Ear Read This

S2E1 A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most beloved and often performed plays. Join Ash for an exploration of The Dream's history, variety of verse styles, and it's preoccupation with the relationship between the imaginer and the thing imagined.  @earreadthis earreadthis@gmail.com facebook.com/earreadthis Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops

S1E13 It's Christmas Eve night in Scrooge and Marley's Podcast Emporium, and poor Bob Cratchett, the overworked co-host of a literary podcast, is angling for tomorrow off...  Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops, "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" by Kevin MacLeod

S1E12 Haunted (? Or Hunted? or Hornswoggled? I dunno, something like that) by James Patterson and James O. Born is about the unforgettably named NY cop Michael Bennett. He’s all about killing students and driving city-issued Impalas. And he’s all out of bubble-gum. Join Adam and Ash as they provide you with all the reasons why Haunted (Hampered?) is a book to cheerfully avoid.  Music: "Not Drunk"...

S1E11 This week's Foul Papers comes with a double helping of guff, as Ash and Adam try to crack the podcasting nut with the most trivial train stories, quizzes and conversation starters they can think of. Also more Earial, a discussion about literary biographies and an episode of Authorchef.  Music: "Epic Unease", "Five Armies", and "Majestic Hills" by Kevin MacLeod, "Ludovico's Technique" by Soul...

S1E10 What's this? Some literature NOT by Shakespeare? Impossible! Today on Ear Read This, join us (Adam and Ash) for a lengthy discussion of The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark. We try to Poirot out the 'Why?' in this Whydunnit, speculate over the Lynchian elements of Spark's style, and of course ask ourselves just who is sitting in the titular driver's seat.  Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops

S1E9 An all-new poetry challenge, a look at two Waterstones books of the month, a pub joke, a literary analysis of a Stormzy excerpt, a new episode of Earial and a discussion about spice.  Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops, "Spooky Theme" by Mystified, and "Ludovico's Technique" by Soularflair.

S1E8 Love's Labour's Lost is a comedy full of buffoons, braggarts and would-be boffins. But why the non-traditional ending? What is a flap-dragon? And is it, as J.A. Herand called it, "exclusively a play on words"? (It does indeed contain the longest word in Shakespeare - say it three times fast: honorificabilitudinitatibus.) Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops

S1E7 We're back with a ghost train of Halloween features, including a new True Crime segment, a visit to the website of David Walliams, and a WH Auden themed drinking game.  Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops, "Spooky Theme" by Mystified, and "Ludovico's Technique" by Soularflair.

S1E6 Does Lemony Snicket have a twin brother called Rickety Bucket? Is The Young Ones driving off a cliff a comic ending? Has a radio DJ Me Too'd an Ear Read This presenter? All this and more.  Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops

S1E5 The Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare's shortest play, is discussed by Ash and guest co-host Ash. Discover the original sources for this twin-centric farce, how Shakespeare acoustically expresses theme through his verse, and find time for a little existential crisis too.  Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops

S1E4 A game of Shrew or False, a discussion about ambergris, spontaneous Tesco observations, tampered with Shakespeare readings, and a famous face-off. All this and more in Ash and Adam's Content Week Special. Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops

S1E3 The Taming of the Shrew remains a controversial comedy over four hundred years after it first appeared, thanks to its apparent celebration of patriarchal oppression. Today on Ear Read This, Ash discusses the origin of Shrew-Taming narratives, the traditions of farce and cross-gender acting and what life was like for the real women in Shakespeare's time.  Citations for Works Quoted:   The Tami...

S1E2 With thanks to Mark Wahlberg. In the first Friday "books down" episode, Ash and Adam discuss James Hilton's Lost Horizon, the burden of fame, watching 950 heads explode and an invigorating new celebrity workout schedule. Inspire to be better. Get after it.  Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops

S1E1 The Two Gentlemen of Verona is possibly the first play by William Shakespeare. Possibly. Today on Ear Read This, join Ash as he discusses the date of its composition, and argues with E. M. W. Tillyard and a rambunctious Dr. Johnson.  Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops Works cited. The Two Gentleman of Verona, As You Like It and Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (Penguin, 2005).   Tilly...