This week, we are discussing Carmen Maria Machado's, "Mary When You Follow Her." This 2018 flash fiction follows Maria, a young girl navigating grief, loss, and growing up amidst the disappearance of other young women in her town. This story is breathtaking, written in a single sentence, and pushes us to think critically about whose stories are told. 

Link to story: Mary When You Follow Her by Carmen Maria Machado. 

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Sound editing & mix by Nikola Vasovic

This week we are reading As The Last I May Know by S.L. Huang, the 2020 Hugo Award winner for Best Short Story. In this story, we are faced with a different reality - one in which the decision over whether to release weapons of mass destruction requires the President to kill a child with his own hand before they can order the devastation. Through this extraordinary short story, we are presented with a huge question: are the safeguards in place for our most heinous decisions strong enough? Or, whatever the cost, must we humanise the choices we make in order to save lives?

Link to story: As The Last I May Know by S.L. Huang

Twitter: @shortsthepod

Instagram: @shortsthepodcast

Sound editing & mix by Nikola Vasovic

In episode 3 we discuss Passage by Kevin Jared Hosein. In this story, a man follows in the footsteps of his friend to find an adventure in the mountains of Trinidad, but what he discovers instead changes the course of many lives. Subverting the expectations of a typical hero’s journey, Passage was the winner of the 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

Link to story: Passage by Kevin Jared Hosein

Twitter: @shortsthepod

Instagram: @shortsthepodcast

Sound editing & mix by Nikola Vasovic

This week we are reading and discussing “The Great Indian Tee and Snakes” by Kritika Pandey, which won the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. It tells the story of a forbidden love during a time of state sanctioned violence and oppression. Using a single perspective of one young women in her father’s tea shack, Pandey allows the reader to glimpse the larger, complex identity of India today.

Link to story: The Great Indian Tee and Snakes by Kritika Pandey

Twitter: @shortsthepod

Instagram: @shortsthepodcast

Sound editing & mix by Nikola Vasovic

In Week 1 of Shorts, we're reading and discussing "Cat Person" by Kristen Roupenian. This story went viral when the New Yorker published it in 2017, sparking controversy over its portrayal of modern dating, gender roles and consent. Read this story before you listen and reach out to us via Twitter or Instagram to let us know what you think!

Link to Story: Cat Person by Kristen Roupenian

Vox, "The Uproar over the New Yorker Story 'Cat Person' Explained."

Twitter: @shortsthepod

Instagram: @shortsthepodcast

Sound editing & mix by Nikola Vasovic

This is Shorts: a new podcast where we talk about contemporary short stories. 

We’re two long distanced friends who want to talk about what we’re reading. 

We think that short stories can contain all the richness and excitement of a novel, and can show the world through different perspectives. Before each episode, we invite you to read a story and then we’ll talk about it together.

Click the link in the show notes to download our reading list and get started today!

https://shortsthepodcast.com/ 

Instagram: @shortsthepodcast

Twitter: @shortsthepod