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Edinburgh based book podcast. Critical appreciations of classic and modern literature. Interviews with academics, authors and perfomers.
Episodes
Friday Apr 24, 2020
Friday Apr 24, 2020
S2E44 Today I'm thrilled to be talking about Hunter S. Thompson again, and doubly thrilled to be joined by Caleb James of the Drunken Pen Writing Podcast to do so.
You can check out Caleb's podcast at www.drunkenpenwriting.com
Title Music: 'Not Drunk' by The Joy Drops.
Sound Bites from: 'Hunter S. Thompson Meets A Hell's Angel' (CBC, 1967) 'Omnibus' (1978), 'Charlie Rose' (1998)
All other music by Epidemic Sound.
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Tuesday Apr 21, 2020
Tuesday Apr 21, 2020
S2E43 Not, as referenced, "a new series" - we thought we'd drop this one a bit sooner as it was recorded in earlier, happier times and sounds more dated by the day. Doesn't stop it being a non-stop thrill-less ride of baffling blandness from the master.
Title Music: 'Not Drunk' by The Joy Drops.
All other music by Epidemic Sound.
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Monday Apr 20, 2020
Monday Apr 20, 2020
S2E42 A poem for isolation? Today's episode looks at a single poem from Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses and examines the incongruous conditions in which he composed his arcadian songs.
Title Music: 'Not Drunk' by The Joy Drops.
All other music by Epidemic Sound.
Sound Bite from Jane Eyre (2006)
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Thursday Apr 16, 2020
Thursday Apr 16, 2020
S2E41 Believe it or not, Adam is STILL trying to fight his way off Fire Island. Waiting in store for him today are Trolls, Shamans and lizard therapy advice from agony aunt and special guest star Lucille D'Flapignon.
Title Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.
All other music by Epidemic Sound.
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Thursday Apr 16, 2020
Thursday Apr 16, 2020
S2E40 Today we're back in La Mancha. Part II of Cervantes' masterpiece sees Quixote adapting to his own fame, and reconciling himself with plagiarism, doubt and death.
Title Music: 'Not Drunk' by The Joy Drops.
All other music by Epidemic Sound.
Sound Bites from Man of La Mancha (1972)
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Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
S2E39 Shocking shootings, candid chins and like that.
Title Music: 'Not Drunk' by The Joy Drops.
All other music by Epidemic Sound.
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Saturday Mar 14, 2020
Saturday Mar 14, 2020
S2E38 Another three chapters of Xmas Ladies Kill Squad get analysed by Ash and Adam.
Title Music: 'Not Drunk' by The Joy Drops.
All other music by Epidemic Sound.
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Wednesday Mar 11, 2020
Wednesday Mar 11, 2020
S2E37 Our fiftieth episode starts with a bit of explaining a recent pod-tragedy, after which we get stuck into Part I of Don Quixote. Today's episode explores the origin of the man from La Mancha's madness, the role of Sancho Panza and the fate of Shakespeare's lost play, Cardenio.
Title Music: 'Not Drunk' by The Joy Drops.
All other music by Epidemic Sound.
Sound Bites from The Trip (2010), The Adventures of Don Quixote (1933) and Sharpe's Sword (1995)
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Friday Feb 21, 2020
Friday Feb 21, 2020
S2E36 Simon Armitage responds to criticism the only way he knows how. A thrilling script from Richard Woof sees the boys dealing with fruity dames and hot weather, and a quiz in the form of a murder mystery...
Music: 'Not Drunk' by The Joy Drops, 'Mystery Sax' by Kevin MacLeod
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Friday Feb 21, 2020
Friday Feb 21, 2020
S2E35 Today Ash talks about the second story in Ovid's Metamophoses - the story of the four ages of mankind. At first the world was Golden (and veggie). Then came the Silver Age, the Brazen age and finally the age of Iron. Ovid's the original, but since this is a Latin-free podcast, Ash relies heavily on the translations of Ted Hughes, Arthur Golding and in particular for today's episode, John Dryden.
Intro: The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
Music: 'Not Drunk' by The Joy Drops, 'Land on the Golden Gate' by Chris Zabriskie (www.chriszabriskie.com)
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Monday Dec 16, 2019
Monday Dec 16, 2019
S2E34 Today we observe an Ear Read This Christmas tradition: talking about James Patterson. We're taking his latest (by the time you finish reading this sentence it won't be his latest anymore), 19th Christmas and using it to play bingo.
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Thursday Dec 12, 2019
Thursday Dec 12, 2019
S2E33 Warm up in festive style with a third visit to Fire Island. Christmas songs, slave dwarfs, and BDSLM: Bondage and Domination of Snakes, Lizards and Marine Iguana.
