Selected Shorts Symphony Space

On this SELECTED SHORTS, host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories from our recently published anthology, Small Odysseys, which features 35 commissioned stories from some of the series’ favorite writers.  This week, parents try to help with their daughter’s unusual school science research project.  Michael Shannon reads Susan Perabo’s “The Project.”  And in Luis Alberto Urrea’s “King of Bread,” a father carves out his own little kingdom in the barrios of San Diego—handing out doughnuts, and hope.  The reader is Javier Muñoz.

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On this SELECTED SHORTS host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories featuring mothers and children, and entertains a special guest—her own mother, Hilma Wolitzer.  In Annette Sanford’s “Trip in a Summer Dress,” a young woman is setting out to get married, but leaving her real life—and a hard choice—behind.  The reader is Mia Dillon.  “Palaver,” by Bryan Washington, offers a playful—but also serious—battle of wits between a strong-willed mother and her grown son, each wanting to know more about the other without giving away too much of themselves.  The alternating narratives are performed by Petronia Paley and Michael Potts.  And host Wolitzer quizzes her own mother about her writing life, the impact of feminism, and raising a novelist to be.

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A story by the Columbian-born author, set in the turbulent 70’s as a group of would-be radicals devises a plan that quickly goes awry (the narrator might be the most pathetic revolutionary ever). The story is read by Peter Jay Fernandez, translated by Beatriz Teleki. Too Hot is hosted by Aparna Nancherla.

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Host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about social masks and what might lie beneath.  Truman Capote’s “A Lamp in a Window” introduces an eccentric character with a secret.  It’s performed by Arian Moayed. In Molly Giles’ “What Do You Say?” a mother and daughter lunch at a diner, where the mother encounters a bit of her past.  The reader is Parker Posey. And novelist Zadie Smith channels the legendary singer Billie Holiday in “Crazy They Call Me,” performed by Karen Pittman.

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Host Meg Wolitzer presents two works by the dazzling writer Joan Didion, whose essays, novels, and memoirs have been beloved by generations of readers.  This sophisticated, knowing artist placed herself squarely in her reportage, telling her own story vividly and courageously.  We’ll hear excepts from two of her best-known works, The White Album, in which she reports on her own mental collapse in the madness of California in the 1960s, and Goodbye to All That, in which her youthful self falls in, and out of, love with New York City.  Jill Eikenberry performs The White Album and Mia Dillon shares Goodbye to All That.

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We partnered with WNYC’s Alison Stewart on this program featuring tales of love and haunting by new and established writers who have been featured on her show All of It.  In Hilary Leichter’s “Doggy-Dog World” family life takes an unexpected turn. It’s read by Sarah Mezzanotte. Is “Horror Story” a series of hauntings, or is it the form that love takes when it’s not working?  Carmen Maria Machado’s story is read by Molly Bernard.  And the masterful Louise Erdrich gives us an old story—falling in love with your teacher—in a new guise; she happens to be a nun.  Cynthia Nixon is the reader of “Sister Godzilla.”

 

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