Shakespeare Anyone?

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we explore the ecology of Shakespeare's Forest of Arden and what the events of As You Like It might have meant to an early modern audience (and a certain playwright) living through real environmental and agricultural change that impacted the real Forest of Arden near Shakespeare's hometown. We look at how shifting agricultural practices in Shakespeare's England shape the play's depiction of land, labor, and pastoral life in the Forest of Arden. We then explore the play's connection to the enclosure riots of the period, and what Shakespeare's fictional forest reveals about real anxieties over land rights, common land, and rural unrest in early modern England. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: Brokaw, Katherine Steele, and Elizabeth Freestone. Performing Shakespeare on an Endangered Planet . Cambridge University Press, 2025. Martin, Randall. " Land-Uses and Convertible Husbandry in As You Like It." Shakespeare and Ecology , Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2015, pp. 56–77. Wilson, Richard. "'Like the Old Robin Hood': 'As You Like It' and the Enclosure Riots." Shakespeare Quarterly , vol. 43, no. 1, 1992, pp. 1–19. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2870900. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we are digging into the history of Shrovetide in early modern England. We've previously discussed Shrovetide as a possible date for the first production of As You Like It , but what did this holiday mean for the people of Shakespeare's time? We look at Shrovetide's origins as the last hurrah before the fasting and restraint of Lent to the customs that came to define it: feasting, football, cockfighting, pancakes, and festivals. We also look at where Shrovetide turns up in Shakespeare and other literature of the early modern period. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: Brears, Peter C. D. Cooking and Dining in Tudor and Early Stuart England . Prospect Books, 2015. Foster, Pamela. "Shrove Tuesday and the British Pancake Tradition: From Mrs. Patmore's Kitchen to Your Table." Downton Abbey Cooks , 16 Feb. 2026, downtonabbeycooks.com/why-do-we-have-pancakes-on-shrove-tuesday/. Hutton, Ronald. The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain . Oxford University Press, 2011. Olney Pancake Race , Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul, Olney, 2026, olneypancakerace.org/. Teysko, Heather. " From Pancakes to Fasting: Shrovetide and Lent in Tudor England." History and Coffee , YouTube, 11 Feb. 2026, www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHJaT3qZy_Y. "Why Do We Eat Pancakes on Shrove Tuesday?" English Heritage , 2026, www.english-heritage.org.uk/members-area/kids/kids-rule-makes-and-bakes/pancakes-shrove-tuesday/ .

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we examine Shakespeare's As You Like It as a piece of satire, one that pokes fun at the pastoral romantic comedy genre and the pastoral ideals so popular in early modern English court. We look at how Shakespeare undermines the tropes of the genre, subverts some of the negative stereotypes about country life that were common in the pastoral tradition, and what that suggests about his own relationship to the genre. We then turn to exploring further evidence that suggests that the play was first performed at court on Shrovetide in 1599 (so much more than just the explaining the pancake joke!), and we consider what a court performance on this date would have meant for both the players staging it and the audience watching it. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: Cirillo, Albert R. "As You Like It: Pastoralism Gone Awry." ELH , vol. 38, no. 1, 1971, pp. 19–39. JSTOR , https://doi.org/10.2307/2872361. Accessed 3 Aug. 2026. Dusinberre, Juliet. "Pancakes and a Date for 'As You like It.'" Shakespeare Quarterly , vol. 54, no. 4, 2003, pp. 371–405. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3844055. Accessed 29 July 2026. Kronenfeld, Judy Z. "Social Rank and the Pastoral Ideals of As You Like It." Shakespeare Quarterly , vol. 29, no. 3, 1978, pp. 333–48. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2869144. Accessed 29 July 2026. Samuk, Tristan. "Satire and the Aesthetic in As You Like It ." Renaissance Drama , vol. 43, no. 2, 2015, pp. 117–42. JSTOR , https://doi.org/10.1086/683106. Accessed 3 Aug. 2026.

