Best American Short Stories 2021 with Jesmyn Ward

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 thoughts about the importance of fiction. Join and give!: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/symphonyspacenyc?code=Splashpage by Selected Shorts

9 min listen

Bonus: Meg Wolitzer Talks to Patricia Marx: In this bonus conversation, host Meg Wolitzer talks to friend and New Yorker humorist Patricia Marx about her story “Singin’ in the Acid Rain,” and writing funny. by Selected Shorts

12 min listen

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 by Selected Shorts

22 min listen

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 by Selected Shorts

19 min listen

Bonus: Meg Wolitzer Talks with George Saunders: In this bonus conversation, host Meg Wolitzer talks to friend and Booker Prize-winning author George Saunders about crafting short stories, where ideas come from, and how his work has evolved over the years. by Selected Shorts

20 min listen

Bonus: Meg Wolitzer Talks to Alison Stewart: In this bonus conversation, host and best-selling author, Meg Wolitzer, talks to host of WNYC’s All of It, Alison Stewart. Wolitzer reveals some of the secrets to great writing and the two share their own reading habits and thoughts about the importance of fiction. by Selected Shorts

9 min listen

Bonus: Meg Wolitzer Talks to Elizabeth Strout: In this bonus conversation, host Meg Wolitzer talks to friend and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout about writing, short stories, and the use of recurring characters in her work. by Selected Shorts

11 min listen

Bonus: Margaret Atwood and A.M. Homes: In this bonus conversation, writers Margaret Atwood and A.M. Homes discuss everything from feminism, time, writing and dystopian fiction, to Atwood’s new short story collection “Old Babes in the Wood.” The interview was recorded in front of a live audience at Symphony Space. by Selected Shorts

18 min listen

Bonus: Meg Wolitzer Talks to Denis O’Hare: In this bonus conversation, host Meg Wolitzer talks to actor Denis O’Hare about his craft, and his approaches to readings of the two very different stories on this program. by Selected Shorts

16 min listen

Too Hot for Radio: James Hannaham "Cookie Monster Shares": This short story is about addiction. And Muppets. by Selected Shorts

19 min listen

Bonus: Meg Wolitzer Visits Her Favorite Indie Bookstore: Host Meg Wolitzer visits a favorite indie bookstore, Three Lives & Company in Greenwich Village, remembers her early years there as a writer and reader, and is let in on some trade secrets. by Selected Shorts

16 min listen

Meg Wolitzer interviews Louise Erdrich: In this bonus conversation, host Meg Wolitzer talks to author Louise Erdrich about her story; her writing life; and what do with left over index cards. • by Selected Shorts

15 min listen

Too Hot for Radio: Erin Somers "Variations on the Same": Paget Brewster and Andy Richter perform Erin Somers' masterly comical and sardonic story about an overwhelmed mom who acts on her fantasy of getting away from it all. by Selected Shorts

29 min listen

What’s Your Story?: Host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about the act of writing and how it can remake us--a prankish skit; a playful and tender investigation of creating with words; and a fraught social encounter between two characters who don’t ‘get’ each other’s stories. B.J. Novak takes on the old saying “Great Writers Steal” in a short piece read by Novak and Aasif Mandvi. In Etgar Keret’s “Creative Writing” a wife writes her way out of grief. It’s read by Alex Karpovsky. A dinner party becomes a scene of personal and political tension in Lorrie Moore’s “Foes,” performed by Joan Allen and Kyle MacLachlan. And Moore joins Wolitzer to talk about the story and creating fiction. by Selected Shorts

63 min listen

Out of Sight: Host Meg Wolitzer shares three stories about people who put things out of sight—and try to put them out of mind. In Lisa Ko’s “Nightlife,” read by Vanessa Kai, a pair of friends quietly sidestep feelings that might complicate their relationship. A teacher tries to help a parent see who her child really is in “The Hole” by Patrick Cottrell, performed by Becca Blackwell. And Elizabeth Strout brings us a beautiful and devastating story of a woman grappling with whether to put her mother into institutional care in “Home,” performed by Mia Dillon. Strout talks with Wolitzer after the reading. All three works were commissioned for the Selected Shorts’ anthology, Small Odysseys. by Selected Shorts

62 min listen

Bonus: A Conversation with Elizabeth Strout: Host Meg Wolitzer talks with author Elizabeth Strout about her story “Home” and the fictional family Strout has created. by Selected Shorts

