.

Smart, hilarious, groundbreaking, and absolutely in love with the power of stories.

That is the indie publisher McSweeney's all over.

They turned 25 recently and we had selected shorts through them a party.

Stick around, there's cake and hard-boiled eggs and a disney vacation.

Seriously, I'm Meg Wallitzer, stay with me.

You're listening to selected shorts where our greatest actors transport us through

the magic of fiction, one short story at a time.

Since its founding in 1998, the indie publisher McSweeney's has had an incredibly clear

sensibility.

Led by the writer Dave Eggers, McSweeney's meant clever, funny, playful, weird, and literary

writing that was more than a little biting.

Even during its earliest days in the late 90s, with regular contributors like Michael

Shabin and Zady Smith, it always felt like the sort of club that would be fun to be a part

of.

In the intervening years, McSweeney's has produced an incredible body of literary journals

that are art objects as much as they are story collections.

McSweeney's has published works by authors from James Hanaham to Lydia Davis, made nonfiction

magazines including The Believer and Lucky Peach, and their sister organization 826 National

is a nonprofit that assists kids with their writing skills.

And online, the McSweeney's internet tendency has released on a daily basis, hilarious

satire and absurd rads that we often can't air on the radio.

...