Selected Shorts

Approaching Peace by Symphony Space

Motherhood with Celeste Ng and Mary Karr by Symphony Space

Guest host Maulik Pancholy presents two stories in which social outliers strive for love. In “Tandolfo the Great,” by Richard Bausch, a sad-sack children’s clown falls head over heels—without a banana peel. Michael Ian Black is the reader. And American master Carson McCullers presents a complex theory about the nature of love, from a surprising source: a down-at-heels guy in a diner. Lance Reddick reads “A Tree, A Rock, a Cloud.”

Guest host LeVar Burton presents two of his favorite stories. In Lucia Berlin’s “Friends,” the characters have different ideas about who benefits from their weekly lunches. The reader is Lydia Gaston. Next, Burton himself reads Jocelyn Nicole Johnson’s powerful “Control Negro,” in which an academic and father tries a real-world experiment to prove a theory about racism.

Guest 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 O’Toole. The family in Julia Alvarez’s “Liberty” are on their way to a new life in America, but it’s difficult leaving the old one behind. The reader is Laura Gomez. And a trainer of guide dogs for the blind learns how to let go, in Amy Hempel’s “The Dog of the Marriage,” performed by Joan Allen.

Riverhead at 25 by Symphony Space

Guest host Baron Vaughn presents three works where the personal and the political collide. In “Parent Night at Confidence Academy,” by Kiley Reid, a teacher lets parents know what she really sees in their kids. The reader is Juliana Canfield. Two kingdoms have created ideal societies, as long as you don’t mind a little restraint, in this playful fable by "Berlin Alexanderplatz" author Alfred Doblin, read by Kate Burton. And local politics gets ugly (even the dog is involved) in Peter Orner’s “Shouting Wenkie,” performed by Liev Schreiber.

Guest host Cynthia Nixon presents three works about losing control. In Dmitry Biriukov’s “Hello?” a crowded city bus inspires one passenger to create a romantic scenario. The reader is Mike Doyle. Jenny Allen offers up a disastrous crafts project in “How to Tie-Dye,” reader by Jane Curtin. And Anton Chekhov gives us a clueless young man beset by determined women in “From the Diary of a Hot-Tempered Man,” read by Sam Underwood.

Guest host Maulik Pancholy presents three stories about workers and the workplace—and "the daily grind." In a John Cheever classic, “Bayonne,” a busy waitress defends her territory. The reader is Mary Kay Place. The always succinct Lydia Davis gives us “Alvin the Typesetter,” in which a bohemian artist battles job conformity. The late David Rakoff performs. And in “OBF, Inc." by Bernice L. McFadden, an interviewee at a hip start-up learns about a secret organization that sells cultural capital. It’s performed by Teagle F. Bougere.

Guest host Kate Burton presents three stories in translation selected with the international literary organization Words Without Borders. A wealthy woman winds up on the other side of the poverty line in Évelyne Trouillot’s “Detour,” performed by Rita Wolf and Arian Moayed. A civil servant becomes a soccer star in Réka Mán-Várhegyi’s "Woman Striker Has Killer Left Foot,” performed by Adina Verson. And two teenage misfits visit a chimp in “Muzaffer and Bananas” by Yalçın Tosun, performed by Arian Moayed.