Read at school by almost every American student and long valued by conservatives and liberals alike, Shakespeare’s plays provide a rare common ground for civil discussion. However, as brought to vivid life in the pages of James Shapiro’s forthcoming Shakespeare in a Divided America, Shakespeare has also been the site of some of our bitterest disagreements. Professor Ayanna Thompson sits down with Shapiro, The Public’s Shakespeare Scholar in Residence, to discuss his latest book. By better understanding Shakespeare’s role in American life, might we begin to mend our bitterly divided land?