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, this is Nerdette.

I'm Greta Johnson. We did it. We made it to another weekend. And we made it to one of my favorite episodes of the year, the episode where we get to talk about some of the greatest books that came out in the year of Our Lord 2022. So as of this taping on December 15th, I have read 96 books this year. I kind of think I might be able to squeeze at least one more in. And, you know, I mean, I feel pretty good about that number, I got to say. But it was really interesting because when I asked our guest today, M.J. Franklin, to share his number. His answer was really surprising. He actually intentionally tried to read fewer books this year. For me, it's always the intention. Are you reading to enjoy it or are you reading

to say you have finished the book? And I have a lot of reading I have to do to say I finished the book.

And so if I'm doing my own personal reading and my own free time, I'm trying to make sure I'm reading to enjoy.

MJ is an editor for the New York Times book review. You've probably heard him on Nerdat before.

As someone whose job it is to read, I think it's actually really good advice.

So it's a lot of me reading and then also giving myself therapy being like, MJ, how do you feel about this reading

experience? Are you actually taking time? It's a very neurotic, but very enjoyable process.

I love it. I think the therapy is working, MJ. I just want, and you're doing the work,

and I see it and respect it. Thank you. Okay, so when I asked you to come on the show to talk about

books, you gave me two different

lists. And one was books that have already gotten a lot of praise that you loved a lot. And then

books that you think could use a little more time in the sun. And I definitely want to spend

more time on those ones. But can you tell us about a couple that you did really like that you

think are already on a lot of

people's radars? I mean, one is trust, for example, which is actually our December book club pick.

...