Selected Shorts

Selected Shorts

By Symphony Space

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.

Episodes

Romance of the Summer

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.” 
12/06/251h

Pride Inside

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 Out.”
05/06/2558m 15s

Too Hot For Radio: Rachel B. Glaser "Ira and the Whale"

Rachel B. Glaser has been recognized as one of Granta Magazine's Best Young American Novelists, and her work has been showcased in prestigious publications such as The Paris Review and McSweeney's. "Ira & the Whale" was honored with an O. Henry Prize in 2023. Jeff Hiller is an actor who has been a charming anchor of the HBO series Somebody Somewhere. He's appeared in many other funny shows, such as 30 Rock; was on Broadway in the musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson; and performs solo shows at Joe's Pub. After the reading, Hiller talked to host Aparna Nancherla about the character, finding your place in the world, and his own book, Actress of a Certain Age, which come out in June of 2025.
02/06/2535m 22s

Celebrating the O. Henry Prize, with Amor Towles

Host Meg Wolitzer is presents two stories from a live SELECTED SHORTS evening celebrating the O. Henry Prize, with guest editor Amor Towles, bestselling author of volumes including A Gentleman from Moscow.On today’s show, Allegra Hyde imagines the very near future as a never-ending road trip, in “Mobilization,” read by Jane Kaczmarek.  And a family is disrupted by the arrival of a young woman in “The Import,” by Jai Chakrabarti, read by Arjun Gupta.
29/05/2558m 14s

With A Little Help

Host Meg Wolitzer presents four stories in which characters give, and get, a little assistance, from friends, strangers and family. A daughter copes with a cantankerous parent in “How to Take Dad to the Doctor” by Jenny Allen, performed by Jennifer Mudge. A woman moves to a new town and makes a strange new friend in Laura van den Berg’s “Friends,” performed by Roberta Colindrez. A Tyrolean café improbably situated in South America is home to mysterious strangers and new and old romances, in Isabel Allende’s “The Little Heidelberg.” It’s performed by Kathleen Turner. And a budding singer and socialist gets unwelcome help from Mom in Grace Paley’s “Injustice,” performed by Jackie Hoffman.
22/05/2559m 26s

The New Yorker: A Century of Fiction

Host Meg Wolitzer presents a program celebrating the 100th anniversary of The New Yorker.  One of the magazine’s strengths has always been its fiction, and honor of this winning literary streak, this year saw the release of the collection, A Century of Fiction in The New Yorker. The quartet of stories on this show is drawn from that volume.  The program includes a pithy satire by E. B. White, “Life Cycle of a Literary Genius,” read by Liev Schreiber; “Love,” by William Maxwell, a tender recounting of an collective adolescent crush, read by Fred Hechinger; “Bullet in the Brain,” a powerful reversal of fortune tale by Tobias Wolff, read by Liev Schreiber; and “All Will be Well,” an intriguing tangle of truths and half-truths by Yiyun Li, read by Ann Harada. 
15/05/2559m 39s

Hiding in Plain Sight

Host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about secrets that are just beneath the surface of the narratives and lives of the characters.  In Walter Dean Myers’ “The Beast in the Labyrinth” children must conceal their real selves in a hostile society.  The reader is Jelani Alladin.  And the Shirley Jackson classic “The Lottery” demonstrates how the inconceivable can become the norm in a community if everyone accepts it.  The reader is Amy Ryan. 
08/05/2558m 14s

Best American Short Stories 2022

Selected Shorts celebrates this important collection each year, and this show, presented by host Meg Wolitzer, reprises works from the 2022 Best American edition selected by guest editor Andrew Sean Greer. Included are “The Little Widow from the Capital,” by Yohanca Delgado, performed by Krystina Alabado, and a second story selected by John Updike for the volume Best American Stories of the Century.  It’s Grace Stone Coates’ “Wild Plums,” performed by Mia Dillon.
01/05/2558m 14s

Adios, Sayonara, Goodbye!

Host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories by contemporary Japanese writers that were featured during a live program created in collaboration with the Japan Society. Each touches on the idea of letting go.  In “Hawaii,” Aoko Matsuda imagines a afterlife for garments.  It’s read by Maria Dizzia.  In “Sunrise,” by Erika Kobayashi, a woman’s life parallels the world of nuclear power.  The reader is Rita Wolf.  And Hugh Dancy meets a mermaid in Hiromi Kawakami’s “I Won’t Let You Go.”
24/04/2557m 16s

Too Hot for Radio: Jen Spyra "The Ballad of Bagel Rat"

