That Shakespeare Life

In November 1621, two communities—Wampanoag and English—came together at the edge of Patuxet for a shared harvest meal. While today we call this moment "The First Thanksgiving," the historical reality is far richer and more culturally complex than the simplified story many of us grew up hearing. In this week's episode, we explore this early moment of connection with Malissa Costa (Mashpee Wampanoa...

In November 1621, two communities—Wampanoag and English—came together at the edge of Patuxet for a shared harvest meal. While today we call this moment "The First Thanksgiving," the historical reality is far richer and more culturally complex than the simplified story many of us grew up hearing. In this week's episode, we explore this early moment of connection with Malissa Costa (Mashpee Wampanoa...

When we imagine Elizabethan dining tables, we might picture roast meats, trenchers of bread, or tankards of ale. But lurking beneath the surface of rivers, marketplaces, and even the economy itself was a creature so valuable that it could pay rent, feed a nation, and still appear in Shakespeare's humor — the eel. Eels once filled England's rivers in such massive quantities that they became a cruci...

When we imagine Elizabethan dining tables, we might picture roast meats, trenchers of bread, or tankards of ale. But lurking beneath the surface of rivers, marketplaces, and even the economy itself was a creature so valuable that it could pay rent, feed a nation, and still appear in Shakespeare's humor — the eel. Eels once filled England's rivers in such massive quantities that they became a cruci...

In All's Well That Ends Well , a character is described as "That with the plume: 'tis a most gallant fellow" (III.5), and in Love's Labour's Lost , the Princess of France mockingly asks, "What plume of feathers is he that indited this letter?" (IV.1), revealing how feathers could both elevate and satirize their wearer.  Feathers might seem like a simple decoration today, but in the 16th and early...

In All's Well That Ends Well , a character is described as "That with the plume: 'tis a most gallant fellow" (III.5), and in Love's Labour's Lost , the Princess of France mockingly asks, "What plume of feathers is he that indited this letter?" (IV.1), revealing how feathers could both elevate and satirize their wearer.    Feathers might seem like a simple decoration today, but in the 16th and earl...

In 1612—just one year after Shakespeare wrote The Tempest —Venetian physician Santorio Santori transformed Galileo's simple thermoscope into the world's first thermometer by adding a calibrated scale and sealing the device. His invention marked the birth of quantified medicine, turning vague sensations of "hot" and "cold" into measurable data that could guide treatment. In this episode, historian...

In 1612—just one year after Shakespeare wrote The Tempest —Venetian physician Santorio Santori transformed Galileo's simple thermoscope into the world's first thermometer by adding a calibrated scale and sealing the device. His invention marked the birth of quantified medicine, turning vague sensations of "hot" and "cold" into measurable data that could guide treatment. In this episode, historian...

When Shakespeare wrote Macbeth , he opened with a powerful line: "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis." But what did "Thane of Glamis" mean to his audience? Was Glamis Castle simply a dramatic choice, or a recognizable symbol of royal power and Scottish history? This week, we're joined by Ingrid Thomson, Archivist at Glamis Castle, to explore the castle's history during Shakespeare's...

This week, we're dipping into the strange, the enchanted, and the eerily familiar with a sampling of the rich world of 16th-century folklore during Shakespeare's lifetime. From medieval hares and charmed pilgrim tokens to tales of mermaids, dragons, and accidental witchcraft, the folklore of this era reveals a world both magical and deeply human.  To help us explore the kinds of beliefs that shape...

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." – Romeo and Juliet , Act II, Scene ii. In Shakespeare's England, roses were more than poetic symbols of love and beauty—they were political emblems, medicinal ingredients, culinary flavorings, and the foundation of a flourishing perfumery trade. From the red and white blooms of civil war to the distillation pract...

Linlithgow Palace, set between Edinburgh and Stirling, was one of the great royal residences of the Scottish crown. It was the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots and a favored court for the Stuart monarchs long before the Union of the Crowns in 1603. When her son, James VI of Scotland, ascended the English throne as James I—the very monarch under whom William Shakespeare's company became the King's...

