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, we are talking with Dan Savage. He is at the forefront of all of the good sexy things. That includes Savage Love

the podcast, Savage Love the column in The Stranger, and on the more serious side of things,

the It Gets Better Project, which helps queer kids know that when they grow up, it's all going to get better.

I will admit that I have listened to Dan's podcast for years. I find it as a master's class and how relationships work, all sorts of relationships.

And one of my favorite things that Dan does on his show is that when people call in and ask for advice, often sex advice,

he, if the call is interesting enough, we'll call them back. And Greta, we ask people to call us and

leave nerd confessions. And this one, this nerd confession is so good that I want to call them back.

That sounds good. I think we should do it too. But first, let's just listen to a little bit of this original voicemail. Hi, Trisha and Greta. This is Jay-V. And I have a nerd concession for you. So my nerdy obsession is

Mermaids and Merman. To clarify here, he is saying Merman as in male mermaids, like Triton,

Ariel's father and and the little mermaid.

And Eric becomes a merman too, right? Isn't that?

That's not how the little mermaid ends.

That's not how it ends.

...