Episodes

  • Episode 183: The Fabric of Our Lives

    Episode 183: The Fabric of Our Lives
    May 13 2025
    In the early 1600s, cotton fabrics made in India were in high demand throughout Asia and Africa. When the English and Dutch arrived in India and Japan, they realized how popular the fabric was, and they soon began to ship it back to northern Europe. In this episode, we explore how the 'cotton craze' of the 1600s shaped the modern world, and shaped the English language. We also examine the end of the Shakespearean period and the second English dictionary.
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    1 hr and 17 mins
  • Episode 182: World of Confusion

    Episode 182: World of Confusion
    Mar 18 2025
    In the early 1600s, English began to spread around the world as speakers searched for new trading partners and new places to settle. Through that process, English become an international language, but as English speakers encountered people and languages in distant places, they sometimes became confused. That confusion and uncertainty shaped the English language during this period. In this episode, we explore early English loanwords from North America, Shakespeare's The Tempest, and the first English trading post in India. TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 182
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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • Episode 181: Heaven and Earth

    Episode 181: Heaven and Earth
    Jan 30 2025
    The invention of the telescope in the early 1600s laid the foundation for the scientific revolution, but it also disrupted the traditional view of the universe and led to a conflict with the Catholic Church. Meanwhile, the Anglican Church completed a translation of the Bible that became known as the King James or Authorized version. In this episode, we look at how these simultaneous developments changed the modern world and shaped the English language. TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 181
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    1 hr and 21 mins
  • Episode 180: English on the Move

    Episode 180: English on the Move
    Nov 13 2024
    In the first decade of the 1600s, English speakers were on the move as they established the first permanent English settlement in North America. They also began a steady a migration to northern Ireland after an event known to history as the Flight of the Earls. As these English speakers relocated to regions outside of Britian, they took their regional accents and dialects with them. In this episode, we'll examine how those settlement patterns shaped the way English is spoken around the world. TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 180
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • Episode 179: Defining Moments

    Episode 179: Defining Moments
    Sep 24 2024
    In the early 1600s, several landmark events shaped the history of England and determined how and where the English language would be spoken in the centuries that followed. The period from 1602-1605 saw the end of the Elizabethan era, the unification of the crowns of England and Scotland, the authorization of the King James Version of the Bible, the Gunpowder Plot, and the first English description of New England. The period also produced a literal defining moment with the publication of the first English dictionary. In this episode, we explore those defining moments and examine how they shaped the future of English. We also explore several plays by William Shakespeare that are also dated to this period. Works discussed in this episode include:Twelfth Night – William ShakespeareOthello – William ShakespeareA Table Alphabeticall - Robert Cawdrey TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 179
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    1 hr and 26 mins
  • Episode 178: Much Ado About Hamlet

    Episode 178: Much Ado About Hamlet
    Aug 7 2024
    In the first couple of years of the 1600s, several new Shakespeare plays appeared. Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It were recorded in the Stationer's Register, and a third play called The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark was likely performed on the stage for the first time. In this episode, we'll look at those plays and examine how they influenced the English language. We also explore the creation of the East India Company in 1600 and the Essex Rebellion of 1601. Works discussed in this episode include:Much Ado About Nothing - William ShakespeareAs You Like It - William ShakespeareThe Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark - William Shakespeare TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 178
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    1 hr and 17 mins
  • Episode 177: Dressed for Success

    Episode 177: Dressed for Success
    Jun 26 2024
    In this episode, we look at clothing and fashion in the Elizabethan era, and we examine the connection between clothing, custom and language. We also examine Shakespeare's plays about the lives of Julius Caesar and Henry V of England. Along the way, we also explore how Elizabethan clothing conventions influenced the structure and presentation of those plays. Works discussed in this episode include:Henry V - William ShakespeareJulius Caesar - William Shakespeare TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 177
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    1 hr and 25 mins
  • Episode 176: All the World’s a Playhouse

    Episode 176: All the World’s a Playhouse
    May 9 2024
    Theaters were an important part of cultural life in Elizabethan England, and they contributed many words to the English language. Those words joined thousands of other words that were pouring into English from around the world. In this episode, we look at how distant cultures were contributing to the growth of English and how Shakespeare's acting company built a world-famous theater in the late 1500s. Works discussed in this episode include:Henry IV, Parts One and Two – William ShakespeareThe Merry Wives of Windor – William ShakespeareA Report of the Kindome of Congo – Abraham Hartwell, TranslatorThe Isle of Dogs – Ben Jonson and Thomas NasheDiscours of voyages into ye Easte & West IndiesA Worlde of Wordes - John FlorioPalladis Tamia, Wit’s Treasury - Francis Meres TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 176
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    1 hr and 20 mins