Selected Shorts

Last updated
Selected Shorts
WTM NewYorkDolls 029.jpg
Running time1 hour
Language(s)English
Home stationWNYC
Hosted byPublic Radio International
Created byKay Cattarulla
Directed byIsaiah Sheffer

Selected Shorts is an event at New York's Symphony Space on the Upper West Side, in which screen and stage actors read classic and new short fiction before a live audience. The stage show began in 1985 and continues today at Symphony Space's Peter Jay Sharp Theater.

The annual season of the live events at Symphony Space begins in the mid-fall and ends in mid-spring. There is a theme to each Selected Shorts episode and performance. Several stories are presented around each theme. The stories are always fiction, sometimes classic, sometimes new, always performed by actors from stage, screen and television who bring these short stories to life. Evenings are often co-hosted by writers, literary producers, and other interesting characters.

Selected Shorts was originally created by Kay Cattarulla, who in 1995 went on to create another successful literary program in Dallas, Arts & Letters Live, which is sponsored by the Dallas Museum of Art.

Symphony Space's Artistic Director Isaiah Sheffer formerly hosted the live events, although many Selected Shorts also feature guest hosts, often well-known writers, who also choose which stories will be read. Mr. Sheffer died on November 9, 2012, at age 76. Actor BD Wong acts as the host of the live events since the fall of 2012.

The readings are recorded live and become the basis of a one-hour radio program, hosted by actors, authors, and entertainers such as David Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Cynthia Nixon, Wyatt Cenac, Jane Kaczmarek, and Meg Wolitzer, with literary commentator Hannah Tinti of One Story Magazine, and are produced in conjunction with WNYC. The programs are distributed by Public Radio International and air on PRI-affiliated public radio stations in the United States. The radio program airs weekly throughout the year.

Originally, the program was distributed by National Public Radio. However, in October 2007, it moved its distribution to PRI, Public Radio International.

The program's theme is David Peterson's "That's the Deal," performed by the Deardorf/Peterson group. Until 2011, the radio show began and ended with the piano and cello duet "Come to the Meadow" by Roger Kellaway.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voice-over</span> Piece of narration that is not accompanied by an image of the speaker

Voice-over is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. The voice-over is read from a script and may be spoken by someone who appears elsewhere in the production or by a specialist voice actor. Synchronous dialogue, where the voice-over is narrating the action that is taking place at the same time, remains the most common technique in voice-overs. Asynchronous, however, is also used in cinema. It is usually prerecorded and placed over the top of a film or video and commonly used in documentaries or news reports to explain information.

<i>Science Friday</i> American radio program

Science Friday is a weekly call-in talk show that broadcasts each Friday on public radio stations, distributed by WNYC Studios, and carried on over 400 public radio stations. SciFri is hosted by award-winning science journalist Ira Flatow and was created and is produced by the Science Friday Initiative. The program is divided into two one-hour programs, with each hour ending with a complete sign-off. The focus of each program is news and information on science, nature, medicine, and technology. The show originated as the Friday episode of the daily call-in talk show Talk of the Nation, but was spun off as a series in its own right when Talk of the Nation was canceled in June 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public Radio International</span> Distributor of public radio programming

Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States.

<i>WhadYa Know?</i>

Whad'Ya Know? is an American comedy, interview, and quiz radio show. Hosted by Michael Feldman, it was created in 1985. During its radio run, it was produced by Wisconsin Public Radio and distributed through Public Radio International. Feldman is accompanied on-stage by Lyle Anderson, phone-answerer; and the Whad'ya Know Trio with John Thulin on piano, Jeff Hamann on bass, and, on road shows, Clyde Stubblefield on drums. Jeffry Eckels was the original full-time bass player from 1987 to 2003. Feldman was also accompanied by Jim Packard as announcer from the show's beginning until his death following the June 9, 2012, show from New York City. Sara Nics was the show's announcer from October 13, 2012 to March 28, 2015. Stephanie Lee became the show's announcer in August 2015. The show was broadcast live with an audience from Monona Terrace in Madison, Wisconsin. Periodically, the show was taken on the road and broadcast from various other locations across the United States. The show was broadcast weekly, each Saturday at 10:00 AM CT (UTC-6) for two hours, and repeated throughout the week by syndication. Since the beginning of 2009, the entire show has also been available over the Internet as a podcast. The show aired its final WPR/PRI radio broadcast on June 25, 2016, with prior episodes archived on the show's website. Starting in the fall of 2016, Whad'ya Know became available as a podcast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNYC</span> AM and FM radio stations in New York City

WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that did business as "WNYC RADIO" until March 2013.

American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and operates radio stations in Minnesota and California. Its station brands include Minnesota Public Radio and Southern California Public Radio. Based in St. Paul, Minnesota, APM is best known for distribution of the national financial news program Marketplace.

<i>Bullseye with Jesse Thorn</i> American radio program and podcast

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a public radio program and podcast based in Los Angeles, California, and distributed by National Public Radio (NPR). The weekly show is currently heard on over 50 public radio stations. The program features host Jesse Thorn interviewing personalities in arts and culture, with a special focus on comedy.

