As the rollup to the Presidential elections continues, we offer two stories about big shots, presented by guest host Jane Curtin. &nbsp;First, classic humorist James Thurber imagines what happens when an aviation hero has feet of clay. &nbsp;&ldquo;The Greatest Man in the World&rdquo; is read by Michael Ian Black. &nbsp;And former President Bill Clinton makes a cameo appearance in Meera Nair&rsquo;s warmly funny tale of a village in Bangladesh about to be rescued from &ldquo;centuries of obscurity.&rdquo; &nbsp;&ldquo;A Warm Welcome to the President, Insh'Allah!&rdquo; is performed by Aasif Mandvi.&nbsp; Author Meera Nair tells us about the origins of the piece, and her writing process, at the end of the story.

As the rollup to the Presidential elections continues, we offer two stories about big shots, presented by guest host Jane Curtin. &nbsp;First, classic humorist James Thurber imagines what happens when an aviation hero has feet of clay. &nbsp;&ldquo;The Greatest Man in the World&rdquo; is read by Michael Ian Black. &nbsp;And former President Bill Clinton makes a cameo appearance in Meera Nair&rsquo;s warmly funny tale of a village in Bangladesh about to be rescued from &ldquo;centuries of obscurity.&rdquo; &nbsp;&ldquo;A Warm Welcome to the President, Insh'Allah!&rdquo; is performed by Aasif Mandvi.&nbsp; Author Meera Nair tells us about the origins of the piece, and her writing process, at the end of the story.

Selected Shorts

Big Shots

Guest host LeVar Burton presents three stories in which fantasies and memories are both near and far. &nbsp;In &ldquo;The Elevator Dancer,&rdquo; by N.K. Jemisin, a guard is obsessed by a woman who spins when no one is looking. &nbsp;Laura Gomez is the reader. &nbsp;A woman remembers a transforming moment in her Depression-era childhood in &ldquo;Marigolds,&rdquo; by Eugenia W. Collier. &nbsp;The story is performed by Sharon Washington. Ursula K. Le Guin moves and surprises us in &ldquo;The Wife&rsquo;s Story,&rdquo; performed by Joanna Gleason.

Guest host LeVar Burton presents three stories in which fantasies and memories are both near and far. &nbsp;In &ldquo;The Elevator Dancer,&rdquo; by N.K. Jemisin, a guard is obsessed by a woman who spins when no one is looking. &nbsp;Laura Gomez is the reader. &nbsp;A woman remembers a transforming moment in her Depression-era childhood in &ldquo;Marigolds,&rdquo; by Eugenia W. Collier. &nbsp;The story is performed by Sharon Washington. Ursula K. Le Guin moves and surprises us in &ldquo;The Wife&rsquo;s Story,&rdquo; performed by Joanna Gleason.

Safe Distance

Guest host Denis O&rsquo;Hare presents three stories that take things to extremes.&nbsp; In Simon Rich&rsquo;s &ldquo;Distractions,&rdquo; we learn about a global conspiracy.&nbsp; Errin Hayes reads.&nbsp; The misanthrope in Douglas Lawson&rsquo;s &ldquo;Love in a Kitchen Garden&rdquo; is cruel to his garden gnomes.&nbsp; Richard Kind reads.&nbsp; And Maulik Pancholy performs Emily Buckler&rsquo;s &ldquo;Brand Values,&rdquo; a reality-bending tale about high-end leather.

Guest host Denis O&rsquo;Hare presents three stories that take things to extremes.&nbsp; In Simon Rich&rsquo;s &ldquo;Distractions,&rdquo; we learn about a global conspiracy.&nbsp; Errin Hayes reads.&nbsp; The misanthrope in Douglas Lawson&rsquo;s &ldquo;Love in a Kitchen Garden&rdquo; is cruel to his garden gnomes.&nbsp; Richard Kind reads.&nbsp; And Maulik Pancholy performs Emily Buckler&rsquo;s &ldquo;Brand Values,&rdquo; a reality-bending tale about high-end leather.

Crossing the Line

Guest host Cynthia Nixon presents stories by two masters of the form who share an outr&eacute; sensibility. &nbsp;Humor, humanity, and fantasy all combine in four tales of things gone wrong.&nbsp; &nbsp; In &ldquo;Fly Already&rdquo; by Etgar Keret, performed by Liev Schreiber, a widower and his small son watch a drama unfold. In &ldquo;Where Are You?&rdquo; by Joyce Carol Oates, performed by Dianna Agron, a demanding husband pushes his wife to the limit. In &ldquo;One Gram Short&rdquo; by Etgar Keret, performed by Ira Glass, a stoner makes a really bad deal; and Oates introduces an unlikely &ldquo;Assassin,&rdquo; in a story that combines tongue-in-cheek horror and political satire. &nbsp;Becky Ann Baker is the reader.

