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 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
There’s something that never ceases to astound when it comes to Shakespeare – the way he continues to pop up in popular culture. 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
There’s no doubt you’ve seen images of Shakespeare. You imagine that you have a pretty good idea of what Shakespeare looked like. Scholar Katherine Duncan-Jones invites you to question your assumptions and take a new look.
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…
Andrea Mays on The Millionaire and the Bard
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 36 Henry Clay Folger paid a world record price for a book—not once, but twice—as he became the world’s leading collector of Shakespeare First Folios. The Folger Shakespeare Library celebrated its 90th birthday this past April. Did…
Shakespeare in the Caribbean
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 35 Shakespeare and his plays are woven deeply into the culture of the Caribbean, both white and black. Even after centuries of British colonial rule came to an end, Shakespeare endured. There’s a long tradition in the…
Stanley Wells on Great Shakespeare Actors
For the many of Shakespeare’s fans, his works are brought to life by the actors and actresses who speak the lines. What makes a Shakespearean actor truly great? Scholar Sir Stanley Wells considers the most outstanding Shakespeare performers past and present.
Music for Shakespeare's Lyrics
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 33 The majority of Shakespeare’s plays call for singing, but while we have the lyrics, sometimes we don’t know the musical notes. David Lindley, professor emeritus of literature and music at the University of Leeds, talks with us about how directors filled those musical gaps.
James Shapiro: The Year of Lear
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 32 1606 was a critical year for Shakespeare’s creative career. It was the year in which he wrote King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra. It was also a time in which the king of England, James…
Editing Shakespeare
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 31 Just what exactly does it mean to edit the works of Shakespeare, particularly since we have no surviving manuscript copies? Why is it that new editions of the plays continue to be published? In this episode…