{"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: Bonus with Sparky Roberts (rerun)","slug":"the-merchant-of-venice-bonus-with-sparky-roberts-rerun","published_at":"2026-04-24T05:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-play-s-the-thing-404897/the-merchant-of-venice-bonus-with-sparky-roberts-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-bonus-with-sparky-roberts-rerun","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/5b7320b16f81f0781975bfd7/e/6982739ca4fd9ee513585750/media.mp3","summary":"Was Shakespeare anti-semitic? In this bonus episode, Tim chats about this question with special guest Judith \"Sparky\" Roberts. Sparky comes from a Jewish background and was a theatre teacher at the University of Oregon and Lane Community College. Her graduate study, at Brandeis University, was under the great American Shakespearean actor, Morris Carnovksy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"Was Shakespeare anti-semitic? In this bonus episode, Tim chats about this question with special guest Judith \"Sparky\" Roberts. Sparky comes from a Jewish…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3103,"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-bonus-with-sparky-roberts-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-bonus-with-sparky-roberts-rerun.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}