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 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

They explore how masculine honor and feminine virtue drive Julius Caesar's characters. They unpack Brutus’s pursuit of honor, his public persona, and moments of self-deception. They trace how editors and productions have altered Portia’s language, wound, and portrayal to police female virtue across history.

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.

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. At the end of each year, we revisit the Shakespeare plays we covered over the past twelve months. We've gone back and re-read both Henry V and The Tempest, and we will discuss what has changed in our readings of these plays after completing our research as well as what we would like to see more (or less) of in future productions or research relating to these two plays. 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. King Henry V. Edited by T. W. Craik, Arden Shakespeare, 1995. Shakespeare, William, et al. The Tempest. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011.

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. Each year, in recognition of the National Day of Mourning/Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, we examine how British colonialism is irrevocably intertwined with Shakespeare. Over the past four years, we explored this topic through close reading of Jyotsna Singh's Shakespeare and Postcolonial Theory. After completing our episodes on Shakespeare and Postcolonial Theory, we wanted to turn to highlighting and amplifying the work of artists, activists, and scholars who are working in decolonial Shakespeares. In this year's episode, we are joined by Dr. Katherine Gillen and Ruben Ramirez of the Borderlands Shakespeare Collectiva to discuss how artists, activists, scholars, and educators in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands engage with Shakespeare in ways that reflect their lived realities. We discuss the plays from this region that adapt or appropriate Shakespeare and how these texts can be used in the classroom or in production alongside Shakespeare's text to illuminate themes and engage new audiences. We also learn more about the work of Borderlands Shakespeare Colectiva and how they uplift and amplify this work, connecting scholarship with theatrical performance. For more on the work of Borderlands Shakespeare Colectiva, or to get involved, visit their website at https://borderlandsshakespeare.org/. For more on Shakespeare and Postcolonial Theory, check out our previous episodes from this series: Mini: Shakespeare and the Colonial Imagination Mini: Shakespeare's World: Immigrants, Others, and Foreign Commodities Mini: "Decolonize the Mind" through Shakespeare Mini: Intercultural and Global Shakespeare in a Postcolonial World Katherine Gillen is Professor of English and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Texas A&M University–San Antonio. With Kathryn Vomero Santos and Adrianna M. Santos, she co-founded the Borderlands Shakespeare Colectiva and is co-editing the three-volume anthology, The Bard in the Borderlands: An Anthology of Shakespeare Appropriations en La Frontera. She is also working on a monograph titled The Renaissance of Whiteness: The Classical Foundations of Shakespeare's Racial Politics, which examines Shakespeare's use of classical sources within the context of emerging racial capitalism. Ruben Ramirez is an MA student at Texas A&M- San Antonio and currently serving in a Graduate Assistantship Research position with the Borderlands Shakespeare Colectiva. His research interests include Latino/a/x literature, Ecocriticism, Environmental Justice, and Decolonial Theory. Borderlands Shakespeare Colectiva is an award-winning group of scholars, educators, artists, and activists who engage with Shakespeare in ways that reflect the lived realities of the U.S.–Mexico Borderlands. We aim not only to change the way Shakespeare is taught and performed but also to promote the socially just futures envisioned en el arte de La Frontera. 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.