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 at the end of the year, no less. Over the next three weeks, we are going to talk to some of our favorite people about some of their favorite stuff. And up first is Nick Kwa, a podcast critic for Vulture Nick. Hello. Hello, we made it. We made it to the end of the year.

Can you believe it?

No, I'm so surprised.

It does seem shocking, does it?

Like, what is 2023 even going to hold for us?

Can you fathom?

It's just blank abyss.

And it's going to be great.

I'm looking forward to it.

Okay, so you brought your top five pods of the year. You also have some honorable mentions. But first, I have a question for you,

just about podcasts in general on like the scene these days. Like, I feel like when I talk to friends

about shows they're listening to, it just feels like there aren't any like Capital B big deal podcast that everyone is listening to

these days. You know, I think about a show like Serial or Estown back in the day. It's definitely

still happening with TV. I mean, you know, Game of Thrones or White Lotus, I think are a great

example of that. But what do you think? Like, do you find that the market is just so saturated

that things just like aren't rising to the top the way they used to? Oh, do you find that the market is just so saturated that things just like aren't

...