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 WB EZ 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, I'm Greta Johnson, and this is The Nerdette Book Club.

It's just like a regular book club, except you can listen while doing whatever you want.

It's February, and this month's selection is Gwen E. Kirby's short story collection,

shit Cassandra saw, which I found delightful.

Here is your spoiler warning.

If you haven't read the book yet and you don't want to know what happens in these short stories, this is maybe not the episode for you. We actually

talked to the author that is in the feed. It is a spoiler-free conversation. Go listen to that

and come back over here when you're ready. Otherwise, if you haven't read the book and you're cool

spoilers, or if you have read the book, you are in totally the right place.

I am so excited to introduce you to our guests this month. We have Glory. Adam, also known as the well-read black girl who has a new podcast out called Well-Red Black Girl. Glory, hello. Hello. Thank you for having me. This is so awesome. Oh, I'm so excited. We also have Jess Zimmerman. She's an editor at Quirk Books and a writer. Her book is called Women and Other Monsters. Jess, hello. Hi, thank you so much for having me. Oh, so excited. Okay, so I feel like we should probably start with the cover because, oh my God, what a cover. I feel like it's a little divisive. I have one friend

who was like, I might read this despite the cover, but I do not like it. Jess, what do you think of it?

Oh, I mean, I think it's incredible. I think it's so striking. It is striking. I mean,

I do think I think it's a bold move to put a swear in a title that's a little separate

from cover design. I'm in favor of it, but it's definitely bold. And I think it's bold in sort of

the same way as the visuals of the cover. Yeah. Well, and I don't know. It seems to me like,

I mean, the visuals are literally like in terms of color, but also like, yes, there are eyeballs on fire.

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