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Selected Shorts

Broadcast Schedule

Below is the schedule for upcoming and previous Selected Shorts episodes.

Our most recently released shows are available for audio streaming HERE.

  • 12/26/2008

    Richard Prince: Spiritual America
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Adventures in Auto-eroticism,” by Neal Cassady, performed by Ted Marcoux
    “Ambush,” by Tim O’Brien, performed by John Shea
    “John Wayne: A Love Song,” by Joan Didion, performed by Kathleen Chalfant
    “Learn a Trade,” by John Updike, performed by Paul Hecht

  • 12/19/2008

    On The Road
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Twenty Grand,” by Rebecca Curtis, performed by Jane Curtin
    “Best Western,” by Anne de Marcken, performed by Laura Esterman

  • 12/12/2008

    Love on the Rocks
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “A Mouthful of Cut Glass,” by Tessa Hadley, performed by Lois Smith
    “Blowing Shades,” by Stuart Dybek, performed by James Naughton

  • 12/05/2008

    Improvisations
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Roy Spivey,” by Miranda July, performed by Amy Ryan
    “Improvisation,” by Ed McBain, performed by Isaiah Sheffer

  • 11/28/2008

    Passionate Pursuits
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Mathematician,” by Daniel Kehlmann, performed by BD Wong
    “I Was Really Very Hungry,” by M.F.K. Fisher, performed by Christina Pickles

  • 11/21/2008

    Writing at the MacDowell Colony
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Proposition,” by David Bezmozgis, performed by Paul Hecht
    “The Modern Age,” by Frances Hwang, performed by Dawn Akemi Saito

  • 11/14/2008

    Pressing Engagements
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Stump Louie,” by Lisa Halliday, performed by Isaiah Sheffer
    “The Dome,” by Steven Millhauser, performed by Alec Baldwin

  • 11/07/2008

    Women in the News
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Ad,” by Elizabeth Crane, performed by Jill Eikenberry
    “A Piece of News,” by Eudora Welty, performed by Kathryn Markey

  • 10/31/2008

    Fiction Into Film
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “No Bikini,” by Ivan E. Coyote, performed by Sonia Manzano
    “Kubuku Rides (This Is It),” by Larry Brown, performed by Myra Lucretia Taylor

  • 10/24/2008

    Gone Missing
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Going, Going, Gone,” by Peter Blauner, performed by Keith Szarabajka
    “The Purple Is Everything,” by Dorothy Salisbury Davis, performed by Christina Pickles

  • 10/17/2008

    What Do Women Want? A Tribute to Eudora Welty
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Lily Daw and the Three Ladies,” by Eudora Welty, performed by Marian Seldes
    “The Key,” by Eudora Welty, performed by Sloane Shelton

  • 10/10/2008

    Jhumpa Lahiri’s Two Worlds
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Hell-Heaven,” by Jhumpa Lahiri, performed by Rita Wolf

  • 10/03/2008

    Cycles of Life
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Palmist,” by Andrew Lam, performed by David Strathairn
    “Football,” by Elizabeth Crane, performed by Martha Lavey
    “Blue Waltz with Coyotes,” by Jeanne Dixon, performed by Mia Dillon
    “Water Names,” by Lan Samantha Chang, performed by Dawn Akemi Saito

  • 09/26/2008

    Spirits of Place
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Killing Time,” by Stuart Dybek, performed by Jim True-Frost
    “Insomnia,” by Stuart Dybek, performed by Jim True-Frost
    “He Couldn’t Boogie-Woogie Worth a Damn,” by Nelson Algren, performed by Isaiah Sheffer

  • 09/19/2008

    Food Fight
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Sorry Fugu,” by T.C. Boyle, performed by Tony Roberts

  • 09/12/2008

    Refresh, Refresh
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Refresh, Refresh,” by Benjamin Percy, performed by Ted Marcoux
    “Buzz Saw,” by Billie Hill-Hunt, performed by Joan Allen
    “Ashbah,” by Sergeant Brian Turner, performed by Chris Chalk
    “The Baghdad Zoo,” by Sergeant Brian Turner, performed by Stephen Lang
    “3 A.M. in Bangor, Maine,” by Sergeant Michael A. Thomas, performed by Stephen Lang

  • 09/05/2008

    How Do You Measure A Marriage?
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “A Solitary Human Voice,” by Lyudmilla Ignatenko, performed by Stockard Channing
    “Do You Know Where I Am?” by Sherman Alexie, performed by Keir Dullea

  • 08/29/2008

    Straying Spouses and Brave New Words
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Trouble of Marcie Flint,” by John Cheever, performed by Fritz Weaver

  • 08/22/2008

    Love, Lost and Found, and a Fish
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Secret Goldfish,” by David Means, performed by Charles Keating
    “The Other Woman,” by Sherwood Anderson, performed by Keir Dullea

  • 08/15/2008

    In Vino, Veritas?
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Taste,” by Roald Dahl, performed by John Lithgow
    “How to Tell a Fine Old Wine,” by James Thurber, performed by Raphael Sbarge

