Host Meg Wolitzer presents three works of speculative fiction curated by best-selling author N.K. Jemisin. In John Scalzi’s “When the Yogurt Took Over” a popular breakfast staple decides it’s good for everyone. The reader is Jin Ha. Chatbots and A.I. can be helpful––but sometimes too helpful––as we hear in Alexandra Chang’s “Me and My Algo,” read by Catherine Cohen. And Jemisin herself reworks a classic by Ursula K. Le Guin in “The Ones Who Stay and Fight,” read by Teagle F. Bougere.  Excerpts from Jemisin’s onstage comments are included in this show.

Building Worlds With N.K. Jemisin

Host Meg Wolitzer presents three works in which characters have unusual friends who change their lives—whether they like it nor not.  In “Unicorn Me,” by Elizabeth Crane, a magical box delivers a unicorn who offers ambiguous advice. Miriam Shor performs.  A sentient cockroach intrigues and alarms a woman in “The Double Life of the Cockroach’s Wife,” by Helen Phillips.  It’s performed by Sarah Steele. And the latest iPhone knows everything about you in Weike Wang’s “iPhoneSE,” performed by Dawn Akemi Saito. All three stories were commissions for SELECTED SHORTS’ anthology Small Odysseys.

Beyond Leprechauns

Host Meg Wolitzer presents three works about change.  Yalcin Tosun’s “Muzaffer and Bananas” explores the awkward rites of passage of two teenaged boys.  It’s performed by Arian Moayed.   In Anya DeNiro’s “Take Pills and Wait for Hips,” performed by Pooya Mohseni, a trans woman reflects on her life before and after the change.  And a former couple rehearse the disintegration of their relationship—on a street corner—in A.M. Homes’ “Goodbye to the Road Not Taken” performed by Jane Kaczmarek and Tony Shaloub.

The Me I Used to Be

SELECTED SHORTS host Meg Wolitzer presents four works that were presented as part of our live evening with WNYC’s Radiolab and hosts Lulu Miller and Latif Nasser.  The theme was flight in many imaginative manifestations.   Randa Jarrar’s “The Lunatics’ Eclipse” is a fable-like story of romance and interstellar travel, read by Abubakr Ali. Our second story is “Roy Spivey,” by Miranda July, and is a sly and gentle probing of celebrity culture.  It’s read by Molly Bernard.  Don Shea’s “Jumper Down” bares the vulnerability and resilience of a rescue worker.  it’s read by Becca Blackwell.  And our last story, “My Life as a Bat,” shares the secret life a mysterious creature in fact and fable. It’s by Canadian fiction master Margaret Atwood and is read by Zach Grenier.

Up in the Air with Radiolab

Host Meg Wolitzer presents two works in which characters are out of their element. This is quite literally the case in Robert Coover’s witty reworking of the fable “The Frog Prince,” who finds human life exhausting despite the enthusiasm of his suburban love interest.  Parker Posey reads. In Cristina Henríquez’s “Chasing Birds” a married couple share an exotic holiday locale, but not much else. It’s voiced by Maryann Plunkett, who also comments on the story at the end of her read, and introduced by novelist Amy Tan, a bird lover and illustrator.

Out of Their Element

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

Meg Wolitzer presents three stories in which plans go awry, or alter completely.  In Ben Loory’s “Dandelions,” read by Wyatt Cenac, a suburb is invaded, and experiences a change of heart.   Edwidge Danticat imagines an ultimate act and its consequences in “Cane and Roses,” read by Anika Noni Rose.  And a romance with comic underpinnings changes course in Ray Bradbury’s “The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair,” read by Tate Donovan.

Best Laid Plans

Fitting In

Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about unexpected guests.  In Carlos Greaves’ “A Visit from the Tune Squad,” a procrastinating writer gets a surprise intervention, in performances by Santino Fontana, Dylan Marron, and Sarah Messanotte.  In our second story, Willa Cather delivers a moving tale of sin and redemption.  Patricia Clarkson reads “The Burglar’s Christmas.”

Unexpected Guests

Meg Wolitzer presents a show of stories about replacements and stand-ins.  While we tend to crave the original, sometimes a substitute can bring more happiness than the “real” thing.  In Steve Almond’s “A Happy Dream,” read by Phil LaMarr, a young man assumes a new identity in pursuit of love.  In “A Brief Note on the Translation of Winter Women, Written by the Collective Dead, Translated by Amal Ruth,” a writer speaks for those who have passed.  The “real” author is Rivers Solomon, and the reader is TL Thompson.  In “Saying Goodbye to Yang,” by Alexander Weinstein, a robot child and its human family learn about love all at once. The reader is Tony Hale.

The Stand-Ins

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.

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