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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.

  • 12/29/2010

    Mysteries and Wonders
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Schartz-Metterklume Method,” by Saki, performed by Marian Seldes
    “Berkeley or Mariana of the Universe,” by Liliana Heker, performed by Hope Davis
    “Cultural Relativity,” by Charles Johnson, performed by Regina King
    “New York Day Women,” by Edwidge Danticat, performed by Laurine Towler

  • 12/22/2010

    What the Blind Can See
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Household,” by Yasunari Kawabata, translated by Lane Dunlop and J. Martin Holman, performed by Fionnula Flanagan
    “Things We Knew When the House Caught Fire,” by David Drury, performed by Keith Szarabajka

  • 12/15/2010

    Great Expectations
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “An Amateur’s Guide to the Night,” by Mary Robison, performed by Patricia Kalember
    “Learn a Trade,” by John Updike, performed by James Naughton
    “Pride and Joy,” by Etgar Keret, translated by Sondra Silverston, performed by Robert Sean Leonard

  • 12/08/2010

    Our Own Madness
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Adults Alone,” by A.M. Homes, performed by Christina Pickles
    “The Knocking,” by David Means, performed by Isaiah Sheffer

  • 12/01/2010

    The Power of Love
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Love,” by Tibor Dery, translated by Ilona Duczynska, performed by Keir Dullea
    “Silver Water,” by Amy Bloom, performed by Linda Lavin

  • 11/24/2010

    Miracles Can Happen
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Fall of Texas,” by Joyce Johnson, performed by Cynthia Nixon
    “Personal Letter No. 2,” by Sonia Sanchez, performed by Staceyann Chinn
    “The Fix,” by Percival Everett, performed by Isaiah Sheffer

  • 11/17/2010

    Literary Mix Tape
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Milestones,” by Hannah Tinti, performed by Laurie Anderson
    “Wunderkind,” by Carson McCullers, performed by Kelli O’Hara

  • 11/10/2010

    All Modern Conveniences
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Not Quite Home Alone,” by Krista McGruder, performed by Jacqueline Kim
    “The Shared Patio,” by Miranda July, performed by Kirsten Vangsness
    “The Sphinx,” by Edgar Allan Poe, performed by Kathleen Widdoes
    “Privacy,” by Richard Ford, performed by René Auberjonois

  • 11/03/2010

    What Is Real?
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “A Woman at the Window,” by James Lasdun, performed by Leenya Rideout
    “Quadraturin,” by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, translated by Joanne Turnbull and Nikolai Formozov, performed by David Rakoff
    “Flight,” by Deborah Joy Corey, performed by Leenya Rideout

  • 10/27/2010

    Tennessee, Edna, and Flannery
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Life Story,” by Tenessee Williams, performed by Mia Dillon
    “Violets,” by Edna O’Brien, performed by Fionnula Flanagan
    “The Life You Save May Be Your Own,” by Flannery O’Connor, performed by Lois Smith

  • 10/20/2010

    Arrivals and Departures
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Strangers in the House,” by Nahid Rachlin, performed by Freda Foh Shen
    “A Disappearance,” by Julie Otsuka, performed by Jane Kaczmarek

  • 10/13/2010

    Speeding Away
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Fruit and Words,” by Aimee Bender, performed by Rita Wolf
    “La Conchita,” by T.C. Boyle, performed by Isaiah Sheffer

  • 10/06/2010

    Humor Me
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Six Days: Some Rememberings,” by Grace Paley, performed by Dana Ivey
    “Dating Your Mom,” by Ian Frazier, performed by Isaiah Sheffer
    “A Plague of Tics,” by David Sedaris, performed by Robert Sean Leonard

  • 09/29/2010

    Unexpected Developments
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Sphinx,” by Edgar Allan Poe, performed by Kathleen Widdoes
    “Minuet,” by Guy de Maupassant, performed by René Auberjonois
    “The Toys of Peace,” by Saki, performed by Dana Ivey
    “Only the Dead Know Brooklyn,” by Thomas Wolfe, performed by Isaiah Sheffer

  • 09/22/2010

    Doppelgangers and Knights
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “What Happened Between Us,” by Rivka Galchen, performed by Jonathan Hadary
    “Chivalry,” by Neil Gaiman, performed by Christina Pickles

  • 09/15/2010

    Hard-Boiled and Hard Tack
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Creeping Siamese,” by Dashiell Hammett, performed by John Shea
    “Make Westing,” by Jack London, performed by Steven Gilborn

  • 09/08/2010

    Women on a Mission
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “A Shock for Countess,” by C.S. Montanye, performed by Fionnula Flanagan
    “Katherine Comes to Yellow Sky,” by Mark Helprin, performed by Lisa Gay Hamilton

  • 09/01/2010

    Strange Rituals
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Second-Hand Man,” by Rita Dove, performed by Audra McDonald
    “The Winnowing of Mrs. Schuping,” by Padgett Powell, performed by James Naughton

  • 08/25/2010

    Let's Not Talk
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Year of Silence,” by Kevin Brockmeier, performed by Anthony Rapp
    “Liberty Hall,” by Ring Lardner, performed by Christina Pickles

  • 08/18/2010

    Passions Run Deep
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Bible,” by Tobias Wolff, performed by Jane Alexander
    “The Appropriation of Cultures,” by Percival Everett, performed by Ruben Santiago Hudson

