Jen Miller (3:34)

Campsite media. In front of me, there's a group of acting students. The youngest ones are in their 20s. The oldest is over 70, and they're intently focused on their teacher. She's a woman with wiry salt and pepper hair, and she's leading them through an exercise. She calls out two conflicting emotions. Let's start with love and fear. Let your movements express love and fear combined. Suddenly, these actors are circling the room, silently pantomiming feelings of love and fear. They're warming up to rehearse the final act of Othello, a play about jealousy and deception. I'm here in California on assignment for the Washington Post. I'm reporting a piece about Shakespeare as therapy, how these stories about our deepest humanity can help people heal from their trauma. Because Shakespeare's plays, at core level, they're about what human beings do to each other, what we're capable of at our best and our worst. I start talking to one of the actors. Trung is friendly and soft spoken. Literally. I have to lean in close in order to hear him. He's mid-20s, clean shaven, with impeccably pomaded hair. He tells me he's a substance abuse counselor, and that tracks. The way he looks at me, I can tell he's really listening. And when I ask him, Trung says there's a lot of reasons he wanted to join this Shakespeare group.

Trung (5:27)

I had a lot of opportunities to kind of showcase myself, and actually I did a break dancing, too.

Jen Miller (5:35)

He loves to perform, and he likes these plays. How their universal themes of sacrifice, loss and love have helped him access his emotions to see himself more clearly. He says these plays have allowed him to confront the pain he's caused. I ask him what he means by that, and to my surprise, he doesn't hesitate. He launches into a story that I cannot believe is real. A story that feels like Shakespeare himself could have written it. A story that starts with Trung's identical twin brother. Shakespeare was fascinated by siblings. There's Ophelia and Laertes, Edmund and Edgar, Sebastian and Viola in both his comedies and his tragedies he makes them compete for the attention and approval of their parents. He tests the limits of their love for one another. And he pushes them apart, sometimes violently. Shakespeare himself was the father of twins Judith and Hamnet. And when Hamnet died at the age of 11, Shakespeare began to process this very particular grief in his plays. He writes Twelfth Night about twins separated in a shipwreck. The action of the play is built around mistaken identities, but it's really about the unique bond these siblings share and what happens when that tie is broken. Trung knows all about this, and it's a tale he's now pouring out to me. Six years earlier, Trung tells me his twin an got into a fight at a birthday party. By the time it was over, the twins had embarked on a journey that would forever change both of them. Not just who they were as individuals, but who they were to each other. So where is your brother right now? As Trung and I talk, his fellow thespians are rehearsing right there beside us. And I hear Oselo mourning. You must speak of one that loved not wisely, but too well. I can see how Trung and An are guilty of having loved each other too well, if not always wisely. Twins bonded through DNA and also hardship. Brothers who were best friends, who trusted each other completely, who would have followed each other anywhere, even if it meant losing absolutely everything. From wondery and campside media, I'm jen miller, and this is blood will tell. This is episode one Shakespeare in San Jose. It's a Saturday evening in January when 18 year old trung knocks on the door of his brother's bedroom. They live in the same home, but they haven't seen each other much lately. Trung's been swamped juggling a sales job at T Mobile, a full course load at college, and finishing his Eagle Scout certification. And Trung is missing his best friend. But there's a party tonight.

Trung (9:25)

We were adulting pretty much for the first time like that. So these parties like it felt like a drag. But at the same time like, oh, let's just go have fun. It sounds like a good way to relax.

Jen Miller (9:37)

Ahn looks up from his bed, which is littered with textbooks.

Trung (9:41)

I didn't want to go. I had homework.

Jen Miller (9:44)

Trung is surprised. He's the one typically concerned about how today's choice will impact tomorrow's outcome. That's how. He's two semesters ahead in college. But more recently, Ahn has felt the pressure to keep up with Trung. Ahn begs, let me study. Trung's not having Any of it.

Trung (10:03)

You know what? We deserve this. Let's just go and have fun.

Jen Miller (10:08)

Maybe this party will be a good way to blow off steam for both of them. So on relents.

Trung (10:15)

All right, let's do it. It's hyped up. Pick our outfits.