WireTap is a half-hour-long radio show which aired on CBC Radio One from 2004 until 2015. An hour-long version of WireTap was distributed in the United States by Public Radio International. The show was hosted by Jonathan Goldstein, former producer of This American Life, and featured stories that were told as if over the phone with Goldstein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WUFT-FM</span> Radio station in Gainesville, Florida

WUFT-FM is an NPR member radio station owned by the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, broadcasting news and public media programming from NPR along with other distributors including APM, PRX, WNYC Studios and the BBC. The station also operates a full-time satellite, WJUF in Inverness at 90.1 FM.

Studio 360 was an American weekly public radio program about the arts and culture hosted by novelist Kurt Andersen and produced by Public Radio Exchange (PRX) and Slate in New York City. The program's stated goal was to "Get inside the creative mind" and used arts and culture as a lens to understand the world. The program was created by PRI based on an identified need for programming dedicated and focused on arts and culture journalism in media. While the show featured regular guest interviews with authors such as Joyce Carol Oates, Jonathan Lethem, and Miranda July, and musicians as diverse as Laura Veirs, Don Byron, and k.d. lang, it also had several recurring segments. The American Icons series attempted to understand lasting American cultural icons such as The Great Gatsby and Kind of Blue. The hour on Moby-Dick was the recipient of the 2004 Peabody Award. Public Radio International and WNYC co-produced the show from 2000 to 2017, when Slate replaced WNYC. After PRI merged with PRX, PRX continued to syndicate the show until the program's cancellation. The program was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FenCon</span>

FenCon is a literary science fiction and fantasy convention with filk held each year on or around the fourth full weekend of September in or around Dallas, Texas. The name is derived from "fen", the fannish plural of "fan", and "con", an abbreviation for "convention".

Peter Blauner is an American author, journalist, and television producer.

The Public Radio Exchange (PRX) is a non-profit web-based platform for digital distribution, review, and licensing of radio programs. The organization is the largest on-demand catalogue of public radio programs available for broadcast and internet use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Public Radio</span> Non-profit organization in the USA

New York Public Radio (NYPR) is the owner of WNYC (AM), WNYC-FM, WNYC Studios, WQXR-FM, New Jersey Public Radio, and the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. Combined, New York Public Radio owns WNYC (AM), WNYC-FM, WQXR-FM, WQXW, WNJT-FM, WNJP, WNJY, and WNJO.

<i>Radiolab</i> American radio program

Radiolab is a radio program produced by WNYC, a public radio station in New York City, and broadcast on public radio stations in the United States. The show is nationally syndicated and is available as a podcast. Live shows were first offered in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony Space</span> Performing arts organization in New York City, USA

Symphony Space, founded by Isaiah Sheffer and Allan Miller, is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theatre or the 160-seat Leonard Nimoy Thalia. Programs include music, dance, theater, film, and literary readings. In addition, Symphony Space provides literacy programs and the Curriculum Arts Project, which integrates performing arts into social studies curricula in New York City Public Schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNYC-FM</span> Public radio station in New York City

WNYC-FM (93.9 MHz) is a non-profit, non-commercial, public radio station licensed to New York City. It is owned by New York Public Radio along with WNYC (AM), Newark, New Jersey-licensed classical music outlet WQXR-FM (105.9 MHz), New Jersey Public Radio, and the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. New York Public Radio is a not-for-profit corporation, incorporated in 1979, and is a publicly supported organization. The station broadcasts from studios and offices located in the Hudson Square neighborhood in lower Manhattan. WNYC-FM's transmitter is located at the Empire State Building. The station serves the New York metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNYC (AM)</span> Public radio station in New York City

WNYC is a nonprofit, non-commercial, public radio station licensed to New York City. The station is owned by New York Public Radio along with sister stations WNYC-FM and Newark, New Jersey-licensed classical music outlet WQXR-FM (105.9 MHz). It is a member of NPR and carries local and national news/talk programs. Some programming is simulcast on WNYC-FM and at other times different programming airs on each station. WNYC broadcasts from studios and offices located in the Hudson Square neighborhood in lower Manhattan, and its transmitter is located in Kearny, New Jersey.

<i>The Takeaway</i> Morning radio news program

The Takeaway is a morning radio news program co-created and co-produced by Public Radio International and WNYC. Its editorial partner is WGBH-FM; at launch the BBC World Service and The New York Times were also editorial partners. In addition to co-producing the program, PRX also distributes the program nationwide to its affiliated stations. The program debuted on WNYC in New York, WGBH in Boston, and WEAA in Baltimore. To date, the program has approximately 280 carrying stations across the country, including markets in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, Portland, Boston, and more. The host is Melissa Harris-Perry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NPR</span> American nonprofit media organization

National Public Radio is an American nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national syndicator to a network of over 1,000 public radio stations in the United States. It differs from other non-profit membership media organizations such as the Associated Press, in that it was established by an act of Congress.