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. This week, we are bringing you an extra special bonus episode from our friends who make another WBEZ podcast called When Magic Happens. The podcast features intergenerational conversations between black women, and this episode is for The Nerds.

Hosts Taylor Coward, Cheryl Jackson, and Jennifer Long,

get into why some nerdy hobbies challenge traditional notions of blackness.

They embrace an idea that I really value on this show that you can be a nerd about anything

as long as you are unapologetically enthusiastic about it.

Plus, they talk to author and anime lover Jackie A.

I'll let the hosts take it from here.

Ladies, yes.

How do you define being a nerd or a geek?

Someone who is completely unbothered about other people's opinion about what they like or do.

Yep.

I mean, they're just, they are here for it. They were defined, you know, being true to yourself

before it became a thing you do on Instagram. That's what nerds do. They're just

passionate about what they do and unapologetic and

unbothered by it. When I hear the word nerd, I think of Steve Urkel. Yeah. Like, you know,

I just, I have this idea of somebody, you know, asking, did I do that? Did I do that? Can I do that?

...