Host Meg Wolitzer presents two works that reassess and redefine our ideas of “the West.”  It’s both a landscape of awesome beauty, and the scene of cultural appropriation, and we’ve got two masters sharing and shaping our experience.  In Louise Erdrich’s “The Hollow Children” a natural disaster tests family ties.  It’s read by Tate Donovan.  And writer and environmental activist Rick Bass stress tests the West, and his main character, in “Fires,” read by John Benjamin Hickey.  We also reprise part of an interview with Louise Erdrich from earlier in the year.  In it, she mentions a new novel in progress, which has now been published: The Mighty Red: A Novel.

The New American West

Award-winning filmmaker, writer and multimedia artist, Miranda July seems to have dreams of conquering the world. Unlike most of us, she has wicked follow-through that demands the world's attention in the best way.  Her unusual childhood has left her with a unique, and very funny outlook on the world.  


#9 Miranda July

King of the nerds, Chris Harwick, sits down with Michael to explain how he figured out his life.  The talk show host and CEO of Nerdist Industries got his start on the MTV game show Singled Out. After several years of abusing alcohol and not being able to pay his rent, Chris quit booze, stopped acting and decided to make a world out of the things he’s passionate about which organically led to a build-it-and-they-will-come multi million-dollar business.

#13 Chris Hardwick

NPR Humorist and Best-selling Author of "Me Talk Pretty One Day" and "When You Are Engulfed in Flames," author David Sedaris became a household name in his mid-thirties after public radio broadcast his iconic holiday story "SantaLand Diaries.” 20 years later he now tours the world, selling out venues full of loyal fans.  In Part 1 of his interview, Michael talks to David about how he crafts his stories and how his career as a writer and performer became so successful.  

#19 David Sedaris Part 1

Spellbinding short stories by established and emerging writers take on a new life when they are performed by stars of the stage and screen. Listen free on your computer or mobile device. Symphony Space, the home of Selected Shorts, was founded almost 40 years ago in the belief that the arts bring people together, transcend barriers, and celebrate both our similarities and our differences. That belief remains our guiding principle and is more important now than ever. Your generosity during the Covid19 crisis will help us continue to provide great programs free of charge. Thank you for your support.

The New American West

Selected Shorts

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