So Potent Art
Actor and author Emily Carding\u2019s latest book So Potent Art: The Magic of Shakespeare\xa0(due July 2021), explores how Shakespeare\u2019s plays and sonnets are suffused with magic, prophecy, astrology, alchemy, herbalism, witchcraft, hauntings, and divine intervention. Emily (left, pictured as Richard III) talks about her background; where Shakespeare (and his audience) came across their knowledge of magic; whether it's actual or metaphorical; what we've learned from the documentary The Wizard of Oz; paraphrasing Arthur C. Clarke's Third Law; how the supernatural was perhaps less fantastical back then than it is now;\xa0reclaiming pejorative terms as empowering; and the always-important reminder that we should look to our own sources of beauty and inspiration. Be the light! (Length 21:53)