Elisa Cugliana speaks about her digital scholarly edition of Marco Polo's travelogue that she is working on for her joint PhD degree at the universities of Venice and Cologne. Topics of discussion include the tradition of Italian philology and textual criticism, the transmission history of Marco Polo's travel report which originated at the end of the 13th century, and how scholarly editorial principles intersect with the technological possibilities of the digital.

Music credits: Intro/outro music by TeknoAXE, “Chiptune Nobility” (CC BY 4.0), interludes by Random Mind, “Exploration,” (CC0), TeknoAXE, “Lowly Tavern Bard – Fall is Upon Us Again,” (CC BY 4.0), Random Mind, “King's Feast,” (CC0), sawsquarenoise, “RottenMage SpaceJacked OST JINGLE 01,” (CC BY 4.0), Random Mind, “The Old Tower Inn” (CC0).

Transcript and more information at https://podcast.digitalmedievalist.org/episode-4-marco-polo-and-the-art-of-editing/.

Recorded 8 April 2020. Edited by Tessa Gengnagel.

Episode 4: Marco Polo and the Art of Editing

Mahmood Kooria - Piracy

Rebecca Hankins - Faith, Freedom, and Favors

KD Thompson - The Swahili Coast

Liana Saif - Witches

Shireen Hamza - Transformation

Fahad Bishara - Voyage Stories: The Natural and Supernatural on the Deck of a Dhow

Hamnet, the acclaimed novel by Maggie O’Farrell, is now a major film. The story imagines the life and death of Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, whose loss would later echo through one of his most famous tragedies, Hamlet.  O’Farrell joins director and co-writer Chloé Zhao to reveal how they adapted the novel for the big screen.

With Jessie Buckley as Agnes and Paul Mescal as William, the film reframes the Shakespeare family story as one of deep love, rupturing grief, and artistic creation. O’Farrell and Zhao discuss developing the screenplay together, interpreting Shakespeare as a husband and father, building the film’s immersive natural world, and shaping an unforgettable Globe Theatre sequence that anchors the emotional arc of the story.

O’Farrell and Zhao talk about adaptation, artistry, and how a 400-year-old loss continues to inspire new ways of imagining Shakespeare’s life and legacy.

From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. Published December 2, 2025. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode was produced by Matt Frassica. Garland Scott is the executive producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. We had help with web production from Paola García Acuña. Leonor Fernandez edits our transcripts. We had technical help from Hamish Brown in Stirling, Scotland, and Voice Trax West in Studio City, California. Final mixing services provided by Clean Cuts at Three Seas, Inc.

Hamnet, with Chloe Zhao and Maggie O'Farrell

E576 |  The seventeenth century has often been characterized as a period of disorder and religious polemics in the Ottoman Empire. In this podcast, Nir Shafir takes us inside his new book, which argues that the polemics of the early modern Ottoman world were fueled in part by changes in communication, namely the rise of short pamphlets that circulated easily in handwritten copies. Pamphlets created a new arena largely independent from the institutional centers of knowledge production where people debated everyday questions of the time about what it meant to be Muslim. In exploring the world of Ottoman pamphlets, Shafir also offers a new introduction to the nature of Ottoman education, book production, and reading practices prior to the rise of print and modern state institutions. 

More at https://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2025/12/shafir.html

Nir Shafir is Associate Professor of History at University of California, San Diego. His first book, The Order and Disorder of Communication: Pamphlets and Polemics in the Seventeenth-Century Ottoman Empire (Stanford, 2024), was awarded 2025 Book Prize from the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association. Shafir is also a longtime contributor to the Ottoman History Podcast, formerly serving as editor-in-chief and appearing in over 50 episodes since 2013.

Maryam Patton is Assistant Professor of History at Wesleyan University. Her research interests span the cultural and intellectual history of the late medieval and early modern Ottoman Empire, the history and theories of time and temporality, and cross-cultural transmission in the Mediterranean world, among others. She received her PhD in History and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University and is preparing her first book on the Ottoman conception of time.

CREDITS

Episode No. 576
Release Date: 6 December 2025
Sound production by Maryam Patton
Music: "Vibing Over Venus" by Kevin MacLeod

Pamphlets and Polemics in the 17th-Century Ottoman Empire | Nir Shafir

What did people really eat in Shakespeare’s England? In her new book, Much Ado About Cooking, food historian Sam Bilton uncovers the vibrant and surprising world of early modern cuisine—where sugar was locked away like treasure, fresh salads were everyday fare, and a “banquet” meant a “post-feast after party” dessert course.

Bilton brings to life the flavors behind Shakespeare’s food references: mince pies, herb-packed green sauces, saffron-brightened tarts, and even whimsical dishes crafted to look like something else entirely. These foods reveal a world shaped by global trade, humoral medicine, and a delight in spectacle.

In this episode, Bilton discusses how cooking, dining, and food imagery can open a new window onto Shakespeare’s plays and the people who lived, ate, and celebrated in his time.

From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. Published December 16, 2025. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode was produced by Matt Frassica. Garland Scott is the executive producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. We had help with web production from Paola García Acuña. Leonor Fernandez edits our transcripts. We had technical help from Hamish Brown in Stirling, Scotland, and Voice Trax West in Studio City, California. Final mixing services provided by Clean Cuts at Three Seas, Inc.

Sam Bilton is a food historian, author and presenter of the award-winning “Comfortably Hungry” and “A is for Apple” podcasts. She has written books on the history of gingerbread, saffron and chocolate, and writes articles on food history for a variety of print and online publications. Sam has also hosted several Shakespeare-themed supper clubs over the years. You can find out more details about Sam on her website: sambilton.com.

Celebrating Elizabethan Cooking, with Sam Bilton

A podcast on medieval studies in the digital world, hosted by the early-career scholars of the Digital Medievalist Postgraduate Committee. 

This account features the first season of Coding Codices and is no longer being updated. For more episodes, transcripts, and other resources, check out our website at https://podcast.digitalmedievalist.org.

Episode 4: Marco Polo and the Art of Editing

Coding Codices: A Digital Medievalist Podcast

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