Afleveringen
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Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about secret spaces and what they represent. In N. K. Jemisinâs speculative fantasy âElevator Dancer,â a security guard in a totalitarian regime is beguiled by an act of freedom. The reader is Laura GĂłmez. And Hugh Dancy reads Greg Jacksonâs âThe Hollow,â about a secret room, a purposeless life, and a guy who canât stop talking about Vincent Van Gogh.
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Host Meg Wolitzer present three stories in which friendly advice is proffered, whether itâs wanted or not. The title of the first, by Meghana Indurti and Tyler Fowler, says it all: âRelationship Advice from Your Aunt Who Has Been Divorced Six Times.â Itâs read by Jane Kaczmarek. In Mira Jacobâs âDeath by Printer,â a YouTube DIY video seems to have a mind of its own.The reader is Rita Wolf. And a husband dispenses lavish advice at a wedding brimming with his wifeâs exes in âThe Happiest Day of Your Life,â by Katherine Damm, read by Santino Fontana.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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The unique, unquenchable writer and activist Grace Paley would have turned 100 in 2022. On this Selected Shorts, host Meg Wolitzer shares our tribute to the influential and outspoken New Yorker who was a great friend of the series. Paleyâs emphasis on friends, family, and doing the right thing are evident in the three stories on this show. In âWants,â a woman has a chance encounter while returning a lot of overdue library books. Itâs read by Adina Verson. Two old friends work their way from childhood to middle age in âRuthy and Edie,â read by Rita Wolf. And we meet a woman with a wonderfully checkered past in âGoodbye and Good Luck,â read by Joanna Gleason. Featuring commentary from novelist Lauren Groff.
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"The Ballad of Bagel Rat," is by Jen Spyra. She's written for The Onion, The New Yorker, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. After reading her short story collection Big Time, we not only brought two of Spyra's stories to the stage, but commissioned this one, too. Actor Busy Phillips read this story onstage. She's been in shows from Freaks & Geeks to Cougar Town, though these days you may know her from Girls5Eva or the movie musical Mean Girls. Also, she is the best at social mediaâwhich gave her a strange kind of insight into this story. This episode is hosted by Aparna Nancherla.
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Host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about women whose social boundaries are changed. In âSomebodyâs Daughter,â by Amy Silverberg, a young woman flirts with transgression as one way of defining herself. The reader is Hettienne Park. In Julie Otsukaâs âEvacuation Order No. 19,â a wife and mother makes hard decisions during World War II. The reader is Jennifer Ikeda.
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On this show, host Meg Wolitzer gets friendly, and shares three stories about friendships of all kinds. Kelly Stoutâs zinger âLetâs Get Drinks,â offers up the perils of conducting a social life via hyperbolic texts, which are hilariously performed by Jane Curtin and Jane Kaczmarek. Next, âTrue Friendship,â by Jorge Hernandez, describes a life-long friend whoâs almost too good to beâtrue. The reader is Michael Urie. And three misfits fit together in Anthony Marraâs âThe Last Words of Benito Picone,â performed by John Turturro. A brief interview with Turturro follows the story.
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Host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about perfect pairs, and what happens if and when they split up. A friendship unravels in âMrs. Carrington and Mrs. Crane,â 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 âThe Breakup Ceremony,â performed by Maulik Pancholy. And in âTwins,â by Philip Graham, siblings rediscover one another. Itâs performed by Michael Tucker.
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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 âPassingâ Hughes reflects on a difficult aspect of the Black experienceâthe need some felt to âpassâ as white. Program host Teagle F. Bougere is the reader. Pauletta Pearson Washington reads the humorous and much anthologized âThank You, Mâam." And Joe Morton performs one of Hughesâ most celebrated works, âThe Blues Iâm Playing,â which charts the long and complex relationship between a brilliant young Black pianist and her white patron. All three stories reflect Hughesâ explorations of questions of race, identity, and personal destiny.
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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 âThe Last Rung on the Ladder.â An excerpt from Carrie is read by Carrie Coon, and âThe Last Rung on the Ladderâ is read by John Benjamin Hickey. Colson Whitehead speaks briefly from the stage.
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Meg Wolitzer speaks with author Judy Blume about her life, her writing and the challenges of book banning.
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This piece is by writer Maeve Dunigan. Her work has been featured in The New Yorker and in McSweeney's; and her first collection of humor pieces and essays, Read This to Look Cool, will be published in 2025. Our reader was none other than Susie Essman, the longtime stand-up comic who spent many years yelling at Larry David while playing Susie Green on Curb Your Enthusiasm. She has also had recurring roles in series including Broad City and Hacks. After the story, Host Aparna Nancherla talks to Meg Wolitzer about this story; she's a novelist and the regular host of Selected Shortsâthe show which provides Too Hot with its cornucopia of highbrow demi-smut. On top of all this, she is an avid Scrabble and Words with Friends player; so she surely knows about the feeling described in the story.
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Host Meg Wolitzer talks with political satirist and author Andy Borowitz in this bonus interview.
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From the author of Eileen and My Year of Rest and Relaxation, a story about weird people doing weird things. Read by Colby Minifie from The Boys, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Fear the Walking Dead. Michael Ian Black hosts this episode, which includes an interview with Moshfegh.
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Host Meg Wolitzer presents three works about idealized lives, and ideas about what constitutes an âidealâ life. âBoy Meets Girlâ is Jen Kimâs humorous version of a Hollywood love story. Itâs read by Tony Hale. In the John Cheever classic âThe Worm in the Appleâ a couple have the perfect lifeâbut no one can believe it. Itâs read by Anne Meara. And a harried mother fantasizes about a brand new life in Vanessa Cutiâs âOur Children,â performed by Claire Danes, followed by an interview with Danes.
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Host Meg Wolitzer talks with author Elizabeth Strout about her story âHomeâ and the fictional family Strout has created.
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In this bonus conversation, host Meg Wolitzer talks to author Louise Erdrich about her story; her writing life; and what do with left over index cards.
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In this bonus conversation, host Meg Wolitzer talks to actor Denis OâHare about his craft, and his approaches to readings of the two very different stories on this program.
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Host Meg Wolitzer visits a favorite indie bookstore, Three Lives & Company in Greenwich Village, remembers her early years there as a writer and reader, and is let in on some trade secrets.
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In this bonus conversation, writers Margaret Atwood and A.M. Homes discuss everything from feminism, time, writing and dystopian fiction, to Atwoodâs new short story collection âOld Babes in the Wood.â The interview was recorded in front of a live audience at Symphony Space.
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In this bonus conversation, host and best-selling author, Meg Wolitzer, talks to host of WNYCâs All of It, Alison Stewart. Wolitzer reveals some of the secrets to great writing and the two share their own reading habits and thoughts about the importance of fiction.
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