Selected Shorts – "To the Rescue"

Host: Meg Wolitzer (Symphony Space)
Date: January 22, 2026
Theme:
This episode, “To the Rescue,” explores how we prepare for the unexpected—both through literal rescue and through the psychological rehearsal that happens in fiction and in life. Three diverse stories examine the ways people (and characters) confront emergencies: a parent mediates children’s dark animal hospital games; a night watchman’s minor wound spirals into tragedy; and Margaret Atwood’s characters take a first aid course and reflect on being (un)prepared for life’s real emergencies.

Episode Overview

• Main purpose: To explore how literature and storytelling prepare us—emotionally, intellectually, and sometimes practically—for life’s disruptions and emergencies.
• Structure: Three stories are read by accomplished actors, framed with insightful commentary, author interviews, and reflections from host Meg Wolitzer.

Segment 1 – Introduction (01:08–04:36)

• Host Meg Wolitzer introduces the theme: the value and pitfalls of preparedness, and how stories allow us to rehearse for disaster without real-world consequences.
  • “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. That quote… is just one of those old saws...” (01:13)
  • Wolitzer humorously reminisces about adult admonitions, school fire drills, and the mythic preparedness of Mary Poppins.
  • She frames the episode as a set of stories about characters confronting obstacles—sometimes by practicing for emergencies, sometimes by simply making sense of the possibility.
• Preview of Stories:
  1. Joe Meno’s “Animal Hospital” – Children play doctor in a way that’s both healing and disturbingly honest.
  2. Saeed Faik Abasiyanik’s “The Silk Handkerchief” – Minor wounds and seemingly small choices have big consequences.
  3. Margaret Atwood’s “First Aid” – An aging couple takes a first aid course, reflecting on real and imagined disasters.

Segment 2 – "Animal Hospital" by Joe Meno

Read by Becky Ann Baker
Story: 04:36–16:44 | Interview: 17:03–22:20

Story Summary

• A grieving father invents “Animal Hospital” to distract his children after the death of their pet cat.
• The children (ages 4 and 6) approach the game with creative medical diagnoses that quickly escalate (tumors, heart defects, “hettles,” gangrene, polio, diabetes).
• Each stuffed animal quickly succumbs, despite the father’s attempts to save them. The game becomes a strange, repetitive ritual, with an undertone of morbidity and cathartic pleasure.
• The father is uneasy, wishing he had better resources (like their mother) to gently protect the kids from death, but also fascinated by their matter-of-fact approach.
• The children insist on “putting to sleep” each animal, refusing their father’s attempts to introduce more hopeful outcomes.
• Quote (Father, exasperated):
  • “Our mortality rate around here, guys... it's not good. Let's try something else.” (12:18)
• The story examines the way children map, escalate, and ultimately master the concept of death through imaginative play.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Say hi to Jesus,” the girl says solemnly before the “euthanasia” of a stuffed rabbit. (11:25)
• “You have to shave it.” “Polio? The father asked. What the—you guys, your mom is trying to sleep in there.” (13:50)
• “Now it doesn’t want to live.” “Here… I just gave him some antidepressants. Now he’s feeling better.” Humor and existential dread mingle. (15:07)

Author Interview: Joe Meno (17:03–22:20)

• Discusses the autobiographical roots: his own children, their questions about death after bereavements in the family.
• “There was this moment of... trying to describe this idea that, you know, after someone passes away, there might not be anything, or some cultures believe in this idea of heaven...” (17:03)
• Reflects on how children’s games become a way to process and master anxiety about mortality: “Their way through games of making sense of these like real events that had happened to them.”
• Wolitzer connects this to writing: “It’s similar… to the openness a writer needs when they’re writing, right?” (20:53)
• Meno on surrealism and the ordinary:
  • “We have been hit with a series of unprecedented moments… I feel it’s my job as a writer to try and balance what feels outlandish or exaggerated… with these small moments of change that all of us are forced to confront.” (21:24)

Segment 3 – "The Silk Handkerchief" by Saeed Faik Abasiyanik

Performed by Amir Arison
Story: 23:11–30:29

Story Summary

• In a Turkish silk factory town, a night watchman covers for a co-worker and apprehends a young thief—a boy stealing a silk handkerchief as a love token for a girl.
• The narrator bonds with the boy, even tending his minor wound with tobacco and a strip of the very handkerchief he tried to steal.
• Later that night, the boy sneaks into the narrator’s room to steal again but falls from a tree and is fatally injured. The “pure silk” handkerchief dramatically springs from his lifeless fist.
• Quote (On the silk’s lightness):
  • “…a silk handkerchief shot up from his hand like water from a spring.” (30:17)
• The story contrasts the narrator’s complicity and forgiveness with the harshness of the punitive watchman. Attempts at mercy inadvertently lead to greater tragedy.

Notable Moments & Reflections

• The narrator reminisces about the boy’s earthy innocence, recalling local boys’ “chests give off an aroma of hazel leaves...”
• The story is atmospheric, gently sad, and illustrates how even the best intentions can end in disaster.

Host Reflection (Meg Wolitzer, 30:29)

• “Who is this man—this nameless narrator, the somehow stranded between the gentle thief desperate to please his love and the punitive watchman dedicated to pleasing his boss?” (30:29)
• Points out that in trying to forgive a petty crime, the narrator inadvertently creates the conditions for a much greater harm.
• The story is about how rescue attempts can backfire, and how the boundaries between victim, perpetrator, and bystander blur.

