MONDAY

Kenneth Brannagh’s Hamlet. Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet. Bob and Doug MacKenzie’s Strange Brew. All fine examples of Shakespeare on film. Got questions? Well, pepper Simon Crowl, author of Shakespeare and Film: A Norton Guide, with them. Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol St. SE., at 7:30 p.m. $12.

TUESDAY

According to the Wikipedia, Ralph Nader’s father “owned a bakery and restaurant where he engaged customers in discussions of political issues.” That bakery? The “Ugh…I Mean, There He Goes Again–I Just Wanted Some Scones Bakery” of Winsted, Connecticut. Learn more about this and the rest of Ralph Nader’s Seventeen Traditions at Olsson’s Books & Records, 418 7th St. NW., at 7:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

Western literature proves to be cross-cultural connective tissue and a vital source of empowerment in Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran—one of those books that prove how important the relationship between readers and authors really are. Join Nafisi at American University’s Katzen Arts Center, in the Abramson Family Recital Hall, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW., at 8 p.m.