Our greatest actors transport us through the magic of fiction, one short story at a time. Sometimes funny. Always moving. Selected Shorts connects you to the wo...
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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58:15
Peas in a Pod
Host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about perfect pairs, and what happens if and when they split up. A friendship unravels in “Mrs. Carrington and Mrs. Crane,” by Dorothy Parker, performed by Mia Dillon and Rita Wolf.Writer Toure feels that there ought to be a corresponding ritual to marriage and commitment celebrations, and has created “The Breakup Ceremony,” performed by Maulik Pancholy. And in “Twins,” by Philip Graham, siblings rediscover one another. It’s performed by Michael Tucker.
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57:36
A Celebration of Langston Hughes
Host Meg Wolitzer hands off to stage and film actor Teagle F. Bougere, our guest host for a show that celebrates the protean literary master and social activist Langston Hughes (1901-1967). It features three of his most striking works. In “Passing” Hughes reflects on a difficult aspect of the Black experience—the need some felt to “pass” as white. Program host Teagle F. Bougere is the reader. Pauletta Pearson Washington reads the humorous and much anthologized “Thank You, M’am." And Joe Morton performs one of Hughes’ most celebrated works, “The Blues I’m Playing,” which charts the long and complex relationship between a brilliant young Black pianist and her white patron. All three stories reflect Hughes’ explorations of questions of race, identity, and personal destiny.
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58:01
Stephen King: A Half Century of Scares
Host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories from a live evening at Symphony Space celebrating the prolific writer Stephen King. It was hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead.The program presents King in two different modes: the legendary scare-master who entered the horror genre with Carrie, and the author of stories that draw on memory and family like “The Last Rung on the Ladder.” An excerpt from Carrie is read by Carrie Coon, and “The Last Rung on the Ladder” is read by John Benjamin Hickey. Colson Whitehead speaks briefly from the stage.
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57:40
Slippery Roads and Fancy Shorts
Host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories in which some things are saved and some are left behind. In Haruki Murakami’s “Lederhosen,” performed by Aasif Mandvi, the traditional German shorts become a singular obsession for one half of a married couple. In Elizabeth McCracken’s “Robinson Crusoe at the Waterpark,” a couple and their son find themselves in over their heads. Mike Doyle is the reader.
Our greatest actors transport us through the magic of fiction, one short story at a time. Sometimes funny. Always moving. Selected Shorts connects you to the world with a rich diversity of voices from literature, film, theater, and comedy. New episodes every Thursday, from Symphony Space.
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