Host Meg Wolitzerpresents three stories about characters who try an end run around trouble, sometimes doing more harm than good.  In Joe Meno?s ?Animal Hospital? a well-meaning father is surprised by his kids response to ?let?s play doctor.?  The reader is Becky Anne Baker, and an interview with Meno is featured in the show.  In ?The Silk Handkerchief,? by Sait Faik Abasiyanik, a thief and a night watchman have a moment of rapport.  It?s read by Amir Arison.  And Margaret Atwood?s recurring couple Tig and Nell try to stave off the inevitable by taking a  ?First Aid? class. The reader is Maggie Siff.

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Host Meg Wolitzer presents the Explain Like I'm 5 podcast, a show that takes the questions you always wanted to ask and talks about them in a way that is easy to understand. Some times we want simple answers to complex questions! We here at Selected Shorts have become big fans and hope you enjoy it too!

Host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about sudden interventions that change lives.  In Stephen King?s ?The Fifth Step? a beguiling stranger asks for help.  The reader is David Morse.  In ?Blessed Deliverance,? by Jamel Brinkley, a neighborhood oddball may be its salvation.The reader is Teagle F. Bougere.

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Host Meg Wolitzer helps a great documentarian celebrate a great American author.  Cather is the of author of novels like My Antonia and O Pioneers! And Ken Burns hosted a live evening of her shorter works to celebrate her sesquicentennial?her 150th birthday, in 2023.  On this program, we feature ?The Way of the World,? in which an imaginary town?s young ?citizens? are rife with romance and rivalry.  The reader is Sonia Manzano.   And a weary farmer?s wife recaptures her long-dormant passion for music at ?A Wagner Matinee,? read by David Strathairn.

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Written by Carmen Maria Machado, the dark, inventive and sensual writer behind the collection Her Body and Other Parties, and the memoir In the Dream House, this story, ?Persephone Rides at the End of Days," was commissioned for the Selected Shorts anthology Small Odysseys. It's about a Greek goddess coming to terms with who and what she is. Is her name, meaning "bringer of death," her fate? Or will she channel the other side of her mythological self? Our reader is Cynthia Nixon, best known for her role on Sex & the City as well as its sequel, And Just Like That. She has also appeared in so many other television series, including The Gilded Age, and is big on Broadway. Aprana Nancherla hosts this episode.

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Host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about characters wrestling with their roles in life.  In ?The Ugly Sister,? by Joanne Harris, a fairy-tale villainess tells her side of the story.  The reader is Jayne Atkinson.  And a young wife struggles to find her place in a close-knit family in ?Underwater,? by Hannah Kingsley-Ma, read by Marin Ireland.

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Host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about finding solutions to complex problems, and to simple ones. T. C. Boyle tackles evolution and government intervention in ?Top of the Food Chain,? read by Zach Grenier. In Matthew Ryan Frankel?s ?Carapace,? a young boy struggles with feelings at a family funeral?with the help of some crabs. The reader is Philip Estrera. And a young woman traveling between two worlds and two families has to deal with what to put in ?The Suitcase? by Meron Hadero. The reader is Renée Elise Goldsberry. The show also includes an interview with Hadero.

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Meg Wolitzer presents three unexpected stories that let us see the holidays? associations?family, friends, food, gifts, and goodwill?in different ways.  Amy Krouse Rosenthal presents a playful encounter with the Almighty in ?Interview with God,? performed by Jayne Atkinson and James Naughton.  In Sherrie Flick?s ?Heidi is Dead,? read by Adina Verson, a second wife tries to tune in with her in-laws. And John Cheever?s ?Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor? is a richly comic and warmhearted look at giving and receiving.  Teagle F. Bougere reads.

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Host Meg Wolitzer presents two provocative stories that address the idea of communing with something ?other?.  In Etgar Keret?s ?Polar Bear? an AI program, and a lonely widow, commune.  The reader is Michael Imperioli. And Mom is close by?and full of unwanted advice?in ?The Acorn? by Elizabeth Stix, performed by Dylan Baker.

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Symphony Space was thrilled to host an evening with Israeli writer Etgar Keret, whose stories we?ve featured many times on Selected Shorts. He was interviewed by his longtime friend, and host of This American Life, Ira Glass. In this condensed version of their talk, they playfully challenge each other on a wide range of topics, some political, some creative, but mainly about what it?s like to live in these uncertain times.

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Host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about people inserting themselves into the lives of others?in their own best interests. In Simon Rich?s ?Relapse,? friends rally ?round when one of their numbers heeds the call of the muse. It?s read by Ophira Eisenberg. In Langston Hughes? ?Thank You, M?am,? read by Pauletta Washington, a fierce old lady sets a young man straight. And a young woman finds an ingenious way to cheer up retirees?and herself?in Miranda July?s ?The Swim Team,? read by Parker Posey.

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Meg Wolitzer sits down with her friend, writer Michael Cunningham. Michael is an American novelist, screenwriter, and educator. He is best known for his novel The Hours, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award and was later adapted into an Oscar-winning film and opera. What happens when two writers get together? Well, of course, they talk about writing, specifically his story, ?Jacked,? read by Jim Parsons, which we featured on Selected Shorts, but they also nerd out about the semicolon and Scrabble.

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Host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about the nature of time and how it shapes our lives. In Helen Phillips? ?The Knowers,? a woman chooses to learn a vital fact about her future, while her husband does not. Stockard Channing reads this thought-provoking fantasy. In Anita Felicelli?s ?Time Invents Us? a chance encounter turns the clock back for an aging artist. It?s read by Kirsten Vangness.

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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 made.

On this episode, podcaster and author Kathryn Nicolai of Nothing Much Happens joins Meg. The title of her podcast tells you a lot of what you need to know. Her show is entirely fiction written and performed for occasional insomniacs who need something calming in their ear at night to help them fall asleep. In their conversation, they get into the power of sleep, and the power of stories, and they unpack a curious condition in which people literally cannot picture things in their minds.

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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 the reading, we feature a fascinating talk with Amanda Jones, the author of That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America, who is on the frontline of this culture war in Louisiana. The story was read by actress Jessica Hecht. Our host is Aparna Nancherla.

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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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Meg Wolitzer speaks with author Judy Blume about her life, her writing and the challenges of book banning.

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Host Meg Wolitzer talks with political satirist and author Andy Borowitz in this bonus interview.

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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.

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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.

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Host Meg Wolitzer talks with author Elizabeth Strout about her story ?Home? and the fictional family Strout has created.

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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.

 

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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.

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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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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.

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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.

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

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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. 

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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."

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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.

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