From WBEZ Chicago, this is Nerdette. I'm Greta Johnson. We made it to another weekend,

and it is officially really. Fall, coming up, Hana Georgeus, wrote an amazing article

for The Atlantic, revealing the unwritten rules in the writer's rooms of black TV shows,

going back to the golden age of network sitcoms to today.

We're so far from place where those stories are not constantly filtered through what's

comfortable or relatable or understandable to white executives and audiences.

Plus, ecologists Meg Lauman talks to us about her new memoir, which details the glass ceiling she

broke as a lady who climbed trees for science in the 1970s.

So I was tiptoeing in a man's world for a lot of my career, and I didn't even know girls could be

scientists where I was young. But first, let's take a minute and look back at the week that was,

with us this week, we have two excellent Chicago journalists. We've got Mina Blum,

a reporter for Black Club Chicago. Mina, hey! Hey Greta! I'm so excited to have you on the show,

and we've got Brandon Pope, he's an anchor and reporter at CW26 in Chicago.

Brandon, welcome. Greta, great to hear you. Great to be with you.

Yay! Okay, so I think we should start with what's really big COVID news this week,

which is that we learned the Pfizer vaccine should be available for five to 11-year-olds

by Halloween. This is extremely long-awaited, especially obviously for those who have school-age

kids. Mask mandates are different everywhere. It's all been very confusing for a very long time.

Now, Brandon, do you have kids? You're childless, right?

I am childless, fortunately. I'm very happy about that one. I have a niece and nephew.

Yes, six years old and four years old. So this is great news. It's interesting. In my family,

my mom, their grandma, wants them to be vaccinated. It's them to take that shot.

...