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Selected Shorts

Selected Shorts

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.

538 - Embracing Change
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  • 538 - Embracing Change

    On this episode of Selected Shorts, host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about change. A playful fantasy, a domestic dilemma, and a private struggle help us to adjust to the idea of transformation, losses, and gains. In “Sea Monster,” by Seth Fried, performed by Natasha Rothwell, a husband and wife reveal their secret identities to each other. In “Death by Printer,” by Mira Jacob, read by Rita Wolf, a widow learns to cope with loss—and technology. And a mature woman embraces the self she is becoming in Maile Meloy’s “Period Piece,” performed by Kelli O’Hara. The last two stories were commissioned for Selected Shorts’ anthology Small Odysseys.

    Thu, 21 Mar 2024 - 57min
  • 537 - 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.

    Thu, 14 Mar 2024 - 1h 03min
  • 536 - 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.

    Thu, 7 Mar 2024 - 57min
  • 535 - 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.

    Mon, 4 Mar 2024 - 29min
  • 534 - Extended Families

    Host Meg Wolitzer presents two works with unusual family dynamics. In Zadie Smith’s “Grand Union,” the mother-daughter bond transcends death and brings with it a whole family history. The reader is Kaneza Schaal. And Richard Bausch’s “What Feels Like the World,” read by James Naughton, explores the bond between a grandparent and a grandchild.

    Thu, 29 Feb 2024 - 56min
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