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 Nerdad. I'm Greta Johnson. We did it. We made it to another weekend. And in a whole new month, no less, we are officially in the month of May, which means I do not think it is too soon to start talking about summer books. There are some huge titles out this summer. I'm thinking about Quietly Hostel,

which is the new essay collection from Samantha Irby. There's also a new Brandon Taylor book

called The Late Americans, or of course, Tom Lake, which is the latest from Anne Patchett.

But there is so much other stuff coming out this summer, too, and we are going to get into it.

Here with me today are three of my

favorite readers. We have Lupita Aquino. Lupita. Hello. Thank you so much for thinking

to me to chat with you. Thank you. I am so thrilled. Also, here is Liberty Hardy, who works at

Book Riot Liberty. Hello. Hello. I'm very excited because I have never talked to

all of you at one time. So it's very exciting. I know, right? Because also here is Tracy Thomas

who hosts the Stacks podcast. Tracy, hello. Hi. Thanks for having me back, even though you just

called me a book bully. And I'm going to put that on my resume. Cannot wait. Book bully is here. I did say that before we started recording. I was a little

worried you'd be offended, but I assume if you're mentioning it now, that means you're delighted by it.

I would co-sign that though, Tracy. You have bullied me in the best way to read some of the best

books and you can bully me anytime. So please continue bullying that's kind of you but even if you didn't consent to my

bullying it's coming book bullying I will cry I'm anti-bullying but book bullying I love it

she already bought the domain while we were talking. Yes.

Okay, so I think the biggest challenge of this whole conversation is going to be how do we keep ourselves each to three books.

...