Since Rebecca Makkai’s novel ‘I Have Some Questions for You’ follows a podcast host who is investigating a crime, we decided to ask two podcast hosts who have done the same to talk about it! Jonquilyn Hill is the host of the Vox podcast ‘The Weeds’ and the former host of the WAMU podcast ‘Through the Cracks.’ Jason Moon is a reporter and producer at New Hampshire Public Radio, where he hosts ‘Bear Brook.’ Spoiler warning! We discuss what happens in this book in detail. You can find our spoiler-f...
Mar 28, 2023•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we are making space to commemorate three years since COVID first hit the U.S. Shoes Off: A Sexy Asians Podcast co-hosts Susie An and Esther Yoon-Ji Kang of WBEZ help us to reflect on what we learned about ourselves during the past three years and what we hope to keep with us in the future. Plus, actor Mae Whitman tells us about starring in the new Hulu musical ‘Up Here,’ out now! You may remember Mae as Anne Veal from ‘Arrested Development’ (her? Yes, her.). We chat about treating you...
Mar 24, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week on Nerdette, we feature two of our favorite interviews from 2022, both with people who work to find hope and joy in tandem with difficulty and grief. First up is Dylan Marron, whose book ‘Conversations with People Who Hate Me’ is based on what he learned from his podcast with the same name. Then, poet Ross Gay reflects on an often overlooked emotion in his newest book, ‘Inciting Joy.’
Mar 17, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, co-hosts of the podcast ‘Just Between Us,’ Gabe Dunn and Allison Raskin, stop by to talk about the dark side of credit card rewards programs, TikTok’s pros and cons for kids, and how old we feel in our brains. Also, did you know fewer and fewer teens are getting their driver’s licenses? We unpack the phenomenon with The Washington Post’s Caitlin Gibson. Plus, we hear a Nerdette listener and her high school sophomore, Kim and Bryce Herring, hash out why Bryce is dragging their feet on ...
Mar 10, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our March Book Club book is ‘I Have Some Questions’ for You by Rebecca Makkai! It’s a whodunit that interrogates the true crime genre, the carceral system and #MeToo narratives. The novel follows Bodie, a true crime podcaster who’s invited back to the boarding school she attended to teach a class. While back on campus, she is flooded with memories of her former roommate, Thalia, who was murdered during their time at school. A staffer, a Black man, was convicted of the crime. Yet, gaps in the inv...
Mar 07, 2023•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we are leaning into baking! First, our panelists, senior producer of WBEZ’s Reset Meha Ahmad and the host of WNYC and Futuro Studio’s La Brega podcast Alana Casanova-Burgess, stop by to chat about the decline in college English majors, a study that finds a connection between mask-wearing and self-perceived hotness, and our most recent baking endeavors. Then, Bon Appétit food editor Shilpa Uskokovic stops by to discuss her March cover story all about cakes! We explore her philosophy on...
Mar 03, 2023•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Nerdette Book Club is back to discuss ‘How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures’ by Sabrina Imbler! This sparkling essay collection explores themes of community, queerness, and survival by weaving marine biology with stories from the author’s life. Kat Chow, former NPR reporter and the author of the memoir ‘Seeing Ghosts,’ and Rachel E. Gross, science journalist and author of ‘Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage,’ join us for the discussion. We gush about Sabrina’s writing, the po...
Feb 28, 2023•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jacoby Cochran, host of City Cast Chicago, and Erin Allen, host of WBEZ's The Rundown, join us to unwind from the week! The publisher of author Roald Dahl is making edits to his children’s books to make them more appropriate for today’s readers. We discuss whether it’s a good idea. Plus, we debate how often we need to wash our towels. Then, we talk to actor Zoë Chao about her role in the new ‘Party Down’ reboot on STARZ. The show originally ran for two seasons back in 2009 and 2010. Now, it’s ba...
