Selected Shorts

• Friendly Advice

  Host Meg Wolitzer present three stories in which friendly advice is proffered, whether it’s wanted or not.  The title of the first, by Meghana Indurti and Tyler Fowler, says it all: “Relationship Advice from Your Aunt Who Has Been Divorced Six Times.”  It’s read by Jane Kaczmarek.  In Mira Jacob’s “Death by Printer,” a YouTube DIY video seems to have a mind of its own.The reader is Rita Wolf.  And a husband dispenses lavish advice at a wedding brimming with his wife’s exes in “The Happiest Day of Your Life,” by Katherine Damm, read by Santino Fontana.

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• Grace Paley Centennial

  The unique, unquenchable writer and activist Grace Paley would have turned 100 in 2022. On this Selected Shorts, host Meg Wolitzer shares our tribute to the influential and outspoken New Yorker who was a great friend of the series. Paley’s emphasis on friends, family, and doing the right thing are evident in the three stories on this show. In “Wants,” a woman has a chance encounter while returning a lot of overdue library books. It’s read by Adina Verson. Two old friends work their way from childhood to middle age in “Ruthy and Edie,” read by Rita Wolf. And we meet a woman with a wonderfully checkered past in “Goodbye and Good Luck,” read by Joanna Gleason. Featuring commentary from novelist Lauren Groff.

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• Too Hot for Radio: Jen Spyra "The Ballad of Bagel Rat"

  "The Ballad of Bagel Rat," is by Jen Spyra. She's written for The Onion, The New Yorker, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. After reading her short story collection Big Time, we not only brought two of Spyra's stories to the stage, but commissioned this one, too. Actor Busy Phillips read this story onstage. She's been in shows from Freaks & Geeks to Cougar Town, though these days you may know her from Girls5Eva or the movie musical Mean Girls. Also, she is the best at social media—which gave her a strange kind of insight into this story. This episode is hosted by Aparna Nancherla.

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• Out of Bounds

  Host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about women whose social boundaries are changed.  In “Somebody’s Daughter,” by Amy Silverberg, a young woman flirts with transgression as one way of defining herself.  The reader is Hettienne Park.  In Julie Otsuka’s “Evacuation Order No. 19,” a wife and mother makes hard decisions during World War II.  The reader is Jennifer Ikeda. 

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• Friendship!

  On this show, host Meg Wolitzer gets friendly, and shares three stories about friendships of all kinds. Kelly Stout’s zinger “Let’s Get Drinks,” offers up the perils of conducting a social life via hyperbolic texts, which are hilariously performed by Jane Curtin and Jane Kaczmarek. Next, “True Friendship,” by Jorge Hernandez, describes a life-long friend who’s almost too good to be—true. The reader is Michael Urie. And three misfits fit together in Anthony Marra’s “The Last Words of Benito Picone,” performed by John Turturro. A brief interview with Turturro follows the story.

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