Don't go anywhere, because coming up on Selected Shorts, a world premiere short story by David Sedaris about all kinds of pets, birds, moths, dogs, and one long-suffering husband.

Join me, Meg Wallitzer, alongside Tony Hale, Jane Curtin, and more funny friends. You're listening to Selected Shorts

where our greatest actors transport us through the magic of fiction, one short

story at a time. When confronting new things outside of your comfort zone, it's easy to feel intimidated,

especially if the stakes are high.

It's a job interview, a date with someone you really like, or a pickleball match with the bruisers who live in the cul-de-sac.

And that's to say nothing of the challenges that await us in the larger world, just behind the headlines in the daily newspaper.

Fight or flight, these are the two tried and true biologically indisputable options when faced with something scary.

But what if I told you there was yet one more option, a way of taking on risky circumstances that doesn't get quite as much attention,

a way of not only standing up to a person, place, or thing, but letting them know you are not

intimidated. Yes, there is another way, friends, and to illustrate, I will simply say,

you can't be afraid of something you can laugh at. This week on selected shorts, we offer fiction about not only facing a challenge, but finding a way to laugh in the face of danger.

And while the show isn't itself dangerous, we think you'll laugh anyway, as all the stories are pretty funny.

In one story, a very exclusive club presents an impossible bar to entry. In

another, a man takes risks on behalf of others and finds trouble of his own. In a third story

by David Sedaris, a young woman fights for her truly unusual brand of justice. And in a fourth,

a couple orders lunch in the face of harrowing

circumstances. The first piece we'll hear is by Anand Giridus. He is a journalist and

pundit whose written books including Winners Take All and The Persuaders, and who regularly

appears on MSNBC. But also, he finds time to write brief comedic sketches, including this one about the most high-pressure admission process in one's life, or afterlife. Reading the story is Nagin Farsad. She's a multi-talented performer who hosts the Fake the Nation podcast and is a regular on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.

She's also written a book, How to Make White People Laugh. Now here's Nagin Farsad reading

Clicking on Heaven's Door by Anand Girdadus.

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