Selected Shorts

By Symphony Space

What's Selected Shorts about?

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.

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What's Left Behind

08.11.2022

Host Meg Wolitzer presents three diverse stories that look at what gets left behind when life changes, gradually or suddenly. Restless retirees try on the ultimate next step in Greg Ames’ funny “Funeral Platter,” performed by Michael McKean and Annette ...

Selected Shorts episodes:

08.11.2022 What's Left Behind Host Meg Wolitzer presents three diverse stories that look at what gets left behind when life changes, gradually or suddenly. Restless retirees try on the ultimate next step in Greg Ames’ funny “Funeral Platter,” performed by Michael McKean and Annette ...
08.04.2022 Hitched Host Meg Wolitzer presents three pieces about marriages that outlive the romance. In Etgar Keret’s “A World without Selfie Sticks,” performed by Tate Donovan, a man meets the woman of his dreams; but she’s from an alternate universe. “On the ...
08.01.2022 Too Hot for Radio Rabih Alameddine: "The Prom Terrorists" An FBI probe into potential terrorists at a prom is the perfect setup for this high-paced satire that covers youth, sex, politics, religion, education, and the government. Written by the award-winning author of Wrong End of the Telescope, and read ...
07.28.2022 You've Lost It Host Meg Wolitzer presents three pieces about losing things: objects, opportunities, a primary sense, a new friendship. In “Any Other” by Jac Jemc, performed by Helen Hong, a woman rejects an offer without knowing the consequences. Namwali Serpell’s “Noseless” is ...
07.21.2022 Truly, Madly Host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about the course of true love, from two very different perspectives. Sigrid Nunez explores a roller-coaster romance in a small town in “This Is It,” performed by Christina Pickles, and Simon Rich offers up ...
07.21.2022 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 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
07.14.2022 TRY THIS ON: STORIES FROM AN EVENING WITH NEW YORK MAGAZINE’S ‘THE CUT’ This week we reprise a great show from our archives: guest host Cynthia Nixon presents stories from New York Magazine’s online portal “The Cut,” which combines art, journalism, and the kind of fresh contemporary fiction that speaks to us. On ...
07.07.2022 COMING AND GOING Host Meg Wolitzer presents four stories about journeys, both physical and emotional. Strangers size one another up on a busy city bus in Kurt Vonnegut’s “City,” performed by Bhavesh Patel and Sarah Steele. An excerpt from James Baldwin’s Another Country ...
06.30.2022 Who? What? Where? Host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories that ask the big, basic questions: Who? What? Where? The characters resonate, the situations are intriguing, and each offers a fully realized world. In “What Animal Are You?,” by Etgar Keret, performed by Willem ...
06.23.2022 Ferocious Figureheads Host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about indomitable women. A mother grieves a loss fiercely in Carribean Fragoza’s “Lumberjack Mom,” performed by Roberta Colindrez. And Richard Yates’ classic “Fun with a Stranger” offers a portrait of an unforgettable teacher. It’s ...
06.16.2022 Dangerous Women Host Meg Wolitzer presents three works about women who defy the status quo and might therefore be perceived as “dangerous.” In Margaret Atwood’s “Unpopular Gals,” fairy-tale archetypes reclaim their power. The reader is Ann Harada. A boisterous and brilliant student ...
06.16.2022 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 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
05.26.2022 A POINT OF HONOR For Memorial Day, host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories that feature men in uniform, codes of honor, and how conflicts can sometime lead to connection. Maile Meloy’s “Red,” performed by Keith Szarabajka, takes place in London during the Blitz, where ...
05.02.2022 Too Hot for Radio: Helena Araújo "Asthmatic" A story by the Columbian-born author, set in the turbulent 70’s as a group of would-be radicals devises a plan that quickly goes awry (the narrator might be the most pathetic revolutionary ever). The story is read by Peter Jay ...
04.14.2022 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 ...
03.28.2022 Too Hot for Radio: N.K. Jemisin "The Storyteller's Replacement" A haunting story from one of the major figures in modern speculative fiction, short story- and novel-writer N.K. Jemisin.The New York Times called her “The Most Celebrated Science Fiction And Fantasy Writer of Her Generation," with good reason. Beautifully read ...
02.17.2022 Coming of Age Guest host Tayari Jones presents stories about rites of passage between childhood and adulthood. In Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector’s lyrical “The First Kiss,” a young boy has his first brush with the sensual. Pepe Nufrio is the reader. A fiery ...
01.31.2022 Too Hot for Radio: Souvankham Thammavongsa "Slingshot" A story about sexual encounters between the seventy-year-old narrator, voiced by Kathleen Chalfant, and her thirty-two-year-old neighbor Richard.
11.22.2021 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 (Devs). Join and give!: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/symphonyspacenyc?code=Splashpage See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
08.09.2021 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 work in TV, movies, and his podcast, The Tobolowsky Files. Join ...
11.05.2020 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 Drama,” performed by Cynthia Nixon—an ambitious writer overwhelms her idol; “Rapture,” ...

Selected Shorts

What's Selected Shorts about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Selected Shorts episodes:

What's Left Behind

Hitched

Too Hot for Radio Rabih Alameddine: "The Prom Terrorists"

You've Lost It

Truly, Madly

Host Meg Wolitzer Talks to Comedian Michael Ian Black

TRY THIS ON: STORIES FROM AN EVENING WITH NEW YORK MAGAZINE’S ‘THE CUT’

COMING AND GOING

Who? What? Where?

Ferocious Figureheads

Dangerous Women

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

A POINT OF HONOR

Too Hot for Radio: Helena Araújo "Asthmatic"

Bonus: Meg Wolitzer and Alison Stewart Talk Fiction

Too Hot for Radio: N.K. Jemisin "The Storyteller's Replacement"

Coming of Age

Too Hot for Radio: Souvankham Thammavongsa "Slingshot"

Too Hot for Radio: Rick Moody "The Grid"

Too Hot for Radio: Stephen Tobolowsky "Listen to the Dog"

Only Human: Anton Chekhov

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