An episode from 12/28/25: What was it like to know Shakespeare, to stand in the theater and watch one of his plays, to be a neighbor who knew him as a teenager? What was it like to pass through London as a student or visitor or diplomat, and note in passing that you saw Shakespeare’s plays, or read one of his poems? So much of Shakespeare’s life is lost to us, but over the centuries his biographers have gathered the memories and rumors and legends that grew up around him, and tonight I read a few of them. They comes from Peter Ackroyd’s ⁠Shakespeare: The Biography⁠, which is easily the best book about Shakespeare and creativity that I’ve ever read.

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