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Saturday Dec 07, 2019
Saturday Dec 07, 2019
S2E32 Today we've got a classic of the hardboiled detective genre, stuffed with husky dames, fat masterminds, and at the centre of it all a scowling anti-hero, the pleasant blond satan, Sam Spade. Dashiell Hammett's novel gets us talking about the differences between English and American crime fiction, nomenclature and inevitably, Raymond Chandler.
Intro: Humphrey Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet in The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Outro: 'The Maltese Falcon' by Adolph Deutsch
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Monday Dec 02, 2019
Monday Dec 02, 2019
S2E31 Wilfred Owen made a cameo appearance in our last episode, and today we look at him in detail. We discuss his war service, his attitude to life in the trenches, and analyse his strange, unsettling poem, 'Spring Offensive'.
Intro: 'Send Me Away With A Smile' by John McCormack
Outro: 'Build Me Up Buttercup' by The Foundations
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Wednesday Nov 27, 2019
Wednesday Nov 27, 2019
S2E30 Pat Barker's Regeneration is set in Craiglockhart Hospital bewteen the months of July and November, 1917. Among the patients are the war poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. On today's episode, we talk about Edinburgh's role in WWI, the problem of real-life characters in historical fiction and the poetry of the First World War.
Intro: Pat Barker on BBC World Book Club (06/11/14)
Outro: 'God Moves in a Mysterious Way' by William Cowper
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Friday Nov 08, 2019
Friday Nov 08, 2019
S2E29 It's the return to Fire Island.
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Tuesday Nov 05, 2019
Tuesday Nov 05, 2019
S2E28 It's that man again! Today, instead of giving us a tour around his hometown of Edinburgh, Robert Louis Stevenson provides us with one of the most famous horror stories of all time: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Everyone knows the twist, but did you know you're pronouncing the title wrong?
Intro: Spencer Tracey in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Outro: '(I was) Jekyll Jekyll Hyde' from 'Arthur's Almost Live Not Real Music Festival', Arthur (1998)
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Sunday Oct 27, 2019
Sunday Oct 27, 2019
S2E27 T.C. Boyle's Water Music is a riotous debut novel, featuring real life Scottish explorer Mungo Park. Today we talk about the merits of excess, going up the jungle in a boat, 18th Century novels, and Anaconda(s).
Intro: 'Water Music, Suite No.1' by George Frideric Handel
Outro: 'Cool Water' by Vaughn Monroe
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Thursday Oct 17, 2019
Thursday Oct 17, 2019
S2E26 Today Adam takes on the Lizard King (twice), assisted by his old friend Mungo, limited back flips and some reptile trivia. Guiding intrepid Adam through the hell of Fire Island is his very own Virgil, Ash. If you'd like to play along at home, the book is Island of the Lizard King by Ian Livingstone.
"I am the Lizard King" Lyrics:
I am the Lizard King, I am the Lizard King.
What will the Lizard bring, what will the Lizard bring?
Bring him:
Young men, to work in my goldmines
Hot young men
Writhing in the disco,
Who knew?
This Lizard King was practising
Voodoo?
He'll stick a pin right
Through you.
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Friday Oct 11, 2019
Friday Oct 11, 2019
S2E25 A Foul Papers full of adventure and action! Yippee yippee! Haggis McTouristboard, Adam squares up to the lizard king, Simon Armitage tells us about his tin-based youth, a quiz about slagging off Edinburgh and some books on film chat. Yippee yippee!
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.
Tuesday Oct 08, 2019
Tuesday Oct 08, 2019
S2E24 Today we have a guided tour around Edinburgh, courtesy of Robert Louis Stevenson. His Picturesque Notes were published in 1878, and contain the author's sometimes bracing observations of his home city, snippets of stories and legends originating from it and some of his own backstory and inspirations.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.
Tuesday Oct 01, 2019
Tuesday Oct 01, 2019
S2E23 A month late, but hey ho. Here's an episode on a poem written by W. H. Auden. 'September 1, 1939' was begun on the opening day of WWII and is a hinge-poem in Auden's long, swinging career.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.
Saturday Sep 28, 2019
Saturday Sep 28, 2019
S2E22 A quick update on Ear Read This business. Thank you to everyone who has listened to us chew your ear off with our one-year old talk. We are now potty-trained, upright, and showing flashes of cunning.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
S2E21 What better way to celebrate the Edinburgh Fringe kicking off than with some awful poetry? William McGonagall (1825-1902) has gone down in history as the worst poet of all time. Deserved? You be the judge. This week, Ash is joined by special guest Bella to appraise the life and work of this local cult poet.
Howking, incidentally, means digging.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.
Wednesday Jul 31, 2019
Wednesday Jul 31, 2019
S2E20 We were somewhere around Stockbridge on the edge of the fringe when the books began to take hold. Today on Ear Read This, Ash and Adam discuss Hunter S. Thompson's riotously enjoyable Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Expect pure gonzo podcasting, alter-egos and crucified gorillas.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.
