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 the Nerdat Book Club.

I'm Greta Johnson, and this month our book is Daniel Evans' short story collection, the Office of Historical Corrections. First things first, here

is your spoiler warning. If you haven't read the book and you don't want to know what happens in it,

go listen to the author interview that's already in the feed and you can come back when you're ready.

If you have read the book or if you are

totally okay with spoilers, carry on. Our panelists this month are two excellent humans making

her nerdette debut. It is Rebecca McKay, the author of a short story collection and several novels,

including The Great Believers. She's also a faculty member of Northwestern University's MFA program. Rebecca, welcome.

Thank you so much. I am so excited to talk about this book with you. Also with us is Jen White,

the host of the NPR Talk Show 1A. Hello, Jen. Hello, Greta. So there are six stories in here,

and then the novella. I loved them all very much. I feel like we could

spend like an entire academic quarter actually unpacking them. For today's sake, we decided

we're going to focus mainly on two specific short stories and then the novella. But of course,

if anything else comes up about any of other elements along the way, that's great. We'll also,

of course, be hearing from some of you.

Let's actually start with a voicemail. Here is Andrea. Hey, Nuredad. It's Andrea from Chandler, Arizona,

...