Podcast Review Monday: Selected Shorts (PRI)

A few weeks ago, my boyfriend, little sister, and I were on the looonnngggg drive back from the Finger Lakes. It was raining. I was driving. They were sleeping. I was bored. Hello, radio! I tuned into the local public radio station, willing to listen to just about anything. And I got lucky -- it was a radio show about two of my favorite things combined -- reading and dogs!!!! WOW!

It was "Selected Shorts," a broadcast of a [previously] live taped reading of several related short stories.

I'm a voracious reader... but have a hard time getting into short stories, so this certainly isn't something I would have chosen. Boy am I glad it chose me! The individuals reading the stories made me laugh, made me cry, kept me interested. Some of the stories involved a little fantasy -- as in things that couldn't really happen, not unicorns and vampires, more like a talking dog -- which made them fun, and a little different than the non-fiction stories I had heard on The Moth or This American Life.

The collections of stories that are read are sometimes grouped around a common theme, like dogs, or similar genres, like two authors who have complementary styles. The podcast is an hour long, and several stories are read. It was great accompaniament on my drive, while I was repainting some furniture, when I was out on a walk... you get the idea.

Yes, I admit it - I have a thing for Public Radio. I'm even one of those people who donates to my local station! However, WBUR doesn't have all of the worthwhile public radio programming that is available, and/or I'm not always available to listen to it all. Thank you, Podcasts, for existing. And thank you "Selected Shorts," for making a select few of your live recordings available. They're so enticing, I may just buy a CD so I can get another fix.

Title: Selected Shorts
Subject: Short fictional stories, live performance
Length: 1 hour
Available: iTunes
Cost: Free (for a few select downloads)
Quality: High
Interest: Literature
.