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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.

  • 12/31/2015

    True Confessions
    GUEST HOST: DAVID STRATHAIRN

    “Isn’t It Romantic,” by David Rakoff, performed by Harris Yulin
    “More Alarms at Night,” by James Thurber, performed by Colin Quinn
    “Août,” by Meg Wolitzer, performed by Jill Eikenberry

  • 12/24/2015

    Social Climbers
    GUEST HOST: CYNTHIA NIXON

    “Ambition,” by Jonathan Franzen, performed by Edie Falco
    “From the Diary of a New York Lady,” by Dorothy Parker, performed by Mary Louise Wilson

  • 12/17/2015

    Christmas Guests
    GUEST HOST: ROBERT SEAN LEONARD

    “One Christmas,” by Truman Capote, performed by John Shea
    “The Loudest Voice,” by Grace Paley, performed by Linda Lavin
    “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” by James Thurber, performed by Isaiah Sheffer

  • 12/10/2015

    Brief Lives
    GUEST HOST: MICHAEL CERVERIS

    Selected excerpts, 1979-1985, from The Andy Warhol Diaries by Andy Warhol, performed by Denis O’Hare
    “The Young Painters,” by Nicole Krauss, performed by Heather Burns
    “The Burning Palms” by Claire Keegan, performed by Patricia Kalember

  • 12/03/2015

    Going to Extremes
    GUEST HOST: DAVID SEDARIS

    “Pilgrims,” by Julie Orringer, performed by Jill Eikenberry
    “The Life You Save May be Your Own,” by Flannery O’Connor, performed by Lois Smith

  • 11/26/2015

    Things Change
    GUEST HOST: STEPHEN COLBERT

    “Where the Cluetts Are,” by Jack Finney, performed by Philip Casnoff
    “Lederhosen,” by Haruki Murakami, performed by Aasif Mandvi

  • 11/19/2015

    The Pursuit of Happiness
    GUEST HOST: ROBERT SEAN LEONARD

    “The Proxy Marriage,” by Maile Meloy, performed by Patricia Kalember
    “The Worm in the Apple,” by John Cheever, performed by Anne Meara

  • 11/12/2015

    John Updike Redux
    GUEST HOST: JANE KACZMAREK

    “Unstuck,” by John Updike, performed by Jane Kaczmarek
    “Playing with Dynamite,” by John Updike, performed by Sally Field

  • 11/05/2015

    Welcome to Night Vale
    GUEST HOSTS: JOSPEH FINK & JEFFREY CRANOR

    “Prologue to Middletown,” by Will Eno, performed by Cecil Baldwin
    “The Beautiful Stranger,” by Shirley Jackson, performed by Cecil Baldwin
    “Lab Coats,” by Yoko Ogawa, performed by Marin Ireland
    “List of Cross-Dressing Soldiers,” by Patricia Lockwood, performed by Dylan Marron
    “Go Back to the Telephone Booth, Clark Kent, Clark Kent,” by Sarah Levy, performed by Sarah Levy, Meg Bashwiner, and Dylan Marron
    “Texts from Peter Pan,” by Mallory Ortberg, performed by Dylan Marron and Mara Wilson

  • 10/29/2015

    Funny/Scary
    GUEST HOST: NEIL GAIMAN

    “Through the Safety Net,” by Charles Baxter, performed by Becky Ann Baker
    “Click-Clack, The Rattlebag,” by Neil Gaiman, performed by Neil Gaiman
    “Strays,” by Mark Richard, performed by Alex Hurt
    “October Tale,” by Neil Gaiman, performed by John Cameron Mitchell

  • 10/22/2015

    All Tangled Up
    GUEST HOST: WYATT CENAC

    “The Lie,” by T.C. Boyle, performed by Stephen Colbert
    “Yma Dream,” by Thomas Meehan, performed by Christine Baranski
    “Pride and Prejudice,” from “Twitterature,” performed by Wyatt Cenac

  • 10/15/2015

    Figuring It Out
    GUEST HOST: MICHAEL CERVERIS

    “The Adventure of the Computer Program,” by Seth Fried, performed by Santino Fontana
    “Find the Bad Guy,” by Jeffrey Eugenides, performed by John Benjamin Hickey

  • 10/08/2015

    Flash Forward
    GUEST HOST: CYNTHIA NIXON

    “Vanilla Bright Like Eminem,” by Michel Faber, performed by Daniel Gerroll
    “North Country,” by Roxane Gay, performed by Adepero Oduye

  • 10/01/2015

    Road Trips
    GUEST HOST: HOPE DAVIS

    “Amazing Proposal Stories,” by Simon Rich, performed by Tracee Chimo
    “The Weekend Travelers,” by Elizabeth Spencer, performed by Campbell Scott
    “Best Western,” by Louise Erdrich, performed by Patricia Kalember

