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.

I'm Greta Johnson.

And from WBeezy in Chicago, this is Nerdette.

Coming up, Melody Kramer tells us about open data, open spaces, and the future of public media.

I think for a lot of people who code, they're not necessarily thinking, oh, I want to work in audio, or, oh, I want to work for cities, or I want to work in education.

They're thinking, I want to solve really complex problems in interesting ways.

Then we get to know some women who sang their civil rights.

That and your nerd confessions on Nerdette.

Because everybody's a little nerdy about something.

Make it snappy, nerd.

Nerds! Nerd!

I'm Greta Johnson. I'm Trisha Bobita. And you're listening to Nerdette.

Melody Kramer is a legit, maybe the most legit, public radio nerd.

Right? She's worked for Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, Fresh Air, and NPR.

Most of her work has revolved around how to make public radio relevant in a changing media landscape and to make the things that public media does more public.

She spent the last couple of years working at NPR in what's called the social sandbox.

So everything that NPR was trying to do to make their content more relevant in a digital space so that they could get more from the audience and give more to the audience.

...