Meg Wolitzer

That was Laura Harrier and Will Harrison performing Arrangements by Charlie Watts.

One of the most durable themes in fiction is the discovery of who other people really are.

We often start off with some quick, preconceived idea, and slowly it gets either built up or torn down.

Arrangements is a nice place to end our exploration of modest expectations, isn't it?

Two strangers giving each other the absolute bare minimum amount of care and compassion slowly discover their generosity.

Funny, they're no more right in their assumptions about the other than when they started.

Yet when they give one another the benefit of the doubt and invest a bit more in the other's potential for good, it means everything.

I'm Meg Wolitzer.

Thanks for joining me for Selected Shorts.

Selected Shorts is produced by Jennifer Brennan and Sarah Montague.

Our team includes Matthew Love, Drew Richardson, Mary Shimkin, Vivienne Woodward, and Magdalene Robleski.

The readings are recorded by Miles B. Smith.

Our programs presented at the Getty Center in Los Angeles are recorded by Phil Richards.

Our mix engineer for this episode was Joe Plourd.

Our theme music is David Peterson's That's the Deal, performed by the Deardorff Peterson Group.

Selected Shorts is supported by the Dunn-Gannon Foundation.

This program is also made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

Selected Shorts is produced and distributed by Symphony Space.

Hi, it's Meg Wolitzer, host of Selected Shorts and avid podcast listener.

Wayfinder, Life-Changing Travel, is a podcast I've been loving lately.