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PODCAST

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, from Symphony Space.

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All Episodes

00:59:32

Better with You?

Selected Shorts ·

2025/09/25

On this Selected Shorts, host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about the risks and rewards of making things “better.” In Kim Fu’s “Fair,” a Selected Shorts commission, a woman’s envy of her neighbors takes a dramatic turn. The reader is Julie Benko. In Kristen Iskandrian’s “Quantum Voicemail,” a long-distance friendship is tested by a bold move. The reader is Lauren Ambrose. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal

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00:59:29

The Way I See It

Selected Shorts ·

2025/09/18

On this Selected Shorts, host Meg Wolitzer offers up stories about limited viewpoints and larger visions. In “You Can Find Love Now" by Ramona Ausubel, performed by Amy Ryan and Martin Short, an unusual character drops into the dating pool; in “The Weave,” by Charles Johnson, performed by Arnell Powell, a heist gets hairy; and in J. Robert Lennon’s “Blue Light, Red Light,” a child's fears find his family seeking tech support. It’s performed by Fred Hechinger.Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz

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00:32:49

Tell Me More: Kathryn Nicolai

Selected Shorts ·

2025/09/15

The host of Selected Shorts, Meg Wolitzer launches the spin-off podcast, Tell Me More. If you know Selected Shorts you know that we're obsessed with stories. This new show will give us the chance to talk about many different kinds of stories—not just fiction! In the future, we'll talk to actors and journalists and, who knows, scientists, visual artists, even chefs. Creative people all tell stories of some kind, and this is our chance to look behind the scenes and find out how those stories get

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00:59:04

Reinventing the Wheel

Selected Shorts ·

2025/09/11

Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about the attraction and perils of reinvention.In “Kerosene,” by Simon Rich, timing is all in matters of invention. The reader is Santino Fontana. Attentive parents want to keep their baby safe at all costs in “The Cage,” by Tania James, read by Nicole Kang. And a widowed man looks for love—with some guidance from his late wife--in “The Dark,” by Jess Walter, read by Jason Alexander.

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00:56:46

Tangled Lives

Selected Shorts ·

2025/09/04

Host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about those moments, those situations, those people that pull you in and won’t let you go. These works focus on unexpected encounters that end up affecting a character's life in some unusual or enduring way. “Missed Connection—M4W” by Raphael Bob-Waksberg takes the idea of “chance encounter” to its limits. It’s performed by Richard Kind. “My Years of Living Dangerously” by Danielle Henderson explores the idea of sin and redemption. It’s performed by Karen

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00:56:14

Meet the Neighbors

Selected Shorts ·

2025/08/28

Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about neighbors and the unexpected relationships that can develop between people who live adjacent to one another. In Tess Gallagher’s “Mr. Woodriff’s Neckties,” a famous novelist lets his neighbor in on a secret. The reader is Dion Graham. In “Hoodie in Xanadu,” by Ann Beattie, a woman discovers that her shy neighbor possesses creative genius. The story is performed by Kirsten Vangsness.

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00:58:15

McSweeney’s 25th Anniversary Extravaganza

Selected Shorts ·

2025/08/21

Meg Wolitzer presents stories celebrating a quarter century of clever, funny, playful, weird, and literary writing, in print and online, showcased by the powerhouse indie publisher McSweeney’s. These include a comic fantasy, “Poor Little Egg-Boy Hatched in a Shul, by Nathan Englander, performed by Ophira Eisenberg; an unusual mother/son story, “Crumb Cake,” by Etgar Keret, performed by Andy Richter; and unlikely heroism at the amusement park in “Stay Brave, My Hercules,” by Ernie Wang, performed

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00:58:06

Perfectly Unmatched

Selected Shorts ·

2025/08/14

Host Meg Wolitzer presents perfect mismatches. In “The Man and the Moose” by Ben Loory, performed by Michael Cerveris, a man’s best bud has antlers. In “Red Dirt Don't Wash” by Roger Mais, performed by Brandon J. Dirden, a young man’s courtship is at risk—she doesn’t like his shoes. And a piano lesson is out of tune in “The Piano Teacher’s Pupil” by William Trevor, performed by Kathryn Erbe.

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00:59:39

Come Out Swinging

Selected Shorts ·

2025/08/07

Meg Wolitzer presents three works about squabbles between people who love one another most. Jenny Allen’s “In the Car” chronicles the European road trip of a long married couple—and he won’t ask for directions. The reader is Alysia Reiner. In Jade Jones’ “Your Aunt Thinks She Ramona Africa,” a close family doesn’t know what to do with a nonconformist. Crystal Dickinson reads. And in “CobRa,” by Katherine Heiny, the methods of uncluttering guru Marie Kondo almost tidy away a marriage. Peter

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00:38:37

Too Hot For Radio: Roxane Gay "Requiem for a Glass...