  • 09/24/2015

    Scenes from Three Marriages
    GUEST HOST: JOSH RADNOR

    “Another Life,” by Paul La Farge, performed by Josh Radnor
    “The Big Cat,” by Louise Erdrich, performed by Keir Dullea

  • 09/17/2015

    Worst Case Scenarios
    GUEST HOST: HOPE DAVIS

    “Lars Farf, Excessively Fearful Father and Husband,” by George Saunders, performed by James Naughton
    “Charles,” by Shirley Jackson, performed by Lois Smith
    “Game,” by Donald Barthelme, performed by David Strathairn
    “Lamentations of the Father,” by Ian Frazier, performed by Isaiah Sheffer

  • 09/10/2015

    The Kids Aren’t All Right
    GUEST HOST: ROBERT SEAN LEONARD

    “On the Hill,” by Elizabeth Spencer, performed by Robert Sean Leonard
    “Modern Girls,” by Teju Cole, performed by Zainab Jah

  • 09/03/2015

    Things Fall Apart
    GUEST HOST: ROBERT SEAN LEONARD

    “Interior Design,” by Dolan Morgan, performed by Wyatt Cenac
    “In the Bed Department,” by Anne Enright, performed by Christina Pickles
    “The Architecture of the Moon,” by Joe Meno, performed by Wren T. Brown

  • 08/27/2015

    Next Stop, Greenwich Village
    GUEST HOST: JANE CURTIN

    “Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant,” by Laurie Colwin, performed by Kelli O’Hara
    “Snowing in Greenwich Village,” by John Updike, performed by Jane Curtin
    Greenwich Village recollections by Dave Hill, Isaac Mizrahi, Ralph Lee, and Penny Arcade

  • 08/20/2015

    Take a Seat
    GUEST HOST: ROBERT SEAN LEONARD

    “Soiree in Hollywood,” by Henry Miller, performed by Joshua Malina
    “Lamb to the Slaughter,” by Roald Dahl, performed by Catherine O’Hara
    “Halibut,” by Etgar Keret, performed by Josh Radnor
    “Going for a Beer,” by Robert Coover, performed by Isaiah Sheffer

  • 08/13/2015

    Not Happily Ever After
    GUEST HOST: HOPE DAVIS

    “The Mast Year,” by Diane Cook, performed by Hope Davis
    “The Frog Prince,” by Robert Coover, performed by Parker Posey
    “Mermaid in a Jar,” by Sheila Heti, performed by Rita Wolf

  • 08/06/2015

    Strong Feelings
    GUEST HOST: DAVID SEDARIS

    “White Angel,” by Michael Cunningham, performed by James Naughton
    “The Fine Art of Sighing,” by Bernard Cooper, performed by Isaiah Sheffer

  • 07/30/2015

    Obsessive/Compulsive
    GUEST HOST: ROBERT SEAN LEONARD

    “Awake,” by Jenny Allen, performed by Jane Kaczmarek
    “The TV,” by Ben Loory, performed by Liev Schreiber
    “The Tax Man,” by Bruce Jay Friedman, performed by Sigourney Weaver

  • 07/23/2015

    Cannolis and Carroll
    GUEST HOST: ROBERT SEAN LEONARD

    “The Occasional Pignoli Tart,” by Ann Hood, performed by Amber Tamblyn
    “A Mad Tea Party,” from Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, performed by Christopher Lloyd

  • 07/16/2015

    Peas, Pancakes, and Pretensions
    GUEST HOST: ROBERT SEAN LEONARD

    “Letter to a Frozen Peas Manufacturer,” by Lydia Davis, performed by Robert Sean Leonard
    “Serial Monogamy,” by Nora Ephron, performed by Mary Kay Place
    Madame Bovary (excerpt), by Gustave Flaubert, performed by Christina Pickles

  • 07/09/2015

    Chance Encounters
    GUEST HOST: JANE CURTIN

    “Clair de Lune,” by Steven Millhauser, performed by James Naughton
    “Night People,” by Sherman Alexie, performed by Wyatt Cenac
    “Luck,” by Richard Bausch, performed by Campbell Scott

  • 07/02/2015

    Enviable Characters
    GUEST HOST: ROBERT SEAN LEONARD

    “The Sound of Summer Running,” by Ray Bradbury, performed by Sean Astin
    “I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth,” by Margaret Atwood, performed by Kirsten Vangsness
    “Shiftless Little Loafers,” by Susan Orlean, performed by Dave Hill

