Selected Shorts

On this week’s SELECTED SHORTS, Meg Wolitzer presents three stories that offer unpredictable life lessons, from characters who are adolescent, and those who love them—a little eccentrically. In “The Facts of Life,” by Anthony Marra, a preteen learns about the birds and the bees from an icon of ’90s masculinity. The reader is Santino Fontana. In “Leave Me in St. Louis,” by Tania James, sisters tap their way into a new life. The reader is Rita Wolf. And in Elizabeth McKenzie’s “Hope Ranch,” a granddaughter discovers that her grandmother is a road warrior. The reader is Mia Dillon.

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Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about characters who need someone to listen to them. In Jesse Eisenberg’s “If She Ran Into Me Now…” a high school failure wants to prove he did OK—and looks fabulous. It’s read by Santino Fontana. In Weike Wang’s
“A Children’s Story,” read by Conrad Ricamora, a writer tries to please his aging mother with just the right story—for children. And a curling enthusiast shares his passion with his girlfriend’s son in Frank Reilly’s “The Stirling Stone,” read by Chris Sullivan.

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Host Meg Wolitzer presents the podcast Before The Moment, hosted by music icon Nile Rodger. Nile sits down with some of music’s biggest names to uncover the turning points that defined them, and, importantly, what was happening before everything changed. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about persuasive, but not always trustworthy, characters. In “Fortune-Telling,” by Alix Ohlin, an actor tries on new role, with unexpected consequences. The reader is Crystal Dickinson. And from an evening of contemporary Irish fiction, the great Jessica Lange, in her Selected Shorts debut, reads Andrew Meehan’s “Summer in the Mountains,” where a man who calls himself "Utopia Frank" finds just how far grand visions can carry him.

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Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about unexpected guests. In Carlos Greaves’ “A Visit from the Tune Squad,” a procrastinating writer gets a surprise intervention, in performances by Santino Fontana, Dylan Marron, and Sarah Mezzanotte. In our second story, Willa Cather delivers a moving tale of sin and redemption. Patricia Clarkson reads “The Burglar’s Christmas.”

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