We structure our seasons to make sure you have everything you need to know before diving deep into a topic. Here’s where we suggest starting out:

• Stuff You Should Know Part 1: The Monarchy & English Renaissance (Revised)

• Stuff You Should Know Part 2: Elizabethan and Jacobean England & Theatre (Revised)

• Stuff You Should Know Part 3: William Shakespeare (Revised)

• Then, choose a play and start with the Synopsis and Stuff to Chew On episodes for background information before exploring the rest of the episodes on that play.

• Or, scroll through our Mini episodes and listen to ones that interest you!

You can start listening at that play’s Synopsis episode! We work to set up each play’s series of episodes so that they build on and complement each other. Each play series contains:

• A detailed Synopsis episode

• Stuff to Chew On - this is where we cover historical facts about the play, themes and motifs, and anything else you might learn in a classroom setting when discussing the play. Think about this episode as your 101-level class for each play before we dive deeper into specific topics.

• 4 episodes on topics related to the play—this is where we dive deep into analyzing the play through different lenses.

• 1 Wrap-Up episode. In this episode, we watch and discuss productions (stage and film) of the play and whether or not we find them effective examples of the text.

Here is a selection of episodes that examine Shakespeare through diverse lenses:

• Twelfth Night: Gender and Queer Theory

• King Lear: Mental Health and Disability in Shakespeare's Time

• Titus Andronicus: Aaron and Race in Shakespeare with Dr. Mia Escott

• The Tempest: Caliban’s Legacy of Race, Class, and Colonialism

• Mini: "Decolonize the Mind" through Shakespeare

• Mini: Shakespeare in the Borderlands with Dr. Katherine Gillen and Ruben Ramirez of Borderlands Shakespeare Colectiva

• A Midsummer Night's Dream: Shakespeare & Climate Change with Sydney Schwindt

No problem! Here are some of our “greatest hits” according to our listeners:

• Hamlet: Ophelia, Gertrude, and Female Agency

• Titus Andronicus: Cannibalism and the Dangers of Hospitality in Early Modern England with Carson Brakke

• Much Ado About Nothing: Shakespeare and The Book of the Courtier

• Mini-Episode: Shakespeare's Prose and Verse