190ml bottle pomegranate juice (not sweetened; we used Pom Wonderful)
100g pack pomegranate seeds
100g pack toasted flaked almond
small pack mint, chopped
Method
STEP 1
Boil the kettle and heat the oil in a large frying pan. Put the couscous in a bowl with some seasoning and crumble in half the stock cube. Add the onion to the pan and fry for a few mins to soften. Pour boiling water over the couscous to just cover, then cover the bowl with a tea towel and set aside.
STEP 2
Push the onion to one side of the pan, add the chicken fillets and brown on all sides. Stir in the tagine paste or harissa and the pomegranate juice, then crumble in the rest of the stock cube and season well. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 mins until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked through. Stir through the pomegranate seeds, saving a few to scatter over before serving.
STEP 3
After 5 mins, fluff up the couscous with a fork and stir through the almonds and mint. Serve the chicken on the couscous with the sauce spooned over.
As humans, we’re often so caught up in our own daily lives that we often forget that there are countless different species living close by. Ever since he was a child, Indonesian wildlife photographer Ajar Setiadi has been fascinated by the creatures that live in the natural habitats of his hometown, Bogor. He’s been documenting the mysterious lives of the frogs that live in his garden, revealing their fascinating—and often adorable—behavior.
“Actually, I have frogs as my pets,” Setiadi tells My Modern Met. “Sometimes I play with them in my garden and let them play with the flowers as I am showering my plants.” The adorable frogs naturally interact and pose with the flowers, while Setiadi tries to capture their most endearing moments on camera. “For me, it’s a miracle that I can capture them,” says the photographer. “That’s an amazing moment, actually.”
In one image, a frog in the rain holds up a leaf like an umbrella, and in another, two frogs appear to dance together. There’s one image in particular that stands out as the most charming, though: Setiadi managed to capture two frogs huddling together, sheltering from the rain under a flower umbrella. Frogs are social creatures, and this emotional image looks just like a loved-up couple or two friends who are looking out for one another during the rainstorm. Setiadi commented on the sweet scene: “I could only get a few frames because this moment can't be repeated.”
Check out Setiadi’s frog images below and find more from his portfolio on Instagram. When he’s not photographing frogs, he’s capturing the intimate lives of insects, birds, and reptiles.
Indonesian wildlife photographer Ajar Setiadi captures the mysterious lives of adorable garden frogs.
Have you ever heard about the theory that Shakespeare wasn’t really Shakespeare? Yes, some people think that the man often called the greatest playwright of all time didn’t actually exist. If that’s the case, then who was Shakespeare, really? This question has been debated so furiously that it has its own Wikipedia page. Come along as I take you through all the current theories about the man known as William Shakespeare.
Church records for the town of Stratford-upon-Avon confirm that a baby named William, son of John and Mary Shakespeare, was born in April 1564 and died in April 1616. In between 1564 and 1616, William pops up a few times in legal cases and other historical records. We know he married and had three children, he acted and lived in London for a time, and his name was attached to a bunch of plays and sonnets. We know that rival playwright Robert Greene once wrote that he was an “upstart crow.” And…that’s about it.
We know almost nothing else about the man William Shakespeare. We don’t know when he started writing or how he died. We don’t know how he spelled his name — signatures exist showing several different spellings — or even what he looked like. Both portraits that historians think depict Shakespeare were completed after he died.
Added to all that, in 16th century London, when Shakespeare was around, copyright was not as firm a concept as it is now. Many plays were never published in written form, and playwrights borrowed from one another’s work constantly. In fact, many Shakespeare plays, such as The Taming of the Shrew, feature entire plots lifted from earlier works by other authors. Original hand-written manuscripts of Shakespeare’s plays did not survive. The plays were only collected and published after his death, by actors John Heminges and Henry Condell, who published them in 1623 as a book known as the First Folio.
Given that Shakespeare’s plays are wildly popular and influential, and he is widely acknowledged to have been a genius, yet we don’t know anything about him or have his original manuscripts…you can see why people might start to wonder if this mysterious figure actually wrote the plays.
THE CASE FOR SOMEONE ELSE AS SHAKESPEARE
What can we learn about Shakespeare from his plays? Many are set in Italy and ancient Greece and Rome. They’re full of dazzling wordplay, phrases that had never appeared in print before, memorable characters, and allusions to the Bible and other works of literature. All this suggests that their author may have been well-educated and well-traveled, possibly even someone who could read Latin and speak French and Italian.
Here’s where the trouble begins.
