William Shakespeare is the most celebrated writer in the English language, yet we know remarkably little about the man himself. No manuscripts in his hand survive, his education was modest, and the gap between his documented life as a provincial grain dealer and the works attributed to him has fueled centuries of speculation about whether he really wrote the plays at all.

This episode examines the evidence for and against Shakespeare’s authorship, the alternative candidates — Marlowe, Bacon, de Vere — and what the debate reveals about our assumptions regarding genius, class, and literary creation.

• What we actually know about Shakespeare’s life versus what we assume
• The origins of the authorship question and why it has persisted for centuries
• The leading alternative candidates — Oxford, Bacon, Marlowe — and the case for each
• Why most scholars still defend Shakespeare’s authorship and what the debate reveals about elitism