Season 4 kicks off with Webster's dark (literally) Jacobean horror, THE DUCHESS OF MALFI. One of the few early seventeenth-century tragedies to remain popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this alt-canon staple features creative poisoning methods, medicinal apricots, and lycanthropy (aka werewolf disease) -- but the heart of the story is a woman who knows what she wants out of life and is punished for going out and getting it Content note: The Duchess of Malfi depicts, and this episode discusses, a number of traumatic subjects, including: gaslighting; murder (including of children) by poison, strangulation, and stabbing; hidden pregnancies; suggestion of incestuous feelings; mental health crisis (lycanthropy)

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Join us as we wrap up the saga of Season 3 and see if James remembers anything we covered! We talk about the inclusion of Shakespeare movie adaptations and whether or not we should keep the misogynometer. Thanks for sticking with us!

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It’s been a long road, but we have finally come to our Season 3 finale: ‘TIS PITY SHE’S A WHORE! If you thought Hamlet was incestuous…buckle up, friends, because things are about to get weird. And do especially mind the content notes on this one. CONTENT NOTE This play and this episode depicts overt misogynist violence, including a graphic onstage murder. It also features blood and gore, including a scene with an anatomical heart.

This episode in our At the Movies series, we’re tackling everyone’s favourite childhood trauma, THE LION KING! With very special guest Arezou Amin, we tackle what Matthew Broderick is doing in this movie, how Hamlet’s dad pales in comparison to Mufasa, and to what extent Disney atones for its sins in the sequel. CONTENT NOTE: The Lion King famously depicts the death of Mufasa by stampede, and his brother Scar encouraging Simba, a child at the time, to believe it’s all his fault. AREZOU AMIN is a full-time writer, though she’s worn many hats, from teaching, to Disney cast member, to on-set production assistant. She writes for the preschool web series Lili & Lola, and her work also appears on Collider, in Star Wars Insider, and on The Geeky Waffle, which she also co-runs. She has a BA from the University of Toronto, and an MA from the University of Geneva. She reads an absurd amount, enjoys travelling as much as possible, takes recreational ballet in her spare time, and is the proud owner of a moody-yet-cuddly gerbil named Echo.

For once, a film we actually liked!! In this episode from our Shakespeare At the Movies series, we break down Feng Xiaogang’s 2006 wuxia Hamlet adaptation THE BANQUET (aka The Black Scorpion). James somehow connects this to the Loch Ness Monster, we envy Hamlet’s fancy hair bath, and there’s just a little too much incest for everyone’s comfort level. CONTENT NOTE This episode discusses the various forms of violence that are represented in the film, including sexual violence.

We’re back with the second part of HAMLET, featuring our fantastic guest and VP of Merch Dr Emer McHugh! This time, Polonius is finally concise, the Ghost just wants to go to bed, Horatio and Hamlet somehow end up naked together (whoopsie, how did that happen??), and James gets salty about the lack of stage time for the pirates. With cameos from pelicans, sparrows, and a Danish seal. CONTENT NOTE: Hamlet and this episode discusses suicide and self harm, murder by stabbing and poison, “madness”, grief and burial (including a disrupted funeral). Dr Emer McHugh @emeramchugh is Marie Skłowdowska-Curie Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, working on the project ‘Shakespeare and the Irish Actor’. She specialises in early modern performance studies, Shakespeare and Ireland, histories of actors and acting, theatre and celebrity, gender and sexuality studies, and modern and contemporary Irish and British performance. Her monograph, Irish Shakespeares: Gender, Sexuality, and Performance in the Twenty-First Century, is forthcoming from Routledge. When not working, she’s reading, collecting vinyls, going to the cinema, or watching Frasier or Twin Peaks. Her favourite Christmas album is ‘Christmas’ (1999) by Low.

The time has come, dear friends. We can avoid the elephant in the room no longer. It’s Hamlet time. Join us and the fabulous Dr Emer McHugh on a two-part adventure through the tortured psyche of the Prince of Denmark and his mommy issues! Along the way we’ll discuss the friendliness of your average ghost, our fave celebrity breakups, and whether that cloud really is backed like a weasel. CONTENT NOTE: This episode discusses death and murder, suicidal ideation and self harm. Dr Emer McHugh is Marie Skłowdowska-Curie Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, working on the project ‘Shakespeare and the Irish Actor’. She specialises in early modern performance studies, Shakespeare and Ireland, histories of actors and acting, theatre and celebrity, gender and sexuality studies, and modern and contemporary Irish and British performance. Her monograph, Irish Shakespeares: Gender, Sexuality, and Performance in the Twenty-First Century, is forthcoming from Routledge. When not working, she’s reading, collecting vinyls, going to the cinema, or watching Frasier or Twin Peaks. Her favourite Christmas album is ‘Christmas’ (1999) by Low.

It’s summer, and everyone wants to be at the beach — including the cast of ROMEO AND JULIET: SEALED WITH A KISS. Yes, they are actual seals. Join Nora and James as we discuss this dubious animated classic, complete with a crab band, ham-fisted segregation metaphors, a very annoying fish, and royalty-free music.

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