William Shakespeare was born to a pretty ordinary family. His father, John, was a glover (glove maker) who later entered local politics; his mother, Mary, was from an established local family. Little Will would have received a standard education at the nearest grammar school, learning the basics of Latin and classical literature. He doesn’t show up as a student in university records; we know that other prominent playwrights of the time, such as Christopher Marlowe, did attend university. It’s likely that Shakespeare didn’t even travel beyond his hometown until he turned up in London in 1592, where records show he was working as an actor.
Some historians have argued that this basic education and lack of travel show that Shakespeare simply was not capable of writing the plays. Aside from being snobby and elitist, this argument seems to overlook human nature. Genius does find a way, education or not. You only have to look at other authors, like Jane Austen, to know that it’s possible for someone to write literary works of lasting popularity without attending university or traveling far.
Nevertheless, this is a cornerstone of the “Shakespeare didn’t write these plays” argument. So…who did?
SECRET SHAKESPEARES
Here are three of the leading contenders for the role of “true author of Shakespeare’s plays.”
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE (1564–1593)
Rupert Everett made a brief appearance as Christopher Marlowe in the 1998 movie Shakespeare in Love.
Marlowe, born in 1564 in Canterbury, was one of the most famous playwrights of the Elizabethan era. He and Shakespeare likely knew each other. Marlowe was the author of such contemporary hits as Doctor Faustus and Tamburlaine, but unfortunately he was also caught up in spying and the troubled politics and religious disputes of the time (unlike Shakespeare). These entanglements may have led to Marlowe’s death at the age of just 29. Though he “officially” died in a tavern brawl (an Elizabethan bar fight), there are many theories that his death was orchestrated as a cover-up or to protect members of Queen Elizabeth’s inner circle.
A theory first put forth in the early 19th century argues that Marlowe faked his own death and continued to write plays under a name borrowed from a certain London actor he knew. And Marlowe died just before Shakespeare’s name was first associated with a published piece of writing (the narrative poem Venus and Adonis). “Shakespeare,” or Marlowe in disguise, then went on to become a popular playwright.
Problems with this theory? No one at the time doubted that Marlowe was truly dead. And more tellingly, Marlowe and Shakespeare had clearly different writing styles. In vocabulary, themes, use of some poetic techniques, and even subject matter, the two differ. There’s no doubt Shakespeare’s writing was influenced by Marlowe, who was the most important playwright of the time. But it’s hard to believe that a famous writer faked his own death to become another famous writer, and no one in their small literary and dramatic circle found out about it.
SIR FRANCIS BACON (1561–1626)
Sir Francis Bacon, painted by Frans Pourbus the Younger.
Sir Francis Bacon was a well-educated member of the aristocracy who dabbled in natural philosophy, science, politics, and poetry. He held a number of positions in Queen Elizabeth’s court and had a good deal of power and a lasting influence on English philosophy and science. Was he also the author of the world’s most famous plays?
There’s no evidence to suggest he isn’t, but equally there’s no evidence to suggest he is. The theory seems to have started with an American woman named Delia Bacon (no relation) in the early 19th century. Her argument is that a man who held various important positions in the Elizabethan government couldn’t have been associated with something as vulgar as the theatre, so he had to hide his true love of writing raunchy comedies and bloody tragedies.
A portrait of the Earl painted in the 17th century, based on a lost portrait from 1575.
Perhaps the most popular candidate for “the real Shakespeare,” de Vere was a nobleman, patron of the arts, a writer (though none of his plays survive), and a competitive jouster. Like Bacon, he was a busy man and it’s hard to imagine he had the time for a secret identity. But let’s look at the evidence.
Proponents of this theory, who call themselves Oxfordians, argue that some of the events in Shakespeare’s plays match events from de Vere’s life. De Vere had lived in and traveled throughout Italy. He even had a personal Bible that was heavily marked up with marginalia — supposed “evidence” that he wrote the plays, as they are full of allusions to the Bible.
Verdict: unconvincing. Any member of the Elizabethan aristocracy who had been to Italy and owned a Bible is an equally likely candidate. And De Vere died in 1604, but new plays by Shakespeare continued to appear for several years after that.
BOOKS ABOUT SHAKESPEARE’S IDENTITY AND TUDOR ENGLAND
If you’re keen to read more about all the candidates and evidence yourself, there are plenty of books. Bill Bryson’s short, lively biography Shakespeare: The World as Stage provides an entertaining overview of what little we know about his life as well as the strange conspiracy theories people have invented about him. Contested Willby Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro is a deep dive into all the theories. And This Is Shakespeare by Emma Smith takes a new look at Shakespeare, examining the inconsistencies and flaws that make his writing so compelling.
