We call this podcast: Press Among the Popular Throngs. At the time we recorded this, Erik had just published a book, titled Pop Sonnets: Shakespearean Spins on Your Favorite Songs. And like the songs that inspired them, they became immensely popular. It’s always surprising how Shakespeare, this 450-year-old playwright, continues to crop up in popular culture, and at the time we originally broadcast this podcast, in 2015, this was the latest example.įor two years at that point, a New York software developer named Erik Didriksen had been taking the lyrics to songs by pop stars-50 Cent, Adele, Sir Mix-a-Lot-and converting them into Shakespearean sonnets. I’m Michael Witmore, the Folger’s director. Ready? Go!įrom the Folger Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited. The rhyme scheme is: a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g. All in iambic pentameter … Five iambs, two syllables each. MICHAEL WITMORE: OK, here’s the assignment. Previous: Shakespeare in India | Next: Shakespeare and World Cinema The actors who you hear reading the sonnets are Elyse Mirto and Bo Foxworth of The Antaeus Theater Company in Los Angeles. 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. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. This episode, called “Press Among the Popular Throngs,” was produced by Richard Paul. Originally broadcast February 10, 2016, and rebroadcast with an updated introduction on August 21, 2018. Read an interview with Erik Didriksen on our Shakespeare & Beyond blog.įrom the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Listen on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, or NPR One. 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.
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. 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.
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