Hamnet
Pop Culture Happy Hour
NPR
4.5 • 11.6K Ratings
🗓️ 1 December 2025
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Hamnet tells the fictionalized account of the lives of William Shakespeare and his wife, played by Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley. They fall in love, have children, suffer an unspeakable tragedy. When their only son dies, it creates a rift in their marriage and inspires Will to write one of his greatest works–Hamlet. Directed by Chloé Zhao (Nomadland), it does everything it can to make you cry a whole lot.
Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi there, it's Linda Holmes. Before we start the show, we're marking Giving Tuesday this week. |
| 0:06.0 | NPR celebrates this global day of generosity every year, but we've never had a year quite like this one before. |
| 0:12.6 | You've probably heard by now that federal funding for public media was eliminated as of October 1st. |
| 0:18.4 | That means NPR is now operating without federal support for the first time in our history, more than 50 years. |
| 0:25.0 | It's a big change and a big challenge, but it's one that we can overcome together. |
| 0:30.8 | So we hope you'll take a moment to think about what you love about Pop Culture Happy Hour. Maybe we've helped you find a new show you love or made you |
| 0:38.0 | think differently about the movie you just saw or kept you in good company while you're on a walk |
| 0:43.0 | or getting ready for work. We're so grateful to the listeners who have already stepped up to donate |
| 0:48.3 | like Patrick from Indiana, who says, my biggest sense of loyalty and appreciation goes to Linda, Aisha, Stephen, and Glenn at PCH. |
| 0:57.5 | They are all the best, and I love how they have helped the show evolve in format, broadened voices, and persisted with integrity, wishing you all the fortitude to keep it going. |
| 1:07.2 | Well, that is very touching, Patrick. You, if I may say, are the best. Thank you so much. |
| 1:12.5 | Thank you to everyone else who supported NPR this year. You know I'm going to say this, |
| 1:17.1 | but you are what's making us happy this week and every week. If you haven't yet, please make |
| 1:22.7 | your Giving Tuesday gift right now by signing up for NPR Plus. It's a simple recurring donation that gets you perks to NPR's |
| 1:30.3 | podcasts and bonus episodes of Pop Culture Happy Hour, where you can get a peek behind the scenes of our show. |
| 1:36.2 | Join us at plus.npr.org. Thanks again for your support, and let's get on with the show. |
| 1:46.6 | Hamnet tells the story of a young English couple played by Jesse Buckley and Paul |
| 1:51.1 | Meskell. They meet, fall in love, have children, and suffer an unspeakable tragedy. And then |
| 1:57.1 | one of them writes Hamlet. It runs from William Shakespeare, first meeting his wife, to an early production of Hamlet. |
| 2:03.3 | And along the way, it does everything it can to make you cry a whole lot. |
| 2:09.2 | I'm Aisha Harris. |
| 2:10.7 | And I'm Stephen Thompson. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

