“The Sort” by Thomas Ha

It’s Storytime with Wil Wheaton — December 3, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode of It’s Storytime with Wil Wheaton, Wil narrates Thomas Ha’s evocative speculative fiction tale “The Sort.” Set in an unsettlingly familiar near-future America, the story follows a father and his son—both with unique, possibly engineered, abilities—as they journey through small-town desert America, hiding their true selves for their own safety. Through a town’s strange harvest festival, the pair encounter themes of belonging, difference, assimilation, and the sometimes-menacing rituals of community.

Wil’s narration brings out both the warmth of the father-son bond and the uneasy undertones of otherness, all while immersing listeners in the story’s world. The episode highlights the importance of stories that reflect the experience of living on the margins and the bittersweet hope of connection.

Key Discussion Points & Story Highlights

Introduction and Context

• Wil’s Opening Remarks (01:02)
  • Sets the tone: “We don't have to imagine a world where people who aren't doing anything wrong have to hide themselves or at least their true selves for their own safety. ... It's here and it's now.”
  • Explains the use of telepathic dialogue in the storytelling: different audio cues will signal private communication between father and son.

The Journey and Their Bond

• Father and Son’s Dynamic (03:00 – 09:00)
  • The son struggles with social cues (asking for a spoon), highlighting their outsider status.
  • The father is gently supportive, coaching his son through ordinary social interactions in public places.
  • Noise and chaos of the diner reflects discomfort with being visible, “He winces every time someone speaks too loudly or a utensil clatters” (03:45).
  • Telepathic exchanges are frequent, private, and caring, signaling both connection and caution.

Playground and Town Interactions

• Visibility and Difference (07:00 – 13:00)
  • Children’s curiosity: local kids sense something different about the boy (“They know something about my son, even if they don't know what it is.”)
  • The challenge of blending in, coached answers about where they’re from.
  • The boy experiences sensory overload and a subsequent shutdown: “His body locked up. His mind tumbles off into some inner dark ...” (11:00).
  • Empathy from the father: “I remember that, the feeling of embarrassment about my body closing up in front of other people …” (13:00)

Local Color: Souvenir Shop and Playerbot

• Souvenir Shop Encounter (14:00 – 18:00)
  • They attempt to find respite, shopping for sunglasses and playing with a ‘playerbot.’
  • The white-haired shopkeeper notes, “All of them, though, are a lot more scared these days. Of everything. Of each other. They don't play as much as they used to, it seems to me.” (16:50)
  • The father’s reflection on his son’s unique talents and the necessity of hiding them: “But I also can't let him play too long with other people watching. What he can do.”

The Modified Tiger at the Municipal Building

• Meeting the Tiger (19:30 – 24:00)
  • They pay to see “one of the last modified tigers in the country,” made docile and oddly human.
  • The tiger’s repeated, limited speech: “Hello. Hello.” (19:36–20:00)
  • The son’s empathy for the tiger’s predicament:
    • Son: “They never should have made him … He didn't ask for it. And I think the people who made him should have thought twice about what it would feel like.” (22:00)
  • The town's relationship with the modified, and the echo of being made to “fit” somewhere you don’t belong.

The Festival (“The Sort”)

• Arrival at the Fire (24:51 – 30:00)

  • The town gathers for its annual fire festival, using genetically-modified garlic as the center of ritual and celebration.
  • The crowd’s energy is engulfing, at times menacing; father and son feel watched and judged.
  • Another parent offers small solidarity: “After you've seen enough here and there, you get a better sense. Nothing's normal and nothing's not. It's all outside, you know?” (27:40)

• The Sort Ritual (31:00 – 39:00)

  • Children are made to separate “withering,” defective garlic bulbs from healthy ones, biting the bad bulbs and tossing them in the flames—a community ritual loaded with symbolism about exclusion and normalcy.
  • The son resists participating:
    • Son: “I don't want to,” he says out loud. (37:32)
  • Tension with Don, the tall-hatted festival emcee, who pushes the boy to comply. The crowd begins to stare. Another parent advocates for the boy’s right to abstain:
    • “Don’t be a dick, Don. Let the kid walk off, for Christ’s sakes.” (38:35)
  • The father’s internal struggle—to protect his son without escalating—mirrors the story’s broader themes.
  • In the end, the son keeps the withered bulb instead of discarding it, a quiet act of defiance and compassion.

