That Shakespeare Life

In the year 1603, just as Shakespeare was writing Othello and the reign of Elizabeth I was transitioning to James I, Galileo Galilei—famous for exploring the heavens—was also measuring the invisible. Among his lesser-known inventions was a device called the thermoscope, an elegant glass instrument that could detect changes in temperature—centuries before the modern thermometer. Today, we call it the Galilean thermometer, named afte...

“Bait the hook well; this fish will bite.” So says Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, and he’s not alone—Shakespeare drops over 70 references to fish and fishing across his plays, from slippery metaphors to full-on fishing scenes, including actual Fishermen characters in Pericles. But behind those lines lies a very real part of daily life in Elizabethan England. 

In a world where Protestant reform gave rise to fish days on...

While Shakespeare’s plays are filled with references to ale and sack, wine played a central role in both the economy and social customs of Renaissance England. In this episode, we uncork the history of winemaking in Shakespeare’s lifetime—what kinds of grapes were grown, how wine was stored and served, and why a cold snap in the 1500s forever changed England’s vineyards. Our guest, winemaker and historian Stephen Franzoi, joins us ...

In Shakespeare’s play, Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra declares “It is my birth-day: 

I had thought to have held it poor: but, since my lord Is Antony again, I will be Cleopatra.” Indicating that she was relieved to be marking the occasion in a better way. Julius Ceasar, similarly declares in Act V, “This is my birth-day; as this very day was Cassius born.” In Pericles, the First Fisherman says “he hath a fair daughter, and to-...

This week, we have a special opportunity here on the show to explore the Historic home of Shakespeare’s eldest daughter, Susanna Shakespeare Hall, that has been brought to life in a beautiful digital 3Dformat thanks to a pioneering new digital archive that has created an augmented reality exhibition that lets visitors like you and me, visit and virtually walk through Susanna’s home known as Hall’s Croft, from anywhere in the world....

In As You Like It, Orlando says “Which I take to be either a fool or a cipher.” that’s one of a dozen references to ciphers in Shakespeare’s plays, which reflects the place of ciphers as a common way to keep secrets, particularly among the elite, for Shakespeare’s lifetime. One of the most famous ciphers for Shakespeare’s lifetime was written between 1578 and 1584, while Shakespeare was just getting his career started in Londo...