Feb 24, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast NPR political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben and WBEZ host and reporter Araceli Gómez-Aldana join the panel this week! We analyze an extremely comprehensive list of etiquette rules for 2023 from The Cut and discuss what it’s like for monogamous couples to sleep in separate bedrooms. Then, Erica Berry tells us about her new book ‘Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear.’ It’s about not only the animal, but also the symbolic role the wolf has played in history and culture for hu...
Feb 17, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, Dave Franco and Alison Brie join us to talk about their new rom-com, ‘Somebody I Used to Know.’ Dave and Alison wrote the movie together. They also happen to be married. We chat about how they navigated it all on set, plus Alison's passion for streaking!
Feb 10, 2023•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast February’s book club pick is ‘How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures’ by Sabrina Imbler. From a mother octopus, to shimmering salps on the shores of a queer beach, to predatory worms, Sabrina looks at each creature as a symbol for their own life experiences. Part memoir, part science journalism, their essays explore themes of survival, gender, care, and joy. Sabrina joined us for this spoiler-free conversation about the book. We talked about what draws them to the sea, craft, and...
Feb 07, 2023•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast We are bringing you an episode of NPR’s ‘Book of the Day’ podcast! Everyday, that podcast highlights a recent story or interview about books from NPR. Listen to host Leila Fadel speak with author George M. Johnson about their memoir ‘All Boys Aren’t Blue’ and the challenges to books by school boards across the country.
Feb 03, 2023•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast We discuss the nostalgia and magic in ‘Now Is Not the Time to Panic’ by Kevin Wilson. Our panelists this month are Angie Kim, author of ‘Miracle Creak,’ and Gwen Kirby, author of ‘S*** Cassandra Saw.’ Be warned! We do not hold back on spoilers in this episode! Also, we extend a very special thanks to all of the listeners who called in!
Jan 31, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our weekly panel chat is back! NPR’s Code Switch hosts B.A. Parker and Lori Lizarraga join us to discuss the week’s pop culture news. We cover the Academy Award nominations, cultural expectations for tipping and a man who survived off of ketchup while lost at sea. Then, Maintenance Phase co-host Aubrey Gordon tells us about her new book ‘You Just Need to Lose Weight: And 19 Other Myths About Fat People.’ In it, she tackles untruths like "being fat is a choice" and “fat people don’t experience di...
Jan 27, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the final installment of our “Undercover” series, we head to the movies (or just your living room couch)! Some of today’s biggest films and TV shows are adaptations of books. So what does it take to make a written story just as evocative on-screen? Can the movie *ever* be as good as the book? We take you inside the creative process for series like ‘Interview with the Vampire,’ ‘Little Fires Everywhere,’ and more.
Jan 20, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast For our special series “Undercover,” we are taking a deep dive into some of the different ways a book comes to life! This week, we’re peeking behind the curtain to learn more about one of Greta’s favorite ways to experience a story: the audiobook! We follow the lifecycle of a “book on tape” from author to producer to narrator to the sounds coming out of your earbuds.
Jan 13, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Nerdette Book Club is back for another year of reading! Our January pick is ‘Now Is Not the Time to Panic’ by Kevin Wilson. It’s about Frankie, a misfit teen girl in rural Tennessee, and the one summer she will never forget. She meets Zeke, a fellow weirdo, and the two create an enigmatic poster together that upends their small town and, eventually, the world. Kevin joined us for a conversation about how the book came to be, his interest in strange, stunted characters, and why he sees this as hi...
Jan 10, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Nerdette is embarking on "Undercover," a three-part series into the different ways a book comes to life. First up, we take a look at a seemingly small, but very important element of a book: blurbs. Praise from well-known writers can help a new author find their footing, but the system is all about who knows who. We talk to authors, editors and readers about whether it’s time for a revamp.
Jan 06, 2023•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast Happy Holidays! Team Nerdette is taking a break this week and we're bringing you a special episode from our friends at WBEZ's Making podcast. Robyn Rihanna Fenty was just 16 when she signed a record deal with Jay-Z. She was 19 when her smash hit “Umbrella” took the world by storm. Now at 34, she is not only known as a popstar but also a fashion mogul and billionaire. But how did she get here? Listen, and find out!
