Hamlet’s best friend, Horatio, gets 7 percent of the lines in "Hamlet" next to the title character “who never shuts up” (as one guest on this episode puts it) with 37 percent. This episode gives Horatio his moment to be center stage, revealing how he doesn’t have to be a one-note or one-dimensional character, even as his role is in service of Hamlet’s story. We discuss Horatio’s journey being one of learned bravery, whether Hamlet and Horatio may be more than friends, and the significance of Horatio and other characters studying in Wittenberg.

Guests on this episode are:

Dr. Jonathan Gil Harris, a professor of English at Ashoka University in Sonipat, India. His publications include guest editing a 2011 special edition of Shakespeare Quarterly that was all about Horatio, titled “Surviving Hamlet”

David Gow, who played Horatio in September 2023 staged reading at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts opposite Finn Wittrock as Hamlet

This episode contains discussion of grief, murder, and suicide.

In "The Merchant of Venice," Portia is remarkable for her cleverness and the power she holds, and she’s ostensibly a hero of this story. But her journey is entwined with that of Shylock, the Jewish moneylender whose mistreatment makes "Merchant of Venice" a deeply troubling play. In this episode, we discuss just how extremely wealthy Portia is, whether or not Portia is likable (and how her likability is often approached differently in scholarship versus in performance), and how an actress may grapple with Portia’s role in Shylock’s ultimate fate.

Guests on this episode are:

Lynn Collins, who played Portia in the 2004 Merchant of Venice film directed by Michael Radford, starring alongside Joseph Fiennes, Jeremy Irons, and Al Pacino

Dr. Peter Holland, a professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Notre Dame teaching in both the English department and the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre

This episode contains explicit language and discussion of racism and religious intolerance.