Selected Shorts ·

2025/08/04

This story was read as a part of a live show hosted by the great Judy Blume, on the subject of banned books, something she personally knows about. This story hasn't been banned on its own, but many of Roxane Gay's works have, including Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture and Hunger: A Memoir of My Body. Because these bans are so prevalent, and so pernicious, we wanted to talk about that cultural argument, too. Surprising to absolutely no one, we at Too Hot are free speech boosters; so after

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01:05:41

Classics from The New Yorker

Selected Shorts ·

2025/07/31

Meg Wolitzerpresents three stories featured in the anthology A Century of Fiction in the New Yorker.The magazine celebrates its 100th birthday, and this is the second of two programs this season in which we join the party. Robert Coover’s “Going for a Beer” begins with a date and a drink, but you’ll be surprised where it ends up. The reader is SELECTED SHORTS’ late founder and host, Isaiah Sheffer. Cynthia Ozick’s moving story “The Shawl” pulls grace from the worst of circumstances in a powerful

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00:59:06

Reading Between the Lines

Selected Shorts ·

2025/07/24

Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about the things she loves most: books and words and why they matter. In Ben Loory’s “The Book,” a contrarian volume becomes a literary sensation, and alters one woman’s life. The reader is Jane Kaczmarek. In “Things I Know to be True” by Kendra Fortmeyer, originally published in One Story, a damaged veteran uses words to hold his life together. The reader is Calvin Leon Smith. And in a special feature, Wolitzer visits a favorite indie bookstore, Three Lives &

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00:59:58

Sizzling Summer Travels

Selected Shorts ·

2025/07/17

Host Meg Wolitzer presents a quartet of summer stories. Umberto Eco endures trial by mini bar in “How to Travel with a Salmon,” read by Jin Hah. A scenic getaway turns eerie in Elizabeth Spencer’s “The Weekend Travelers,” read by Campbell Scott. Life looks up—way up—for an overworked restaurant owner in “The Man, The Restaurant, and the Eiffel Tower,” by Ben Loory, read by Stana Katic. And upper-class “frenemies” have a reckoning in Edith Wharton’s “Roman Fever,” read by Maria Tucci.

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00:58:08

Sleight of Hand

Selected Shorts ·

2025/07/10

Meg Wolitzer presents stories that take the idea of “the magic of fiction” literally—or literarily. The British writer Penelope Lively offers up a tricky combination of love and real estate in “The Third Wife,” performed by real-life husband and wife Patricia Kalember and Daniel Gerroll. The only “trick” in our next story, “Tempo,” by R.O. Kwon, is the trick the mind plays when it wishes the present would restore a lost bit of the past. The reader is Hettienne Park. And Dave Eggers’ “The Alaska of

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00:58:36

Laughing in the Face of Danger

Selected Shorts ·

2025/07/03

Meg Wolitzer presents four works that consider various forms of risk, and risk taking. In “Clicking on Heaven’s Door,” by Anand Giridharadas, performed by Negin Farsad, the pearly gates require an online account, a password, a security question…you get the idea. “The Stand-In,” by Gerald Jones and Jean Marple, imagines a unique job. It’s read by Tony Hale. David Sedaris creates the ultimate in well-meant interference in other people’s lives—oh, and there’s a parrot. “Farnsworth” is read by

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00:57:24

Margaret Atwood: Future Imperfect

Selected Shorts ·

2025/06/26

Meg Wolitzer presents stories by the incomparable Margaret Atwood, drawn from SELECTED SHORTS’ archives and a live performance evening hosted by the author. “There Was Once” is a brief satire about the art of writing and the importance of free speech. It’s performed by René Auberjonois, Zach Grenier, and Jane Kaczmarek. “Widows,” performed by Ellen Burstyn, is a delicate and ironic tale in which a recently widowed woman becomes accustomed to her new role. And Atwood is in full dystopian throttle in

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00:17:54

Bonus: A.M. Homes interviews Margaret Atwood

Selected Shorts ·

2025/06/26

As part of our live event with Margaret Atwood, host A.M. Homes interviewed her from the stage at Symphony Space. Here is that interview.

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00:58:57

The New You

Selected Shorts ·

2025/06/19

Host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about personal transformation.In Kenneth Calhoun’s “Mindless in America,” a SELECTED SHORTS commission, a couple trapped by their own technology resolves to lead a simpler life. The reader is Justin Kirk. In “D Day,” by Rachel Khong, God has a Plan B for the human race. Spoiler alert—how do you think you’d look with a tail? Or scales? The reader is Katrina Lenk.

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01:00:06

Romance of the Summer

Selected Shorts ·

2025/06/12

Host Meg Wolitzer presents three works that reflect on the allure—or not—of summer. In Massimo Bontempelli’s “The Miraculous Beach or, Prize for Modesty,” translated by Jenny McPhee, a hot summer in Rome produces a magical moment. The reader is Hugh Dancy. Essayist and humorist Samantha Irby could do without summer, thank you, and makes “A Case for Remaining in Doors”, performed by Retta. And Denis O’Hare reads a baseball classic, W.P. Kinsella’s “The Thrill of the Grass.”

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00:58:15

Pride Inside

Selected Shorts ·

2025/06/05

It’s June, time to celebrate Pride privately and publicly. Host Meg Wolitzer presents four works that celebrate the complexities of love family and belonging. Ivan E. Coyote’s “No Bikini,” read by Becca Blackwell, offers one child’s act of quiet rebellion. Lovers drift together, and apart, in Michael Cunningham’s “Sleepless,” read by Mike Doyle. A newish couple faces harsh weather in Deesha Philyaw’s “Snowfall,” read by Michelle Beck, and poet Kay Ulanday Barrett shares their “Song for the Kicked

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118 results

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