Podcast Summary: Selected Shorts – “I Contain Multitudes”

Episode Airdate: February 5, 2026
Host: Meg Wolitzer
Featured Stories:

• “Tender” by Shirlene Bazeel, performed by Anna Uzele
• “The Contest” by Grace Paley, performed by Justin Bartha

Episode Overview

This episode of Selected Shorts, titled “I Contain Multitudes,” explores the contradictory and multifaceted natures within human relationships. Host Meg Wolitzer frames the episode around the theme of complexity—how real-life and fictional characters often defy straightforward categories. Through two vibrant short stories, the show examines the intricacies of friendship, rivalry, love, insecurity, and self-perception.

1. Introduction & Main Theme

Timestamps: 00:35–03:28

• Host Meg Wolitzer opens with a relatable monologue about the diverse roles a person plays in life—a mother, a friend, a writer, a Scrabble devotee, etc.—emphasizing, “I'm not just one thing. And I don't think that you are either.”
• She sets the stage for stories centered on “contradictory characters,” especially those familiar not merely as heroes or villains, but as complex people haunted by conflict, affection, and fear.
• Quote:
  • “Like Walt Whitman said, I contain multitudes of Doritos. Well, no, I guess he didn't exactly say that.” — Meg Wolitzer (02:05)
• Transition to stories about “combination platters of psychology,” focusing on “the kind of complex and fascinating people we know from our own lives.”

2. Story One: “Tender” by Shirlene Bazeel

Performed by Anna Uzele
Timestamps: 03:28–33:25

Introduction by Min Jin Lee

Timestamps: 03:28–04:33

• The acclaimed editor and author Min Jin Lee explains her connection to The Best American Short Stories anthology. She recalls the thrill of reading contemporary writers whose work “felt different and vital… alive and current.”
• She introduces Bazeel’s story, praising its contemporary insight.

“Tender” – Summary & Key Points

Plot Overview

• Eden and her childhood friend (referred to as “Best Friend,” later named Fatima) were bonded as outsiders—the only Black girls at their Florida school, each with an immigrant mother.
• Their friendship is fraught with competition, microaggressions in their social circles, complicated family dynamics, and fear of vulnerability.
• The story unfolds through moments: hair-braiding sessions, social tension at lunch, intimate exchanges after a difficult family evening, and a group skating trip marked by shifting alliances.

Central Themes

• Friendship’s Contradictions:

  • The bond is loving yet marked by jealousy, rivalry, and unspoken hurts.
  • Eden’s insecurity is mirrored by Best Friend’s shifting affections, especially as new (often white) friends enter the picture.

• Identity & Belonging:

  • Both girls feel marginalized and struggle to fit in, simultaneously resenting and longing for acceptance.
  • Their interactions with their mothers expose generational differences and additional sources of tension.

• Pain, Tenderness, and Trust:

  • Eden’s “tender-headedness” in hair-braiding is a metaphor for emotional sensitivity—the pain of letting someone close in both literal and figurative touch.
  • Competitive dynamics and unsaid feelings compound their vulnerability.

• Family & Domestic Tension:

  • Scenes at Best Friend’s home (the mother’s warmth, the father’s absenteeism and anger) and Eden’s own difficult relationship with her mother highlight parallel challenges in their upbringings.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On plural identities:
  • “We knew how to be mean in a way that was suggestive of love. We knew when to switch to our nice voices, though we didn’t do this often.” — Eden (05:55)
• On betrayal and jealousy:
  • “‘I hear David likes you.’ ...‘We had sex. You know, you never told me.’” — Best Friend and Eden’s tense exchange over boys and rivalry (08:40–10:15)
• On family violence:
  • “‘My mom beats me, I continue. That’s why I never take off the jacket.’ She says she’s sorry.” — Eden reveals her vulnerability in a rare moment of honesty (20:30)
• On competition versus love:
  • “If you’re always the victim, you lose. Doesn’t matter who you’re fighting… I’m not your enemy. I’m your friend.” — Fatima confronting Eden in a late-night conversation (31:15)
• Climactic moment:
  • “You act… like me having a bad day is a personal affront to you. I’m allowed to have a hard time. That has nothing to do with you.” — Fatima’s key realignment of the friendship’s terms (31:30)

Structure & Pacing

• The story is layered with flashbacks and present-moment scenes, mirroring the way emotions and memories intermingle in relationships.
• The ice skating sequence is a potent metaphor—stability, falls, helping hands, and the ever-shifting dynamics among friends, rivals, and would-be lovers.

Closing Insights

• Meg Wolitzer comments:
  • The story allows readers to “see behind the curtain”—understanding Eden and Fatima’s family roots and the “root of their insecurity.” (33:25)
• Min Jin Lee adds:
  • “Bazille represents and handles the contradictory aspect of a friendship complicated by both rivalry [and] symbiosis. The story is both intimate and painful… What if you’re so fixated on a perceived competition that you couldn’t show up for her?” (33:58)

3. Story Two: “The Contest” by Grace Paley

Performed by Justin Bartha
Timestamps: 38:15–57:06

Introduction & Context

Timestamps: 36:22–38:15

• Meg Wolitzer introduces Paley as a “quintessential New York writer” and sets up the story as taking place amid “fraught love affair” with universal resonance.

