Meg Wolitzer presents two stories with surprises the characters didn’t anticipate.  A smart Mom defies expectations in “Agouti,” by Brenda Williams, performed by Laurine Towler.  And a smart house has unexpected features in a classic by sci-fi master Ray Bradbury.Stephen Colbert reads “The Veldt.”

Meg Wolitzer presents two favorite Selected Shorts works in which food and nourishment figure both literally and symbolically.  The narrator of Haruki Murakami’s “The Year of Spaghetti” seems to be just sharing pasta recipes, but it’s the recipe for assuaging loneliness that may elude him.  The reader is Sopranos alum Michael Imperioli.  And unusual family dynamics shape Amy Bloom’s “Love is Not a Pie,” performed by Hope Davis.  We also share a discussion of this work by the mother and daughter book club organized by our frequent reader Rita Wolf and her daughter Anjeli.

Meg Wolitzerpresents a show of stories about replacements and stand-ins.  While we tend to crave the original, sometimes a substitute can bring more happiness than the “real” thing.  In Steve Almond’s “A Happy Dream,” read by Phil LaMarr, a young man assumes a new identity in pursuit of love.  In “A Brief Note on the Translation of Winter Women, Written by the Collective Dead, Translated by Amal Ruth,” a writer speaks for those who have passed.  The “real” author is Rivers Solomon, and the reader is TL Thompson.  In “Saying Goodbye to Yang,” by Alexander Weinstein, a robot child and its human family learn about love all at once. The reader is Tony Hale.

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Meg Wolitzer presents a show of stories about our need to have “proof of love”—some demonstration by those nearest and dearest of exactly how much they care.  A lot, in Etgar Keret’s sweetly improbable “Almost Everything,” in which a husband looks for the perfect gift for a demanding wife.  It’s read by Liev Schreiber.  In Jacob Guajardo’s “Conquistadors, on Fairchild,” read by Michael Hartney, old flames reconnect, but it’s not clear where they are headed.And in a classic from our archives, Haruki Murakami’s “Ice Man,” a shy woman marries a man who carries winter within and without.  Jane Curtin is the reader.

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.

Meg Wolitzer presents three stories in that explore the idea of “fitting in,” and whether it’s worth the effort.  In “Reality,” by Diana Spechler, a woman longs for the ephemeral glory of a reality show. It’s read by Kirsten Vangsness. “Long Hair,” by Uche Okonkwo, performed by Karen Pittman, explores hair as a form of power.  And “A Sacrifice,” by Simon Van Booy, performed by Joanna Gleason, explores social dynamics and family secrets in a small Irish village. A brief interview with Van Booy is included. 

Meg Wolitzer presents three stories in which plans go awry, or alter completely.  In Ben Loory’s “Dandelions,” read by Wyatt Cenac, a suburb is invaded, and experiences a change of heart.   Edwidge Danticat imagines an ultimate act and its consequences in “Cane and Roses,” read by Anika Noni Rose.  And a romance with comic underpinnings changes course in Ray Bradbury’s “The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair,” read by Tate Donovan.

Host Meg Wolitzer presents two works that reassess and redefine our ideas of “the West.”  It’s both a landscape of awesome beauty, and the scene of cultural appropriation, and we’ve got two masters sharing and shaping our experience.  In Louise Erdrich’s “The Hollow Children” a natural disaster tests family ties.  It’s read by Tate Donovan.  And writer and environmental activist Rick Bass stress tests the West, and his main character, in “Fires,” read by John Benjamin Hickey.  We also reprise part of an interview with Louise Erdrich from earlier in the year.In it, she mentions a new novel in progress, which has now been published: The Mighty Red: A Novel.

Host Meg Wolitzer presents two works in which characters are out of their element. This is quite literally the case in Robert Coover’s witty reworking of the fable “The Frog Prince,” who finds human life exhausting despite the enthusiasm of his suburban love interest. Parker Posey reads. In Cristina Henríquez’s “Chasing Birds” a married couple share an exotic holiday locale, but not much else. It’s voiced by Maryann Plunkett, who also comments on the story at the end of her read, and introduced by novelist Amy Tan, a bird lover and illustrator.