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.
Shakespeare in Africa
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 48 When the British came to colonize the African continent in the middle of the 1800s, they brought Shakespeare with them. But after the British left power, it was often Shakespeare who leaders in African countries summoned…
Creating Shakespeare's First Folio
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 47 We likely wouldn’t have half of Shakespeare’s plays without the First Folio of 1623. Imagine a world without Macbeth, Twelfth Night, or Julius Caesar. Our guest on this episode of Shakespeare Unlimited is Emma Smith, a…
Kill Shakespeare Comics
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 46 Imagine a comic book series in which Shakespeare’s most popular characters team up in rival, warring camps bent on seizing control of the kingdom that is the world of Shakespeare’s plays. It’s called Kill Shakespeare,…
Reduced Shakespeare Company
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 45 Discovered in a treasure-filled parking lot in Leicester, England, an ancient manuscript proves to be the long lost first play by none other than the young William Shakespeare from Stratford. That’s the premise of the latest…
Inside the Folger Conservation Lab
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 44 The Folger is the world’s largest Shakespeare collection, and the crown jewels of that collection are the 82 First Folios. To celebrate 400 years of Shakespeare, eighteen of these rare books are traveling the country throughout…
Shakespeare and Magic
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 43 In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the magician Prospero conjures up a storm, charms his daughter to sleep, and uses his power to control Ariel and other spirits. Is this magic for real, or is Prospero pulling off…
Shakespeare and World Cinema
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 42 Shakespeare, of course, is not just performed in English, and his work is not just acted on stage. Foreign-language adaptations of Shakespeare on film have a tradition that goes back as long as talking pictures have…
Pop Sonnets
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 41 There’s something that never ceases to astound when it comes to Shakespeare – the way he continues to pop up in popular culture. Our guest Erik Didriksen takes hit songs from artists like Taylor Swift and Coldplay and rewrites them as Elizabethan-style sonnets.
Shakespeare in India
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 40 What impact has Shakespeare’s writing had on Indian theater? And, how has Indian theater shaped and altered Shakespeare’s work? Shakespeare’s interaction with India came, of course, in the context of India’s experience with British colonization and…
Auditioning for Shakespeare
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 39 Laura Wayth confesses that she’s never read any of Shakespeare’s plays. But she’s listened to the plays performed over and over, and it’s her keen ear that informs her advice to actors in this episode of…
Portraits of Shakespeare
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 38 There’s no doubt you’ve seen images of Shakespeare – maybe in a book, a museum or an ad on the wall of a bus stop. So it’s safe to say: You imagine that you have a…
William Shakespeare's Star Wars
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 37 Shakespeare adaptations are a proud tradition. Prokofiev turned Romeo and Juliet into a ballet. Verdi turned Macbeth and Othello into operas, and The Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night have been converted by Hollywood into…