Check out the new Everyday Shakespeare podcast on Hamnet, Shakespeare, grief, and how Ophelia is chronically misunderstood. My co-host, Caroline Bicks, and I also venture into the no-no place that is purgatory in Protestant England.
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The idea of a “lottery,” a game of chance you pay to play, hoping to hit the jackpot, always takes me back to Westland Middle School. That’s when the most popular girl in eighth grade won the state lottery’s biggest prize: a whopping million dollars. She appeared in the newspaper as her family’s representative, photogenic…
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As a lifelong fan of SNL, I loved Susan Morrison’s biography Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live. When the show debuted in 1975, my wacky parents allowed me to stay up late every Saturday night, even though I was in Kindergarten. Kindergarten! I snuggled with them on our crappy couch, clad in Sears…
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This past Sunday, Stephen Greenblatt and I discussed Hamnet at the West Newton Cinema following a screening of the film. Sold-out event! Lovely introduction by Nick Petrulakis of Newtonville Books! Stephen and I talked about grief, purgatory, and that controversial ending. (No spoilers here.) At the book signing afterwards, Stephen turns to me and says:…
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As if a new Taylor Swift album isn’t thrilling enough, The Life of a Showgirl adds yet another Shakespearean female character to the T-Swift oeuvre with the song “The Fate of Ophelia” (joining Juliet from “Love Story”). Full disclosure: I’m obsessed with Shakespeare in popular culture, and I hope that this blog will be your…
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