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this week's episode, we explore the role of music and songs in Shakespeare's plays. We look at how songs were woven into the fabric of early modern culture, from tavern ballads to church liturgies to courtly masques , and consider how this musical culture influenced the music of Shakespeare's plays. We'll also explain how scholars and historians have pieced together bits and pieces of information to discover what we know about which instruments were popular and what the popular music of Shakespeare's day sounded like. We'll also dive into the logistics of music in a theatrical performance and how musicians and actors would bring these songs to life in the original productions of Shakespeare's plays. Looking for the image of the virginal/spinet we mention? Here you go! Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: Bogaev, Barbara, interviewer. Christopher Marsh and Angela McShane, guests. "Top Pop Songs of the 1600s." Shakespeare Unlimited. Episode 259. Folger Shakespeare Library. https://www.folger.edu/podcasts/shakespeare-unlimited/top-pop-songs-of-the-1600s/. Accessed 26 July 2026. Cash, Cassidy, host. "Episode 33: Music in Shakespeare's Plays with Mary Springfels." That Shakespeare Life. episode 33, https://www.cassidycash.com/ep33/. Accessed 26 July 2026. Cash, Cassidy, host. "Ep 96: Catherine Loomis and Music on Shakespeare's Stage." That Shakespeare Life. episode 96, https://www.cassidycash.com/ep-96-catherine-loomis-and-music-on-shakespeares-stage/. Accessed 26 July 2026. Colley, John Scott. "Music in the Elizabethan Private Theatres." The Yearbook of English Studies , vol. 4, 1974, pp. 62–69. JSTOR , https://doi.org/10.2307/3506682. Accessed 26 July 2026. Munro, Lucy, ' Music and Sound' , in Richard Dutton (ed.) , The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theatre ( 2011; online edn, Oxford Academic , 18 Sept. 2012 ), https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199697861.013.0033 , accessed 25 July 2026. Phillips, James E. "The Vocal Songs in the Plays of Shakespeare. A Critical History. Peter J. Seng." Renaissance Quarterly , vol. 21, no. 3, 1968, pp. 359-361. Chicago Journals , https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.2307/2859441. Accessed 26 July 2026. Sheir, Rebecca, host. Ross W. Duffin, guest. "Music in Shakespeare." Shakespeare Unlimited. Episode 11. Folger Shakespeare Library. https://www.folger.edu/podcasts/shakespeare-unlimited/music-in-shakespeare/. Accessed 26 July 2026.

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we turn our attention to Touchstone, the sharp-tongued clown who trades the court for the Forest of Arden. We begin by revisiting what we already know about fools in Shakespeare's plays and the real-life clowns and jesters of early modern England. This sets the stage for us to explore what makes Touchstone stand apart from the rest of Shakespeare's fools. We then dig into how Touchstone functions less as pure comic relief and more as a fun-house mirror for the play itself, parodying the romantic entanglements and pastoral fantasies unfolding around him. Finally, we consider the meaning behind his name and what it reveals about his behavior throughout the play and what it means to be a touchstone in the Forest of Arden. And a special note: this is our 150th episode! Thank you for everyone who has listened and supported us along the way! Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: BELL, ROBERT H. "Motley to the View: The Shakespearean Performance of Folly." Southwest Review, vol. 95, no. 1/2, 2010, pp. 44–62. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43473037. Accessed 10 July 2026. Frail, David. "To the Point of Folly: Touchstone's Function in 'As You like It.'" The Massachusetts Review, vol. 22, no. 4, 1981, pp. 695–717. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25089211. Accessed 8 July 2026. Goldsmith, Robert Hillis. "Touchstone: Critic in Motley." PMLA, vol. 68, no. 4, 1953, pp. 884–95. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/459804. Accessed 8 July 2026. Weindling, Lauren. "'I Do Play the Touch': Touchstone and Testing in As You Like It ." Studies in Philology , vol. 121, no. 1, 2024, pp. 135–62. JSTOR , https://www.jstor.org/stable/27311436. Accessed 11 July 2026.

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. As we start off another one of Shakespeare's plays, we will first take a look at the themes, motifs, and production history of As You Like It in this Stuff to Chew On episode. This will provide a basis for future conversations as we dive deeper in later episodes. Think about it like As You Like It 101! Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: Shakespeare, William. As You Like It . Edited by Juliet Dusinberre, Arden Shakespeare, 2006. SparkNotes Editors. "As You Like It" SparkNotes.com, SparkNotes LLC, 2005, https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/asyoulikeit/

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. It's time for our twelfth play! Today we are starting our series on Shakespeare's As You Like It with a synopsis episode. In this episode, we will provide a detailed summary of the plot, breaking down the action of the play scene by scene. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Special thanks to Nat Yonce for editing this episode. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: Shakespeare, William. As You Like It . Edited by Juliet Dusinberre. Arden Shakespeare, 2006.

