The stage show began in 1985 and continues today at Symphony Space's Peter Jay Sharp Theater.

The annual season of the live events at Symphony Space begins in the mid-fall and ends in mid-spring.

Actor BD Wong acts as the host of the live events since the fall of 2012.

The readings are recorded live and become the basis of a one-hour radio program, hosted by actors, authors, and entertainers such as David Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Cynthia Nixon, Wyatt Cenac, Jane Kaczmarek, and Meg Wolitzer, with literary commentator Hannah Tinti of One Story Magazine, and are produced in conjunction with WNYC.

Until 2011, the radio show began and ended with the piano and cello duet "Come to the Meadow" by Roger Kellaway.