Get your DEMYSTICON 2024 tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/demysticon-2024-tickets-727054969987 The true identity of the person who wrote Shakespeare's plays has long been debated. At least 87 potential authors - from Daniel Defoe to Sir Francis Drake to Anne Hathaway to Sheikh Zubar - have been proposed as candidates, but all of these proposals suffer from the same problem - they don't quite fit the historical facts and so have to be stretched, ill fitting, to even be considered. Only one of the theories seems to make sense in context of history and biography, and it is that the true author of the plays was Sir Thomas North, soldier, lawyer, and translator. Returning guest Dennis McCarthy is joined by journalist Michael Blanding and author Derek Hunter for a conversation about uncovering the true identity of Shakespeare, the life and times of Thomas North, and the tangled thread of politics, philosophy, and liberty that stretches from the printing press to ChatGPT by way of the Old Globe. Tell us what you think in the comments or on our Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub Support the podcast by buying Michael Blanding, Dennis McCarthy, and Dennis Hunter's books: North by Shakespeare: https://amzn.to/4a3xp4n Thomas North, the Original Author of Shakespeare's Plays: https://amzn.to/3wF1nNx Anonymous Agnostic Antichrist: https://amzn.to/3v17rj7 Sign up for a yearly Patreon membership for discounted conference tickets: https://bit.ly/3lcAasB 00:00 Go! 00:03:22 The man & the myth 00:16:08 Repurposing of ancient tales 00:29:27 Conventional Shakespeare Story 00:49:11 Lost Plays of Other Authors 01:04:39 Ressurection of ancient mythology 01:10:25 Theory without a home 01:19:41 Thowing out the good with the bad 01:23:33 Cycles of secular idealism 01:42:42 Telling theory in fiction 01:49:46 Essex rebellion 02:04:20 How to move the needle? 02:16:48 Modern renaissance in the future? 02:28:22 Pendulum of history 02:30:46 Where to find more #Shakespeare #authorshipdebate #SirThomasNorth #DennisMcCarthy #MichaelBlanding #DerekHunter #history #biography #literature #myths Check our short-films channel, @DemystifySci: https://www.youtube.com/c/DemystifyingScience AND our material science investigations of atomics, @MaterialAtomics https://www.youtube.com/@MaterialAtomics Join our mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S PODCAST INFO: Anastasia completed her PhD studying bioelectricity at Columbia University. When not talking to brilliant people or making movies, she spends her time painting, reading, and guiding backcountry excursions. Shilo also did his PhD at Columbia studying the elastic properties of molecular water. When he's not in the film studio, he's exploring sound in music. They are both freelance professors at various universities. - Blog: http://DemystifySci.com/blog - RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss - Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaD - Swag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySci MUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671