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Published by Franek Noga
The literary podcast. Each episode of roughly two hours introduces a book, summarises the story it tells, and examines the context in which it was written. There will also be biographical episodes about the lives of authors. Lingua Franca requires no prior knowledge of books or literature. Hence its title – a Latin term meaning 'common tongue', or a language understood by all. The aim of the podcast is to keep alive the ancient joy of telling stories and reading great books.
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Welcome to Lingua Franca , a new literary podcast. Episodes of the podcast will take two forms: biographical, wherein we will cover the lives of writers; and literary, covering the great works of English literature. This first biographical episode covers the life of William Shakespeare, perhaps the most famous writer to ever have lived. Who was William Shakespeare, really? What was his childhood like? Was he secretly a Catholic? Did he steal the world-famous Globe Theatre? Is his grave cursed? In this first episode of Lingua Franca , we answer these questions and more. Timestamps : (00:00) Introduction (01:26) The Problem of Shakespeare Biography (04:07) Shakespeare’s Birthday (04:58) Shakespeare’s Parents (09:37) Shakespeare’s Education (13:17) Young Shakespeare and the Theatre (16:56) Morality Plays (19:51) Kenilworth (25:14) Shakespeare Among the Catholics? (36:42) Shakespeare’s Marriage (39:14) Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith (40:12) How did Shakespeare get to London? (44:06) Early Modern London (48:20) The Theatres (50:45) Christopher Marlowe (and Tamburlaine ) (54:09) Robert Greene’s Groat’s-worth of Wit (57:31) Shakespeare’s Fame and Financial Success (01:01:29) Poetry and the Plague (01:06:09) Shakespeare the Gentleman (01:09:33) The Death of Hamnet (and the birth of Hamlet ?) (01:10:44) Building the Globe (01:16:13) Essex’s Rebellion (01:18:58) James I of England (and the King’s Men) (01:21:12) William Davenant (Shakespeare’s illegitimate son?) (01:23:32) More Royal Trouble ( Gowrie and Macbeth ) (01:25:56) Shakespeare’s Retirement (01:26:31) The Blackfriars Theatre (01:30:10) Shakespeare returns to Stratford (01:32:49) Shakespeare’s Death (01:35:43) Outro (and a Milton sonnet) Bibliography : (03:14) George Steevens and Samuel Johnson, Supplement to the edition of Shakspeare's plays published in 1778 by Samuel Johnson and George Steevens (London: C. Bathurst et al., 1780), I.654, footnote. (22:38) William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream , ed. Stanley Wells (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1967), II.1.148-160. (38:08) Stephen Greenblatt, Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare (London: Jonathan Cape, 2004), 146. (50:36) Greenblatt (2004), 184. (01:35:56) John Milton, ‘ On Shakespeare . 1630’, in Selected Poems , ed. John Leonard (London; New York: Penguin, 2007). Thank you for listening to Lingua Franca . Reach out on X ( https://x.com/franeknogaaa ).
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