  • 06/25/2015

    Finding Your Way in the Dark
    GUEST HOST: ROBERT SEAN LEONARD

    “I Go Adventuring,” by Helen Keller, performed by Maggie Siff
    “The Secrets of Bats,” by Jess Row, performed by Heather Goldenhersh

  • 06/18/2015

    The Sun and the Moon
    GUEST HOST: BD WONG

    “The Distance of the Moon,” by Italo Calvino, performed by Liev Schreiber
    “All Summer in a Day,” by Ray Bradbury, performed by Michael Cerveris

  • 06/11/2015

    Three Boys and a Girl
    GUEST HOST: JANE KACZMAREK

    Stuart Little (excerpt), by E.B. White, performed by David Hyde Pierce
    “Araby,” by James Joyce, performed by Malachy McCourt
    “The Palmist,” by Andrew Lam, performed by James Naughton
    “Flying,” by Stephen Dixon, performed by Thomas Gibson

  • 06/04/2015

    Nothing Good Gets Away: Readings from Letters of Note
    GUEST HOST: JANE CURTIN

    A selection from the popular blog and bestselling book include letters by Mick Jagger, Katherine Hepburn, Jack the Ripper, and Queen Elizabeth II, among others. Readers include Jane Curtin, Kate Mulgrew, Phylicia Rashad, Jeremy Shamos, and Sam Underwood
    “Hearing from Wayne,” by Bill Franzen, performed by Jeremy Shamos
    “Yma Dream,” by Thomas Meehan, performed by James Naughton

  • 05/28/2015

    Private Lives
    GUEST HOST: DAVID SEDARIS

    “The Ambush,” by Donna Tartt, performed by Patricia Kalember
    “My Father's Life,” by Leonard Michaels, performed by Isaiah Sheffer
    “The Secret Lives of Chefs,” by Lisa Hanawalt, performed by Mario Batali

  • 05/21/2015

    Too Late
    GUEST HOST: WYATT CENAC

    “The Dome,” by Steven Millhauser, performed by Alec Baldwin
    “Cretan Love Song,” by Jim Shepard, performed by Joe Morton
    “Subsoil,” by Nicholas Baker, performed by Thomas Gibson

  • 05/14/2015

    An Alien and a Gentleman: Celebrating Leonard Nimoy
    GUEST HOST: JANE CURTIN

    “Good Intentions,” by Etgar Keret, performed by Leonard Nimoy
    “The Man Who Liked Dickens,” by Evelyn Waugh, performed by Leonard Nimoy

  • 05/07/2015

    Art and Artists
    GUEST HOST: JANE CURTIN

    “The Minimalist,” by Stacey Richter, performed by Parker Posey
    “Varengeville,” by William Boyd, performed by Dan Stevens
    “Honey I Twisted,” by Helen Phillips, performed by Heather Burns
    “Timeshare,” by Dolan Morgan, performed by Rita Wolf

  • 04/30/2015

    Alternative Endings
    GUEST HOST: JANE CURTIN

    “Beg, SI Tog, Inc, Cont, Rep (Begin, Slip Together, Increase, Continue, Repeat),” by Amy Hempel, performed by Anika Noni Rose
    “Sarah’s Story,” by Galina Vroman, performed by Jane Curtin

  • 04/23/2015

    Expect the Unexpected
    GUEST HOST: NEIL GAIMAN

    “The Baby-Sitter,” by Jane Yolen, performed by Isaiah Sheffer
    “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” by James Thurber, performed by Dick Cavett
    “The Pedestrian,” by Ray Bradbury, performed by Jamey Sheridan
    “The Wood Duck,” by James Thurber, performed by Malachy McCourt

  • 04/16/2015

    Love is Funny
    GUEST HOST: CYNTHIA NIXON

    “But the One on the Right,” Dorothy Parker, performed Christina Pickles
    “Starting from Happy,” by Patricia Marx, performed by Kirsten Vangsness
    “Occupy Jen’s Street,” by Simon Rich, performed by Wyatt Cenac
    “People are Becoming Clouds,” by Joe Meno, performed by Kirsten Vangsness

  • 04/09/2015

    Women in Clothes (Part 2)
    GUEST HOSTS: HEIDI JULAVITS & LEANNE SHAPTON

    “Covet Diary,” by Leanne Shapton, performed by Justin Vivian Bond
    “Conversation: You Don’t Know What I Deal With,” by Ramou Sarr, performed by Sonia Manzano
    “Conversation: I’m Always on the Floor and Working,” by Mona Kowalska, performed by Sonia Manzano
    “The Hat of My Mother,” by Max Steele, performed by Paul Hecht

