This week we dive deep into the fascinating, entertaining, and sometimes surprising scholarship and projects from the biennial Blackfriars Conference in Staunton, Virginia. The Rhetorical Device of the Week is tmesis and the Burbage Break provides some much-needed conference etiquette reminders. We discuss the word "nuncle," the significance of stage gestures, American Sign Language and Spanish translations of Shakespeare, and even Monica Lewinsky. We also get *a bit* mushy about why art is important in the world and why we choose to make it. This one's a little longer than usual because *feelings.* #SorryNotSorry 

(Featuring discussions of work by Matt Kozusko, Paul Menzer, Tiffany Stern, Wendy Wall and William West, Lindsey Snyder, Beth Burns and Farah Karim-Cooper, Jacqueline Vanhoutte, Bill Rauch, and all the lovely folks at Fundacion Shakespeare Argentina.)