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.

Hello, you're listening to Nerdette from WB Easy in Chicago.

I'm Greta Johnson.

And I'm Trisha Bobita.

This week we talk to author Eric Larson.

He's perhaps best known for his book, The Devil in the White City, which is especially well loved here in Chicago.

It tells the parallel stories of the super creepy serial killer and the construction of the world's Colombian exposition in Chicago in 1893. Some people call his work narrative nonfiction, which is a term he takes issue with.

We'll talk to him about that. Whatever you want to call it, his books are not dry tomes with lots

of boring quotes and exposition. His newest book is called Dead Wake. It's about the sinking

of the Lusitania. That's coming up. All that and more this week on Nerdette, because everybody's

a little nerdy about something.

Make it snappy, nerd.

Nerds! Nerd!

Greta, you and I aren't the only ones who love digging into the history of women who have

been overlooked by most traditional history books or documentaries or these

kinds of things. And it's always fun when we find a kindred spirit in that pursuit. And Sue

Macy is definitely one of them. Sue Macy writes books about women in history for young readers,

...