The Strangers' Case

I can’t get Sir Thomas More’s monologue about ‘the strangers’ case’ out of my head. Read it in today's post, then tell me what it makes you think and feel in the comments.

Sir Ian McKellen performed a powerful pro-immigrant monologue from the Elizabethan play Sir Thomas More (Act II, Scene 4) during his appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on February 4, 2026. McKellen, who played the role in 1964, delivered “the strangers’ case” speech (included toward the bottom of this post), which is famously attributed to…