Jen Miller (10:21)

The party is a 21st birthday thrown by a friend of Trunk's girlfriend. There's a black and white theme. The twins pull on their true religion jeans and long sleeve black shirts. When they were little kids, their parents often dressed them the same. So this it's like a fun throwback. And tonight it makes it almost impossible to tell them apart. They're both five nine, around 160 pounds. They have a few physical differences though. Trung's face is clean shaven and more narrow. And Ahn has a sparse mustache and the shadow of a mole over his lip. These minor physical differences are going to be crucial for what's to come for the both of them. After a final fit check in the mirror, they're ready to head out. Trung drives his brother and their girlfriends, we're calling them Monica and Carly to a well appointed spot, split level home in the foothills of San Jose, California. It's a short trip and a world away from the affordable housing complex where the twins grew up. They walk past a rock garden and flower beds, following the thump of music. Trung enters the party and takes a quick scan. He's impressed.

Trung (11:49)

It was like pretty bougie and had a DJ and everything.

Jen Miller (11:55)

He goes to pour himself a drink.

Trung (11:57)

They opened like a cooler and I saw shot glasses made out of ice.

Jen Miller (12:03)

Trung makes his way through the house. The guests are mostly Vietnamese like him. Some of them are college kids, but he doesn't recognize them. They are at four year schools, not community college like him and Ahn. Trung is relieved. In recent months he has been trying and largely failing to avoid situations and people he knows are trouble.

Trung (12:26)

When we would go out with specific individuals, shit would always pop off right. I would always feel the need to jump in and participate.

Jen Miller (12:35)

But the vibes here are good. The booze is flowing, pot brownies are being passed around and the music is pumping.

Trung (12:45)

It was turned down for what? By Lil Jon. Like that song just came out.

Jen Miller (12:53)

Trung and Ahn make a beeline to the beer pong table where they proceed to completely bite it.

Trung (12:58)

We played horribly because didn't we sit under the table? Yeah, we had to sit on the table, man. We trolled like we didn't make any shots. It was embarrassing.

Jen Miller (13:11)

Trung is so happy to have his brother here. It's been so long since they've simply hung out like this as brothers. Around them, everyone is getting drunk or high or both. Trung is fully in the moment. He's making the rounds, a beer in his hand. For a while, he loses track of his girlfriend Monica. That is, until she heads toward him, clearly upset.

Charlamagne Tha God (13:47)

Peace to the planet Charlemagne. Tha God here. And listen. We are back. The Black Effect Podcast Festival is back in Atlanta on April 25th at Pullman Yard. Yeah, and the full lineup is nuts. We got the Grits and Eggs podcast, Deontay Kyle and Big Ice Cup Cat. We got Club 520 with Jeff Teague and the gang. Don't Call Me White Girl. Mona will be there. Keep It Positive Sweetie with Crystal Renee. We got Reality with the King with Carlos King. And yes, Drink champs will be in the building. Ok. Plus, you know we gonna have a lot of guests, so you need to join us. And we got the Black Effect Marketplace, the picture podcast and everything you expect from the Black Effect Podcast Festival. Tickets are on sale right now. Go get yours@blackffect.com podcast festival. Don't play yourself. Okay, pull up.

Narrator of Charlie's Place (14:37)

When segregation was a law, one mysterious black club owner Charlie Fitzgerald had his own rules.

Steve Fishman (14:43)

Segregation in the day, integration at night.

Charlamagne Tha God (14:46)

It was like stepping in another world.

Narrator of Charlie's Place (14:48)

Was he a businessman? A criminal? A hero?

Steve Fishman (14:52)

Charlie was an example of power. They had to crush him.

Narrator of Charlie's Place (14:57)

Charlie's Place from Atlas Obscura and visit Myrtle Beach. Listen to Charlie's place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Crystal Renee (15:06)

This Women's History Month. The podcast Keep It Posit Sweetie celebrates the power of women, choosing healing, purpose and faith. Even when life gets messy, love is not a destination. You have to work on it every day. Keep It Positive Sweetie creates space for honest conversations on self worth, love, growth and navigating life with grace and grit, led by women who uplift, inspire and tell the truth out loud.

Steve Fishman (15:29)

I have several conversations with God and

Crystal Renee (15:32)

I know why it took 20 years to hear this and more. Listen to Keep It Positive sweetie on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.