Selected Shorts

Meg Wolitzer presents three works about squabbles between people who love one another most.  Jenny Allen's “In the Car” chronicles the European road trip of a long married couple—and he won't ask for directions. The reader is Alysia Reiner.  In Jade Jones' “Your Aunt Thinks She Ramona Africa,” a close family doesn't know what to do with a nonconformist.  Crystal Dickinson reads.  And in “CobRa,” by Katherine Heiny, the methods of uncluttering guru Marie Kondo almost tidy away a marriage.  Peter Grosz reads.

Host Meg Wolitzer presents four stories in which characters give, and get, a little assistance, from friends, strangers and family. A daughter copes with a cantankerous parent in “How to Take Dad to the Doctor” by Jenny Allen, performed by Jennifer Mudge. A woman moves to a new town and makes a strange new friend in Laura van den Berg's “Friends,” performed by Roberta Colindrez. A Tyrolean café improbably situated in South America is home to mysterious strangers and new and old romances, in Isabel Allende's “The Little Heidelberg.” It's performed by Kathleen Turner. And a budding singer and socialist gets unwelcome help from Mom in Grace Paley's “Injustice,” performed by Jackie Hoffman.

A routine that never changes can get old. So this week on Selected Shorts, host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories that shake up domestic life, teaching the characters something new about themselves and their circumstances. In “Scaffolding Man” by Jenny Allen, performed by Patricia Kalember, a woman in a drab marriage is intrigued by a “hot” stranger. In "Myrna's Dad" by Cyn Vargas, a father's changing occupations hide a family secret. The reader is Krystina Alabado. And in “Overtime” by Hilma Wolitzer (Meg's mom), read by Becky Ann Baker, a happy couple gets a jolt when the man's ex moves into their apartment. After the story, Meg interviews Hilma about what gave her the idea and her writing in general.

Host Meg Wolitzer presentsfour works in which nature and the out-of-doors drive both plots and character.  Humorist Jenny Allen does battle with her stubborn plants in “Garden Growing Pains,” read by Kirsten Vangsness.  The majestic Canadian border separates an Indigenous family in Thomas King's “Borders,” read by Kimberly Guerrero.  A housewife masters one of the elements in “Flying,” by Alyce Miller.The reader is Kirsten Vangness again.And a sudden storm creates a sense of abandon in the Kate Chopin classic “The Storm,” read by Jane Curtin.“Garden Growing Pains,” “Borders,” and “Flying,” were presented in cooperation with CacheArts and Utah Public Radio, KUSU-FM.

Host Meg Wolitzer presents four stories in which characters give, and get, a little assistance, from friends, strangers and family. A daughter copes with a cantankerous parent in “How to Take Dad to the Doctor,” by Jenny Allen, performed by Jennifer Mudge. A woman moves to a new town and makes a strange new friend in Laura van den Berg's “Friends,” performed by Roberta Colindrez. A Tyrolean café improbably situated in South America is home to mysterious strangers and new and old romances, in Isabel Allende's “The Little Heidelberg.” It's performed by Kathleen Turner. And a budding singer and socialist gets unwelcome help from Mom in Grace Paley's “Injustice,” performed by Jackie Hoffman.

A routine that never changes can get old. So this week on Selected Shorts, host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories that shake up domestic life, teaching the characters something new about themselves and their circumstances.   In “Scaffolding Man,” by Jenny Allen, performed by Patricia Kalember, a woman in a drab marriage is intrigued by a “hot” stranger.  In "Myrna's Dad," by Cyn Vargas, a father's changing occupations hide a family secret.  The reader is Krystina Alabado.   And in “Overtime,” by Hilma Wolitzer (Meg's mom), read by Becky Ann Baker, a happy couple gets a jolt when the man's ex moves into their apartment.  After the story, Meg interviews Hilma about what gave her the idea and her writing in general.

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. Join and give!: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/symphonyspacenyc?code=Splashpage See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guest host Andy Borowitz intros four hilarious pieces featured in his anthology The 50 Funniest American Writers.  James Naughton reads S.J. Perelman’s noir parody “Farewell, My Lovely Appetizer;” Susan Orlean complains about idle tots in “Shiftless Little Loafers,” read by Dave Hill; old-time radio is revealed in Jean Shepherd’s “The Counterfeit Secret Circle Member Gets the Message,” read by Isaiah Sheffer; and one woman’s all-nighter, in Jenny Allen’s “Awake,” read by Jane Kaczmarek.