# Hamnet: The Truth Behind The Oscar-Winner Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/queens-kings-and-dastardly-things-6677838/hamnet-the-truth-behind-the-oscar-winner Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/queens-kings-and-dastardly-things-6677838/hamnet-the-truth-behind-the-oscar-winner.md Podcast: [Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things](https://stenobird.com/podcast/queens-kings-and-dastardly-things-6677838) Published: 2026-03-09T00:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/queens-kings-and-dastardly-things/episodes/hamnet-history-meets-hollywood Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/6846a16db5ac093b0ca993ec/e/69aaa30ae2ffe1fef626f29e/media.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/queens-kings-and-dastardly-things-6677838/episodes/hamnet-the-truth-behind-the-oscar-winner Duration seconds: 1999 ## Resource Shakespeare, Hollywood, the Oscars, the plague, and a little boy called Hamnet. In this episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams are joined by historian Alice Loxton to explore the extraordinary new film Hamnet — the Oscar-tipped adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel. Set in late 16th-century Stratford-upon-Avon and plague-stricken London, the film imagines the private world of William Shakespeare, his wife Anne Hathaway — here called Agnes — and their three children. When their son Hamnet dies in 1596, the story asks a haunting question: did that loss shape the creation of the play Hamlet? We explore Tudor childbirth, superstition and healing, the realities of plague in Elizabethan England, and the fragile line between history and imagination. Who was Anne Hathaway really? A healer? A neglected wife? A woman left to manage home and grief while her husband built a theatrical empire? Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams Series Producer: Ben Devlin Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini  Content Editor: Joseph Palmer Executive Producer: Bella Soames A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular. Sign up to Palace Confidential, the FREE royals newsletter from the Mail's top experts. Delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday, it's the smartest way to stay in the royal inner circle. Just head to dailymail.co.uk/palaceconfidential to sign up today.    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/queens-kings-and-dastardly-things-6677838/episodes/hamnet-the-truth-behind-the-oscar-winner/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/queens-kings-and-dastardly-things-6677838/hamnet-the-truth-behind-the-oscar-winner.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.