If a nation can be thought of as a family, what happens when the family running the nation falls apart? At the exact moment that King James I wanted to unite England and Scotland, Shakespeare answered this question with his masterpiece of tyranny, madness, and betrayal: King Lear.

In this third episode of Lend Me Your Ears, host Isaac Butler talks to theater critic Helen Shaw, Yale English professor David Kastan, and University of Roehampton professor Clare McManus about the themes of unification, misogyny, and entitlement found in one of Shakespeare’s greatest works. The actors in this episode are Geordie Broadwater as King Lear, Emily Gardner Xu Hall as Cordelia, and Daryl Lathon as Albany and Kent.

Slate Plus members get a bonus episode of Lend Me Your Ears every month. Learn more at slate.com/shakespeare

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Richard II is God’s anointed representative on Earth, but by the end of the play that bears his name, he’s dead and his cousin sits on his throne. This is the story of how Shakespeare used English history to ask still-relevant questions about legitimacy, and about how a performance of Richard II played a role in the last aristocratic rebellion against the English crown.

In this second episode of Lend Me Your Ears, host Isaac Butler talks to University of Richmond professor Kristin Bezio, Vanderbilt professor Peter Lake, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Julie Felise Dubiner about what made Richard II an intriguing figure, what defines legitimacy, and what audiences can learn from the play today.

The actors in this episode were Abe Goldfarb as the Duke of York and Earl of Northumberland, Daryl Lathon as Henry Bollingbroke, David Rosenberg as Richard II, and Sid Solomon as John of Gaunt.

Slate Plus members get a bonus episode of Lend Me Your Ears every month. Learn more at slate.com/shakespeare

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Slate Plus members get a bonus episode of Lend Me Your Ears every month. Here, we offer a preview of the Julius Caesar extra, in which Isaac Butler, The Handmaid's Tale screenwriter Dorothy Fortenberry, and Vanity Fair film critic K. Austin Collins chat about the themes of elitism and the power of persuasion in the play.

To listen to the full episode—plus receive benefits like ad-free Slate podcasts and discounts to Slate Live events—sign up for Slate Plus at slate.com/shakespeare.

Lend Me Your Ears will return with Richard II on June 12.

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Lend Me Your Ears is a six-part podcast miniseries exploring how Shakespeare’s works have shaped our modern views on politics. Each month, host Isaac Butler will dig into a different Shakespeare play to explore how Shakespeare was responding to his current events, and how they map onto our own.

In this first episode, Lend Me Your Ears is looking at one of Shakespeare’s most accessible works: Julius Caesar. Why was the Bard so fascinated with the fall of the Roman Republic? Why do we tend to turn to this play when we worry about society’s future? How have contemporary theater makers reinvented Shakespeare’s version of the story for their audiences, especially in troubled political times?

Slate Plus members get a bonus episode of Lend Me Your Ears every month. Learn more at slate.com/shakespeare

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices