226 – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a Shakespearean Epic

226 – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a Shakespearean Epic

From The Children's Literature Podcast by T.Q. Townsend

February 10, 2026 · 36 min · Season 1 · Episode 226

About this episode

This episode explores the Shakespearean elements of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and its potential to introduce children to epic literature.

Star Trek is what first introduced me to Shakespeare, and I wanted to visit the most Shakespearean of all Star Trek productions, which is Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. This film is Shakespearean in its structure, characters, plot, and themes, and can be a great way to introduce kids to some truly epic literature. This episode is a trimmed down version of a livestreamed episode that I did. If you want the full version of that with live chat comments, you can watch that here:

People in this episode

Host: T.Q. Townsend

Topics covered

  • Star Trek
  • Shakespeare
  • children's literature
  • film analysis
  • epic literature

Keywords

  • Star Trek
  • Shakespeare
  • Wrath of Khan
  • children's literature
  • film analysis
  • epic themes

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Shakespeare

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