Episodes

  • Straight Outta Ireland

    Straight Outta Ireland
    Mar 17 2023
    In many parts of the United States and certainly in New York City, the St. Patrick's Day holiday is often larded with a kind of shamrockery or paddywhackery that makes some of us cringe a bit. You know -- the mugs of green beer and those big "Kiss Me I'm Irish" buttons and t-shirts. Instead of overcooked corned beef and cabbage, Writers Read™ acknowledges this St. Patrick's Day with four rich personal stories reflecting the lived experiences of Irish and Irish-American writers—individual perspectives, presented with an emphasis on craftsmanship. Originally performed for a live audience at City Winery in Manhattan, these stories were proudly presented as part of Carnegie Hall’s citywide spring festival, “Migrations: The Making of America,” acknowledging and honoring the perseverance and resilience of immigrants and the contributions they continue to make on America’s diverse cultural landscape. Writers Read™ celebrates writers and the spoken word five minutes - and 650 words - at a time, and this week, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, we celebrate Irishness with true personal stories from writers Anthony Murphy, Malachy McCourt, and me. And, on today’s “Between The Lines” segment, writer Colin Broderick recalls the challenges he faced as a young man in New York while trying to establish himself as a writer.
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    27 mins
  • Holidays

    Holidays
    Nov 23 2022
    Holidays are a time to celebrate cultural traditions and set work aside. A holiday offers a break in our routine, prompting a three-day weekend in the sun—or a three-hour snow delay at the airport. Some holidays are lightweight and fun, making you think about watermelon and fireworks, while others seem solemn or fraught, setting the stage for either a delicious meal or a family drama. The special "Holidays' event we presented on stage at the Ossie Davis Theater featured a collection of true holiday stories spanning the range from sunburn to heartburn. We've chosen three of those stories to present in today's show.
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    24 mins
  • Haunted

    Haunted
    Oct 26 2022
    O'SHAUGNESSY, Corinne • Five / FORMAN, Sharon • Ghosts at the Costco / PATTISON, Cari • The Bronxville Exorcist • BTL: MASELLO, David • A Postcard on Postcards. Read 650 celebrates writers and the spoken word five minutes - and 650 words - at a time, and on today’s show we present excerpts from a show entitled "Haunted," featuring true stories of Premonitions, Superstitions, and Apparitions. Halloween has been around for more than a thousand years, and its origins can be traced back to an ancient Celtic festival during which it was believed that the souls of the dead returned to their homes.
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    25 mins
  • New York Stories

    New York Stories
    Oct 5 2022
    PALMA, Eileen • The Moskowitz Girl / GREDLER, John • SRO / MANNING-SCHAFFEL, Vivian • What Makes a New Yorker? / BTL: LEVIN, Ann • The Blank Page. There simply is no other place in the world like New York. Its architecture, culture, and general buzz combine to make New York the greatest city in the world. But New York is also a collection of unique neighborhoods, people. and stories, and we've selected three of those stories today from a live event we produced for a full house at The Cell Theater on West 23rd Street.
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    26 mins
  • The First Time

    The First Time
    Sep 21 2022
    You never forget your first puppy, your first car, or your first love. Some firsts are mundane, (first olive), while others are unforgettable (first high dive). A first can be a solemn rite of passage or a dream come true, and some firsts supply practical knowledge we carry forward. Like, for example, why you should avoid games involving dice and money, or why tequila shots are actually a very bad idea.
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    25 mins
  • Back to High School

    Back to High School
    Sep 7 2022
    Featuring Annabel Monaghan, Arthur Bell, Julie Trelstad, Sarah Bracey White. Bus rides and best friends. Marching band and mean girls. Homeroom and home grown. Whether high school was the site of your fondest memories or the scene of the crime, the stories we've selected from a live show might just transport you to that not-so-distant world of nerds, jocks, and stoners.
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    23 mins
  • Gratitude

    Gratitude
    Aug 24 2022
    Read 650 celebrates writers and the spoken word five minutes - and 650 words - at a time. The theme of this week's show is Gratitude, and includes three true personal stories of gratitude recorded at a live event at New York's Lincoln Center featuring Jamie Bernstein, Malachy McCourt, and Mihai Grunfeld.
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    27 mins
  • Love and Marriage

    Love and Marriage
    Aug 10 2022
    Poets and singers and writers of all types have been writing about love for millennia. In this century, the novelist and essayist Ursula LeGuin wrote, "Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new." For today's show, we've selected three stories from our "Love and Marriage" event that we presented on stage at Sarah Lawrence College in New York's Westchester County.
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    23 mins