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In the final of the history plays, Shakespeare and his collaborator John Fletcher take on Henry VIII, the story of his first two wives, the birth of the future queen Elizabeth, and the establishment of the Church of England. In this episode, Will and James discuss why people have found the politics of Henry\u2019s court so compelling across the ages from Showtime\u2019s The Tudors to Hilary Mantel\u2019s Wolf Hall to Broadway\u2019s Six, unpack the downfall speeches of Cardinal Wolsey and Katherine of Aragon, and consider whether you could pull it off today.

Credits

• Intro Music: Jon Sayles, "The Witches' Dance" (composed by anonymous)

• Outro Music: Jon Sayles, \u201cSaltarello\u201d (composed by anonymous)

• Illustrative Excerpts: Herman\u2019s Hermits, \u201cHenry the Eighth, I Am,\u201d The Ed Sullivan Show (1965); Arkangel / BBC, \u201cHistory of Henry VIII\u201d (1998); Bea Segura, \u201cHenry VIII,\u201d dir. Hannah Khalil, Shakespeare\u2019s Globe (2022)