Dec 30, 2022•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Nerdette Book Club’s December selection, Hernan Diaz’s critically-acclaimed ‘Trust,’ is a novel that invites readers to question the very act of reading. The historical novel is actually four different pieces of writing — a novella, an unfinished autobiography, a memoir and an excerpt from a personal diary. Each section changes the meaning of the preceding piece, creating what critic Hillary Kelly called a “puzzle box” in her review for LA Times. Kelly joined Lupita Aquino, who you can find on I...
Dec 27, 2022•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Now that it's officially winter, there's no better time to catch up on the best TV series of the year. The New Yorker’s Inkoo Kang is back to wrap up the best in television of 2022, including a comedy special, a couple of genre-blurring memoirs and a new take on an old trope. You can find her full list at our website: https://tinyurl.com/59yxzdfa
Dec 23, 2022•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast MJ Franklin, editor at The New York Times Book Review, joins Greta to discuss the best books of 2022. Plus, listeners chime in with their own book recommendations. You can find a list of all the books mentioned in today’s episode here: https://tinyurl.com/4jxyduuv
Dec 16, 2022•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast From Italian true crime to juicy gossip, Vulture podcast critic Nick Quah is back to share his top 5 podcasts of the year! You can find Nick's full list at our website: https://tinyurl.com/273xeerc
Dec 09, 2022•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast December's Book Club pick is ‘Trust’ by Hernan Diaz. It's one of Greta's favorite books of the year. In this spoiler-free episode, Hernan discusses the rhetoric of male power and who does – and doesn’t – have the power to tell their own story. Stay tuned for a spoiler-filled episode later this month, but before then, tell us what you think! Email your thoughts about ‘Trust’ to NerdettePodcast [at] gmail [dot] com for a chance to be featured in the final book club discussion of the year!
Dec 06, 2022•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, Jasmine Garsd, host of NPR’s The Last Cup, and Brandon Pope, host of WBEZ’s Making, drop in to discuss the World Cup, a lawsuit against Velveeta and the word of the year: gaslighting. Then, Radiolab reporter Heather Radke joins us to discuss her book, ‘Butts: A Backstory.’ It explores the history of the human behind and, as she puts it, "the multiple ways that patriarchy and misogyny can infect women’s bodies.”
Dec 02, 2022•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Nerdette Book Club is back for a spoiler-filled episode to discuss this month’s pick, ‘Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm’ by Laura Warrell. Public radio reporter Sonari Glinton and host of NPR’s 1A, Jenn White, join us to unpack Warrell’s jazzy debut novel. We also get the chance to listen to some of our amazing listeners. Thank you for calling in!
Nov 29, 2022•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Poet Ross Gay joins us to talk about his new essay collection, 'Inciting Joy,' and the beauty of finding solace and solidarity in complex life experiences. Plus, we hear from Nerdette listeners about what you are grateful for this holiday season!
Nov 25, 2022•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast ‘Who? Weekly’ hosts Bobby Finger and Lindsey Weber stop by to share their favorite celebrity gossip of 2022. They also offer highbrow and lowbrow viewing recommendations for the upcoming holiday weekend. Then, ‘She Said’ director Maria Schrader discusses centering the voices of survivors in #MeToo narratives.
Nov 18, 2022•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Nerdette’s “resident epidemiologist,” Dr. Emily Landon of University of Chicago Medicine, explains everything you need to know about navigating Covid, the flu and RSV this holiday season.
Nov 17, 2022•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast We unwind from election week with 'Parenting is a Joke' podcast host Ophira Eisenberg and 'Fake the Nation' host Negin Farsad. Then, Claire Saffitz tells us about her new cookbook 'What's for Dessert.' Plus, we dip our toes into the weird world of YODELING.
Nov 11, 2022•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
