"A Pretty Kind of Game": Ben Jonson's Volpone and The Alchemist

Send us a textThe original "War on Christmas"!  This year's stocking stuffer looks at England's Christmas ban from 1647 to 1660 and at a rather quirky pamphlet entitled "The Examination and Trial of Old Father Christmas."  Season's greetings, Litterbugs!Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!Email: [email protected] me on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, and YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful!Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us a textToday we have a slightly different kind of show -- literary analysis takes a bit of a back seat to historical context.  We'll look at the turbulent period between 1625 and 1660, when England went to war with itself over the roles of the monarchy and of Parliament.  We'll look at primary historical documents as well as a little poetry to get a sense of the state of the nation as it begins its rise to a world power.Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!Email: [email protected] me on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, and YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful!Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us a textThis Subcast episode marks the American Thanksgiving holiday by looking at two early accounts of the celebration by Pilgrims William Bradford and Edward Winslow and then turns to that great hymn of thanksgiving -- Psalm 107 -- from The Bay Psalm Book, the first book published in what would become the United States.  We'll also look at what's called the "Puritan Plain Style" of composition, a marked departure from the ornate literature of its Anglican contemporaries.Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!Email: [email protected] me on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, and YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful!Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us a textToday we look at the love children of John Donne and Ben Jonson, a group of monarchist soldiers during the English Civil War.  Collectively known as the Cavalier Poets, they are numerous.  We'll look at some representative poems today by Robert Herrick, Thomas Carew, Richard Lovelace, and the ill-fated and unfortunately named Sir John Suckling.Additional music:"Consort for Brass" by Kevin MacLeod"La Violetta" by Claudio Monteverdi; perf. The Boston Camerata, dir. Joel Cohen"In Town Tonight" by Reginald Dixon; perf. Eric CoatesSupport the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!Email: [email protected] me on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, and YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful!Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us a textThis year's Halloween Subcast episode looks at James Shirley's meditation on Death.  I hope you love it!Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!Email: [email protected] me on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, and YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful!Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us a textLet's head into the Fortune Theatre for a performance of one of the most innovative and deceptively complex comedies of the English Renaissance.  The Roaring Girl, or Moll Cutpurse explores the fluidity of social identity by the protagonist's use of clothing and language.Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!Email: [email protected] me on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, and YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful!Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us a textWe'll get a bit philosophical today and look at the English language's greatest influence on the scientific revolution: politician, philosopher, and scientist Sir Francis Bacon.  His Essays and "The Four Idols" from Novum Organon are our focus.Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!Email: [email protected] me on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, and YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful!Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us a textThis is the first of what I'm calling the "Out of Time" episodes, an embedded series of Subcast shows that fill in gaps I may have missed along the way.  Today, we fly our Out-of-Time-Machine all the way back to the 8th-century to see how the Danish invasions left an indelible mark upon English language and literature.  Pack your battle-axe!Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!Email: [email protected] me on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, and YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful!Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us a textHere's a short episode to answer a special request by a loyal listener!  Let's dive a little deeper into the various versions of Shakespeare's Hamlet that have come down to us!Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!Email: [email protected] me on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, and YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful!Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us a textI had not thought to do an episode on the English country house poetry of the 17th century, but was recently reminded of their place in the survey of early modern literature, so here's a look at that peculiar subgenre.In this show, we'll look at Aemilia Lanyer's "A Description of Cooke-ham" and Ben Jonson's "To Penshurst."Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!Email: [email protected] me on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, and YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful!Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!