  • 08/08/2008

    Friendship and Loyalty
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Debt,” by Edith Wharton, performed by James Naughton
    “Aqua Boulevard,” by Maile Meloy, performed by Isaiah Sheffer

  • 08/01/2008

    Old Friends, Old Memories
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Justice Shiva Ram Murthy,” by Rishi Reddi, performed by Aasif Mandvi
    “Bullhead,” by Leigh Allison Wilson, performed by Dawn Akemi Saito

  • 07/25/2008

    Operation Homecoming
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “A Quick Look at Who Is Fighting This War,” by Captain Ryan Kelly, performed by Chris Chalk
    “Camp Muckamungus,” by Staff Sergeant Parker Gyokeres, performed by Isaiah Sheffer
    “Khost-Gardez,” by Specialist Ross Cohen, performed by Matthew Modine
    “Reflections,” by Captain Michael Lang, performed by Isaiah Sheffer
    “Brotherhood,” by Sergeant Dena Price Van den Bosch, performed by Joan Allen
    “Road Work,” by Staff Sergeant Jack Lewis, performed by Stephen Lang
    “Safekeeping,” by Commander Kathleen Toomey Jabs, performed by Joan Allen
    “Dear Boys,” by Lieutenant Colonel Chris Cohoes, performed by Matthew Modine

  • 07/18/2008

    The Eyes Have It
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Eyes,” by Edith Wharton, performed by Charles Keating

  • 07/11/2008

    Food and Fairy Tales
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Pie Dance,” by Molly Giles, performed by Kate Burton
    “Grandfather Knows Best,” by Calvin Trillin, performed by Isaiah Sheffer
    “Why I Love Cookbooks,” by Laurie Colwin, performed by Jane Kaczmarek

  • 07/04/2008

    In the Wrong Hands
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” by James Thurber, performed by Dick Cavett
    “Things in the Wrong Hands,” by Roy Blount Jr., performed by Isaiah Sheffer
    “Renascence,” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, performed by Barbara Feldon
    “The Voter,” by Chinua Achebe, performed by Arthur French

  • 06/27/2008

    Food, Glorious Food!
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Long Way Home,” by Jhumpa Lahiri, performed by Shohreh Aghdashloo
    “Indigestion,” by Anton Chekhov, performed by Bradley Whitford
    “A Piece of Pie,” by Damon Runyon, performed by John Shea

  • 06/20/2008

    Loving Libraries
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “A General in the Library,” by Italo Calvino, performed by Isaiah Sheffer
    “Exchange,” by Ray Bradbury, performed by Rochelle Oliver
    “A Backward Glance: Henry James,” by Edith Wharton, performed by Brenda Wehle

  • 06/13/2008

    Stop Making Sense
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Mudder Tongue,” by Brian Evenson, performed by David Strathairn
    “Mr. Badger,” by Kenneth Grahame, performed by Samantha Eggar

  • 06/06/2008

    Lessons in Parenting
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Learn a Trade,” by John Updike, performed by Paul Hecht
    “Extra,” by Yiyun Li, performed by Lois Smith

  • 05/30/2008

    A Talking Horse and a Boat Race
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Ed Has His Mind Improved,” by Walter R. Brooks, performed by Tony Roberts
    “Palais de Justice,” by Mark Helprin, performed by Keir Dullea

  • 05/23/2008

    War Wounds
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “War Wounds,” by Tom Bissell, performed by Oskar Eustis

  • 05/16/2008

    Odd Couples
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Meeting,” by Aimee Bender, performed by Paul Hecht
    “Mrs. Farrokhlaqa Sadraldivan Golchehreh,” by Shahrnush Parsipur, performed by Frances Sternhagen
    “Pride and Joy,” by Etgar Keret, performed by Robert Sean Leonard

  • 05/09/2008

    Discarded People
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Second Hand,” by Chris Offutt, performed by Mary Beth Hurt
    “The Letter Writer,” by M.T. Sharif, performed by Joe Morton

  • 05/02/2008

    Small Towns, Small Moments
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Eight Pieces for the Left Hand,” by J. Robert Lennon, performed by Stephen Lang
    “The Wood Duck,” by James Thurber, performed by Malachy McCourt

  • 04/25/2008

    Word Pictures
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “De Smot Billy-Gut,” by Milt Gross, performed by Isaiah Sheffer
    “Letter #16 To William Hunt, the Franklin Hotel, Rochester, Minnesota-Los Angeles, California, December 9, 1958,” by Dalton Trumbo, performed by James Naughton
    “Dreamtigers,” by Jorge Luis Borges, performed by Isaiah Sheffer

  • 04/18/2008

    Brave New Worlds
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Old Woman in the Wood,” by The Brothers Grimm, performed by Stockard Channing
    “An Aborigine Among the Skyscrapers,” by Saudin bin Labutau, performed by Michael Keck
    “Beyond Lies the Wub,” by Philip K. Dick, performed by Denis O’Hare
    “My Flamboyant Grandson,” by George Saunders, performed by Harris Yulin

  • 04/11/2008

    The Lives of Women in Fiction and Fact
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Enough,” by Alice McDermott, performed by Kathleen Chalfant
    “On Golden Pond,” by Jane Fonda, performed by Jane Fonda

