Stephen Marche on How Shakespeare Changed Everything

Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

Folger Shakespeare Library

Arts

4.7 • 837 Ratings

🗓️ 15 February 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Even 400 years after his death, William Shakespeare’s influence is profound. But is it right to say that he changed everything? That the assertion Stephen Marche makes in his book "How Shakespeare Changed Everything." In the book, Marche catalogs Shakespeare’s influence on (among other things) sex, language, psychology, and starlings. He talks with Barbara Bogaev about those legacies and more. Stephen Marche is a novelist, essayist, and cultural commentator. His book "How Shakespeare Changed Everything" was originally published by Harper Collins in 2011. His newest book, "The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future," has just been published by Simon & Schuster. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. Published February 15, 2022. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, “Influence Is Thine,” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. Ben Lauer is the web producer. Leonor Fernandez edits a transcript of every episode, available at folger.edu. We had technical help from Andrew Feliciano and Jenna McClennan at Voice Trax West in Studio City, California.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Even 400 years after his death, William Shakespeare's influence is profound.
0:06.5	But is it right to say that he changed everything?
0:10.5	Stay tuned.
0:18.6	From the Folger Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited.
0:23.1	I'm Michael Whitmore, the Folgers director.
0:26.0	Stephen Marsh is an essayist who lives in Toronto.
0:29.4	These days, he's on the speaking circuit talking about the end of America.
0:34.2	So what's he doing on our podcast?
0:36.7	Well, ten years ago, he wrote another book.
0:39.8	It was called How Shakespeare Changed Everything.
0:43.9	In it, he looked across 450 years of human existence
0:47.5	and touched down on all the places where he saw the influence of Shakespeare.
0:52.7	His book offers dispatches from world culture, from psychiatry,
0:57.0	from ornithology, and more, all to bolster his contention that, quote, William Shakespeare
1:02.8	was the most influential person who ever lived, unquote. The book is a lot of fun. Stephen March is,
1:10.4	too.
1:15.7	So we offered him the chance to break away from the dysphoria of his current book tour to revel once again in Shakespeare, the subject he loves the most.
1:21.4	We call this podcast, Influence is Thine.
1:25.6	Stephen Marsh is interviewed by Barbara Bogave.
1:28.7	You know what I want to know.
1:30.0	When you were writing this book,
1:32.1	did you have a certain reader in mind?
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Folger Shakespeare Library, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Folger Shakespeare Library and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.