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we are joined by Mya Lixian Gosling, the creator, author, and artist of the internet's favorite stick-figure Shakespeare webcomic, Good Tickle Brain. We chat with Mia about how Good Tickle Brain came to be and her creative process. Join us as we get to know the brain behind Good Tickle Brain. You can find Mya's comics and merchandise at goodticklebrain.com . About Mya Lixian Gosling Mya Lixian Gosling (she/her) is the author and artist of Good Tickle Brain, the world's foremost (and possibly only) stick-figure Shakespeare webcomic. Since 2013, Good Tickle Brain has been entertaining and subversively educating people with Shakespeare-related comics, including full-length play adaptations, extremely short and reductive summaries, song parodies, pop culture mash-ups, infographics, and much more. Mya thinks Shakespeare is super fun, and wants other people to also think that Shakespeare is super fun. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree .

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this wrap-up episode, we reflect on our exploration of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar by watching and discussing three distinct productions. We start with Phyllida Lloyd's ground-breaking 2012 all-female production at Donmar Warehouse, which sets the action of the play within a women's prison. Then, we explore The Bridge Theatre's 2018 production, directed by Nicholas Hytner and starring Ben Whishaw and Michelle Fairley, which combined dynamic staging with a contemporary setting. Finally, we will discuss Shakespeare's Globe's 2014 production directed by Dominic Dromgoole and featuring Luke Thompson. As we discuss each of these productions, we will examine how their production choices illuminate the themes and story of Shakespeare's play. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. Digital Theatre, https://www.digitaltheatre.com/watch/vod/37661691/julius-caesar . Accessed 2026. Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar . National Theatre Live, https://www.ntathome.com/julius-caesar. Accessed 2026. Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar (2014) . Shakespeare's Globe, 2014, https://player.shakespearesglobe.com/productions/julius-caesar-2014/. Accessed 2026.

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we are joined by author and Shakespeare scholar, Caroline Bicks, to discuss her latest book, Monsters in the Archive: My Year of Fear with Stephen King . Caroline will share with us how Shakespeare some of Stephen King's most famous works, and the surprising similarities she discovered between Shakespeare's writing and King's. Monsters in the Archive: My Year of Fear with Stephen King is out now. About Caroline Bicks Caroline Bicks is the Stephen E. King Chair in Literature at the University of Maine, where she teaches courses in Shakespeare, early modern culture, and horror fiction. She is the author of Cognition and Girlhood in Shakespeare's World and Midwiving Subjects in Shakespeare's England ; co-author of Shakespeare, Not Stirred: Cocktails for Your Everyday Dramas ; and co-host of the Everyday Shakespeare podcast. Her essays and humor pieces have appeared in the Modern Love column of the New York Times , McSweeney's Internet Tendency , and the show Afterbirth . She lives in Blue Hill, Maine, with her family. About Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King After Caroline Bicks was named the University of Maineʼs inaugural Stephen E. King Chair in Literature, she became the first scholar to be granted extended access by King to his private archives, a treasure trove of manuscripts that document the legendary writerʼs creative process—most of them never before studied or published. The year she spent exploring King's early drafts and hand-written revisions was guided by one question millions of Kingʼs enthralled and terrified readers (including her) have asked themselves: What makes Stephen King's writing stick in our heads and haunt us long after we've closed the book? Bicks focuses on five of his most iconic early works— The Shining, Carrie, Pet Sematary, ʼ Salemʼs Lot, and Night Shift —to reveal how he crafted his language, story lines, and characters to cast his enduring literary spells. While tracking King's margin notes and editorial changes, she discovered scenes and alternative endings that never made it to print but that King is allowing her to publish now. The book also includes interviews Bicks had with King along the way that reveal new insights into his writing process and personal history. Part literary master class, part biography, part memoir and investigation into our deepest anxieties, Monsters in the Archives —authorized by Stephen King himself—is unlike anything ever published about the master of horror. It chronicles what Bicks found when she set out to unearth how King crafted some of his scariest, most iconic moments. But it's also a story about a grown-up English professor facing her childhood fears and getting to know the man whose monsters helped unleash them. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree .

