What happens when a 12-year-old kid is forced to retire?

This week, we dive into the hilarious and sweaty world of a teenage transplant trapped in a 1970s Central Florida retirement community. Surrounded by Hammond organs, matching fezzes, and a "post-reproductive" neighborhood, our guest shares what it was like navigating puberty while wearing dead people’s clothes.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The Thrift Shop Trap: Why adolescent boys should never wear white patent leather shoes.

• The Grandma Posse: Surviving a neighborhood ruled by giant tricycles and orange safety pennants.

• The Bicentennial Disaster: The peak humiliation of riding a July 4th parade float

This episode of the podcast was produced and hosted by Edward McCann, with engineering and mixing help from Victor Scoppa.

If you’re new to the show, welcome; we’re so glad you’re here! Learn more at our website, WritersRead.org, and please email us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, suggestions or critiques!

Podcast # 89

What does it mean to look back at the men who raised us, or the spaces they left behind? In this episode of Writers Read, we bring you a collection of true, five-minute personal essays that explore the complex, beautiful, and often unspoken dynamics of fatherhood.

FEATURED WRITERS

Steven Lewis

Dan Zevin

Malachy McCourt

David Masello

Writers Read is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the art of the personal narrative. We bring voices to the stage and the page, celebrating the power of true stories, read by the people who wrote them.

This episode of the podcast was produced and hosted by Edward McCann, with engineering and mixing from Brent Reilly.

If you’re new to the show, welcome; we’re so glad you’re here! Find and follow us on Instagram, and please email us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, suggestions or critiques at info@writersread.org

Listen & Follow: Subscribe to Writers Read on Spotify to ensure you never miss an episode. For more information on our upcoming live events and anthologies, visit our website, www.WritersRead.org

Podcast # 027

What does it take to survive live television in the 1960s? For one production assistant named Jim Russek, it started with schlepping tongue sandwiches from the Stage Deli and ended with handling comedy legends like George Burns, Joan Rivers, and Sid Caesar. This is a hilarious, behind-the-scenes look at the golden age of variety TV, featuring a high-stakes, live-broadcast disaster involving 100 pounds of cue cards, a jazz diva, and a frantic race against the clock on The Ed Sullivan Show.

This episode of the podcast was produced and hosted by Edward McCann, with engineering help Quincy Simmons and Aaron Hekking.

If you’re new to the show, welcome; we’re so glad you’re here! Learn more at our website, WritersRead.org, and please email us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, suggestions or critiques!

Podcast # 89