Critics at Large | The New Yorker The Hall of Fame—and of Shame—of Oscars Hosts
10 snips
Mar 5, 2026 
Michael Schulman, New Yorker staff writer and author of Oscar Wars, provides historical context on Oscars hosting. He and the panel revisit classic triumphs and cringe-making flops. They discuss why hosting is so hard, the insider-outsider comedy balance, and how celebrity culture and changing tastes shape who succeeds on the Oscars stage.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Host Must Be Both Celebratory And Irreverent
- Hosting success depends on balancing celebration and satire rather than pure roasting or reverence.
- Naomi Fry and Vinson Cunningham highlight Conan O'Brien and Billy Crystal as hosts who brought joy while gently skewering Hollywood, earning audience trust.
Two Audiences Make The Job Twice As Hard
- The Oscars host must perform for two audiences simultaneously: the in-room crowd and the television viewers.
- Vinson Cunningham explains failure happens when a host wins one room but loses the other, because televisual success requires room success first.
Calibrate Roasts By Building Rapport First
- Read the room and calibrate roast intensity to audience rapport to avoid alienation.
- Naomi Fry praises Nikki Glaser's ability to roast stars like Leonardo DiCaprio then 'warm it over' so they still laugh along.
