Shakespeare authorship question
Subject in Books
Shakespeare authorship question has come up in 1 episode across 1 podcast in TMT, including Stuff You Should Know. 2 people have made recorded remarks about it.
What people said
Josh ClarkCo-host of Stuff You Should Know
Clark concludes the debate has shown both camps on shaky ground, making it largely a matter of belief.
“in doing so, it's kind of revealed that both of them are kind of on shaky ground. It's almost just a matter of belief”
Stuff You Should Know: Selects: Did Shakespeare really write all that stuff? (May 30, 2026) · Listen from 52:07
Clark argues that dismissing doubters as elitist ignores their genuinely good points.
“They're not just cranks and crackpots. Like they have some pretty good evidence”
Stuff You Should Know: Selects: Did Shakespeare really write all that stuff? (May 30, 2026) · Listen from 23:47
Clark considers the varied spellings of Shakespeare's name an insignificant argument.
“the different spellings of the names is about as big a boondoggle as you're going to find in the Shakespeare authorship argument”
Stuff You Should Know: Selects: Did Shakespeare really write all that stuff? (May 30, 2026) · Listen from 21:45
Clark argues that neither side has really good evidence and the debate quickly becomes conspiracy theory.
“neither side actually has really good evidence to support their claim. It's all just they have to get so granular”
Stuff You Should Know: Selects: Did Shakespeare really write all that stuff? (May 30, 2026) · Listen from 2:58
Chuck BryantCo-host of Stuff You Should Know
Bryant thinks the female-authorship theory makes more sense than others because women had a clear motive to hide.
“I think this theory makes a lot more sense than a lot of the others. just by the sheer fact that women would not have been allowed to”
Stuff You Should Know: Selects: Did Shakespeare really write all that stuff? (May 30, 2026) · Listen from 47:03
Bryant agrees that elitism lies at the root of many anti-Stratfordian theories.
“what's at the root of a lot of these theories is what Ed, I think, rightly calls elitism”
Stuff You Should Know: Selects: Did Shakespeare really write all that stuff? (May 30, 2026) · Listen from 22:25
Podcasts
- Stuff You Should Know · 1 episode
Episodes
Selects: Did Shakespeare really write all that stuff?Stuff You Should Know · May 30, 2026 · 56 min
Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant survey the Shakespeare authorship question, weighing the documentary evidence and alternative candidates such as Bacon, de Vere, Marlowe and Bassano.