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we use Freyja Cox Jensen's Reading the Roman Republic in Early Modern England to explore how early modern readers encountered, studied, and understood ancient Rome, and what that means for how we read Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. First, we ask whether early modern people were truly obsessed with Julius Caesar and ancient Rome, and how Rome became so omnipresent in the early modern imagination. We then trace the roots of that obsession: how Roman history was embedded in early modern education and pedagogical theory, which Roman authors Shakespeare and his contemporaries were actually reading, and how the rise of the printing industry accelerated the spread of classical texts across England. From there, we explore what early modern people actually thought about Rome: how they understood it, idealized it, and argued about it. Last but not least, we'll examine how ancient Rome was reimagined on the early modern stage, and what all of this tells us about Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: Cox Jensen, Freyja. Reading the Roman Republic in Early Modern England. Brill, 2012.

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In anticipation of Earth Day and Shakespeare's birthday later this month, in this episode, we are joined by Katherine (Katie) Steele Brokaw to discuss how Shakespeare can be used as a tool to create conversations around ecological issues that impact our communities. We discuss how Shakespeare is already well-positioned to be used as an eco-playwright, why it is important to utilize his plays to speak to our current moment, and how theatremakers and educators can incorporate ecological practices into their productions and readings of Shakespeare's plays. About Katherine Steele Brokaw Katherine Steele Brokaw is a Professor of English at University of Texas at Austin and the Director of Shakespeare at Winedale at UT. Her work focuses primarily on the production and study of Shakespearean performance, with a special interest in how modern productions can be used to highlight ecological issues. She is the author of Staging Harmony: Music and Religious Change in Late Medieval and Early English Drama and Shakespeare and Community Performance and she is co-author, with Elizabeth Freestone, of Performing Shakespeare on an Endangered Planet. She was the co-founding artistic director of Shakespeare in Yosemite, where she adapted and directed eight productions. Resources mentioned in the episode: The EarthShakes Alliance Shakespeare in Yosemite's Romeo and Juliet Globe4Globe presentations via EarthShakes Alliance's Youtube Want to hear more about how Shakespeare's world was impacted by climate issues? Check our our episode A Midsummer Night's Dream: Shakespeare & Climate Change with Sydney Schwindt . Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree .

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we bring together Michael Parenti's The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar to explore the real historical event at the heart of the play. Parenti reframes the traditional "tyrannicide" narrative and argues that Caesar's murder was a calculated act by Rome's ruling oligarchs to stop a popular reformer who had become a threat to their wealth and power. Using this people's history perspective, we then discuss how this compares to Shakespeare's depiction of events and how this perspective can inform theatrical productions of Shakespeare's plays. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. Sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: Attar, Rob, host and Barry Strauss, guest; "Caesar | 1. Beware the Ides of March." HistoryExtra Podcast, iTunes app, 15 December 2023. Biemesderfer, Korina, host. "The Ides of March - March 15 2021 - Daily True Crime." Morning Cup of Murder, iTunes app, 15 March 2021 Duncan, Mike, host. "046- Sic Semper Tyrannis." The History of Rome , iTunes app, 27 February 2010 Parenti, Michael. The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome. The New Press, 2003. Strauss, Barry, narrator. "The Real Assassination of Caesar." History This Week , iTunes app, 9 March 2020. "TalkingStickTV - Michael Parenti - The Assassination of Julius Caesar." YouTube , uploaded by talkingsticktv, 10 August 2008, www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YNwxZnABzA .

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we dig into one of the most dramatic scandals of Shakespeare's time: the rise and catastrophic fall of Robert Devereaux, the Earl of Essex. Court favorite, military hero, and ultimately, traitor, Essex had everything and managed to lose it spectacularly. We break down who Essex was, his relationship with Elizabeth, and what finally led him to march on London with a small bnad of followers and an extremely bad plan. And of course, we're a Shakespeare podcast, so we touch on the wild connection between Essex's Rebellion and Shakespeare. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: Bate, Jonathan. Soul of the Age: The Life, Mind and World of William Shakespeare. Viking, 2008. pp. 256–286. BBC Bitesize. "The Rebellion of the Earl of Essex - Queen Elizabeth I and Government - OCR B - GCSE History Revision - OCR B - BBC Bitesize." BBC News, BBC, 6 Feb. 2025, www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z88fk7h/revision/3 . Hammer, Paul E. J. (2004). "Devereux, Robert, second earl of Essex (1565–1601)" . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2020. Mr Keir History Teacher. " Essex Rebellion - Causes and Consequences #Education #AQA #ElizabethanEngland." YouTube, 2022, youtu.be/7VPKqvINtz8. Shanette, Heather. "Essex Rebellion (1601)". Elizabeth R : The Life and Times of Queen Elizabeth I. Published 1998-2026. https://www.elizabethi.org/contents/rebellions/essex/ Teysko, Heather. "Episode 201: Robert Devereaux the Earl of Essex - Renaissance English History Podcast." Renaissance English History Podcast - The Original Tudor History Podcast, 22 Nov. 2024, www.englandcast.com/2024/11/episode-201-robert-devereaux-the-earl-of-essex/.

