Shakespeare and Contemporary Theory with Neema Parvini

What would Hamlet be like if we didn't already know what was going to happen? What would the play look like if we only knew what Hamlet knew? Neema talks to Amir Khan (Missouri State University) whose book Shakespeare in Hindsight: Counterfactual Thinking and Shakespearean Tragedy helps us think about exactly these sorts of questions. Amir Khan's Shakespeare in Hindsight (2015): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shakespeare-Hindsight-Counterfactual-Shakespearean-Philosophy/dp/1474409458 Links to panels from the Shakspeare Association of America's Annual Meeting 2017: Queer Natures: Bodies, Sexualities, Environments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVgx9-6wTOE The Color of Membership: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f8_sOAucWw

Neema talks to James A. Knapp (Loyola University Chicago) about Shakespeare, Character and Morality. Topics include: the motivations of literary characters, emotions and human nature, ethics, and partisanship / political bubbles. Knapp's essay "Beyond Materiality in Shakespeare Studies" (2014): http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lic3.12177/abstract

Neema welcomes Jeffrey R. Wilson (Harvard) to discuss the election of Donald Trump, its impact on the intellectual climate, and some of the ways in which Shakespeare was used in the coverage of the US election. Wilson’s essay, “Public Shakespeareanism: The Bard in the 2016 American Presidential Election,” is available upon request from the author; email jeffreywilson@fas.harvard.edu. The instances of “public Shakespeareanism” discussed in the essay and the podcast include: Andrew Cutrofello, “Shakespeare and Trump: What’s in a Name?” PublicSeminar.com (December 15, 2015), http://www.publicseminar.org/2015/12/shakespeare-and-trump-whats-in-a-name. Brian Leiter, “Shakespeare on Trump: Money Made the Man,” The Huffington Post (Feb 29, 2016), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-leiter/shakespeare-on-trump-money-made-the-man_b_9344370.html. Charles McNulty, “The Theater of Trump: What Shakespeare can teach us about the Donald,” Los Angeles Times (May 26, 2016), http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-ca-cm-0529-shakespeare-trump-20160518-snap-htmlstory.html. Paul Hamilton, “Trumping Shakespeare: Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, and the Rise of the Clown Politician,” Kingston Shakespeare Seminar (July 11, 2016), https://kingstonshakespeareseminar.wordpress.com/2016/07/11/trumping-shakespeare-donald-trump-boris-johnson-and-the-rise-of-the-clown-politician/. Peter C. Herman, “Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth,’ Donald Trump, and the Republican Party,” Times of San Diego (Aug. 7, 2016), https://timesofsandiego.com/opinion/2016/08/07/shakespeares-macbeth-donald-trump-and-the-republican-party/. Stephen Greenblatt, “Shakespeare Explains the 2016 Election,” New York Times Sunday Review (Oct. 8, 2016), http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/09/opinion/sunday/shakespeare-explains-the-2016-election.html.