When Shakespeare wrote Othello , he set his Moorish general against the "general enemy Ottoman." Elsewhere in his plays, he invoked "Turks," "Saracens," and "infidels"—terms that reveal just how present the Islamic world was in the English imagination. From Elizabeth I's diplomatic exchanges with Persia to the cultural impact of the Ottoman Empire, the Islamic world loomed large in the politics, r...

When Falstaff cries, "Let the sky rain potatoes" in The Merry Wives of Windsor , Shakespeare's audience heard more than a vegetable—they heard novelty, superstition, and even scandal. In Elizabethan and Jacobean England, the potato was still a strange newcomer from the Americas, rumored to be an aphrodisiac, a medicine, and an oddity of the garden. This week, historian and food scholar Rebecca Ear...

For Shakespeare and his contemporaries, the line between history and myth was often delightfully blurred. Legends of King Arthur and the fabled Holy Grail captured the imaginations of 16th-century England, weaving their way into royal propaganda, courtly entertainments, and even the education of young scholars. Elizabeth I herself was likened to the Grail Maiden, and stories of sacred relics mingl...

This week, we explore the legacy of Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway, through the only epitaph in the Shakespeare family plot that's written in Latin and engraved on brass. Our guest, Katherine Scheil, walks us through the historical significance of Anne's burial placement, the meaning behind the poetic language of her epitaph, and what these choices tell us about Anne's relationship with her dau...

Shakespeare's plays are rich with references to fashion and feathers. In All's Well That Ends Well, he writes: "Faith, there's a dozen of 'em, with delicate fine hats and most courteous feathers, which bow the head and nod at every man."    These plumed hats weren't just theatrical flourishes—they were part of a broader story of global trade, Indigenous artistic labor, and the ways in which early...

"I think this be the most villanous house in all London road for fleas..." - Henry IV Part I (II.1) So complains one of Shakespeare's characters in The Merry Wives of Windsor , voicing what was surely a common frustration in the 16th and 17th centuries. Fleas were an ever-present part of daily life—so much so that they appeared in poems, jokes, love songs, and even seven different times across Sha...

In Love's Labour's Lost , Berowne declares, "Let us dance and sport," while in Twelfth Night , Sir Toby Belch exclaims, "Shall we set about some revels?" Shakespeare's plays are filled with movement—more than 100 stage directions across his works call for a dance, making dance not merely entertainment, but a powerful form of expression in the early modern world.    This week on That Shakespeare Li...

When you picture a Shakespeare play, you likely imagine a continuous performance—scene following scene, act following act—until the final bow. But in Shakespeare's lifetime, especially at indoor theatres like the Blackfriars, plays weren't always presented without pause. Candlelight, used to illuminate the stage, had to be trimmed, replaced, or even relit during performances, which meant intention...

In King Lear , Shakespeare has the king cry out, "Break, heart; I prithee, break!"—a line rich with sorrow, and one that may have held deeper meaning for Shakespeare's audience than we often assume. Modern medicine identifies Takotsubo Syndrome—also known as "broken heart syndrome"—as a temporary dysfunction of the heart triggered by emotional distress. Incredibly, this concept may have had early...

A letter fragment recently rediscovered in an archive may contain the earliest surviving reference to Shakespeare's name—and a clue to where he lived in 1596. This week, Matthew Steggle joins us to explore the evidence behind the Trinity Lane location and its connection to Shakespeare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"He that eats my capon, shall know me better."   — All's Well That Ends Well (Act II, Scene 2)  Roasted to perfection and served at noble feasts, the capon—a castrated rooster prized for its tenderness and rich flavor—was one of the most luxurious poultry options available in Shakespeare's England. While today the word may be unfamiliar to many, in the 16th and 17th centuries, the capon was a deli...

When we think of Shakespeare collaborating with another writer, the name John Fletcher quickly comes to mind. Together they penned Two Noble Kinsmen , All is True (also known as Henry VIII ), and the now-lost play Cardenio . But what do we actually know about the working relationship between these two men? Did they sit down side-by-side at a table to write, or pass drafts back and forth in letters...

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 t...