Selected Shorts: NPR Podcasts

Do you listen to podcasts?  I've become interested in doing so since I first bought an ipod, and now an iphone.  One of my favorites is Selected Shorts, short stories you can listen to on your device, from NPR.  They are read by actors or other authors to a live audience, then recorded, and that's where I come in.  I download them from itunes, they are free, and often listen to them while I take my daily walk.  This does two things:  makes my walks go faster, and allows me to hear some great stories.  I've been doing this on and off for a few years now and I am compelled to write about it today since I just heard two of the best stories as I walked today, and wanted to share them in case you have not heard about this program.  Today I listened to two stories, each about 30 minutes or less in length, that's the usual time for a story, sometimes 20 minutes.  The theme for this edition was Displaced Persons, and the first story was called The Briefcase by Rebecca Makkai, and the second was called Diem Perdidi, by Julie Otsuka.  Both were compelling and emotional to me, especially the second one Diem Perdidi, which translated means "I Lost the Day".  The entire story is a series of statements of what is remembered and what is forgotten by a women as she is becoming a victim of dementia, as told by her daughter.This simple series of recollections brought me to tears, seeing what a person remembers as dear events or thoughts from a lifetime, and mourning what is no longer remembered.  That's powerful writing if such emotion can be evoked while hearing the spoken word.  I suppose you could just download the stories to your computer and listen to them that way if you don't have a portable device like an ipod or something.  Anyway, it's my recommendation for the day!  I believe new stories are released weekly, or biweekly.   By the way, the photo at the top of this writing is not related, I just posted it for interest.  I had sunprinted fabric with rocks a LOOOOOOONG time ago, cut the fabric in strips and then sewed the strips back together, then altered the photo of that to black and white only.  Just another creative trip I took one day.   Try the podcasts!