12+ Content-Creators: Podcasts and Blogs I'm Thankful For

It is the week of Thanksgiving in the United States. I am thankful, first, for a long list of people who read, like, comment on, and share my posts, and/or who also visit the blog to read more. Thank you, to all of you, for your kindness and generosity.

Second, I am grateful for a long list of people who create and share content in the form of podcasts and blogs on a regular basis (monthly, weekly, daily, occasionally), some of it related specifically to Shakespeare, but some related more generally to literature, art, history, culture, philosophy, religion.

It has been said that academic publishing can discourage scholars from thinking out loud and sharing their ideas, in part because they may fear having their ideas stolen by other academics before they can publish, and in part because academic publishing is often written in ways that are more dense and self-referential to please peer-review juries, and therefore less accessible. It is an inspiration to see others share their ideas in podcasts and blogs as public scholars.

Here are just some of my favorites (apologies to anyone I've left out):

PODCASTS:
I've listed these with links to Apple Podcasts, but most are available on a variety of services that stream podcasts:

1. Christy and Garry Shriver - "How to Love Lit" podcast.
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-love-lit-podcast/id1462120160
Christy on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christy-shriver-28602319b/detail/recent-activity/shares/
Garry on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/garry-shriver-9472841b0/detail/recent-activity/shares/
Christy and Garry are enthusiastic teachers whose curiosity and love for literature really shows. Their impressive podcast and Youtube videos in their "How to Love Lit" series have included multiple episodes on "Romeo and Juliet" as well as on "Julius Caesar." They also have episodes dealing with Tolkien, Austen, Hawthorne, Chinua Achebe, Emily Bronte, Whitman, Kafka, and many others.

2. Carol Ann Lloyd - "Royals, Rebels, and Romantics" podcast.
On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolannlloyd/detail/recent-activity/shares/
Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/british-history-royals-rebels-and-romantics/id1516524780
Carol Anne has more than 80 episodes in her podcast series, often has fun quiz questions, fun facts, and good book recommendations, which have recently included Tracy Borman's "Crown & Sceptre: A New History of the British Monarchy, from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II," and Sarah Gristwood's "The Tudors in Love: The Courtly Code Behind the Last Medieval Dynasty." Shakespeare fans, consider following her.

3. Shaina Trapedo - "Twice Blest: Exploring Shakespeare and the Hebrew Bible" podcast (8 episodes).
On LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaina-trapedo-b6b0883a/detail/recent-activity/shares/
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/twice-blest-exploring-shakespeare-and-the-hebrew-bible/id1579502818
Shaina is the host of an eight-episode podcast called "Twice Blest: Exploring Shakespeare and the Hebrew Bible," sponsored by Yeshiva University Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought.
For a sampling of her work see TheLehrhouse.com wheere she has blogged about Moses (or his absence) in Shakespeare: "Wherefore Art Thou, Moses?
https://www.thelehrhaus.com/timely-thoughts/wherefore-art-thou-moses/#_ednref2
On YouTube, she has "The Esther Chronicles and Shakespeare's Henry VIII"
https://youtu.be/x8rGK3jyp8I
and also, "Scroll, Sage & Stage — "Scroll, Sage, & Stage — 'A Daniel Come to Judgment': Debt and Gratitude in The Merchant of Venice"
https://youtu.be/b7bORw5i5D0

4. Danny Anderson - "The Sectarian Review" podcast.
On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danny-anderson-3000a561/detail/recent-activity/shares/
On Authory: https://authory.com/DannyAnderson/Sectarian-Review-177-Nevergreen?t=AGEQfS8ALU
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sectarian-review/id1031613670
Danny has refreshing and insightful views on religion and culture in his podcast, and also in his articles on topics such as religion and rock music, or religion and horror films.

5. Cassidy Cash - "That Shakespeare Life" podcast.
On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassidycash/detail/recent-activity/shares/
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/that-shakespeare-life/id1372846116
I've recommended Cassidy and her podcast before, but if you missed that, here it is again. Consider following her and trying her podcast, especially if you're a Shakespeare fan. She has two podcasts specifically related to Hamlet, one about Hamlet as a Christmas play,
https://youtu.be/z_ByFBlhEeU
and another about whether Shakespeare used math to write Hamlet,
https://youtu.be/oFK6splgjSo

See also this FEEDSPOT link for a list of 20 Shakespeare-related podcasts. https://blog.feedspot.com/shakespeare_podcasts/
The list includes podcasts that deal with Shakespeare and history, performing Shakespeare, Shakespeare adaptations, Shakespeare and the modern world, or just grappling to understand a play at a time - and more.

BLOGS (or their equivalent on LinkedIn) and a Weekly Shakespeare Quiz:
6. John Langdon - "Ghost of Shakespeare" blog.
Blog: https://ghostofshakespeare.com/
On LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-langdon-shakespeare-drama/detail/recent-activity/shares/
John'a blog usually reflects at least in part on some work or works of Shakespeare, but it's very wide-ranging, and also about the richness and mystery of life. He makes fascinating connections and leaps; his blog seems to be the offspring of William Shakespeare and Jack Kerouac.

7. Madalina Dobraca - birthdays of famous writers, artists, photographers, philosophers.
On LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/madalinadobraca/detail/recent-activity/shares/
Every day, Madalina has not just one, but many posts, about famous cultural figures born that day, including quotes and brief commentary. It's engaging, to-the-point, informative, and enlightening.

8. David Proud - LinkedIn posts of philosophy and poetry.
On LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-proud-a749bb68/detail/recent-activity/shares/
When David isn't posting about philosophy (often Hegel, a favorite of his), he's posting poetry paired with images of paintings. This results in a sort of rhythm that alternates philosophy's abstractions, theories, and its Latinate words, with poetry and its images, metaphors, and music. His philosophical posts often include questions that invite readers to explore the ideas on their own.

9. Dena Bain Taylor - posts on writing, books, editing.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dena-bain-taylor-phd-96110835/detail/recent-activity/shares/
Dena posts as a writer and teacher of writing, thinking about the writing process, writer's block, editing, favorite authors and poets.

10. Pino Blasone - LinkedIn posts on art, history, and culture.
On LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pino-blasone-a1525847/detail/recent-activity/shares/
Every day, Pino posts some images and commentary, and it's always insightful, like having a professional tour guide offering glimpses of art, sculpture, architecture, often quite old, sometimes modern. In my development of posts on Shakespeare and the bible, Pino inspired me to look for paintings from approximately Shakespeare's lifetime to illustrate biblical tales.

11. Diana Hildebrandt - posts on historical figures who resisted the Nazi regime in Germany.
On LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianahildebrandt/detail/recent-activity/shares/
What I like most about Diana's regular posts is not merely that they tells compelling historical tales, but that they demonstrate the importance of political resistance in dark times, no matter where or when.

12. Raphael Sóne - Weekly Shakespeare "Who Said It?" series, and Musketman Shakespeare blog.
On LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/musketman-shakespeare-17093516a/detail/recent-activity/shares/
Raphael is an author, translator, and Shakespeare fan whose weekly quiz offers a quote from Shakespeare, followed by options for who might have said it. If I don't know the answer, I'm always curious to do a web search and find out, which often inspires curiosity about the context in which the quote was spoken. Raphael can be found on LinkedIn as "Musketman Shakespeare," the name of his blog, and has written a historical novel about Shakespeare that is being prepared for publication.

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Thanks for reading! My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.

Below is a link to a list of some of my top posts (“greatest hits”), including a description of my book project (last item on the list):

https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-20-hamlet-bible-posts.html

I post every week, so please visit as often as you like and consider subscribing.