Selected Shorts

Our greatest actors transport us through the magic of fiction, one short story at a time. Sometimes funny. Always moving. Selected Shorts connects you to the world with a rich diversity of voices from literature, film, theater, and comedy. New episodes every Thursday. Produced and distributed by Symphony Space.


All Episodes

What’s Your Story?

Host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about the act of writing and how it can remake us–a prankish skit; a playful and tender investigation of creating with words; and a fraught social encounter between two characters who don’t ‘get’ each other’s stories. B.J. Novak takes on the old saying “Great Writers Steal” in a short piece read by Novak and Aasif Mandvi. In Etgar Keret’s “Creative Writing” a wife writes her way out of grief. It’s read by Alex Karpovsky. A dinner party becomes a scene of personal and political tension in Lorrie Moore’s “Foes,” performed by Joan Allen and Kyle MacLachlan. And Moore joins Wolitzer to talk about the story and creating fiction.

Elements of Nature

Host Meg Wolitzer presents four works in which nature and the out-of-doors drive both plots and character. Humorist Jenny Allen does battle with her stubborn plants in “Garden Growing Pains,” read by Kirsten Vangsness. The majestic Canadian border separates an Indigenous family in Thomas King’s “Borders,” read by Kimberly Guerrero. A housewife masters one of the elements in “Flying,” by Alyce Miller. The reader is Kirsten Vangness again. And a sudden storm creates a sense of abandon in the Kate Chopin classic “The Storm,” read by Jane Curtin. “Garden Growing Pains,” “Borders,” and “Flying,” were presented in cooperation with CacheArts and Utah Public Radio, KUSU-FM.

Too Hot for Radio: Erin Somers “Variations on the Same”

Paget Brewster and Andy Richter perform Erin Somers’ masterly comical and sardonic story about an overwhelmed mom who acts on her fantasy of getting away from it all.

Selected Shorts Goes to the Movies with the Tribeca Film Festival

Host Meg Wolitzer presents stories so compelling that they were adapted for the screen. Selected Shorts and the prestigious Tribeca Festival collaborated and came up with three works that crossed the boundaries between fiction and film. An eerie game has unexpected consequences in Richard Matheson’s “Button, Button,” performed by Marin Ireland. The story inspired the horror film “The Box” starring Cameron Diaz and Frank Langella. Michael Stuhlbarg gives a rousing performance of Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky;” and Andrea Martin reads the story that inspired the Hollywood classic All About Eve—Mary Orr’s “The Wisdom of Eve.”

Homewreckers

Host Meg Wolitzer presents two humorous stories about marriages not made in heaven. In James Thurber’s classic “The Breaking Up of the Winships,” a long-married couple fall out over Donald Duck. The reader is Kristine Nielsen. And in Louise Erdrich’s “The Big Cat,” read by Keir Dullea, two powerful wives, a bemused husband, and a symphony of bone-jarring snores. The program also features an interview with Erdrich.

Meg Wolitzer interviews Louise Erdrich

In this bonus conversation, host Meg Wolitzer talks to author Louise Erdrich about her story; her writing life; and what do with left over index cards.

Bonus: Meg Wolitzer Talks to Denis O’Hare

In this bonus conversation, host Meg Wolitzer talks to actor Denis O’Hare about his craft, and his approaches to readings of the two very different stories on this program.

Reality Checks

Host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories in which reality contrasts with the dreams, perceptions, and actions of the characters. In “The Leap,” by Louise Erdrich, a mother’s unusual skill set changes the outcome of events. The reader is Elizabeth Reaser. In “Death and the Lady,” by Ben Loory, even the Grim Reaper harbors illusions. And his parents’ damaged marriage haunts an adult child in Delmore Schwartz’s “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities.” Both the Loory and the Schwartz are read by multi-talented actor Denis O’Hare, and Wolitzer talks to him about his craft.

I Contain Multitudes

Host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about complex characters and the many different roles they play in each other’s lives and in the world around us. Cherline Bazile’s “Tender,” which guest editor Min Jin Lee included in Best American Short Stories 2023, reflects the contradictory nature of friendship. It’s read by Anna Uzele. The show features Min Jin Lee’s on-stage remarks about the story and contemporary fiction. Our second story, Grace Paley’s “The Contest,” reflects the contradictory nature of courtship, as the bewildered narrator is alternatively flattered and bullied by a girl with way more on the ball than he has. He tells us so himself, in the voice of actor Justin Bartha.

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