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 Nerdette.

I'm Tricia Bobita.

And I'm Greta Johnson. Today we are talking with Everest,ber, guide, and mountaineer Melissa Arnaud. She is the first American woman ever to summit Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, something only seven women in the entire universe have ever done.

If you're thinking that sounds kind of like a crazy thing to do, National Geographic says

that climbing Everest without supplemental oxygen is, quote, the same is suffocating at sea

level by putting a plastic bag over your head that allows you just enough air to survive.

So yeah, this is kind of a crazy thing to do. Melissa holds the record for the most Everest

climbs of any American woman. She's reached the summit six times out of nine attempts.

Her climbs are extremely high risk and her training schedule definitely puts my yoga

obsession to shame.

But we've got her today in a studio at normal altitude to talk about all things climbing.

We're also going to talk to Melissa about what she nerds out about in her free time,

which is true crime stories.

Because when I think about long periods of time alone in nature climbing through woods and mountains,

it's comforting to also be thinking about murder.

Yeah. It's comforting to also be thinking about murder. Melissa, welcome to Nurdette.

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