About this episode
This episode features stories about unlikely scenarios, including a unique book exchange and the experience of winning the lottery.
Host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories with unlikely scenarios, rare events that have, at least fictionally, come to pass. Naomi Kritzer uses the idea of “The Little Free Library”—one of those impromptu structures that facilitate the swapping of books—to imagine an exchange of quite a different sort. The reader is Melora Hardin. And Ling Ma imagines how winning the lottery—292.2 million to one—actually plays out. “Winner” is read by Cindy Cheung.
People in this episode
Host: Meg Wolitzer
Guests: Melora Hardin, Cindy Cheung
Topics covered
- unlikely scenarios
- rare events
- fictional exchanges
- lottery
- Little Free Library
Keywords
- Little Free Library
- Naomi Kritzer
- lottery
- fiction
- Melora Hardin
- Cindy Cheung
More episodes of Selected Shorts
- Nothing to Do with Love · June 11, 2026 · 58 min
- The Pursuit of Happiness with Death, Sex and Money · June 4, 2026 · 58 min
- Death Sex Money · May 28, 2026 · 58 min
- Modest Expectations · May 21, 2026 · 60 min
- Save the Date with Belletrist Book Club · May 14, 2026 · 59 min
- Fork in the Road · May 7, 2026 · 59 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Selected Shorts podcast page.