{"podcast":{"title":"The Play's the Thing","slug":"the-play-s-the-thing-404897","podcast_index_feed_id":404897,"rss_url":"https://feed.pippa.io/public/shows/5b7320b16f81f0781975bfd7","website_url":"https://www.closereadspods.com","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/5b7320b16f81f0781975bfd7/1610457976076-3cec5087603a16f5f26ec2e2a795434f.jpeg","author":"CiRCE Institute","episode_count":208,"summary":"The Play's the Thing is the ultimate podcast resource for lovers of Shakespeare. Dedicating six episodes to each play (one per act, plus a Q&A episode), this podcast explores the themes, scenes, characters, and lines that make Shakespeare so memorable. In the end, we will cover every play The Bard wrote, thus permitting an ongoing contemplation and celebration of the most important writer of all time. Join us. The Play’s the Thing is presented by The CiRCE Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-19T14:19:02.164997+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-play-s-the-thing-404897"},"episode":{"title":"The Merchant of Venice: Act I (rerun)","slug":"the-merchant-of-venice-act-i-rerun","published_at":"2026-03-20T05:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-play-s-the-thing-404897/the-merchant-of-venice-act-i-rerun","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-play-s-the-thing-404897","url":"https://shows.acast.com/the-plays-the-thing/episodes/the-merchant-of-venice-act-i-rerun","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/5b7320b16f81f0781975bfd7/e/69826f9675cd356357570204/media.mp3","summary":"Join Tim, Heidi, and Sarah-Jane as they dive into Shakespeare's great play,  The Merchant of Venice . In this episode, they discuss the character of Portia, Shylock's unnerving nature, a little of bit of context, and much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"Join Tim, Heidi, and Sarah-Jane as they dive into Shakespeare's great play, The Merchant of Venice . In this episode, they discuss the character of…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4306,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-play-s-the-thing-404897/episodes/the-merchant-of-venice-act-i-rerun/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-play-s-the-thing-404897/the-merchant-of-venice-act-i-rerun.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}