823 Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth, and Shakespeare in a Divided America (with James Shapiro)
The History of Literature

823 Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth, and Shakespeare in a Divided America (with James Shapiro)

B2Upper-intermediateAugust 13, 202654 min

United States President Abraham Lincoln and his assassin John Wilkes Booth were both deeply immersed in Shakespeare's works. And yet, the conclusions they reached about how best to end tyranny--a feature of both Macbeth and Julius Caesar--could not have been more different. As James Shapiro (Shakespeare in a Divided America) explained to Jacke in a conversation they had in 2023, reading Shakespeare from opposing vantage points is not unusual in American history. What does this mean for our understanding of the past--and our hopes for the future? On Sale Now! For more information and to order ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Great Detective! An Adventure...

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Hello, one score and 11 presidents ago, the leader of a deeply divided nation traveled

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The History of Literature podcast is a member of the Podglamorate network and LitHub Radio. Hello, one score and 11 presidents ago, the leader of a deeply divided nation traveled by carriage to Ford's Theater, interrupting the play that was already in progress. The orchestra stood and played Hail to the Chief as the full house of around 1700 people

0:25

rose to give the man a standing ovation. It was April 14, 1865, and the 16th American President, Abraham Lincoln, was one month into his second term. A civil war that had divided the nation was winding down.

0:42

The Union, the side devoted to ending the abomination that stained the nation since before it began, was going to prevail. Tensions could not have been higher. Eight months before, Lincoln had been riding alone on his horse, Old Abe, on his way to

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