Episodes

  • How To Deal With Bullies

    How To Deal With Bullies
    May 12 2026

    "And live a coward in thine own self-esteem".

    Today we're looking at bullying through the lens of Shakespeare’s plays, which show how bullies often attack a person’s self-worth rather than simply exerting power. Shakespeare, writing in the dangerous and politically volatile world of Elizabethan London, understood bullying both as personal cruelty and institutional oppression. Fellow playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Kyd suffered persecution, torture, and even death, demonstrating how fear and intimidation shaped the creative world Shakespeare inhabited.


    Examples of bullying in Shakespeare include Prince Hal who in Henry IV Part 1 uses mockery and humiliation to dominate others, especially Falstaff, while Feste in Twelfth Night encourages collective ridicule against Malvolio. Shakespeare’s most sinister bully, however, is Iago from Othello, whose manipulation, racism, jealousy, and gaslighting destroy lives. Even Hamlet is presented as a more complex form of bully, inflicting emotional cruelty on Ophelia while consumed by his own grief.


    Bullies are often driven by insecurity, resentment, or feelings of inadequacy. Shakespeare’s genius lies in portraying them not as monsters, but as damaged and vulnerable people whose actions still cause immense harm. Quiet honesty and forgiveness may sometimes be more powerful than dramatic revenge.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    26 mins
  • The Joy of Texts

    The Joy of Texts
    May 5 2026
    "To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first." I'm still quite new to this Shakespeare business, but the more I read and see the more I find out about who I truly am. Imagine a world full of self-aware people. Go on, dig deeper with me, you'll thank me for it.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    27 mins
  • You Can Sometimes Get What You Want

    You Can Sometimes Get What You Want
    Apr 28 2026
    "Can one desire too much of a good thing?" Shakespeare asks in As You Like It, and in this episode I explore how to navigate this complex emotional state with Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Oxford University and author of the delightfully accessible This Is Shakespeare.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    42 mins
  • Revenge Is A Dish Best Not Served

    Revenge Is A Dish Best Not Served
    Apr 21 2026
    "The croaking raven doth bellow for revenge." Why can't we humans just get over ourselves? How can we deal with revenge the bard way?

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    25 mins
  • The Joy of Boredom

    The Joy of Boredom
    Apr 14 2026
    "Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale, vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man." It's okay to be bored, Shakespeare shows us how to live without our phones - not yet, you have to listen to the episode first.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    26 mins
  • Feeling Uncertain? Listen To This...

    Feeling Uncertain? Listen To This...
    Apr 7 2026
    "Present fears are less than horrible imaginings." Only one thing is certain about this world - uncertainty. True 425 years ago. True now.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    28 mins
  • Living With Grief

    Living With Grief
    Mar 31 2026
    "Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break." There's no right or wrong way to deal with grief, but as the man says if we want to move forward we need to acknowledge it.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    24 mins
  • My Country Right And Wrong

    My Country Right And Wrong
    Mar 24 2026
    "This England never did nor never shall Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror, But when it first did help to wound itself." As a teenager in the 1970s battling racism I'd always thought of Shakespeare as the embodiment of English nationalism. In this delightful episode Michael Dobson, head of the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-upon-Avon, explains why I couldn't have been more wrong.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    42 mins