time of Augustus Caesar’s reign, it begins with two plotlines that in other of Shakespeare’s plays lead to tragedy: an enraged king disowns a beloved daughter, and a faithful wife…

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Shakespeare For All

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All's Well That Ends Well Part 3 - The Language 25:28

8M ago25:28

25:28

Part 3 features close-readings of three key speeches from Helen that reveal her own mingled virtues and flaws and the “remedies” she hopes to find. Speeches and Performers: Helen, Act 1, “O, were that all! …” (Amanda Harris) Helen, Act 1, “Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie …” (Maya Smoot) Helen, Acts 3 and 4, “Why then tonight … Yet, I pray you …

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Shakespeare For All

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All's Well That Ends Well Part 2 - The Characters 26:07

8M ago26:07

26:07

Part 2 discusses the play’s most significant images, of sickness and death, of medicine, and grace. It asks how these themes are reflected in the complicated relationship between Helen and Bertram, focusing particularly on the deceptive plot that Helen uses to secure him in the “dark house” that becomes a place of mystery and renewal. The episode g…

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Shakespeare For All

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All's Well That Ends Well Part 1 - The Story 25:45

8M ago25:45

25:45

All’s Well That Ends Well reverses the usual fairy-tale trope and depicts a young woman on a quest to win a man. Helen, an extraordinary character with elements of the modern professional and the medieval saint, sets out to secure Bertram, a nobleman, for her husband. But the fairy tale plot is further reversed when Helen appears to win Bertram, on…

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Shakespeare For All

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Love's Labours Lost Part 3 - The Langauge 24:05

8M ago24:05

24:05

Part 3 features close-readings of three key speeches from Berowne, the most reflective of the lords. Taken from the beginning, middle, and end of the play, these speeches chart his imperfect but growing awareness of ideals beyond the “fame” that comes from study. Speeches and Performers: Berowne, Act 1, “I can but say their protestation over …” (Es…

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Shakespeare For All

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Love's Labours Lost Part 2 - The Characters 24:01

8M ago24:01

24:01

Part 2 discusses both the play’s humor and its serious engagement with Renaissance culture, especially the humanist-style program of education that the lords pursue. This Renaissance model inspired many of the educational programs we continue today, but as the episode discusses, the play questions what goals lie behind the Renaissance ideal: does i…

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Shakespeare For All

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Love's Labours Lost Part 1 - The Story 23:21

8M ago23:21

23:21

Love’s Labours Lost is one of Shakespeare’s funniest comedies and at the same time one of his most morally serious. The King of Navarre and three of his lords vow to spend three rigorous years studying and fasting – and isolating themselves from women. But no sooner are the vows made than four noblewomen of France turn up and tempt the men to break…

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Shakespeare For All

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Coriolanus Part 3 - The Language 33:20

8M ago33:20

33:20

Part 3 features close-readings of four key speeches and scenes that set out the play’s central dilemma, as they speak for a cooperative political community and the elite warrior ideal that Coriolanus is meant to embody. Speeches and Performers: Menenius, citizens, and Martius, Act 1, “I shall tell you a pretty tale …” (David Collins) Volumnia and V…

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Shakespeare For All

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Coriolanus Part 2 - The Characters 24:44

8M ago24:44

24:44

Part 2 begins with a discussion of those political questions – who should have power in a political community? Is power a right or a reward? – and how they are reflected in the play’s imagery. It goes on to explore the paradoxes within the values of Rome and how Coriolanus reveals and struggles with those paradoxes. It concludes by examining the su…

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Shakespeare For All

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Coriolanus Part 1 - The Story 22:24

8M ago22:24

22:24

The culmination of Shakespeare’s career writing Roman history plays and plays of war, Coriolanus is a searing, relentless story about what happens when a culture gets what it wants. Coriolanus is the elite soldier who’s been shaped by his mother and by his Roman culture to value military service, valor, and honor above all else. But when he’s rejec…

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Shakespeare For All

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Measure For Measure Part 2 - The Characters 26:40

8M ago26:40

26:40

Part 2 begins with the dark patterns of imagery in the play to examine the play’s close proximity to tragedy. It goes on, however, to discuss how the lead characters of Isabella and the Duke function as political protestors or activists undertaking a quest for social reform. This episode culminates in an analysis of how the play adopts a “transcend…

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Shakespeare For All

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Measure For Measure Part 3 - The Language 38:57

8M ago38:57

38:57

Part 3 features actors’ renditions of two key scenes from the play between Isabella and Angelo, the seemingly virtuous but hypocritical governor, with commentary that tracks how the characters commit themselves in these scenes to integrity or evil. Speeches and Performers: Isabella and Angelo, Act 2, “You’re welcome. What’s your will? ...” and “How…

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Shakespeare For All

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Measure For Measure Part 1 - The Story 25:20

8M ago25:20

25:20

Measure for Measure is a comedy that goes places most comedies don’t go. Like other comedies, it ends with marriages, social reconciliation, and the promise of new life. But along the way, love, sexuality, and procreation are linked more closely to death than to life. Measure for Measure confronts the besetting sins of human nature – greed, love of…

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Shakespeare For All

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The Taming of the Shrew Part 3 - The Language 32:22

8M ago32:22

32:22

Part 3 features close-readings of two key speeches, one from Petruchio and one from Katherine. These speeches are performed in two different ways: as originally written, and with the gender pronouns reversed as they were in the 2019 RSC production of Taming, whose lead actors perform the speeches. These double performances help us reflect on our ow…

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Shakespeare For All

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The Taming of the Shrew Part 2 - The Characters 23:29

8M ago23:29

23:29

Part 2 begins by exploring the Katherine-Petruchio relationship in greater depth, examining the most positive and the most negative possible interpretations of it and the different ways of understanding the “taming” plot. It goes on to discuss how Shakespeare’s first audiences might have reacted to the play (and why they might not have reacted in t…

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