Selected Shorts: Pressing Engagements

shorts_logo.jpgThe two stories on this program embrace the past and imagine the future. Lisa Halliday's "Stump Louie," published in The Paris Review imagines a musical prodigy who takes a local radio station to new heights. The story takes place before America's entry into World War II, and is filled with the atmosphere of small town live radio broadcasts and popular music of that early 1940's era. "Stump Louie" was Halliday's first published work of fiction, and was introduced on stage at Symphony Space by The Paris Review's Senior Editor, Nathaniel Rich.  The reader is Selected Shorts host Isaiah Sheffer, who is a fan of the type of quirky love song celebrated in this bittersweet tale.  Listen for one such tune, "I Say It's Spinach," in the mid-break.

Our second story, Steven Millhauser’s “The Dome” is an architectural fantasy that imagines a time, in the not too distant future, when America will be entirely enclosed in a sphere, and how human life will alter as a result. The Pushcart Prize-winning story is read by Alec Baldwin.

(Airs 7-8pm; pre-empts Which Way, LA?)

Banner image of Alec Baldwin by Brigitte Lacombe

Credits