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. This week on the show,

author Amy Tan tells us where she finds creativity, what it's like to be a procrastinator who has to

give a TED talk, and about the instrument she plays in the band with authors Stephen King and Dave

Barry. Hint, it is not a tambourine. Really, really not a tambourine.

Plus, Greta tells us about her trip to the Rube Goldberg competition.

It was a nerd haven.

All that on Nerdette.

Amy Tan is probably best known for her book, The Joy Luck Club, and more recently, the Bonesetter's daughter. But last month, her name came up for a very different reason.

Indeed, some people at the American Museum of Natural History named a leech after her.

Turns out this was a gesture of love for Amy Tan, who is friends with a lot of these scientists and goes on expeditions with them to discover new species.

And when they finally found the new, brand new, leech that nobody knew existed until this trip,

Amy said that they wanted to name it after someone who would, as she put it, actually appreciate it.

And she is genuinely thrilled about this.

The name of this leech has a lot of consonants in it.

So as we started talking with Amy Tan, first things first, how do you say the name of this

leech?

Katel Abdelitane.

...