Folger Shakespeare Library

Really? Like I really had shaped me not to mention gentlemen, that when I went to study these things on my own and go searching, we have the biggest museum complex in the world here, which have libraries and archives.

The library of Congress is here, major universities, a fellow of the Folger Shakespeare library.

So I could not have been born in a better city.

I think to really sort of have that journey.

[on-hold music] From the Folger Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited.

I'm Farrah Karim-Cooper, the Folger director.

Shakespeare's plays are endlessly adaptable and remixable.

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Shakespeare Unlimited comes to you from the Folger Shakespeare Library.

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If you're in Washington, DC, come visit the Folger on Capitol Hill.

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um and i'm about to we haven't talked about this but i'm going to be in residence at the folger shakespeare library bringing game designers and other nerds together for the next year

in washington

which is so amazing i i get to not have to answer the question of what my job looks like for another year and in the meantime this book that i think is really important in this very specific niche will come out and i and no one knows what the impact of that will be um along with other kinds of things and i have talked to lots of people who think they can predict uh and i am not a predictor i am a descriptor in all things including my own life um and so i'm i'm i'm in the middle of um of you know living in the question which is a very interesting time terrible for someone with anxiety um but uh but but so far um it has been my friends and my community and the people who who have always been with me um and uh that have been the kind of ballast for whatever weird shit i'm doing um I'm so incredibly grateful, especially to my research collaborator for a lot of things, Dr. Emily Kugler, because who's now become like my convention handler.

And it's a bit less of the culture in the UK in some ways to do that.

But during research fellowships in the US at the Folger Shakespeare Library or the Yale Center for British Art, I love spending the afternoon writing in cozy local cafes to get past my afternoon slump.

What kinds of tools do you like to use to organize your research and writing? I do not use any tools really other than Google Docs and pen and paper.

I like to think I'm a pretty well-organized person, but in terms of how I research and write, this is the one place where I'm kind of all over the place.

Missy is currently creating the Birds of Shakespeare, a long-term research and painting project documenting all 65 bird species referenced in Shakespeare's plays and poems.

The project has been featured by the Folger Shakespeare Library and Smithsonian Magazine, and you can follow her progress at birdsofshakespeare.com. We're delighted to have her here this week to share with us behind the scenes of creating this unique historical project.

Before we dive into our conversation, I want to remind you that there are insider extras, including paintings, primary documents, and more about the birds from Shakespeare's plays that you can see in our members area.

These are available inside our detailed show notes for today's episode.

So that's ninth grade.

And then into 10th grade, I distinctly remember my English teacher being very enthusiastic, like had been to the Folger Shakespeare Library and studied.

And she really conveyed that passion to the rest of us.

She said, this curriculum, a lot of times they'll teach you like Julius Caesar.

[background music] From the Folger Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited.

I'm Farrah Karim-Cooper, the Folger Director.

Shakespeare's most famous trial scene takes place in The Merchant of Venice.

If you're a fan of Shakespeare Unlimited, please leave us a review on your favorite podcast app.

It really helps others find the show.

Shakespeare Unlimited comes to you from the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Home to the world's largest Shakespeare collection, the Folger is dedicated to advancing knowledge and the arts.

If you're in Washington, DC, come visit the Folger on Capitol Hill.

very famous people through history have, have really invested in those, those theories.

I mean, I remember years ago I was at the Folger Shakespeare library doing research.

I was writing a piece on Queen Elizabeth and various ways.

And I came across a book which argued that Shakespeare's works were written, I think this was a Baconian theory.

So we are really lucky to be living in the age of the Internet.

Mm hmm.

Because the Folger Shakespeare Library, which is an awesome, awesome resource, has a website called Shakespeare Documented, which has collected virtually every piece of evidence relating to Shakespeare that has been found.

And most of the time, they always have a photograph.

I understand you did some research.

You went to the Folger library in DC.

What was it like doing research there and getting that sort of dramaturgical information for the show?

Ooh, so fun to see all of the like first folios.