Fire the Canon

We have a very special guest for you all today - Professor Ada Palmer, author of the recently-completed Terra Ignota series (one of Rachel’s favorites).  We invited her on to talk about Romeo & Juliet, but, as is customary with our guest episodes, the conversation went in some very surprising directions.  (However, we do recommend that you listen to our previous Romeo & Juliet episode first for context!)  Topics include: Machiavelli, the Black Death, a surprising amount of lice talk, pro-Columbus propaganda, Dante, witch trials, Viking geography, King Arthur fanfic, spurious knowledge, dowries, Lord of the Rings (of course), friendly nuns, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Game of Thrones, and Thomas Paine.

Check out: the Terra Ignota series, Ada’s appearance on the You Are Not So Smart Podcast, Romeo and/or Juliet, A Corresponding Renaissance, and the DVD box set of the 1980s BBC productions of all the Shakespeare plays.

Show Notes

We have a very special guest for you all today - Professor Ada Palmer, author of the recently-completed Terra Ignota series (one of Rachel’s favorites).  We invited her on to talk about Romeo & Juliet, but, as is customary with our guest episodes, the conversation went in some very surprising directions.  (However, we do recommend that you listen to our previous Romeo & Juliet episode first for context!)  Topics include: Machiavelli, the Black Death, a surprising amount of lice talk, pro-Columbus propaganda, Dante, witch trials, Viking geography, King Arthur fanfic, spurious knowledge, dowries, Lord of the Rings (of course), friendly nuns, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Game of Thrones, and Thomas Paine.

Check out: the Terra Ignota series, Ada’s appearance on the You Are Not So Smart Podcast, Romeo and/or Juliet, A Corresponding Renaissance, and the DVD box set of the 1980s BBC productions of all the Shakespeare plays.

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

What is Fire the Canon?

Prefer your books in comedy form, but still want to sound smart at parties? We got you. Discover the hilarity hidden in the classics with new episodes every other Thursday.