11 min listen

Save the Date with Belletrist Book Club: Host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about social occasions for introverts and extroverts alike, curated with the Belletrist Book Club, founded by actor Emma Roberts and producer Karah Preiss. The show was recorded at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. Humorist Samantha Irby asks “Please Invite Me to Your Party,” but does she mean it? The reader is Richa Moorjani. Victoria Lancelotta’s “The Anniversary Trip,” performed by Judy Greer, is, and is not, about the married couple making the trip. And Jen Spyra takes it to extremes to get to the altar in perfect shape in “The Bridal Body,” performed by Erinn Hayes. This is Selected Shorts' first collaboration with Belletrist. Since 2017, Belletrist has chosen over 75 books for the book club and dozens more for myriad content features across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and a newsletter: The Belletrist Brief. In 2019, Emma and Karah spun out Belletrist Book Club into a production company called Belle by Selected Shorts

59 min listen

Embracing Change: On this episode of Selected Shorts, host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about change. A playful fantasy, a domestic dilemma, and a private struggle help us to adjust to the idea of transformation, losses, and gains. In “Sea Monster,” by Seth Fried, performed by Natasha Rothwell, a husband and wife reveal their secret identities to each other. In “Death by Printer,” by Mira Jacob, read by Rita Wolf, a widow learns to cope with loss—and technology. And a mature woman embraces the self she is becoming in Maile Meloy’s “Period Piece,” performed by Kelli O’Hara. The last two stories were commissioned for Selected Shorts’ anthology Small Odysseys. by Selected Shorts

58 min listen

Modest Expectations: Host Meg Wolitzer presents four stories in which characters shape their expectations and dreams to a manageable size in collaboration with Belletrist Book Club. So if you’re “Medusa,” as in our first story, by Tania James, you try to figure out how to live in the world instead of turning it to stone. The reader is Constance Zimmer. Parents in our second story, “We Only Wanted Their Happiness,” by Alexander Weinstein, make a tactical choice about technology. It’s performed by Randall Park. The narrator of Honor Levy’s “Good Boys,” read by Annie Hamilton, understands that infatuation is a phase. And a man and a woman sidestep romance in “Arrangements” by Charlie Watts, performed by Laura Harrier and Will Harrison. The show was recorded at the Getty Center in Los Angeles and features commentary by Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss of Belletrist Book Club. Since 2017, Belletrist Book Club has chosen more than 75 titles for the book club and dozens more for myriad content by Selected Shorts

60 min listen

Best American Short Stories 2021 with Jesmyn Ward: Guest host Jane Kaczmarek presents two stories from the Best American Short Stories 2021 anthology selected by guest editor Jesmyn Ward. Both involve adolescents facing displacement or rejection, but the stories are set in very different environments: One takes place in a surreal, Soviet-occupied Afghanistan, and one inside a junior high school in Tennessee. First, Leo Solomon reads “Playing Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain,” by Jamil Jan Kochai. Then we hear “Biology,” a beautiful story by Kevin Wilson, performed by Mike Doyle. And Ward comments briefly on her approach to creating this year’s diverse anthology. by Selected Shorts

58 min listen

Wear and Tear: Host Meg Wolitzer presents three works that offer unusual perspectives on clothes and fashion—selling, making, and coveting. In Anne Enright’s “(She Owns) Everything,” read by Mary-Louise Parker, a saleswoman becomes a compulsive consumer. In “Clothes on the Ground: A Conversation with Leap,” we hear from a Cambodian garment worker, interviewed by Julia Wallace for the compendium Women in Clothes. Leap is voiced by Jennifer Lim. And shopping is an antidote to aging in Joanne Harris’s “Faith and Hope Go Shopping,” read by Lois Smith. by Selected Shorts

58 min listen

Nothing To Do With Love: Host Meg Wolitzer presents two unconventional love stories, one classic, one contemporary, that avoid the usual tropes of “meet cute,” “opposites attract,” or “happily ever after” but are still engaging. In “Love in the Slump,” by Evelyn Waugh, clueless upper-crust newlyweds are sent on a comic odyssey. The reader is Jane Kaczmarek. And Esther Yi’s “Moon” explores something we often mistake for love—obsession, as a young woman is drawn farther and farther into K-Pop fandom. The story was selected by guest editor Min Jin Lee for Best American Short Stories 2023. It’s read by Hettienne Park. And we hear Lee’s and Park’s thoughts about the story. by Selected Shorts

58 min listen

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Best American Short Stories 2021 with Jesmyn Ward

Best American Short Stories 2021 with Jesmyn Ward

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