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In today's episode, we are exploring how Shakespeare depicts Julius Caesar's "falling sickness," commonly believed by historians and scholars to be epilepsy. First, we'll discuss how the play Julius Caesar can be read as a disability narrative and how it reflects early modern anxieties around invisible disabilities like epilepsy. Then, we will look at how Shakespeare depicts falling sickness or epilepsy across the canon and determine whether or not the depictions are as accurate as they are often celebrated to be. Finally, we will share an alternative diagnosis for Caesar's symptoms based on what is known of historical Caesar's medical history. Content Warning: Emetophobia, brief discussion of eating disorders Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: Breuer, Horst. "Bilder Der Epilepsie Bei Shakespeare / Representations of Epilepsy in Shakespeare." Medizinhistorisches Journal , vol. 37, no. 1, 2002, pp. 5–19. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25805304. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026. Hamlyn, Tim. "The Nature of Caesar's Illness." Latomus , vol. 73, no. 2, 2014, pp. 360–67. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24858427. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026. Hobgood, Allison. (2009). Caesar Hath the Falling Sickness: The Legibility of Early Modern Disability in Shakespearean Drama . Disability Studies Quarterly . 29. 10.18061/dsq.v29i4.993.

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar , Cassius argues that "Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings." In this week's episode, we are exploring early modern ideas of fate and the stars and the practices and beliefs of astrology in Shakespeare's time. We'll discuss the difference between the early modern concepts of natural and judicial astrology, the popularity and influence of astrology and astrologers in Early Modern England, and how it found its way into plays like Shakespeare's. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: Bragg, Melvin, host. "Renaissance Astrology." In Our Time: Science, BBC Radio, 14 Jun 2007. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007nmym Cash, Cassidy, host, and Barbara Traister, guest. "Episode #13: Interview with Barbara Traister exploring astrology, doctors, herbs, and witches in Shakespeare's England." That Shakespeare Life , episode 13, Cassidy Cash , 16 July 2018. https://cassidycash.libsyn.com/episode-13-interview-with-barbara-traister-exploring-astrology-doctors-herbs-and-witches-in-shakespeares-england Kassell, Lauren, host. "Simon Forman: astrology, Medicine and Quackery in Elizabethan England." University of Oxford Podcasts, University of Oxford, 26 Oct 2011. https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/simon-forman-astrology-medicine-and-quackery-elizabethan-england Lipscomb, Suzannah, host, and Benjamin Woolley, guest. "Elizabeth I's Conjuror: John Dee." Not Just the Tudors, episode 364, History Hit, 9 Oct 2024. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/elizabeth-is-conjuror-john-dee/id1564113869?i=1000670531385 Oxford English Dicitionary. "Astrology, N. Meanings, Etymology and More | Oxford English Dictionary." Oxford English Dictionary , 2026, www.oed.com/dictionary/astrology_n. Oxford English Dicitionary. "Astronomy, N. Meanings, Etymology and More | Oxford English Dictionary." Oxford English Dictionary , 2026, www.oed.com/dictionary/astronomy_n . Schifini, Julia and Amanda McLoughlin, hosts, and Kelly Downes, guest. "Episode 361: Astrology and Shakespeare (with Kelly Downes)." Spirits Podcast , episode 361, Multitude Productions, 8 Nov 2023. https://spiritspodcast.com/episodes/shakespeare-and-astrology Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night, or What You Will , edited by Keir Elam, ARDEN SHAKESPEARE, LONDON, UK, 2008, pp. 180n1.3.132-5. Third. Walker, Katherine. "Almanacs as Underdogs: Folger Shakespeare Library." Folger Shakespeare Library Almanacs as Underdogs Comments , Folger Shakespeare Library, 19 Mar. 2019, www.folger.edu/blogs/collation/almanacs-as-underdogs/. Smith, William Bruce, "Shakespeare and astrology" (1989). Chapter 2. Master's Theses. Paper 1083