Segment 4 – "First Aid" by Margaret Atwood

Intro: 34:50 | Performed by Maggie Siff: 35:43–60:24 | Atwood reaction: 60:33–61:12

Author Introduction (Margaret Atwood, 34:50)

• With dry wit, Atwood reflects: “If you’ve run into medical difficulties, I really, really know how to dial 911... run away very fast.” (34:55)

Story Summary

• Nell returns home to a blood-stained scene—her partner Tig has sliced himself while cooking and headed to the hospital with their daughter, absentmindedly leaving a mess.
• She calmly cleans up and reflects on her competence (minor emergencies, not major ones).
• Flash forward: Nell and Tig, now older, are required to take a first aid course for a nature cruise.
• Their instructor, Mr. Foote, is intimidating, deadpan, and practical—offering graphic, sometimes darkly funny advice.
  • “You needs to keep calm… even if buddies minus his own head. But headless chickens can’t scream, Nell thinks, or she assumes they can’t, but she takes the meaning.” (38:31)
• Practical, sometimes chilling advice is given (“Don’t remove a motorcycle helmet—you don’t know what’s in there, eh?”). (36:40)
• The couple realizes how little they remember or feel they'd be able to do in a real emergency, joking about being incompetent or having to call Mr. Foote for help.
• They reminisce about past “close calls”: chimney fires, hiking mishaps, near-misses with lumber trucks, and more.
• The story ends with Nell reflecting that true preparedness is impossible, and that some obliviousness is necessary to keep living. “Obliviousness had served them.” (60:12)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “[First aid is called that] because you got maybe four minutes. Now he says they will have a coffee break and after that they will do drowning and mouth-to-mouth, followed by hypothermia and after lunch, heart attacks and defibrillators. That’s a lot for one day.” (46:25)
• On resuscitation: “You keep going. You don’t give up, says Mr. Foote. Because you never know.” (49:26)
• Atwood’s trademark mix of humor and darkness:
  • “You can fix a lot of things, Mr. Foote is saying, but not if there’s no head. That’s one thing I can’t teach you.” (38:44)
  • Nell imagines her wallet card: “In case of accident, call Mr. Foote.” (49:54)

Author Reaction (Margaret Atwood, 60:33)

• Atwood thanks the performer and wryly references the abundance of blood in the story, sharing a story about her old gym teacher spelling “B-L-O-O-D” to avoid upsetting students.

Host Final Reflection (Meg Wolitzer, 61:12)

• “More importantly, live your life.” Wolitzer suggests that fiction’s lesson isn’t necessarily practical preparedness, but emotional readiness and resilience.
• “There’s something weirdly comforting about hearing even fictional characters prepare for and sometimes face their scariest moments. I mean, if things go wrong, we learn from their mistakes. And if they rise to the occasion, well, we can too.”

Key Timestamps

• Main show intro: 01:08–04:36
• “Animal Hospital” begins: 04:36
• Notable line—“Say hi to Jesus”: 11:25
• Joe Meno interview: 17:03–22:20
• "The Silk Handkerchief" reading: 23:11–30:29
• “First Aid” author intro: 34:50
• “First Aid” reading: 35:43–60:24
• Atwood’s reaction: 60:33–61:12

Notable Quotes (with Attribution & Timestamps)

• Meg Wolitzer (on preparedness):
  • “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. That quote... is just one of those old saws…” (01:13)
• Joe Meno (on explaining death to children):
  • “There was this moment of, like, trying to describe this idea that, you know, after someone passes away, there might not be anything, or some cultures believe in this idea of heaven.” (17:03)
• Animal Hospital, Becky Ann Baker (reader, quoting father):
  • “Our mortality rate around here, guys, is… it’s not good. Let’s try something else.” (12:18)
  • “You have to shave it” (daughter); “Polio? The father asked. What the—you guys, your mom is trying to sleep in there.” (13:50)
• Margaret Atwood (on taking a first aid course):
  • “If you’ve run into medical difficulties, I really, really know how to dial 911... run away very fast.” (34:55)
• Mr. Foote (via Maggie Siff as Nell):
  • “You needs to keep calm… even if buddy’s minus his own head.” (38:31)
  • “You can fix a lot of things… but not if there’s no head. That’s one thing I can’t teach you.” (38:44)
  • “You keep going. You don’t give up… Because you never know.” (49:26)
• Margaret Atwood (reaction after reading):
  • “…Even I was waiting to see what was going to happen. Maybe I should have warned you about the blood.” (60:33)
• Meg Wolitzer (closing):
  • “More importantly, live your life. …There’s something weirdly comforting about hearing even fictional characters prepare for and sometimes face their scariest moments. …if they rise to the occasion, well, we can too.” (61:12)

Closing Thoughts

The stories in “To the Rescue” are less about mastery and more about the humbling, improvisational dance we all do with fate and preparedness. Through comedy, tragedy, and gentle wisdom, these tales remind us that sometimes, the best preparation is simply to carry on—comic, vulnerable, and oh-so-human.

Selected Shorts is produced by Symphony Space.
Find more episodes, bonus content, and info at selectedshorts.org.