My podcast is called Shakespeare’s Language . . . and more. At present are ten episodes. Each focuses on some aspect of Shakespeare’s language – usually a single word that Shakespeare uses. But each time discussion broadens out, to look at some aspect of language in general, or of English as we use it today. I hope the podcast will be of interest to both general listeners and language students. It can be found in iTunes.

• The first episode is about the word bully, and the more general discussion is on ‘beliefs about word origins’.
• In the second episode the word is discandied, and the more general topic is about how words disappear – ‘the death of words’.
• The third episode’s word is pander. The general topic is about proper and common nouns.
• The word shrewd is the starting point for the fourth episode. It’s also about how some words change their meaning, from referring to something nasty to being something nice: ‘from nasty to nice’.
• The fifth episode is about the word blesseth. It also discusses how languages change through contact with other languages or dialects: ‘language contact and language change’.
• The word in episode six is fardel, and the general topic is ‘suffixes’.
• In the seventh episode the word is fathom, and the general theme is ‘units of measurement’.
• For episode eight the word is why, and it goes on to look in general at other words beginning with wh-, like when, what and where.
• Episode nine starts with a sentence rather than one word. It is Eyes do you see! ‘Uses of punctuation’ is the general topic considered.
• Episode ten focuses on a phrase: good my lord, and the general theme is ‘words in curious orders and combinations’.