On this week’s SELECTED SHORTS, we're going to hear stories about students and schools that abandon the usual rules to follow their own, unusual, codes of behavior.   In "Singin' in the Acid Rain," by Patricia Marx, performed by Katrina Lenk, it’s recess at a post-apocalyptic school.  Marx talks with Meg Wolitzer about the story and her unique brand of humor after the read. The class in “The School,” by Donald Barthelme, performed by Laura Esterman, is facing a difficult test; and young love is framed by larger issues in "Melvin in the Sixth Grade," by Dana Johnson, performed by Nikki M. James.   We hear from James about this nuanced rite-of-passage story. 

Host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories that reflect on the beauty and vulnerability of the natural world. In “Joyas Voladoras,” by Brian Doyle, we hear the many different heartbeats of the natural kingdom.The reader is Becca Blackwell. And a talking fox has a lot to tell us about reading aloud, shopping malls, and fried chicken “Fox 8,” a darkly funny fable by George Saunders read by John Cameron Mitchell.  And we’re joined by the mother/daughter book club we’ve featured on a couple of earlier episodes, which discusses “Fox 8,” at the end of the show.

A routine that never changes can get old. So this week on Selected Shorts, host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories that shake up domestic life, teaching the characters something new about themselves and their circumstances. In “Scaffolding Man” by Jenny Allen, performed by Patricia Kalember, a woman in a drab marriage is intrigued by a “hot” stranger. In "Myrna's Dad" by Cyn Vargas, a father’s changing occupations hide a family secret. The reader is Krystina Alabado. And in “Overtime” by Hilma Wolitzer (Meg’s mom), read by Becky Ann Baker, a happy couple gets a jolt when the man’s ex moves into their apartment. After the story, Meg interviews Hilma about what gave her the idea and her writing in general.

Host Meg Wolitzerpresents works that reflect on the loss of love, creatively imagined by a quartet of thoughtful writers.  In “The Space,” by Christopher Boucher, a lost love is replaced by—her absence.  The reader is Rob Yang.  In Wendi Kaufman’s “Helen on Eighty-Sixth Street,” the loss is the backstory, as a lively ‘tween, voiced by Donna Lynne Champlin, finds ways to deflect the emotional fallout from her father’s absence.  Sharon Olds’ wrenching poem, “Last Look,” read by Jane Kaczmarek, is our palette clearer before we close with a Raymond Carver classic, “Why Don’t You Dance?”The couple idly roving a lawn sale don’t realize they are walking through the detritus of lost relationship.The reader is Corey Stoll.

The author of the story is Carlos Greaves. His stories have been featured in The New Yorker and McSweeney's. Reading this story is Jon Cameron Mitchell who wrote and starred in Hedwig and the Angry Inch—the musical and its film adaptation—and has made memorable appearances in series including Girls, Shrill, and City on Fire. And he continues to follow his passions with projects such as his musical podcast Anthem: Homunculus. After the story, host Aparna Nancherla talks to Greaves about his work, and yes, Satan.

Host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about objects of love, and feelings that can't be returned, for very different reasons. In “A Love Letter” by Greg Ames, a boy falls head over heels in a crosswalk. Actor and Young Adult author Maulik Pancholy really captures teen ardor and angst in his reading. And in Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s “Sugar Babies,” another teenager learns about adult responsibility from an everyday pantry staple. The reader is Sonia Manzano.

Meg Wolitzer presents four works drawn from an evening of satirical stories about American political history, hosted by Andy Borowitz.Nothing is sacred.  First, Joe Yan imagines Abraham Lincoln, huckster, in “I’m Abraham Lincoln and I Beg Of You, Please Commemorate My Birthday With Mattress Sales,” read by Ikechukwu Ufomadu.  In “Running for Governor,” Mark Twain imagines himself in the political horse race.  The reader is John Cameron Mitchell.  John and Abigail Adams had a famously happy marriage, despite often being apart, and why not imagine them taking advantage of the 18th century version of modern media options?  That’s the premise of Alexandra Petri’s “John and Abigail Adams Try Sexting,” read by Ophira Eisenberg and Ikechukwu Ufomadu.  And the show wraps with a piece by Borowitz himself, “A Very Nixon Halloween,” inspired by a photograph of Nixon as an awkward civilian after he left office.The reader is Caroline Aaron.

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

Rarely do we devote one show to just one writer, but on this Selected Shorts, we turn the show over to universally beloved author George Saunders. Saunders somehow finds the good, or at any rate the imperfectly human, in his characters. The result is a catalog as funny as it is moving, as devastating as it is hopeful. On this program, two stories that perfectly illustrate this. “Love Letter” is from Saunders’ latest collection Liberation Day. In it, an anxious grandfather who is ambivalent about the state of the world counsels an older grandchild. “Love Letter” is read by Stephen Colbert. And a favorite from our archives, “The Falls,” shows us two flawed men given a chance to do the right thing. René Auberjonois reads. The show also includes a conversation between host Meg Wolitzer and Saunders.

Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about the tricky subject of envy that question whether the grass is in fact always greener somewhere else.In Alexandra Petri’s “Seneca Falls for You,” feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton almost gets trapped in a romance novel.The reader is Ophira Eisenberg.  Ben Phillipe’s sly fairy tale, “The Luck of Others,” read by Joanna Gleason, reminds us to beware of what we wish for.  And a small town charity auction surfaces envy and confusion in George Saunders’ “Al Roosten,” read by Tony Hale.