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

Too Hot for Radio: Rick Moody “The Grid”

From the author of novels including The Ice Storm and Purple America, a story about love, longing, and most importantly, putting your lips on somebody. Performed by Jin Ha...

Too Hot for Radio: Stephen Tobolowsky “Listen to the Dog”

Writer and character actor Stephen Tobolowsky reads his own story about a Thanksgiving dinner that takes a most unexpected turn. Later he talks to host Aparna Nancherla about his...

Rites & Rituals

Guest host David Sedaris offers three stories that question social rites. “Cultural Relativity” is Charles Johnson’s witty retelling of a classic fairy tale; it’s read by Regina King. Zadie...

Too Hot For Radio: Becky Mandelbaum “Queen of England”

Actor Robin Lord Taylor (You, Gotham) performs a story about a single mom with two unruly sons. And later in the podcast, host Aparna Nancherla talks to Sarah Thyre...

Modern Fables

Guest host Kirsten Vangsness presents two contemporary fables. First, Michael Cunningham reimagines the Hans Christian Andersen class “A Wild Swan,” in a reading by Valorie Curry. Next, an excerpt...

Extended Families

Guest host Jane Curtin presents two stories featuring unconventional families. A young girl is raised by a group of warm-hearted “mamas” in Shay Youngblood’s touching coming-of-age story, “They Tell...

Look Again

Guest host Maulik Pancholy presents two stories in which young protagonists have their lives altered by acts of perception. A ten-year old girl takes a care-free walk in the...

Only Human: Anton Chekhov

Guest host Jane Curtin presents works by Anton Chekhov that were part of a celebration sponsored by Columbia University and hosted by Chekhov scholar Laura Strausfeld. We’ll hear “A...

It’s a Sign

Guest host Maulik Pancholy presents two stories in which unexpected encounters and visitations result in new love. In Ana Menéndez’s “Story of a Parrot,” a colorful bird revives a...

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