I'm Natalie Moore. I fell in love with soap operas when I was just five years old, and I still

watch them. Their television's longest scripted series and have zero reruns. Now let me tell you,

soap operas aren't just some silly art form. They are significant. In this season of making,

Stories Without End from WBEZ Chicago.

Join me as I share how the genre began, their social impact, and why these stories endure.

Listen, wherever you get your podcast.

From WBEZ Chicago, this is Nerdad.

I'm Greta Johnson, and today we are going to hang out with one of your soon-to-be favorite people. Her name is Emily Grassley, and she has the amazing title of

Chief Curiosity Correspondent at the Field Museum here in Chicago. She also hosts a YouTube

series called The Brain Scoop. And this summer, she is the host of a new three-part series on PBS called Prehistoric Road Trip.

I know there's more to discover within our own backyards. So I'm heading back to the area where I grew up in the northern Great Plains, the heart of America's fossil country.

We'll come face to face with the diverse prehistoric creatures that called this planet home.

Emily goes fossil hunting right here in the U.S.

And she meets cool scientists and reminds us that there's millions of years of natural history right in our backyards.

We're going to talk to Emily about prehistoric road trip, how loving art and science does not have to be mutually exclusive.

And I promise she is going to show you how she can make pretty much anything interesting.

Emily, hey.

Yay, hi. I'm so happy to be here.

I just love how your enthusiasm for science and discovery is absolutely contagious.

Thank you. Yeah. You know, it is my life's delight to find the joy and little things in the world. Yeah, there's there's this amazing line. I think it was you even used

in a clip in that like intro intro to prehistoric road trip where you're just like, I love clams.

Yeah. We that is true. You know, if if anybody's been following my work for a long time,

...