Guest host Cynthia Nixon presents stories by two masters of the form who share an outr&eacute; sensibility. &nbsp;Humor, humanity, and fantasy all combine in four tales of things gone wrong.&nbsp;&nbsp;In &ldquo;Fly Already&rdquo; by Etgar Keret, performed by Liev Schreiber, a widower and his small son watch a drama unfold. In &ldquo;Where Are You?&rdquo; by Joyce Carol Oates, performed by Dianna Agron, a demanding husband pushes his wife to the limit. In&ldquo;One Gram Short&rdquo; by Etgar Keret, performed by Ira Glass, a stoner makes a really bad deal; and Oates introduces an unlikely &ldquo;Assassin,&rdquo; in a story that combines tongue-in-cheek horror and political satire. &nbsp;Becky Ann Baker is the reader.

Embracing Disaster: Joyce Carol Oates and Etgar Keret

From the&nbsp;New York Times&nbsp;bestselling author of&nbsp;Beautiful Ruins, our story today comes from the&nbsp;first collection of short fiction from Jess Walter.&nbsp;We Live In Water&nbsp;is&nbsp;a suite of diverse and searching stories about personal struggle and diminished dreams, all of them marked by the wry wit, keen eye, and generosity of spirit that has made him a bookseller and reader favorite, including&nbsp;Barack Obama who&nbsp;called &ldquo;We Live in Water: Stories&rdquo; one of his favorite books of 2019.&nbsp; A former National Book Award finalist and winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award, Jess Walter is the author of six novels, one book of short stories and one nonfiction book. His work has been translated into 32 languages, and his fiction has been selected three times forBest American Short Stories&nbsp;as well as the Pushcart Prize and&nbsp;Best American Nonrequired Reading. His stories, essays and journalism have appeared in,&nbsp;Harper's,&nbsp;Esquire,&nbsp;Playboy,&nbsp;McSweeney's,&nbsp;Tin House,&nbsp;Ploughshares, the&nbsp;New York Times, the&nbsp;Washington Post&nbsp;and many others.&nbsp; Our reader, Josh Malina,&nbsp;is well-known for playing Will Bailey on the NBC drama The West Wing, Jeremy Goodwin on Sports Night, David Rosen on Scandal, and President Siebert on The Big Bang Theory. This episode is hosted by comedian, author, and actor, Michael Ian Black and features a very funny conversation between Black and the author after the story.

From the&nbsp;New York Times&nbsp;bestselling author of&nbsp;Beautiful Ruins, our story today comes from the&nbsp;first collection of short fiction from Jess Walter.&nbsp;We Live In Water&nbsp;is&nbsp;a suite of diverse and searching stories about personal struggle and diminished dreams, all of them marked by the wry wit, keen eye, and generosity of spirit that has made him a bookseller and reader favorite, including&nbsp;Barack Obama who&nbsp;called &ldquo;We Live in Water: Stories&rdquo; one of his favorite books of 2019.&nbsp;A former National Book Award finalist and winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award, Jess Walter is the author of six novels, one book of short stories and one nonfiction book. His work has been translated into 32 languages, and his fiction has been selected three times forBest American Short Stories&nbsp;as well as the Pushcart Prize and&nbsp;Best American Nonrequired Reading. His stories, essays and journalism have appeared in,&nbsp;Harper's,&nbsp;Esquire,&nbsp;Playboy,&nbsp;McSweeney's,&nbsp;Tin House,&nbsp;Ploughshares, the&nbsp;New York Times, the&nbsp;Washington Post&nbsp;and many others.&nbsp; Our reader, Josh Malina,&nbsp;is well-known for playing Will Bailey on the NBC drama The West Wing, Jeremy Goodwin on Sports Night, David Rosen on Scandal, and President Siebert on The Big Bang Theory.This episode is hosted by comedian, author, and actor, Michael Ian Black and features a very funny conversation between Black and the author after the story.

Too Hot For Radio: Jess Walter "Thief"

Guest host Hope Davis presents two stories about imagined worlds.&nbsp; In &ldquo;The Dreamlife of Toasters,&rdquo; by Heather O&rsquo;Neill, an android falls in love, and there are consequences.&nbsp; The reader is Yvette Nicole Brown.&nbsp; In Stefan Zweig&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Invisible Collection,&rdquo; a blind man is able to &ldquo;see&rdquo; priceless drawings.&nbsp; The story is performed by Ren&eacute; Auberjonois. &nbsp;

Guest host Hope Davis presents two stories about imagined worlds.&nbsp; In &ldquo;The Dreamlife of Toasters,&rdquo; by Heather O&rsquo;Neill, an android falls in love, and there are consequences.&nbsp; The reader is Yvette Nicole Brown.&nbsp; In Stefan Zweig&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Invisible Collection,&rdquo; a blind man is able to &ldquo;see&rdquo; priceless drawings.&nbsp; The story is performed by Ren&eacute; Auberjonois. &nbsp;

Imaginary Worlds

Guest host Jane Curtin presents three stories in which small things count for a lot.&nbsp; A discarded sock reminds one woman of her ex-husband in &ldquo;The Sock&rdquo; by Lydia Davis, read by Kaneza Schaal.&nbsp; Sisters find a chess set at a department store in Meg Wolitzer&rsquo;s &ldquo;Deep Lie the Woods,&rdquo; read by Blythe Danner.&nbsp; And old-time jazz musicians and their funny clothes, food, and drink charm a young drummer in &ldquo;Nightblooming,&rdquo; by Kenneth Calhoun, read by Josh Charles.

