Shakespeare and Pals: Recapping the Bard

Shakespeare and Pals
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A Shakespeare recap podcast, talking about them in the order he wrote them.We also do Shakespeare’s peers, influences and influencees

  1. JAN 29

    047 Falstaff's Romance Scam: The Merry Wives of Windsor (1602)

    Shakespeare's break out side-character Falstaff gets his own play! It worked so well for Jack Sparrow... Falstaff returns to the stage. There are no wars or princes this time, only love, swindling, and funny accents. Falstaff needs money, so he's going to woo and hoodwink two married ladies. But these merry wives are more cunning that Falstaff expects. Can Shakespeare's rotund philosopher-scoundrel hold a play by himself? Join Michael and Sophie to find out! Make sure to subscribe and share this podcast! Comments and questions can be sent to shakespeare.pals@gmail.com Sources:  The Oxford Shakespeare: The Merry Wives of Windsor (Oxford University Press) Shakespeare: The Critical Heritage, edited by Brian Vickers (Routledge)

    1h 44m

  2. 12/25/2025

    046 Hamlette! Asta Nielsen's Hamlet (1921)

    What if Hamlet but girl... and silent movie? Everything you know about Hamlet is a lie. Actually, Hamlet is a "she". She still needs to kill her uncle though. Asta Nielsen's reinvention of Hamlet may lack some of the depth of the original,  but, hey, she gives us a Hamlet college life AU. Does this 100 year old move stand the test of time? Join us to find out! Make sure to subscribe and share this podcast! Comments and questions can be sent to shakespeare.pals@gmail.com

    50 min

  3. 11/27/2025

    045 THE BIG ONE: Hamlet (1599)

    Danish guy wants to... This doesn't need an introduction! After many long years, we're here. Shakespeare's masterpiece, the masterpiece of English literature. As Gustave Flaubert said, the three finest things God ever made were Hamlet, Don Giovanni, and the sea. Does Hamlet deserve the hype? Join us to find out! Make sure to subscribe and share this podcast! Comments and questions can be sent to shakespeare.pals@gmail.com Sources:  The Oxford Shakespeare: Twelfth Night (Oxford University Press) Shakespeare: The Critical Heritage, edited by Brian Vickers (Routledge)

    2 hr

  4. 10/30/2025

    044 Those Crazy Spaniards: Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy (1582-1592)

    Revenge is a dish best served... with lots of collateral damage... Andrea's dead, but true haters take revenge from beyond the grave. He enlists the spirit of Revenge to kill his murderer, the Portuguese Prince Balthazar. This leads to Andrea's girlfriend falling in love with another man, that man getting murdered, that man's father murdering the murderers, and... so much other stuff... The origin of the revenge tragedy. Without The Spanish Tragedy, there would be no Hamlet. Does the genre grand-daddy live up to Shakespeare's masterpiece? Join us to find out! Make sure to subscribe and share this podcast! Comments and questions can be sent to shakespeare.pals@gmail.com

    1h 55m

  5. 09/25/2025

    043 Love Triangles and Psychological Torture: Twelfth Night (1601)

    We return to Shakespeare's true love: cross-dressers. When Viola gets washed up on the Illyrian coast, she simply has no choice but to dress up as a boy and enter the service of the sexy local lord... Hi-jinks ensue. This good, cross-dressing girl gets caught up in love triangles and mistaken identity. We once more ask: Is Shakespeare good at comedy? Join us to find out! Make sure to subscribe and share this podcast! Comments and questions can be sent to shakespeare.pals@gmail.com Sources:  The Oxford Shakespeare: Twelfth Night (Oxford University Press) Shakespeare: The Critical Heritage, edited by Brian Vickers (Routledge)

    1h 30m

  6. 08/28/2025

    042 Ancient Step-Mums in Trouble: Jean Racine's Phedre (1677)

    Phedre's been bit by the love-bug, and it's gonna get a lot of people killed. Athenian Prince Hippolyte thinks the worst thing is for his step-mum Phedre to hate him... Oh, no, no... His step-mum L-O-V-E-S him. She knows it's wrong, but her husband is probably dead, and her maid is an enabler. What could possibly go wrong? We've done the greatest French comedy, Moliere's Tartuffe. Now we're doing the greatest French tragedy -- Jean Racine's Phedre! Does it deserve the hype? Join us to find out! Make sure to subscribe and share this podcast! Comments and questions can be sent to shakespeare.pals@gmail.com

    1h 41m

  7. 07/24/2025

    041 Cross-Dressing in the Great Outdoors! As You Like It (1599)

    Boy loves girl. Boy gets banished, then girl gets banished, so boy and girl run to the forest where girl's father is also banished. And girl pretends to be boy to flirt with boy. That old chestnut... Shakespeare loves his cross-dressing heroines, and here we have one of his most famous -- Rosalind. We also get the first of Shakespeare's wise fools.   But is "As You Like It" as we like it? Join Michael and Sophie to find out! Make sure to subscribe and share this podcast! Comments and questions can be sent to shakespeare.pals@gmail.com Sources:  The Oxford Shakespeare: As You Like It (Oxford University Press) Shakespeare: The Critical Heritage, edited by Brian Vickers (Routledge)

    1h 44m

  8. 06/26/2025

    040 3 Years On! A Restrospective on the Podcast

    This time the Shakespeare-thing is... Us! Three years on, we've decided to take a look back at the podcast. How our opinions of Shakespeare have changed, our hot takes, our cold takes, and what is the weirdest Shakespeare thing we've done is? Join us for our three-year retrospective! Make sure to subscribe and share this podcast! Comments and questions can be sent to shakespeare.pals@gmail.com

    1h 2m
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A Shakespeare recap podcast, talking about them in the order he wrote them.We also do Shakespeare’s peers, influences and influencees

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