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Zero to Well-Read

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

Zero to Well-Read

Riot New Media Group, Inc.

Arts, Books, Society & Culture

4.7837 Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2026

⏱️ 80 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jeff and Rebecca take on one of Shakespeare's best–and best-known–comedies, Much Ado About Nothing. They talk about its enduring appeal, the "merry war" of banter that continues to inspire and influence rom-com writing, and the classic novels that wouldn't exist if Shakespeare had never written Benedick and Beatrice. Subscribe to our free newsletter, and become a member for access to early, ad-free listening and bonus content. Follow Zero to Well-Read on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Email us: zerotowellread@bookriot.com Thank you to ThriftBooks for being the presenting sponsor of this season of Zero to Well-Read! Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Use code THEBOOKS for 20% off at Cozy Earth. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

This episode of Zero to Well Read is brought to you by Thriftbooks.com with more than 19 million new and used books.

0:06.8

Thriftbooks.com is a place where you can read more and spend less, not just books, but also movies, games, gifts, and other sorts of things.

0:14.1

With much ado about nothing, which is the subject of today's episode, there's lots to choose from.

0:18.7

You can get big concordances, all the Shakespeare in one huge

0:22.1

volume, but with something like Much Addo About Nothing, which maybe you want to read on a beautiful

0:26.5

spring day, throw it in your bag, prop it open, crack that spine, really live in it. You can get

0:33.1

something great for five or six bucks here. Movies, too, at the same time. There's, of course, the great Kenneth Brana edition.

0:40.2

I discovered Pokemon on ThriftBooks.com.

0:43.3

There's a much ado about nothing film starring Sam Waterson as Benedict.

0:49.5

I didn't even know this existed.

0:50.8

That's the kind of stuff you can find out on ThriftBooks.com.

0:54.1

Thanks so much for them

0:54.8

for sponsoring this season of Zero to Well Red. Welcome to Zero to Well Red, a podcast about

1:05.7

everything you need to know about the books and sometimes plays Rebecca. You wish you read.

1:10.6

I'm Jeff O'Neill.

1:11.6

And I'm Rebecca Sinsky. Today we're taking on the OG of rom-coms, William Shakespeare's

1:16.5

much ado about nothing. And before we jump in, you can click the link in our show notes to sign up for

1:22.7

our free newsletter. A colleague Vanessa Diaz fleshes that out with all sorts of interesting show notes, information about the work that we're discussing some of the best quotes from the show.

1:33.0

Trivia. It's a really good time. That's free to subscribe. Or you can become a member and get early ad-free access to our episodes and bonus content at patreon.com slash zero to well-read.

1:43.3

And whenever you can, if you have a moment, what you do, it doesn't take any time,

1:49.2

you can leave a rating wherever you're listening for this show.

1:52.3

And if you got a little bit longer, leave a review.

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