“The Contest” – Summary & Key Points

Plot Overview

• Freddy—the self-admittedly shiftless, ambitious narrator—is locked in an on-again, off-again relationship with Dottie, a practical and kind-hearted woman who ultimately drives most of the story’s action.
• Dottie proposes teaming up to win the “Jews in the News” contest, an elaborate trivia challenge in a Yiddish newspaper, with a $5,000 prize and a trip to Israel and Europe.
• Their joint pursuit is a blend of affectionate conspiracy, mutual dependency, and emergent competition.
• When they win, Dottie reveals the spoils are in her name, her mother will take a share, and for the trip, marriage is required. Freddy balks. The aftermath unfolds in letters, sarcasm, and the slow drifting apart that follows misconstrued needs and failed expectations.

Central Themes

• Reluctance & Self-Sabotage:
  • Freddy’s reflexive cynicism and lack of drive undermine his happiness, exposing his fear of commitment and self-deception.
• Agency & Gender:
  • Dottie is both the emotional center and the pragmatic force; Freddy’s narrative voice is dominant but unreliable—her needs seem suspect to him, yet are clear and valid to the listener.
• Cultural & Familial Inheritance:
  • Parental influence and expectations are ever-present, coloring the romantic and financial negotiations.
• Ambivalence in Love:
  • The push-pull between desire for closeness and dread of “being eaten” by commitment runs throughout. Freddy’s attempts at wit conceal genuine loneliness.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On hidden motives in love:
  • “If you want to be very serious, Dot, let’s get out and walk. Come on, get your coat on and tell me all about how to make money.” — Freddy (42:40)
• On being seen:
  • “Why do you think she liked me? …Because she is a masochist and you are a sadist. No, I was very good to her.” — Freddy, introspective and somewhat defensive (48:40)
• On the contest:
  • “Imagine it, Freddy. I didn’t even know there was a Jew who had such accomplishment in that field.” — Dottie, expressing pride in cultural achievements (45:43)
• On self-sabotage:
  • “But I will not be eaten by any woman. My poor old mother died with a sizable chunk of me stuck in her gullet.” — Freddy (49:44)
• On the story’s resolution:
  • “Brooklyn girl knows all the answers. Dottie Wasserman wins.” — Newspaper headline encapsulates Dottie's true triumph (54:15)
• Finality & Regret:
  • “And after that, nothing at all.” — Freddy on the silence after Dottie’s final gifts, embodying loss and ambiguity (57:03)

4. Closing Reflections

Timestamps: 57:06–59:36

• Meg Wolitzer’s analysis highlights Paley’s ability to make the “ambivalence” of the characters relatable, noting we “question [Freddy’s] reliability pretty soon,” and that the story’s strength lies in letting us imagine how Dottie sees him.
• She points out both stories’ shared lesson: Fiction can “force us to empathize with characters’ traits, even the unsavory ones,” and in doing so, “we just might feel seen.”

5. Notable Quotes (with Timestamps & Attribution)

• “Not just the overtly good and bad people who populate many heroes’ journeys, but the kind of complex and fascinating people we know from our own lives.”
  — Meg Wolitzer (02:30)

• “I love tenderness as the guiding mood of this story... what if you and your best friend wanted the same things or thought you did? What if you were so fixated on a perceived competition that you couldn’t show up for her?”
  — Shirlene Bazeel, as quoted by Min Jin Lee (34:20)

• “If you’re always the victim, you lose... I’m not your enemy. I’m your friend.”
  — Fatima to Eden (31:15)

• “Ah, so heartbreaking to have a character who is so smart and so dumb at the same time.”
  — Meg Wolitzer on Freddy (“The Contest”) (57:06)

6. Structural Breakdown and Suggested Listening Timestamps

| Segment | Description | Timestamp Start | |----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|----------------| | Episode introduction, theme | Host sets up multifaceted identities, “contradictory” lives | 00:35 | | Min Jin Lee intro and “Tender” performance | Context for Bazeel, read by Anna Uzele | 03:28 | | “Tender” story | Friendship, rivalry, family complications | 04:59–33:25 | | Story analysis (host and Min Jin Lee) | Dissection of “Tender’s” strengths | 33:25–35:20 | | Grace Paley/“The Contest” introduction | Wolitzer contextualizes Paley’s work/writing | 36:22–38:15 | | “The Contest” story | Urban romance, contest, ambivalence | 38:15–57:06 | | Closing reflections (host) | Relating fiction’s complexity to listeners’ lives | 57:06–59:36 |

7. Episode Takeaways

• Complexity is Universal:
  Both stories present characters whose motives fluctuate, who love imperfectly, and who sometimes act against their own best interests.
• Relatability through Vulnerability:
  The best fiction, as this episode suggests, draws us in precisely because it isn’t tidy—because people are, inherently, multitudes.
• Empathy for Flawed Characters:
  By encountering unvarnished depictions of insecurity, rivalry, and contrition, listeners are invited to reflect on their own contradictions—and perhaps, like Eden or Freddy, move toward growth.

8. Memorable Moments

• Eden’s final act of self-reclamation: (“Tender”):
  “I wrap the scarf around my head, round up all the synthetic strands and throw them into the trash. All better.” (24:05)
• Dottie’s triumph and Freddy’s retreat: (“The Contest”):
  “Brooklyn Girl Knows all the Answers. Dottie Wasserman wins.” (54:15)

This engaging episode of Selected Shorts showcases how the short story form can reveal the multitude within a single person—compassionate, competitive, resilient, and flawed in equal measure.