The 3 Best Selected Shorts Podcast Episodes
1) Trust Your Senses
Guest host Michael Cerveris presents stories in which trusting your senses is important. In Jeanne Dixon’s “Blue Waltz with Coyotes,” a rebellious farm girl flirts with danger. It’s read by Mia ...Show More
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.2) ESCALATION
Guest host Hope Davis presents two stories in which things get out of hand. Rumors and recriminations fly in “Belles Lettres,” by Nafissa Thompson-Spires, as rival mothers defend their daughters’ rep...Show More
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.3) Crossing the Line
Guest host Denis O’Hare presents three stories that take things to extremes. In Simon Rich’s “Distractions,” we learn about a global conspiracy. Errin Hayes reads. The misanthrope in...Show More
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.4) A Simple Solution
Host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about finding solutions to complex problems, and to simple ones. T. C. Boyle tackles evolution and government intervention in “Top of the Food Chain,” read by ...Show More
5) Unwrapping the Holidays
Meg Wolitzer presents three unexpected stories that let us see the holidays’ associations—family, friends, food, gifts, and goodwill—in different ways. Amy Krouse Rosenthal presents a playful encount...Show More
6) The Quiet Part Out Loud
Host Meg Wolitzer presents two provocative stories that address the idea of communing with something “other”. In Etgar Keret’s “Polar Bear” an AI program, and a lonely widow, commune. The reader is ...Show More
7) Bonus: Etgar Keret and Ira Glass
Israeli writer Etgar Keret talks to his friend, This American Life host Ira Glass.
8) Intervention
Host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about people inserting themselves into the lives of others—in their own best interests. In Simon Rich’s “Relapse,” friends rally ’round when one of their numbe...Show More
9) Now You See Him, Now You Don’t
Host Meg Wolitzer presents three fictional disappearing acts. In “We Have Your Son,” by Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw, a kidnapping goes wrong. This darkly humorous piece recalls O’Henry’s “The Ra...Show More
10) Just the Thing
Host Meg Wolitzer presents stories about characters coping with pre-existing difficulties, large and small—and then encountering someone or something ready to change everything. In “Shoulder-Top Secre...Show More