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In Julius Caesar , Shakespeare repeatedly reminds us that Brutus is an honorable man. In this episode we will explore if this is true, how Shakespeare depicts both masculine honor and its early modern counterpart, feminine virtue, in the characters of Brutus and Portia, and how Portia's characterization by editors and theatremakers has changed over time. First, we unpack how honor was defined for Shakespeare's audiences and how the play incorporates Early Modern anxieties about rhetoric throughout the plot. We then closely examine Brutus's desire to be perceived as honorable, how that shapes his choices, and whether or not he is ultimately honorable. Then we will turn to Portia, tracing how editors and theatremakers have altered her language and characterization across time in order to make her virtue more palatable to the moral expectations of their moment. We look at what gets changed, what gets softened or erased, and what those choices reveal about how women are policed on stage and on the page. Content Warning: Discussions of suicide and self-harm. If you are in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: GRAY, PATRICK. "CONCLUSION TO PART I: SHAKESPEARE'S PASSION PLAY." Shakespeare and the Fall of the Roman Republic: Selfhood, Stoicism and Civil War , Edinburgh University Press, 2019, pp. 145–74. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctv7n09n2.9. Accessed 19 Jan. 2026. Sacharoff, Mark. "Suicide and Brutus' Philosophy in Julius Caesar." Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 33, no. 1, 1972, pp. 115–22. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2709060. Accessed 19 Jan. 2026. Scott, Sarah K. "Portia and the Circulation of Virtue: 'Men May Construe Things after Their Fashion.'" Medieval & Renaissance Drama in England , vol. 32, 2019, pp. 219–38. JSTOR , https://www.jstor.org/stable/26800556. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026. Xiao, Xinyao. (2018). "Oxymoronic Ethos: the Rhetoric of Honor and Its Performance in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar." Philological Quarterly. 97. 263-285.

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. As we start off another one of Shakespeare's plays, we will first take a look at the themes, motifs, and production history of Julius Caesar in this Stuff to Chew On episode. This will provide a basis for future conversations as we dive deeper in later episodes. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone -- get 50% off of your first month with code HBD5 until February 1, 2026 Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: Mowat, Barbara, and Paul Werstine. "About Shakespeare's Julius Caesar." Folger Shakespeare Library , 2025, www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/julius-caesar/about-shakespeares-julius-caesar/. Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar . Edited by Andrew James Hartley, Arden Shakespeare, 2024. SparkNotes Editors. "Julius Caesar" SparkNotes.com, SparkNotes LLC, 2005, https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/juliuscaesar/

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. It's time for our eleventh play! Today we are starting our series on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar with a synopsis episode. In this episode, we will provide a detailed summary of the plot, breaking down the action of the play scene by scene. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. Special thanks to Nat Yonce for editing this episode. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone -- get 50% off of your first month with code HBD5 until February 1, 2026 Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar . Edited by Andrew James Hartley, Arden Shakespeare, 2024.

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. Back in 2021, we recorded our second ever wrap-up episode for our second play series: Twelfth Night. We both watched two versions of Twelfth Night: Trevor Nunn's 1996 film and She's the Man, then we also each watched an additional version. Kourtney watched the The Globe's 2012 production starring Mark Rylance, and Elyse watched National Theatre's 2017 production featuring Tamsin Greig. But then, tragedy struck when Kourtney went to edit the episode! The audio files for the majority of the episode were corrupted and could not be used. The only usable audio was the portion of our conversation about She's the Man . So, we released what we could as our " Twelfth Night: Wrap Up" episode. Since that day, we've dreamed about going back and revisiting the three productions that were lost to technological issues. Today, we are so excited to revisit those productions and share our 2025 thoughts with you. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. Sound effects obtained by ZapSplat.com. For updates: Join our email list Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com Support the podcast: Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Buy us a coffee Bookshop.org : Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Libro.fm : Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link. Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree . Works referenced: Carroll, Tim, director. Twelfth Night: Live from Shakespeare's Globe . Performance by Stephen Fry, and Mark Rylance, Electric Sky, 2012. Godwin, Simon, director. Twelfth Night . Performance by Tamsin Grieg, et al., National Theatre at Home , 2017, https://www.ntathome.com/products/twelfth-night. Accessed 2025. Nunn, Trevor, director. Twelfth Night; or What You Will. Performance by Imogen Stubbs, Helena Bonham Carter, and Ben Kingsley. Entertainment in Video, 1996.