Listen Live
Donate
 on air
Schedule

KCRW

Read & Explore

  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Food
  • Culture
  • Events

Listen

  • Live Radio
  • Music
  • Podcasts
  • Full Schedule

Information

  • About
  • Careers
  • Help / FAQ
  • Newsletters
  • Contact

Support

  • Become a Member
  • Become a VIP
  • Ways to Give
  • Shop
  • Member Perks

Become a Member

Donate to KCRW to support this cultural hub for music discovery, in-depth journalism, community storytelling, and free events. You'll become a KCRW Member and get a year of exclusive benefits.

DonateGive Monthly

Copyright 2026 KCRW. All rights reserved.

Report a Bug|Privacy Policy|Terms of Service|
Cookie Policy
|FCC Public Files|

Back to Special Programming

Special Programming

Selected Shorts: Please Don't Explain

Four stories in which elaborate explanations make things worse: In Dorothy Parker's "Just a Little One," read by Broadway actress, Dana Ivey, a friendly drink turns into a hilarious nightmare of recrimination. Robert Sean Leonard (House) reads Jonathan Lethem's wacky and unexpected tale of marriage, "The Spray." Parker Posey reads Miranda July's bittersweet story, "The Swim Team," about a lonely woman who creates an unusual swimming class for seniors. To close, Tim Blake Nelson reads "Jesus Shaves," David Sedaris' characteristically hyperbolic description of his French class.  (Airs 7-8pm; pre-empts Which Way, LA?)

  • Share
Dec 31, 2009 • 1 min read

This edition of

Selected Shorts offers four stories in which elaborate explanations make things worse. In

Dorothy Parker's "Just a Little One," a friendly drink turns into a hilarious nightmare of recrimination. It's read by the award-winning Broadway actress,

Dana Ivey.

Robert Sean Leonard (

House) reads

Jonathan Lethem's (

Chronic City

) wacky and unexpected tale of marriage,

"The Spray."

(

Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show and

A Mighty Wind) reads a bittersweet story,

"The Swim Team," about a lonely woman who creates an unusual swimming class for seniors, by the filmmaker, writer, and performing artist,

Miranda July, from her collection,

No One Belongs Here More Than You.

Tim Blake Nelson's read of

David Sedaris' "Jesus Shaves," a characteristically hyperbolic description of his French class by the best-selling author of

Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and most recently,

When You Are Engulfed in Flames.

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

    Culture
Back to Special Programming