If you want to learn more about the times Shakespeare lived in, try Black Tudorsby Miranda Kaufman, a look at the untold stories of eight Black people living in Tudor England, and England’s Other Countrymen: Blackness in Tudor Society by Onyeka Nubia, an investigation into the presence of Black people in Tudor England. How to Be a Tudor by Ruth Goodman will teach you everything you need to know about how to blend in, and Natalie Grueninger’s Discovering Tudor London will guide you through the city Shakespeare knew.
OKAY, BUT…WHO REALLY WAS SHAKESPEARE?
Unfortunately, we’ll never be able to definitively answer this question. I haven’t even touched on all the potential Shakespeares in this post! Our old friend Delia Bacon also proposed that a group of men including Bacon, de Vere, the explorer Sir Walter Raleigh, and others wrote the plays together. This seems supremely unlikely, but until someone discovers an old diary that says, “I wrote those plays!” signed by Billy S., anything is possible.
But the evidence arguing Shakespeare was some other person isn’t very compelling; no one has satisfactorily answered the question of why someone would go to such absurd lengths to pin their life’s work, a collection of brilliant and groundbreaking plays, on some actor from Stratford.
In this case, the simplest answer seems truest: the person who wrote Shakespeare’s plays was in fact the person named William Shakespeare who was alive when those plays were written. All the evidence that does exist (title pages of plays, references to Shakespeare by other playwrights of the time, theatrical records, and so on) points right back to William Shakespeare of Stratford.
August 16 is the annual feast day of St. Roch, the patron saint of dogs. Saint Roch (pronounced "rock") was a Frenchman born to nobility in 1295, so it may seem strange that he is recognized as the patron saint of dogs.
But, there's a lot more to the story...
PATRON SAINT OF DOGS
In addition to being the patron saint of dogs, Roch is the patron saint of invalids, falsely accused people, and bachelors, as well as the Italian cities of Dolo, Parma, Palagiano, and Cisterna di Latina.
While he was born into money, he didn't appear to be a big fan of it. After losing his parents at age of twenty, he began wandering the countryside near Rome.
Roch was well-known for donating not only his money, but his time, to the peasants who suffered from plague.
THE PLAGUE STRIKES...
After years of helping others and donating nearly his entire fortune to others, Saint Roch eventually caught the plague himself. Not wanting to burden others with his care, he entered the forest to die alone.
As he suffered, starved and alone, he was discovered by a stray dog.
Roch fully expected the animal to attack him and end his suffering. Instead, the animal brought him bread to eat. Every day, the dog returned with food, then stayed by his side to care for him.
It is said that this hunting dog healed Roch by licking the wounds the plague created, bringing the man food to keep him alive.
CARED FOR BY A HUNTING DOG
Eventually, Roch recovered. He and his newly acquired dog went to town and discovered that the dog was owned by a local Count who had been a friend over the years. Surprised and impressed, the dog was presented to Roch by the owner.
Together, Roch and his newfound four-legged friend began traveling again, eventually returning to Montpelier, France.
But Roch's life was not yet over and more adventures awaited them...
ARREST AND IMPRISONMENT
After they returned to France, Roch and his dog were arrested as spies. They would both spend the next five years in prison together.
Some believe that the dog survived by caring for other prisoners. Others say that the duo were cared for by an angel.
Whatever the case, Roch never mentioned his nobility to prison officials and as a result, languished in prison under false allegations until his death in 1295.
There isn't much mention of Roch after his death. The only data we can find is in the "Golden Legend" (a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe)
anon an angel brought from heaven a table divinely written with letters of gold into the prison, which he laid under the head of S. Rocke. And in that table was written that God had granted to him his prayer, that is to wit, that who that calleth meekly to S. Rocke he shall not be hurt with any hurt of pestilence
While history does not tell us what happened to the dog, but many feel certain that he appears in the form of every dog in the lives of our own.
I don’t need you at your best when you come to my home.
I don’t care what you are wearing or what car you drove here.
I don’t care if there is food on your shirt and your hair is full of knots.
None of that matters to me.
I care about you.
I care about what’s in your heart, how afraid you are. What you worry about in the night.
I care about your deepest fears and your biggest dreams and I am there for it all.
If you mess up, I won’t judge.
That’s my promise to you.
So, don’t cancel me because your house is a mess and your cupboards are bare.
I will bring what you need with pleasure and I will listen to your problems without measure or malice. If you are on the floor, I’m picking you up, or I’m sitting own beside you.
You need never be alone down there.
And before I leave, I will have made you smile at least once.
That’s my promise to you.
So, save your best for someone else my friend because I want you just as you are.
Ajar Setiadi: 
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