There’s something that never ceases to astound when it comes to Shakespeare – the way this 400-year-old playwright continues to pop up in popular culture.

Our guest on this podcast episode is Erik Didriksen, who takes hit songs from artists like Taylor Swift and Coldplay and rewrites them as Elizabethan-style sonnets.

The Tumblr where Didriksen has posted these sonnets has become so popular that he's published a book, "Pop Sonnets: Shakespearean Spins on Your Favorite Songs." He was interviewed by Barbara Bogaev.

From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © February 10, 2016. Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved.

This episode, called "Press Among the Popular Throngs," was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington.

We had help from Bob Auld and Deb Stathopulos at the Radio Foundation in New York and Phil Richards and Matt Holzman at KCRW public radio in Santa Monica, California. The actors who you hear reading the sonnets are Elyse Mirto and Bo Foxworth of The Antaeus Theater Company in Los Angeles.