Literary canons have come under fire for perpetuating privilege and exclusion. But some artists — including William Shakespeare and Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda — show us how canons can actually build community and democracy. Guests: Stephen Greenblatt, Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University and editor of the Norton edition of Shakespeare’s works and the Norton Anthology of English Literature. Oskar Eustis, artistic director of New York City’s Public Theatre. John Ray Proctor, actor and drama professor at Tulane University. Rory Loughnane, senior lecturer in Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent and associate editor of the New Oxford Shakespeare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices