Your aunt tells that same story over and over.

You know the one about her dog, her boss, that unsatisfying visit to Olive Garden.

You love your aunt, of course, but sometimes it's nice to hear a new story.

One whispered directly in your ear by TV, film, and stage actors like Jeffrey Wright or Sigourney Weaver.

One written by the world's best writers, from contemporary scribes like Zadie Smith

to classic writers such as Anton Chekhov.

That's the Selected Shorts Podcast.

In it, our greatest actors transport us

through the magic of fiction, one short story at a time.

Hosted by me, Meg Walletzer.

New shows available for download every Thursday

wherever you get your podcasts.

From PRX, this is Songwriter, the podcast that turns stories into songs.

My name is Ben Arthur.

Today, we have a brand new story written by Turkish journalist and author and my old friend,

Asli Perker, and a song written in response by musician, poet, and author Tuna Kidmichi.

Like all episodes in season six, this was made possible by a grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation.

And as part of that, I'll be speaking with Dr. Aitir Earhart about empathy, forgiveness, and polarization.

We begin with a conversation I had with Asli at her Istanbul apartment.

When I'm writing my books, once I moved to the next book, I forget about the previous one.

Sometimes the names or the places. But I remember when I first

wrote this, as I said here, it is very honest, I really cried because it was the first time

...