"The Ballad of Bagel Rat," is by Jen Spyra. She's written for The Onion, The New Yorker, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. After reading her short story collection Big Time, we not only brought two of Spyra's stories to the stage, but commissioned this one, too. Actor Busy Phillips read this story onstage. She's been in shows from Freaks & Geeks to Cougar Town, though these days you may know her from Girls5Eva or the movie musical Mean Girls. Also, she is the best at social media—which gave her a strange kind of insight into this story. This episode is hosted by Aparna Nancherla.
03/03/2528m 9s

Bonus: Meg Wolitzer Talks with Judy Blume

Meg Wolitzer speaks with author Judy Blume about her life, her writing and the challenges of book banning.
16/01/2514m 59s

A Conversation with Andy Borowitz

Host Meg Wolitzer talks with political satirist and author Andy Borowitz in this bonus interview.
24/10/2413m 32s

Too Hot For Radio: Ottessa Moshfegh "The Weirdos"

From the author of Eileen and My Year of Rest and Relaxation, a story about weird people doing weird things. Read by Colby Minifie from The Boys, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Fear the Walking Dead. Michael Ian Black hosts this episode, which includes an interview with Moshfegh.
02/09/2442m 39s

Picture Perfect

Host Meg Wolitzer presents three works about idealized lives, and ideas about what constitutes an “ideal” life.  “Boy Meets Girl” is Jen Kim’s humorous version of a Hollywood love story.  It’s read by Tony Hale.  In the John Cheever classic “The Worm in the Apple” a couple have the perfect life—but no one can believe it.  It’s read by Anne Meara.  And a harried mother fantasizes about a brand new life in Vanessa Cuti’s “Our Children,” performed by Claire Danes, followed by an interview with Danes..
06/06/241h 1m

Bonus: A Conversation with Elizabeth Strout

 Host Meg Wolitzer talks with author Elizabeth Strout about her story “Home” and the fictional family Strout has created.
04/04/2410m 31s

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. 
15/02/2414m 52s

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.
08/02/2416m 1s

Bonus: Meg Wolitzer Visits Her Favorite Indie Bookstore

Host Meg Wolitzer visits a favorite indie bookstore, Three Lives & Company in Greenwich Village, remembers her early years there as a writer and reader, and is let in on some trade secrets.
29/06/2315m 56s

Bonus: Margaret Atwood and A.M. Homes

In this bonus conversation, writers Margaret Atwood and A.M. Homes discuss everything from feminism, time, writing and dystopian fiction, to Atwood’s new short story collection “Old Babes in the Wood.” The interview was recorded in front of a live audience at Symphony Space.
15/06/2317m 54s

Bonus: Meg Wolitzer Talks to Alison Stewart

In this bonus conversation, host and best-selling author, Meg Wolitzer, talks to host of WNYC’s All of It, Alison Stewart. Wolitzer reveals some of the secrets to great writing and the two share their own reading habits and thoughts about the importance of fiction.
08/06/239m 12s

Bonus: Meg Wolitzer Talks to Patricia Marx

In this bonus conversation, host Meg Wolitzer talks to friend and New Yorker humorist Patricia Marx about her story “Singin’ in the Acid Rain,” and writing funny. 
09/02/2312m 18s

Bonus: Meg Wolitzer Talks with George Saunders

In this bonus conversation, host Meg Wolitzer talks to friend and Booker Prize-winning author George Saunders about crafting short stories, where ideas come from, and how his work has evolved over the years. 
12/01/2320m 15s

Bonus: Meg Wolitzer Talks to Elizabeth Strout

In this bonus conversation, host Meg Wolitzer talks to friend and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout about writing, short stories, and the use of recurring characters in her work.
08/09/2210m 31s

Host Meg Wolitzer Talks to Comedian Michael Ian Black

In this bonus conversation, host Meg Wolitzer talks to comedian and writer Michael Ian Black about what he’s been reading and the tricky business of being funny. Join and give!: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/symphonyspacenyc?code=Splashpage
21/07/2219m 22s

Bonus: Meg Wolitzer and Mona Eltahawy Talk Being a Dangerous Woman

In this bonus conversation, host Meg Wolitzer talks to journalist, activist and feminist writer Mona Eltahawy about her life, literature and what it means to be a "dangerous woman."Join and give!: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/symphonyspacenyc?code=Splashpage
16/06/2221m 51s

Bonus: Meg Wolitzer and Alison Stewart Talk Fiction

A bonus interview between our host and best-selling author, Meg Wolitzer, and the host of WNYC’s All of It, Alison Stewart. Wolitzer reveals some of the secrets to great writing and the two women share their own reading habits and thoughts about the importance of fiction. Join and give!: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/symphonyspacenyc?code=Splashpage
14/04/229m 12s
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