Laughing in the Face of Danger

·59 min·5 clips

Heaven's login demands a Wittgenstein phrase and nuclear codes, revealing a satirical tech nightmare.

Danger arrives politely here. Meg Wolitzer starts with familiar pressure points, from job interviews and dates to a pickleball match against neighborhood bruisers. The idea is simple: fear does not always need fight or flight. Sometimes the sharper move is to show it has not taken over. The episode keeps that thought funny, with a world premiere story by David Sedaris teased alongside Tony Hale, Jane Curtin, and more funny friends. The excerpt focuses on Hale reading "The Stand-In," by Gerald Jonas and Jean Marple, with farce held just tight enough. Stebbins is found mid-performance, reclining on a leather couch with a cigar in one hand and a pencil in the other, somehow managing several selves at once. Charlie panics, calls the operator, and reports what he calls a nut. The police arrive sure of themselves. Stebbins greets them warmly, which only makes things stranger. Every careful answer leaves him harder to handle. The officers try kindness first, but when he asks which version of himself they want, the scene slips from procedure into polished absurdity. Even under arrest, held by wrist and ankle, Stebbins fixes his tie and asks for legal representation. Wolitzer catches the practical joke after the story, imagining how handy a stand-in would be for the awkward chores of daily life. The charm is quiet. Danger becomes social pressure, and comedy gives it less room to work.

As heard by us

A poised comic reading that uses laughter to soften fear.

Selected Shorts opens with David Sedaris's story about pets, birds, moths, dogs, and one long-suffering husband, while Meg Wolitzer keeps the frame light and amused, treating laughter as a way of getting at fear.

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Why you'd press play

For when fear needs a punchline instead of a pep talk.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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