  • 04/04/2008

    Unlikely Situations
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Schartz-Metterklume Method,” by Saki, performed by Marian Seldes
    “I Dated Jane Austen,” by T.C. Boyle, performed by Isaiah Sheffer
    “The Sixth Borough,” by Jonathan Safran Foer, performed by Jerry Zaks
    “Game,” by Donald Barthelme, performed by David Strathairn

  • 03/28/2008

    The Rea Award for the Short Story: A Tribute (Part 2)
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Coo-Coo,” by John Edgar Wideman, performed by John Edgar Wideman
    “Escapes,” by Joy Williams, performed by Joy Williams
    “That Room,” by Tobias Wolff, performed by Tobias Wolff
    “The Orphaned Swimming Pool,” by John Updike, performed by Campbell Scott

  • 03/21/2008

    The Rea Award for the Short Story: A Tribute (Part 1)
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Shawl,” by Cynthia Ozick, performed by Lois Smith
    “Some Other Better Otto,” by Deborah Eisenberg, performed by Deborah Eisenberg
    “Calling,” by Richard Ford, performed by Richard Ford
    “Slow,” by Joyce Carol Oates, performed by Joyce Carol Oates
    “In This Country But in Another Language, My Aunt Refuses to Marry the Men Everyone Wants Her To,” by Grace Paley, performed by Grace Paley
    “Plot on the Poem,” by Grace Paley, performed by Grace Paley

  • 03/14/2008

    People with Problems
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Wes Amerigo’s Giant Fear,” by David Schickler, performed by Isaiah Sheffer
    “The Doctor of Mental Health,” by Miranda F. Mellis, performed by David Rakoff

  • 03/07/2008

    Overwhelmed
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “A Curtain of Green,” by Eudora Welty, performed by Frances Sternhagen
    “Concerning Love,” by Anton Chekhov, performed by Joe Morton

  • 02/29/2008

    Figuring It Out
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Towel Season,” by Ron Carlson, performed by James Naughton
    “A Bad Joke,” by Ha Jin, performed by BD Wong

  • 02/22/2008

    Tales in Verse, and a Chiller
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Deacon's Masterpiece, or The Wonderful One Hoss Shay: A Logical Story,” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, performed by John Lithgow
    “Jabberwocky,” by Lewis Carroll, performed by Bill Irwin
    “The Jumblies,” by Edward Lear, performed by Bill Irwin and John Lithgow
    “If I Told Him: A Completed Portrait of Picasso,” by Gertrude Stein, performed by Bill Irwin and John Lithgow
    “The Tyger,” by William Blake, performed by John Lithgow
    “The Red Wheelbarrow,” by William Carlos Williams, performed by Bill Irwin
    “This Is Just to Say,” by William Carlos Williams, performed by Bill Irwin
    “The Thinker,” by William Carlos Williams, performed by Bill Irwin
    “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat,” by Edward Lear, performed by Bill Irwin and John Lithgow
    “The Monkey's Paw,” by W.W. Jacobs, performed by John Lithgow

  • 02/15/2008

    It's Love!
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Examining the Evidence,” by Alice Hoffman, performed by Joanna Gleason
    “An Old Fashioned Story,” by Laurie Colwin, performed by Mia Dillon

  • 02/08/2008

    Best Friends: Dog Tales
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Sleeping with Dogs on a King Size Bed,” by Abigail Thomas, performed by Rochelle Oliver
    “The Dog of the Marriage,” by Amy Hempel, performed by Joan Allen
    “Heart of a Champion,” by T.C. Boyle, performed by Isaiah Sheffer

  • 02/01/2008

    Strange But True: Aimee Bender & Etgar Keret
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Drunken Mimi,” by Aimee Bender, performed by Bernadette Quigley
    “Death Watch,” by Aimee Bender, performed by Bernadette Quigley
    “Your Man,” by Etgar Keret, performed by David Rakoff
    “Shooting Tuvia,” by Etgar Keret, performed by David Rakoff

  • 01/25/2008

    Paws and Claws
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Red Fox Fur Coat,” by Teolinda Gersão, performed by Kathleen Chalfant
    “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves,” by Karen Russell, performed by Joanna Gleason

  • 01/18/2008

    Memories That Define Us
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Dissed Fish,” by Calvin Trillin, performed by Calvin Trillin
    “Bid Farewell to Her Many Horses,” by Luis Alberto Urrea, performed by Robert Sean Leonard

  • 01/11/2008

    You Just Don't Understand
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Dilettante,” by Edith Wharton, performed by Brenda Wehle
    “The Muse’s Tragedy,” by Edith Wharton, performed by David Strathairn

  • 01/04/2008

    Living Life to the Fullest
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “How to Talk to a Hunter,” by Pam Houston, performed by Mia Dillon
    “It Had Wings,” by Allan Gurganus, performed by Isaiah Sheffer
    “The Canoeists,” by Rick Bass, performed by Neil Patrick Harris
    “A Ride with Olympy,” by James Thurber, performed by David Rakoff