"Twisted" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Saturday Jul 27, 2019
Saturday Jul 27, 2019
S2E19 Continuing our exploration of metamorphoses, today Ash talks about Will Self's Cock and Bull. A hermaphroditic interest makes it only right that we get two stories for the price of one. First comes Cock, the story of a bored housewife who grows a penis, then Bull, the story of a rugby player who grows a vagina on the back of his knee.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.
Sunday Jun 23, 2019
Sunday Jun 23, 2019
S2E18 A new kind of episode today as Ash discusses a single 12-line poem, 'De puero balbutiente' ('The stuttering child') by the Reverend Thomas Bastard. If you enjoy this new format and would like a particular poem or short story treated in a similar fashion, get in touch with your suggestions using the contact links below.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.
Saturday Jun 15, 2019
Saturday Jun 15, 2019
S2E17 The contents of these Foul Papers include a sign off from the Ruff Squad, some whistling, a Goodreads update, a reaction to Simon Armitage as our new Poet Laureate, a rap battle between Mr. Toad and Captain Nemo, and hot topics such as horror films, hooks for hands and Brazil.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.
Saturday Jun 08, 2019
Saturday Jun 08, 2019
S2E16 Today Adam and Ash are messing about in boats, eating excessive luncheon hampers, losing an otter and finding God, scrooging out of burrows and poop-pooping through the woods.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.
Friday May 31, 2019
Friday May 31, 2019
S2E15 A Foul Papers we recorded a while ago which unfortunately is blighted by a series of interruptions from the Ruff Squad - a gang of elite British writers including Carol Ann Duffy, Ian Rankin and Joe Wicks the Fitness Tit. Don't worry, we still find time to check in with the Goodreads League, watch a rap battle between Mr. Pickwick and Ebenezer Scrooge, discuss books on film and have a game of Dalai Lama or Da True Lama?
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.
Tuesday May 28, 2019
Tuesday May 28, 2019
S2E14 Continuing our exploration of literary metamorphoses, this week we look at David Alan Kepesh, a literature professor inexplicably transformed into a woman's breast in this 1972 novella by Philip Roth. Unlike Gregor Samsa, Kepesh is aware of the literary heritage of metamorphoses, making this transformation painfully self-conscious. Is the novel a sly dig at Roth's critics? Is the work, as Martin Amis believes, "comic in shape but only glancingly comic in execution"? Listen in to find out.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops.
Wednesday May 22, 2019
Wednesday May 22, 2019
S2E13 Ash and Adam discuss the colourful life of Arthur Conan Doyle, on the 160th anniversary of his birth. A life too full of adventure to be briefly described, but we had a go anyway. Tune in for stories of WWI, cocaine, Houdini, ghosts, crocodile hunting and a little bit of writing too.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops
Tuesday Mar 26, 2019
Tuesday Mar 26, 2019
S2E12 The Golden Ass is the only surviving complete Latin novel from the Classical period. Also known as The Metamorphoses, it straddles more than one running theme on Ear Read This, as well as being filthy, funny and full of history. Grab your toga and get your ass over here. Time for a Roman literary feast.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops,
"Temple of the Manes" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Monday Mar 18, 2019
Monday Mar 18, 2019
S2E11 In the second part of this week's Pickwick bonanza, Stephen Jarvis joins us again to tell us about his first novel, Death and Mr. Pickwick.
Discover the true story behind the origin of Mr. Pickwick and the real life story of Pickwick's first illustrator, Robert Seymour.
You can find more about Stephen here:
or by searching “Death and Mr Pickwick” on Facebook.
Our Stuff:
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops
Friday Mar 15, 2019
Friday Mar 15, 2019
S2E10 This week, Ash and Adam are joined by Stephen Jarvis (author of Death and Mr. Pickwick) to discuss The Pickwick Papers, the first novel by Charles Dickens.
As well as exploring its unique publication history, they also cover the astonishing popularity of the novel, how Dickens transformed as a writer during its serial run and ask why most books are just books, but not Pickwick...
And if, like the worlds reading population for a century, you can’t get enough Pickwick - we’ll be joined on Monday again by Stephen Jarvis to discuss his own novel, which tells the life story of The Pickwick Papers’ illustrator, Robert Seymour - and makes the case that it was he, not Dickens, who had the first idea for the novel.
You can find more about Stephen here:
or by searching “Death and Mr Pickwick” on Facebook.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops
Friday Mar 08, 2019
Friday Mar 08, 2019
S2E9 When Gregor Samsa awoke on morning from troubled dreams, he found himself changed into a... What? In today's episode, Ash investigates the cause of this Metamorphosis. The punishment of a young man living dully sluggardized at home? Or something else?
