Taking Issue With Shakespeare

In this opening episode she discusses the national and international challenges of populism with senior British statesman, Gordon Brown, and Chair of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Baroness Shriti Vadera.

In 1623, the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays was published – the so-called First Folio. Without the First Folio, many of the biggest plays – Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, The Tempest – would probably have been lost forever. More importantly, without the First Folio, we wouldn't have that cast of characters, scenarios and quotations which reverberate across time and inform our thinking.

Emma Smith is Professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Oxford and author of This Is Shakespeare. She brings to bear her deep knowledge of Shakespeare's plays and of the era in which he wrote them – an era sometimes similar to our own and sometime very different – and her passionate interest in contemporary issues. Can Shakespeare help us grapple with these?

With contributions from Professor Paul Prescott.

Gordon Brown and Shriti Vadera discuss populism and Julius Caesar with Emma Smith.

Professor Emma Smith discusses populism and Julius Caesar with Gordon Brown and Baroness Shriti Vadera. From 2023.

Across the week, Emma talks with Michael Gove on the “levelling up ? agenda and King Lear, Will Self on toxic masculinity and Hamlet, Fiona Shaw on post-Covid decisions to move from city to countryside and As You Like It, and Mercy Muroki on whether the monarchy can unite the nation and Richard II.

Shakespeare anniversaries can seem to come thick and fast. 2014 saw the 450th anniversary of his birth and 2016 the 400th anniversary of his death, but this major series marks the most significant anniversary of all. In 1623, the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays was published – the so-called First Folio. Without the First Folio, many of the biggest plays – Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, The Tempest – would probably have been lost forever. More importantly, without the First Folio, we wouldn't have that cast of characters, scenarios and quotations which reverberate across time and inform our thinking.

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4

Shakespeare on contemporary issues, contemporary issues on Shakespeare.

Marking the 400th anniversary of the publication of the First Folio.

Might Shakespeare help resolve tricky contemporary issues? Major public figures in conversation with Emma Smith. Today, Gordon Brown and Shriti Vadera on populism and Julius Caesar

[LISTEN NOW]

Emma sets out to persuade Will Self that the kind of toxic masculinity expressed by the self-professed misogynist Andrew Tate finds a chilling counterpart in the misogynist play and character, Hamlet.

Initially, Will is not convinced, but a lively discussion ensues in which the two agree on one thing - the profound impact in Shakespeare's era of non-gendered child-rearing until the age of seven followed by the “breeching ? of boys, which separated them from women and children into their adult lives.

With contributions from Professor Paul Prescott.

Professor Emma Smith and writer Will Self discuss toxic masculinity and Hamlet.

Professor Emma Smith and writer Will Self on toxic masculinity and Hamlet. Could Hamlet be an early Andrew Tate? From 2023.

In this second episode, Emma sets out to persuade Will Self that the kind of toxic masculinity expressed by the self-professed misogynist Andrew Tate finds a chilling counterpart in the misogynist play and character, Hamlet.

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4

Shakespeare on contemporary issues, contemporary issues on Shakespeare.

Marking the 400th anniversary of the publication of the First Folio.

Might Shakespeare help resolve some challenging contemporary issues? Major public figures in conversation with Emma Smith. Today, writer Will Self on toxic masculinity and Hamlet.

[LISTEN NOW]

Emma Smith reflects on how Covid led people to move from the city to the country and on why some are now opting to return to the city.

With her international career as a star of television, film and theatre, Fiona Shaw divides her time between New York, London, Sri Lanka and her native Cork. She and Emma share their thoughts on the transformative potential which Shakespeare's Forest of Arden seems to provide in a play such as As You Like It.

Although the grass often appears to be greener in this so-called “green world ?, they wonder why characters almost always return to the city in the end, and what this means particularly for women such as Rosalind, whose time in Arden has appeared to be so transformative.

With contributions from Professor Paul Prescott.

Fiona Shaw and Emma Smith discuss town and country and As You Like It.

Actor Fiona Shaw and Emma Smith discuss town and country and As You Like It and the parallels in a post-Covid world. From 2023.

In this third episode, Emma Smith reflects on how Covid led people to move from the city to the country and on why some are now opting to return to the city.

With her international career as a star of television, film and theatre, Fiona Shaw divides her time between New York, London, Sri Lanka and her native Cork. She and Emma share their thoughts on the transformative potential which Shakespeare's Forest of Arden seems to provide in a play such as As You Like It. Although the grass often appears to be greener in this so-called “green world ?, they wonder why characters almost always return to the city in the end, and what this means particularly for women such as Rosalind, whose time in Arden has appeared to be so transformative.

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4

Shakespeare on contemporary issues, contemporary issues on Shakespeare.

Marking the 400th anniversary of the publication of the First Folio.

Might Shakespeare help resolve challenging contemporary issues? Today, actor Fiona Shaw in conversation with Emma Smith on the choice between town and country and As You Like It.

[LISTEN NOW]

Mercy Muroki is a Policy Fellow for the Minister for Women and Equalities, Kemi Badenoch. She is also a passionate royalist who believes in “full-fat ? pageantry rather than a slimmed-down version.

On the eve of the coronation of King Charles, Mercy discusses with Emma what kind of monarchy is most likely to unite the nation – a somewhat distant figure, such as Queen Elizabeth II, or a more contemporary hands-on monarch. Might Shakespeare's description in Macbeth of an ideal king or his depiction of Richard II when stripped of all regalia, help them decide?

With contributions from Professor Paul Prescott

Emma Smith and Mercy Muroki discuss monarchy and Macbeth.

Professor Emma Smith and Mercy Muroki discuss whether the monarchy can unite the nation, with reference to Macbeth. From 2023.

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4

Shakespeare on contemporary issues, contemporary issues on Shakespeare.

Marking the 400th anniversary of the publication of the First Folio.

Might Shakespeare help resolve some challenging contemporary issues? Today, Emma Smith in conversation with Mercy Muroki on whether the monarchy can unite the nation.

[LISTEN NOW]

Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, talks about the fundamental sense of a shared humanity which King Lear's suffering brings to him in this greatest of tragedies, set in a pagan world.

Emma, in turn, points out that the mockery of Malvolio's aspirational attempts at social climbing in Twelfth Night, a play set in a world closer to that of Shakespeare himself, suggests that achieving the levelling up agenda may be harder than expected.

In spite of frequent claims that Shakespeare is a small-l liberal, Michael Gove makes a compelling case for Shakespeare as a small-c conservative.

With contributions from Professor Paul Prescott.

Emma Smith and Michael Gove discuss equality, King Lear and Twelfth Night.

Professor Emma Smith talks to Michael Gove about equality, levelling up and Shakespeare's great tragedy, King Lear. From 2023.

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4

Shakespeare on contemporary issues, contemporary issues on Shakespeare.

Marking the 400th anniversary of the publication of the First Folio.

Might Shakespeare help resolve challenging contemporary issues? Major public figures in conversation with Emma Smith. Today, Michael Gove on equality, levelling up and King Lear.

[LISTEN NOW]