"Whiles I am a beggar, I will say there is no sin but to be rich; and being rich, shall say there is no vice but beggary."

Why don't we ever talk about money? Especially if we're struggling with it. It's because we feel guilty, embarrassed, ashamed. We're made to feel bad for wanting to borrow a few quid while giant American corporations are literally throwing billions of dollars at a bunch of middle aged sci-fi nerds even as they explain that their plan is to inadvertently destroy humanity. We really do have the most ridiculous attitude to money don't we.

This week, I'm hoping with the help of Shakespeare to develop a healthier attitude to money, explain why our emotions are so tied in to our financial transactions, and to come to terms with not having as much as we like. Oh and explain why 'neither a borrower or a lender be' is crap advice. (Shakespeare understood that. And he also had a dad who was terrible with money. Luckily for dad his son was minting it from an early age).

Plays mentioned in today's show: The Merchant of Venice (yes I know, it's a show about the money, money, money), Timon of Athens, King Lear, and a selection of financial sounding Sonnets.

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“O horror, horror, horror! Tongue nor heart cannot conceive nor name thee!”

Do you ever find yourself scrolling down your phone and stopping only when something truly terrifying grabs your attention? (You do know that's the economic model for these platforms don't you? You know they're not deliberately trying to scare you, it's just they know your old brain is wired to read the grim stuff so that you stay on their platform and generously hand over you data to them.)

Has there ever been a more anxious time to be a member of the human race? Actually yes in Shakespeare's time they had several plagues, a climate disaster, forever wars, fears of big food shortages and angry men arriving at ports to shout at the immigrants fleeing in boats across the English Channel.

This week I'm hoping to bring your anxiety levels down from "aaarrggghh" to "ahh", although removing all those rrrgggs was made harder when half way through writing one of those Large Language Model companies currently burning a hole in the whole of America's finances gleefully announced that they were developing a machine that could probably wipe out all of humanity in the next few years or so.

Don't Panic. Keep Calm and try not to get too stressed by those annoying tea towels that urge you to keep calm and grow a bonsai tree or whatever. You can start by breathing gently, being aware of your physical needs, but also by seeing how a number of Shakespeare characters coped with the stress of plagues, angry kings and heavy crowns.

Plays featured in this episode are Hamlet, Henry the Fourth, Much Ado About Nothing (for the first time I'm delighted to say), Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth - all the big anxious heavyweights there.

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“O I have suffered with those that I saw suffer.’

We’re all only trying to be reasonable aren’t we, and yet the whole direction of discourse over the last decade has been steered by half a dozen social media dudes and their platforms towards certainty about our own beliefs and hostility towards anyone who disagrees with us.

In this episode I'm looking at empathy. What is it? Should we have more? Or is there already too much?

Shakespeare was brilliant at showing both sides of every argument, and I am hoping this week to use his skills at this to ensure that we find the right balance. I feel like I learn something new every episode I write of this, and I feel like I've learned a little more about how to appreciate the views of people I disagree with.

Not least with the Bard himself, whose play The Merchant of Venice made my school life a misery.

Plays featured in this episode: Measure for Measure, Julius Caesar, As You Like It and yes, The Merchant of Venice, previously known in this household as The Schoolboy Taunting of Cohen.

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