There are about 50,000 PhD candidates in Canada, toiling away for years in relative obscurity. This is the third episode in our series that attempts to turn their research into an hour of radio. In this episode, producers Tom Howell and Nicola Luksic follow the work of McGill University post-doctoral student Stephen Wittek. He studies how theatrical plays in Elizabethan England fed the growth of modern news culture and the existence of an ongoing public conversation.

Guest in the program (In order of appearance):

Andrew Pettegree -- Professor of History at St. Andrews University in Scotland. His most recent book is called The Invention of News: How the World Came to Know About Itself

Paul Yachnin -- Professor of Shakespeare Studies and director of the Institute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas at McGill University

Ann Cvetkovich -- Professor of English as well as Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Texas at Austin

And special thanks to Stephen Wittek for walking us through his PhD thesis. Here is the selfie he took at BBC York, shortly after completing his final interview with us.