The New York Public Library Podcast

This week, we’re thrilled to welcome acclaimed author and Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro in a talk with Tony, Emmy, and Golden Globe Award-winning actor John Lithgow. In a conversation that covers drama, language, and the relationship between history and art, the two discuss Shapiro’s latest book, “The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606”—which examines how tumultuous events in England in 1606 affected Shakespeare and shaped the three great tragedies he wrote that year: "King Lear," "Macbeth," and "Antony & Cleopatra."