  • 04/02/2015

    Wondrous Women
    GUEST HOST: JOHN LITHGOW

    “Melisande,” by Edith Nesbit, performed by Jane Curtin
    “Fault Lines,” by Barbara Kingsolver, performed by Jill Eikenberry

  • 03/26/2015

    True Selves/Hidden Selves
    GUEST HOST: BD WONG

    “Reeling for the Empire,” by Karen Russell, performed by Kaneza Schaal
    “The Dodo,” by Ben Loory, performed by André Holland
    “The Secretary,” by Deborah Willis, performed by Arian Moayed

  • 03/19/2015

    In an Instant
    GUEST HOST: JANE KACZMAREK

    “Small Fates,” by Teju Cole, performed by Blythe Danner and Jeffrey Wright
    “In the South,” by Salman Rushdie, performed by Michael Stuhlbarg

  • 03/12/2015

    Party Animals
    GUEST HOST: JANE KACZMAREK

    “Turning,” by Lynda Sexson, performed by Christine Lahti
    “Goody Bags,” by Etgar Keret, performed by Amber Tamblyn
    “Faith,” by Sherman Alexie, performed by Michael Cerveris
    An excerpt from Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish, by David Rakoff, performed by Anika Noni Rose

  • 03/05/2015

    Women in Clothes (Part 1)
    GUEST HOSTS: HEIDI JULAVITS & LEANNE SHAPTON

    Selections from Women in Clothes, a fascinating collection of pieces by and about women and their relationships to clothes, from all over the globe, performed by Justin Vivian Bond, Jennifer Lim, Zosia Mamet, Sonia Manzano, and Molly Ringwald.

  • 02/26/2015

    Against the Odds
    GUEST HOST: JANE KACZMAREK

    “At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners,” by Lauren Groff, performed by Amy Ryan
    “How To Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: A Remembrance,” by Kiese Laymon, performed by Brandon J. Dirden

  • 02/19/2015

    Modern Fables
    GUEST HOST: STEPHEN COLBERT

    “St. George,” by Gail Godwin, performed by Jane Curtin
    “The Trickle-Down Effect,” by Annie Proulx, performed by James Naughton

  • 02/12/2015

    Missed Connections
    GUEST HOST: JANE KACZMAREK

    “All You Have to Do,” by BJ Novak, performed by BJ Novak
    “Missed Connection: Grocery Spill at 21st and 6th 2:30pm on Wednesday,” by BJ Novak, performed by Allison Williams
    “Closure,” by BJ Novak, performed by Aasif Mandvi, BJ Novak, and Allison Williams
    “Roy Spivey,” by Miranda July, performed by Amy Ryan
    “Eveline,” by James Joyce, performed by Kelli O'Hara

  • 02/05/2015

    One More Thing with BJ Novak
    GUEST HOST: JANE CURTIN

    “The Rematch,” by BJ Novak, performed by BJ Novak
    “Great Writers Steal,” by BJ Novak, performed by BJ Novak, Aasif Mandvi, and Anthony Rapp
    “Kellogg’s (or: The Last Wholesome Fantasy of the Middle-School Boy),” by BJ Novak, performed by BJ Novak

  • 01/29/2015

    A Tribute to David Rakoff
    GUEST HOST: DAVID SEDARIS

    “Cryptology,” by Leonard Michaels, performed by David Rakoff
    “Gomez Palacio,” by Roberto Bolano, performed by David Rakoff

  • 01/22/2015

    Lost and Found
    GUEST HOST: DAVID SEDARIS

    “Where are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, performed by Christine Baranski
    “Havahart,” by Belle Boggs, performed by Merritt Wever
    “Sticks,” by George Saunders, performed by Anthony Rapp

  • 01/15/2015

    What Would You Do?
    GUEST HOST: DAVID SEDARIS

    “In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried,” by Amy Hempel, performed by Mary Beth Hurt
    “The Night in Question,” by Tobias Wolff, performed by Lou Antonio
    “I Know What I'm Doing About All the Attention I've Been Getting,” by Frank Gannon, performed by David Sedaris

  • 01/08/2015

    Family Ties
    GUEST HOST: DAVID SEDARIS

    “The Dog of the Marriage,” by Amy Hempel, performed by Joan Allen
    “Partners,” by Veronica Geng, performed by Michael Cerveris, Patricia Kalember, and Isaiah Sheffer
    “Nightingale,” by Tobias Wolff, performed by William Hurt

  • 01/01/2015

    The Persistence of Memory: James Joyce’s The Dead, Part 2
    GUEST HOST: CYNTHIA NIXON

    “The Dead,” by James Joyce (Part 2), performed by Cynthia Nixon and Colum McCann