Guest host Jane Curtin presents three stories in which small things count for a lot.&nbsp; A discarded sock reminds one woman of her ex-husband in &ldquo;The Sock&rdquo; by Lydia Davis, read by Kaneza Schaal.&nbsp; Sisters find a chess set at a department store in Meg Wolitzer&rsquo;s &ldquo;Deep Lie the Woods,&rdquo; read by Blythe Danner.&nbsp; And old-time jazz musicians and their funny clothes, food, and drink charm a young drummer in &ldquo;Nightblooming,&rdquo; by Kenneth Calhoun, read by Josh Charles.

Inside Out

Guest host Michael Cerveris presents two stories in which a lot &nbsp;happens, but subtly. The narrator of A.M. Homes&rsquo; &ldquo;Yours Truly&rdquo; is &ldquo;hiding in the linen closet&rdquo; on a journey of self-discovery. &nbsp;The reader is Beth Malone. In Weike Wang&rsquo;s &ldquo;Omakase&rdquo; a couple&rsquo;s special sushi dinner proves unexpectedly revealing. The reader is Jennifer Lim.

Guest host Michael Cerveris presents two stories in which a lot &nbsp;happens, but subtly. The narrator of A.M. Homes&rsquo; &ldquo;Yours Truly&rdquo; is &ldquo;hiding in the linen closet&rdquo; on a journey of self-discovery. &nbsp;The reader is Beth Malone. In Weike Wang&rsquo;s &ldquo;Omakase&rdquo; a couple&rsquo;s special sushi dinner proves unexpectedly revealing. The reader is Jennifer Lim.

Quiet Reflections

Guest host Cynthia Nixon presents stories about the family dynamics between children and parents. It's never too early to defy gender norms, as Ivan E. Coyote confides in "No Bikini," read by Becca Blackwell. &nbsp;A woman confronts her mother's aging, and her own childlessness, in Kathryn Chetkovich's tender story "The World with My Mother Still In It," read by Phillipa Soo. &nbsp;And three generations are "At the Zoo," in a story by Caitlin Horrocks: a rowdy grandpa, a sensitive child, and a mother caught between the two. &nbsp;The reader is Kate Walsh.

Guest host Cynthia Nixon presents stories about the family dynamics between children and parents. It's never too early to defy gender norms, as Ivan E. Coyote confides in "No Bikini," read by Becca Blackwell. &nbsp;A woman confronts her mother's aging, and her own childlessness, in Kathryn Chetkovich's tender story "The World with My Mother Still In It," read by Phillipa Soo. &nbsp;And three generations are "At the Zoo," in a story by Caitlin Horrocks: a rowdy grandpa, a sensitive child, and a mother caught between the two. &nbsp;The reader is Kate Walsh.

Children and Their Parents

In her twenties Ottessa Moshfegh co-owned a bar in Wuhan, China. She&rsquo;s lived next to crack addicts and been bedridden for an entire year with cat scratch fever. She is a Stegner fellow, attended Brown&rsquo;s MFA program, and in the past four years has won many, many awards including a Pushcart, an O. Henry, and the Paris Review&rsquo;s Plimpton Prize. Eileen, her first novel, was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Man Booker Prize, and won the PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction.&nbsp;My Year of Rest and Relaxation,&nbsp;her second novel, was a&nbsp;New York Times bestseller. Her story on this episode, "The Weirdos," is read by Colby Minifie, known for her TV roles in Fear of the Walking Dead and Jessica Jones, among others, as well as her many roles on Broadway including Long Days Journey Into Night and Six Degrees of Separation. This episode is hosted by comedian Michael Ian Black who talks to Ottessa about her work including how much of the plot is autobiographical, and her life after the story.

In her twenties Ottessa Moshfegh co-owned a bar in Wuhan, China. She&rsquo;s lived next to crack addicts and been bedridden for an entire year with cat scratch fever. She is a Stegner fellow, attended Brown&rsquo;s MFA program, and in the past four years has won many, many awards including a Pushcart, an O. Henry, and the Paris Review&rsquo;s Plimpton Prize. Eileen, her first novel, was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Man Booker Prize, and won the PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction.&nbsp;My Year of Rest and Relaxation,&nbsp;her second novel, was a&nbsp;New York Times bestseller. Her story on this episode, "The Weirdos," is read by Colby Minifie, known for her TV roles in Fear of the Walking Dead and Jessica Jones, among others, as well as her many roles on Broadway including Long Days Journey Into Night and Six Degrees of Separation. This episode is hosted by comedian Michael Ian Black who talks to Ottessa about her work including how much of the plot is autobiographical, and her life after the story.

Too Hot For Radio: Ottessa Moshfegh "The Weirdos"

Spellbinding short stories by established and emerging writers take on a new life when they are performed by stars of the stage and screen.

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Selected Shorts

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