  • 08/11/2010

    Away From Home
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Summer People,” by Shirley Jackson, performed by René Auberjonois
    “The Wrong Suitcase,” by Maeve Binchy, performed by Cynthia Nixon

  • 08/04/2010

    Two Wild Guys
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Gleason,” by Louise Erdrich, performed by Robert Sean Leonard
    “Red,” by Maile Meloy, performed by Keith Szarabajka

  • 07/28/2010

    Listen Up!
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Apology,” by Brock Clark, performed by Stephen Lang
    “The Chairs,” by Joshua Ferris, performed by Ivy Austin
    “Feeling Good, Feeling Fine,” by George Garrett, performed by BD Wong

  • 07/21/2010

    Deepening Insight
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Seventh Man,” by Haruki Murakami, performed by John Shea
    “The Rememberer,” by Aimee Bender, performed by Marian Seldes

  • 07/14/2010

    A Pair of Paleys
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Long-Distance Runner,” by Grace Paley, performed by Laura Esterman
    “A Conversation with My Father,” by Grace Paley, performed by Anne Pitoniak

  • 07/07/2010

    Two Funny Guys
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Alvin the Typesetter,” by Lydia Davis, performed by David Rakoff
    “The Lie,” by T.C. Boyle, performed by Stephen Colbert

  • 06/30/2010

    Family Matters
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Charles,” by Shirley Jackson, performed by Lois Smith
    “Pride and Joy,” by Etgar Keret, performed by Robert Sean Leonard
    “Blue Waltz with Coyotes,” by Jeanne Dixon, performed by Mia Dillon
    “Boys,” by Rick Moody, performed by BD Wong

  • 06/23/2010

    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

  • 06/16/2010

    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

  • 06/09/2010

    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

  • 06/02/2010

    Improvisations
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

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

  • 05/26/2010

    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

  • 05/19/2010

    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

  • 05/12/2010

    Pressing Engagements
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

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

  • 05/05/2010

    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

  • 04/28/2010

    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

  • 04/21/2010

    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

  • 04/14/2010

    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

  • 04/07/2010

    Jhumpa Lahiri’s Two Worlds
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

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

  • 03/31/2010

    Lost and Found
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Good Intentions,” by Etgar Keret, performed by Leonard Nimoy
    “Lost and Found,” by Colson Whitehead, performed by Alec Baldwin
    “My Mother,” by Jamaica Kincaid, performed by Laurine Towler
    “A Soldier for the Crown,” by Charles Johnson, performed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson

  • 03/24/2010

    Celebration of the Anniversary of "The Things They Carried"
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    The Things They Carried (excerpt), by Tim O’Brien, performed by Dylan Baker

  • 03/17/2010

    Creatures of the Night
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Popsy,” by Stephen King, performed by Michael Imperioli
    “Night Calls,” by Lisa Fugard, performed by Lisa Fugard

  • 03/10/2010

    Mysterious Circumstances
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Double Check,” by Thomas Walsh, performed by James Naughton
    “False Alarm,” by Dave Barry, performed by Larry Keith

  • 03/03/2010

    An Hour with Sherman Alexie
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Breaking and Entering,” by Sherman Alexie, performed by BD Wong

  • 02/24/2010

    Forbidden Fruit
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Yurt,” by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, performed by Joanna Gleason
    “Wild Plums,” by Grace Stone Coates, performed by Mia Dillon

  • 02/17/2010

    Tales of Terror
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Dracula's Guest,” by Bram Stoker, performed by Aasif Mandvi
    “The Masque of the Red Death,” by Edgar Allan Poe, performed by Fionnula Flanagan

  • 02/10/2010

    Inspired by the Photography of Robert Frank
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Sunflower Sutra,” by Allen Ginsberg, performed by Isaiah Sheffer
    “The Death of Jim Taylor,” by Elissa Hutson, performed by Boyd Gaines, introduced by Felicity Tsikiwa
    “Barbara Stanwyck, It's Your Time to Shine,” by Bianca Galvez, performed by Condola Rashad, introduced by William Carrington
    “Good Living,” by Aleksandar Hemon, performed by Boyd Gaines
    “The Thing Around Your Neck,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, performed by Condola Rashad

  • 02/03/2010

    Vantage Points
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    Let the Great World Spin (excerpt), by Colum McCann, performed by Brian Stokes Mitchell
    “Salt,” by Sherman Alexie, performed by David Strathairn

  • 01/27/2010

    Surprising Discoveries
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “Disco Papa,” by Karen Russell, performed by Susanna Thompson
    “Departure,” by Andrew Porter, performed by Khris Lewin
    “Waiting For Rusty,” by William Cole, performed by Ted Marcoux

  • 01/20/2010

    Travelers: A Wallace Stegner Tribute
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Traveler,” by Wallace Stegner, performed by Jack Davidson
    “Goin’ to Town,” by Wallace Stegner, performed by Lillo Way, Isaiah Sheffer, and Jack Davidson

  • 01/13/2010

    Displaced Persons
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    “The Briefcase,” by Rebecca Makkai, performed by Victor Garber
    “Diem Perdidi,” by Julie Otsuka, performed by Jayne Atkinson

  • 01/06/2010

    Old Worlds and New
    HOST: ISAIAH SHEFFER

    "Beyond the Pale," by Joseph Epstein, performed by Isaiah Sheffer
    "Ma, A Memoir," by Lynn Freed, performed by Marian Seldes