Will: What Is He Good For?

About Will: What Is He Good For?

At ”Will: What Is He Good For?” We seek to explore the question of who was the Real Shakespeare - who wrote his beautiful words - because understanding who he was can unlock the key to understanding his works and words in a new way. It also can help to inform the argument - who is he for? Is Shakespeare an old relic - only the academics, those of his time, and the cultural “elite.” Or is he indeed for everyone who wants to know and experience his plays? Throughout our series, we’ll explore the Man from Stratford’s life, history, and explore textual clues that will prove who owns Shakespeare’s words, relevance, and most importantly his legacy.

Publisher

Classics on the Rocks

Category

arts · education · history

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

29 Nov 2022

Latest episode

23 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

25 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   23 Sept 2026

   Season 4, Episode 5: The First Folio and Beyond

   On November 8th, 1623, the First Folio officially enters the Stationers’ Register and arrives quietly on the market. After everything Heminges and Condell invested in this project, the moment has finally come for the book to meet the world. Was this the literary event of the decade, or did it slip under the radar? As the Folio made its way into shops, study halls, and theatre circles, what did early readers actually think?

2. 

   13 May 2026

   Season 4 Episode 4 - The Book that made the Bard

   With Shakespeare's plays collected, John Hemminges and Henry Condell set out to do the unthinkable - print the complete works of William Shakespeare in the First Folio and preserve his legacy.  In this episode we talk about the twists and turns the printing of the First Folio took.

3. 

   11 Feb 2026

   Season 4, Episode 3: From Scattered to Sorted(?)

   After the chaos of the 1619 “False Folio,” Shakespeare’s friends John Heminges and Henry Condell decided enough was enough. If anyone was going to collect Will’s plays properly, it would be the men who’d spent over twenty years in the trenches with him. In this episode, we trace their likely first steps, from digging through the King’s Men’s prompt books and cue scripts to tracking down the “good” quartos of Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. Along the way: bootlegs, brand management in the 1590s, and the thorny business of negotiating publishing rights in a world without copyright as we know it. They pulled off the unthinkable and gathered the plays. But collecting them was only half the battle.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

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Guest appearances

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