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops,
"Giant Wyrm" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Thursday Feb 28, 2019
Thursday Feb 28, 2019
S2E8 A trip to Cornwall with Richard Woof, a Booker bid, a Shakespeare character rap battle, a personal poem and some Amazon review quiz type stuff.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops
Friday Feb 22, 2019
Friday Feb 22, 2019
S2E7 Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is one of Jules Verne's Voyages Extraordinaires, originally published serially in the mid 19th Century. Join Ash and Adam as they swap touring the Hebrides for touring the open sea, and encountering electric narwhals, anemone marmalade, the prince of harpooners and underwater fundamentalists.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops
Friday Feb 15, 2019
Friday Feb 15, 2019
S2E6 Join Adam and Ash as they scholarly examine the history of the Bad Sex in Writing award, which has been run by the Literary Review for several decades. Even by our standards, the language is pretty foul.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops
Saturday Feb 09, 2019
Saturday Feb 09, 2019
S2E5 Romeo and Juliet is arguably Shakespeare's most recognisable play. Today on Ear Read This, Ash discusses how the play deals with its fame, whether or not the lovers are damned, and what commentary Shakespeare is providing on his own developing language.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops
Friday Feb 01, 2019
Friday Feb 01, 2019
S2E4 Round II of the Goodreads League, a report from Birmingham courtesy of Richard Woof, a Burns Night quiz, a trilogy of haikus that are NOT personal, Ash shares his view of modern Scotland from an immigrant's perspective and a NSFW trailer for James Patterson's Haunted.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops, "Hot Pursuit" by Kevin MacLeod.
Friday Jan 25, 2019
Friday Jan 25, 2019
S2E3 Join Adam and Ash for their first trip to the 18th century, as they discuss the delightful accounts Johnson and Boswell made of their 1773 tour of Scotland. Come for the Highland history, and stay for the heavy breakfasts and winning friendship these two men of letters enjoyed.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops
Saturday Jan 19, 2019
Saturday Jan 19, 2019
S2E2 Announcing the launch of the Foul Papers Goodreads league! There's a literary character rap battle, a new addition to the Ear Read This team, a promised poem, a condemnation of some crafty bastards, and King Lear gets upstaged by a drone.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops
Wednesday Jan 16, 2019
Wednesday Jan 16, 2019
S2E1 A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most beloved and often performed plays. Join Ash for an exploration of The Dream's history, variety of verse styles, and it's preoccupation with the relationship between the imaginer and the thing imagined.
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Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops
Monday Dec 24, 2018
Monday Dec 24, 2018
S1E13 It's Christmas Eve night in Scrooge and Marley's Podcast Emporium, and poor Bob Cratchett, the overworked co-host of a literary podcast, is angling for tomorrow off...
Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops, "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" by Kevin MacLeod
Sunday Dec 16, 2018
Sunday Dec 16, 2018
S1E12 Haunted (? Or Hunted? or Hornswoggled? I dunno, something like that) by James Patterson and James O. Born is about the unforgettably named NY cop Michael Bennett. He’s all about killing students and driving city-issued Impalas. And he’s all out of bubble-gum. Join Adam and Ash as they provide you with all the reasons why Haunted (Hampered?) is a book to cheerfully avoid.
Music: "Not Drunk" by the Joy Drops
Monday Dec 10, 2018
Monday Dec 10, 2018
S1E11 This week's Foul Papers comes with a double helping of guff, as Ash and Adam try to crack the podcasting nut with the most trivial train stories, quizzes and conversation starters they can think of. Also more Earial, a discussion about literary biographies and an episode of Authorchef.
Music: "Epic Unease", "Five Armies", and "Majestic Hills" by Kevin MacLeod, "Ludovico's Technique" by Soularflair, and "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops.
Friday Dec 07, 2018
Friday Dec 07, 2018
S1E10 What's this? Some literature NOT by Shakespeare? Impossible! Today on Ear Read This, join us (Adam and Ash) for a lengthy discussion of The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark. We try to Poirot out the 'Why?' in this Whydunnit, speculate over the Lynchian elements of Spark's style, and of course ask ourselves just who is sitting in the titular driver's seat.
Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops
Monday Dec 03, 2018
Monday Dec 03, 2018
S1E9 An all-new poetry challenge, a look at two Waterstones books of the month, a pub joke, a literary analysis of a Stormzy excerpt, a new episode of Earial and a discussion about spice.
Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops, "Spooky Theme" by Mystified, and "Ludovico's Technique" by Soularflair.
Saturday Dec 01, 2018
Saturday Dec 01, 2018
S1E8 Love's Labour's Lost is a comedy full of buffoons, braggarts and would-be boffins. But why the non-traditional ending? What is a flap-dragon? And is it, as J.A. Herand called it, "exclusively a play on words"? (It does indeed contain the longest word in Shakespeare - say it three times fast: honorificabilitudinitatibus.)
Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops