We covered many topics on our Shakespeare Unlimited podcast this year, from Shakespeare and the environment with Todd Andrew Borlik and women writers of the English Renaissance with Ramie Targoff to the story of the Folger building reopening with special tours and interviews with poet Rita Dove and visual artist Fred Wilson to conversations with actor Colman Domingo, scholar James Shapiro, and writer/director Mary Zimmerman on the power of theater. Here are our top five Shakespeare Unlimited podcast episodes from 2024, ranked by number of listens.
Whether you’re revisiting an old favorite or listening for the first time, find all our podcast episodes on the Shakespeare Unlimited website, major podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and the Folger YouTube channel.
Happy listening!
1. David and Ben Crystal Share Shakespeare Quotations for Everyday Life
The Crystals, the father-son duo—David, a linguist, Ben, an actor—behind Everyday Shakespeare: Lines for Life, which offers daily Shakespeare quotes you can apply to your everyday existence, share the quotations they included, why they chose to forego the typical contextual notes, and how you can improve your memory for Shakespeare’s words.
2. Dame Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea on Seven Decades of Shakespeare
Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea, who co-wrote Dench’s 2024 memoir, Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, talk about Dench’s experiences playing Ophelia, Gertrude, Lady Macbeth and Titania. Plus, parrots, Polonius, dirty words, hijinks with Sir Ian McKellen, and more.
3. Julia Fox and John Guy on Their Biography of Anne Boleyn
A new biography by husband-and-wife historians John Guy and Julia Fox takes a scholarly look at the evidence surrounding Anne’s rise and fall. They focus on Anne’s years of training in the courts of Europe, which shaped her into the formidable woman whom Henry VIII came to regard as an intellectual equal.
4. Eddie Izzard on Performing Hamlet Solo
Legendary comedian and actor Eddie Izzard tells us about how her decades of experience doing stand-up prepared her for her recent solo shows—first Great Expectations, and now Hamlet. Performing every role in those shows requires a marathoner’s stamina. Fortunately, Izzard also runs marathons.
5. Second Chances, Shakespeare and Freud
The desire for a second chance provides the engine for many of Shakespeare’s plays. In their book, Second Chances: Shakespeare and Freud, Shakespeare scholar Stephen Greenblatt and psychologist Adam Phillips argue that this fascination with the second chance links Shakespeare with one of his biggest 20th century fans: Sigmund Freud.
What were your favorite Shakespeare Unlimited episodes from 2024? Is there a particular topic you’d like us to cover next? Tell us in the comments.
Explore more episodes
Will Tosh on the Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare
Scholar Will Tosh explores the hidden queer lives in Shakespeare’s works, revealing how early modern gender fluidity and same-sex desire influenced the Bard’s plays and characters.
Tabitha Stanmore on Practical Magic in Shakespeare’s England
Uncover the world of cunning folk in Shakespeare’s England, as scholar Tabitha Stanmore reveals how these magic practitioners helped everyone from commoners to royalty with their practical spells and charms.
Throughlines, with Ayanna Thompson and Ruben Espinosa
Explore Throughlines, a free resource offering teaching materials to help educators integrate discussions of race into Shakespeare and other premodern texts in college classrooms.
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