Aftermath and Reflection

• Festival’s End and Departure (44:44 – 55:00)

  • The white-haired woman offers some comfort: “This kind of thing isn’t for everybody, though.” (44:50)
  • References the poem “The Tyger” by Blake, invoking ideas of creation and unintended consequence.

• A Nighttime Escape (45:30 – 50:00)

  • Father and son sneak away from the crowd, aware they might be followed.
  • The son buries the rejected garlic bulb in the desert earth: a gesture that implies hope, empathy, and perhaps a wish for healing or transformation.
  • A final conversation about feeling “in the wrong world,” with the father’s reassurance:
    • “I think it's easy to feel like you're in the wrong place ... Everyone feels a little like that, even the people here. There's no avoiding it. That's what I think, I guess.” (49:00)

• Departure and Quiet Resolution (50:20 – 52:00)

  • The pair see a menacing shape in the dark as they leave, a final reminder of ever-present danger and otherness.
  • The father’s final hope:
    • “In the hum of the highway, for no reason at all, we're okay for now, no matter the fears that hover within me. My son's okay. I tell myself he's part of something good and he's going to be okay.” (51:45)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “They never should have made him … He didn't ask for it. And I think the people who made him should have thought twice about what it would feel like.”
  — The Son, about the modified tiger (22:00)

• “This is part of it, taking one from the other, the good from the bad, the useful from the useless. This is the sort.”
  — The Man in the Tall Hat (37:45)

• “Don’t be a dick, Don. Let the kid walk off, for Christ’s sakes.”
  — Another Townsman, intervening at the ritual (38:35)

• “I think it's easy to feel like you're in the wrong place ... Everyone feels a little like that, even the people here. There's no avoiding it.”
  — The Father (49:00)

• “All I see is the stretch of our headlights and lines on the ground, the universe unfolding from nothingness. More time and more towns, more traveling for him and for me, along routes we haven't figured out. … I tell myself he's part of something good and he's going to be okay.”
  — The Father (51:45)

About the Author & Podcast Mission

• Closing Notes on Thomas Ha (53:15)

  • Thomas Ha: Nebula, Ignite, Locus, and Shirley Jackson Award nominee.
  • Debut story collection: Uncertain Sons and Other Stories.
  • Work appears in Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and more.

• Podcast’s Purpose (54:40)

  • Wil reaffirms his mission: “To bring authors to their new fans, to introduce you to your new favorite authors who you did not yet know existed.”
  • Emphasizes supporting small magazines that publish these stories.

Essential Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Quote | |-------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:02 | Wil’s introduction and context for the story | | 03:00–09:00 | Father-son diner scene; communication struggles | | 12:00 | Boy’s sensory overload at the playground | | 16:50 | Shopkeeper’s reflection on the state of children and fear | | 19:36–20:00 | First encounter with the talking, modified tiger | | 22:00 | Son’s empathy for the tiger; “They never should have made him …” | | 27:40 | Conversation with another dad about normalcy and being outsiders | | 31:00–39:00 | The “sort” ritual at the fire, son’s refusal | | 38:35 | “Don’t be a dick, Don. Let the kid walk off, for Christ’s sakes.” | | 44:44 | Closing reflections and white-haired woman’s advice | | 49:00 | Conversation about feeling in the wrong place | | 51:45 | Final meditative narration about hope and moving forward | | 53:15–54:40 | About Thomas Ha and podcast mission statement |

Summary & Takeaways

• “The Sort” is a powerful story about difference, resilience, and small acts of resistance.
• Wil’s narration emphasizes tenderness, melancholy, and guarded hope—mirroring the story’s themes.
• The episode’s heart is the quiet courage to protect oneself and loved ones in a world that asks you to hide or change.
• Through speculative fiction, both author and podcast invite listeners to reflect on how we treat outsiders—and how building genuine connections can be both risky and necessary.

For more work by Thomas Ha, check Clarkesworld Magazine and his collection, Uncertain Sons and Other Stories. Support original fiction magazines and discover more new authors on It’s Storytime with Wil Wheaton.