David Remnick

This is The New Yorker Radio Hour.

I'm David Remnick.

Chloe Zhao was only the second woman to win an Oscar for Best Director.

And that, of course, was for Nomadland, a 2020 film starring Frances McDormand as an itinerant worker living out of a camper and searching for work all over America.

Zhao is up for Best Director yet again, and the film Hamnet on the surface is very different from her previous work.

It takes place in England in the 16th century, where a young William Shakespeare and his wife Anne have to cope with the loss of their son.

The film is based on a novel by Maggie O'Farrell, and Hamnet is nominated for Best Picture, along with Best Actress for Jesse Buckley and five other awards.

Chloe Zhao talked about Hamnet when the film first came out with staff writer Michael Schulman.

Director Chloe Zhao, speaking with Michael Schulman.

More in a moment.

Chloe Hsiao's Hamnet is nominated for eight Academy Awards.

And Michael Shulman will be in L.A.

covering the Oscars, just as he has for many years before.

And you can always read him at newyorker.com.

And you can also subscribe to The New Yorker there as well, newyorker.com.

I'm David Remnick.

This is The New Yorker Radio Hour.

See you next time.

This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.

This is The New Yorker Radio Hour.